Now that I'm back into a regular running routine, my competitiveness is starting to come back but we know the saying that the mind is willing but the body is weak.
When the month started my plan was to take it easy and just have fun but after a few good runs I felt the urge to push it a bit. My thought was that I had only taken a few weeks off and I was conditioned to run a marathon, how much could I have lost?
As I found out, being ready for long distance does not translate well when you try to go straight into speed work. What also didn't help is that I wanted to correct some flaws I noticed in my form and signed up for the 6 week online Running Techniques Course by James Dunne at Kinetic Revolution.
The course is great but making changes to form is not as simple are running differently. Instead it not only requires the use of muscle groups that have been untapped but it also requires more of a mental focus which is just as draining. In reality, I'm learning to run all over again and can't just expect to crank out the miles.
After a couple of short but demanding runs and an extra day off to rest, I took James' advise and toned it down. Instead of doing 3 miles with 1/2 mile intervals alternating slow to fast as I had originally planned, I scaled it back to 2 miles with intervals every 2 tenths.
Needless to say, it was a very good run. With the shorter intervals I was able to maintain speed as well as form throughout and was able to bank a much needed positive run.
Tomorrow is a recovery run to keep the momentum going but for now it's off to bed to dream big.
