I felt tired but OK in the first two weeks after the race, nothing special but not alarming. Buoyed by my pb, I felt I could come back after a few weeks and race well. Any fatigue was totally expected – plus I was getting over another viral infection.
However, last week I was really dragging myself around runs, and I wouldn’t say I have stepped things up too quickly. I really needed a day off on the Friday and then joined Rob Heaney for a session on Saturday morning in Chicksands Woods. We did 6 x 3 min efforts (first half of the effort uphill, second half flat) and despite going fairly well (taking into account running the first two efforts miles too fast) I felt absolutely battered afterwards.
I somehow managed a respectable 15 miles the next morning, but by Monday of this week I was in bits. My quads were well messed up, my shoulders as well(?). I dragged myself around 10 miles and it was a real effort just to jog.
Maybe I’ve introduced double days too quickly? Maybe the session with Rob was a week too early?
However, this isn’t right and indicates I’m just not recovered from London yet. It’s totally abnormal for me to feel so terrible off no more than 70 miles steady running per week. I’ve decided to back right off and wait for things to return, not force them.
I’m pretty sure I’m fit right now, the session I did on Saturday was very decent, but my ability to recover is not good at this moment in time. There’s no bounce in the legs, just soreness.
I’m planning to race the low key Bedford 6 next week and hope my body is in better nick by then. I fancy just one race outing before a burn up at the Bupa London 10k on 30th of this month.
There’s no need to panic at the moment, but running is not a pleasure feeling like this.