It finally happened; I knew it would, I just didn’t know when. What happened? Well, two things actually: First, I have been so focused on training for the challenge in February, I keep forgetting that I plan to run the Seattle Half Marathon at the end of November – and that is coming soon! And second, I got sick and could not run for a couple weeks. So based on these two recent events, how do I get back into training now that I can run again, and what do I do?
I was torn between a few different options: do I jump in right where I left off? Do I start up where I should be today as if nothing happened? Do I switch to a standard training schedule based on the time left to the half marathon in November? Do I start over from scratch? Okay, so not that one, but it was a tough choice.
I started off easy with some long walks last week, with a little running here and there. At times my muscles felt really weak. At times I felt like I was floating; it was a strange sensation. The running was not difficult, but it was obvious that I still needed some recovery time and time to build that strength back up. This week I am getting back into training – and I started today.
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As I get closer to the end of November, I need to increase my training frequency and distance to get ready for the Seattle Half Marathon. I think that is going to cause a modification of my training plan. Personally, I like the training for time approach (increasing my workout lenght of 1 minute every day), that I have been following, but it won’t get me to the distance I need by the end of November. I had calculated my training plan to work for mid-February, and have been conveniently forgetting about this November race – oops.
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So how do you regain your running motivation, and get back on track? For me, I got a new fall running set, laced up my road running shoes and pushed myself out the door. I was very hesitant and cautious, not having run for a while, so I wasn’t sure this would go well. But February is coming. November is coming even faster. If I want to reach my goals, I needed to start today. I set my Sensoria Fitness app for 1 mile run just to see how that would go; surprisingly it went really well. It not only felt good but comparing the data to my previous workouts, thanks to the Sensoria Web Dashboard, the telemetries were pretty much the same, telling me that my fitness level did not change substantially due the sickness. In particular, cadence and foot landing were very consistent, which means I’m on a good track to recover quickly and safely. There was rain and chill in the air making it hard for me to breathe, but I was able to keep going. I even pushed through the rolling hills. I was getting close to my 1-mile mark when I came around a corner and was stopped by a large fallen tree. I came to a sudden stop, yelled at the tree for a second, and saw there was no way to get around the tree. At the end, I had to turn around and run back the other way. Despite the obstacles, I am thrilled to be getting back into training, and today was great.
The good news is that I can get back into training now; but the challenge will be devising my new training plan. More on that later!
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