In June and July, I had a run of 7 races in 7 weeks, which I think is probably my most intense spell of racing for at least 25 years. I hadn’t really planned it that way, it just happened that a number of races that appealed to me across a wide span of distances all came together at the same time. My previous couple of posts told the story of the longest – the 50+ kilometre 3 castles ultra, and the shortest – the 4 kilometre midsummer relay. The other 5 races were all over more familiar distances of 5 miles, 10 k and 10 miles. As I approached this busy spell my hope was that by giving a weekly racing effort, that in itself would bring about some improvement and I’d come out of the 7 weeks stronger, faster and fitter than I went in….. Wrong !!!
With only one result feeling anything like satisfactory, a 47’38” 10k at Staplehurst in early June, if anything I became more sluggish and pedestrian as the weeks progressed. Initially I felt a bit surprised and disappointed. I couldn’t understand the lack of progress until I took a look back at the diary. And as so often happens, it provided the answer. The concept of racing yourself to fitness is fine, but it can’t be the only element of the training plan. A quick check of the diary showed that over the past 3 months, I have averaged 14.8 miles per week – and that includes the races !!! In other words, not really training at all.
On one level, the solution is obvious and easy: get out there and get working. Easier said than done. To train effectively requires several elements; 1. Physical wellbeing 2.Capacity to cope with added workload 3. Desire 4. Motivation 5. Ambition. Added to those is 6. A well thought out training schedule that gradually increases in effort and intensity, whilst allowing adequate recovery phases. If all of these elements are in place, improvement should follow. However, if any one of them is absent, it immediately undermines the others.
Using those elements as a checklist, I realise that I’ve probably been lacking almost all of them for quite a while, so it’s not too hard to explain the disappointing performances. How many of those 6 would you say you have in place at the moment ?
They say that the first step toward solving a problem is to recognize that the problem exists. So that’s the first step taken. With the new cross country season approaching fast, the motivation box is ticked. Time to put a plan together, get my shoes on and get back out there !!!
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