Friday, 8 July 2011

More speed and no injuries!

I felt really great when I was training for the Royal Parks Half-Marathon last year. I was on a 16-week schedule, running 4 days a week and hitting all my targets. I was also boxing one day a week and doing yoga as part of my rest day on Saturdays. I didn't have the same overwhelming tiredness I had when training for my first half, so I definitely felt like I was making progress.

But out of nowhere while running along the Serpentine with a few of my colleagues, I started to feel pain in my groin. I dismissed it and ran through the pain, but by the time I got back to the office I knew there was something really wrong. My husband had to pick me up from the tube station because I didn't think I could make it home!

After doing so well and with just 8 weeks until Royal Parks, I was in TOTAL denial. I rested for a few weeks but every time I tried to run I just couldn't take a step without pain.  A month later I finally went to see a physiotherapist and she diagnosed injuries to my adductor and hip flexor on my left side. Not only that, she told me I should have kept moving after the injury because the resulting scar tissue was causing the pain! To make a long story short, it took a few months and many painful "massages" from my physiotherapist before I was ready to hit the road again. By then I had missed the Royal Parks Half and it was 2011.

I don't know why I got injured after feeling so good, but I worried that overtraining (boxing and yoga) had something to do with it. So this time around--after spending several months running like a newbie again--I decided that I would focus only on running rather than cross training so I could get faster (sub-2:00!) and not get injured again.

I'm currently at week 6 of a 16 week training schedule, and after I saw the training guide came out in the latest Runner's World UK, I made a few tweeks. I've re-focused more of my training at half-marathon goal pace (the magic 9:09 min/mi) with a goal of 30-35 miles per week. I previously ran about 22 miles a week for my other halfs, so I hope this makes a difference.

Runs left for the week:

  • Friday - Intervals (at 8:20m/m, 4m total distance)
  • Saturday - Easy (yay)
  • Sunday - 10 miles (at 10:00)

To all you sub-2:00 hopefuls--what does your training plan look like? Other running gurus--any advice on meeting my sub-2:00 goal?

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