I've decided to cut my training distances back over the next couple of weeks. I had intended to slowly ramp down but my recent thigh injury has required a bit more of a drastic rethink if I am going to avoid tearing ligaments apart. Tape can only do so much. I did a 25km hill run on Monday which I had decided would be my last long run before our trip to Stockholm, which is in 2 weeks as of today. Although I wasn't really pushing myself hard, I was a bit taken back by how mch effort Monday's workout took out of me. It's a pretty hilly circuit and I go out of my way to take the tough options when I'm out on a training run (no cutting corners etc), but it is a course I have completed several times before without it taking the same toll on my body. I was pleased that my upper body reacted just fine, my pulse and breathing were good. I simply ran out of leg energy. That's a worry. It didn't feel like the terrain was the problem, I was still jogging up hills at the end, it felt more like I just ran out of distance ability. Considering that the race in Stockholm is 30km long, I need to find another 5km worth of ability from somewhere. It's becoming slightly scarey now.
Anyway, I took a couple of days off with lots of stretching and massaging during my rest days. I got a bit of itchy feet after the first day off which I take to be a good mental sign. The spirit is still willing even if the flesh is weak. Yesterday I had decided to do a short training session on relatively neutral terrian. Just to get a feel for if Monday was the sign of something more serious. At the last minute I changed my mind and decided to do one circuit of the local cross country ski trail. It's quite a tough circuit with a lot of rises and falls the whole way and soft underfoot. I think that the total amount of rise on the trail is around 550m. The round trip from our home is about 13km. One lap of the trail itself is about 9km so it's just over a 20km workout if I take in two laps of the ski trail. Yesterday was only going to be one lap.
6pm is my favourite time for running in Sweden. One thing you have to love about Swedes is their devotion to tradition and habit. Everyday, every Swede eats dinner between 5:30 and 6:30pm. You can set your watch by it. The result of which are that the streets and countryside are deserted for that one hour. Every night. So I get all the traditional running routes completely to myself. That's something I don't miss about New Zealand, there was always someone hanging around. The first person I met last night was during the last kilometer home which takes me through the middle of town. Otherwise I could have been the only person on the planet.
But back to the important stuff. Despite being somewhat cautious I was happy to find that I had a lot more spring in my step than I had 2 days previous. I probably held myself at about 80% effort for the whole way which still requires putting some effort into the climbs. Having those 2 days off did help my body to recover. I was pleased with the result. The weather is a bit tricky right now. Not quite cold enough for a long sleeve top but a little cool towards the end when wearing a T shirt. If it can stay like this for the next fortnight then it will be ok. It's kind of funny on the ski trail at the moment as there are so many rises and hollows which serve as thermal traps. I'll be wandering along quite happily and then I'll suddenly get a shot of warm air, or a cold blast. It disappears just as quickly. I guess it's always been like that, I've just never noticed before now when the differences in air temperature are more pronounced.
So now it's down to 4, maybe 5 training runs left. Every morning I have to do a quick check of my hips and knees to make sure that they haven't seized solid during the night. They usually get going again with the threat of a good slapping. It's going to be as it's going to be, but I'm relieved to have made it this far. Frankly I didn't have high hopes of making it into September. If it all turns bad then I still feel like I have achieved something.
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