Watch That First Step

With my first week more of a struggle than I hoped, the following week was a big step up. The running felt so much better and easier. I made a conscious effort not to push the boundaries, but the improvement was substantial.

 

The most important change is I am finding it easier to maintain proper technique throughout all my runs. Of course I am still having moments when I fall back into the habits of the last few months, but it isn't a battle through most of a run. The pace on my easy runs has consistently fallen into the faster end of the range, plus feels easier. The weakness in my hamstrings and glutes is highlighted on the hills. I have to fight my body's attempts of looking to what it thinks is the easy way out, which is to cut out the last push of the drive on each stride. Consistency here will bring big returns after a few months.

On that note, I have already experienced improvement in holding that technique through a long run. This week's long run covered 20km with what was mainly solid technique. Plus I held a consistent and targeted pace throughout. This time without any cramping issues. In fact I just felt good throughout and the running felt natural, only requiring a bit of extra concentration in the last couple of kilometres. The next couple of days highlighted that I am still bringing muscles into play that aren't used the loading as those 20km filled my legs with lead and wet sand.

It's good to be back.