Run

It's funny how after putting together a good week of training you start thinking about what could have been if only I managed that before my last race. I guess the trick now is to keep building on from my current week. This introductory phase is feeling pretty good so far. I get to mix up the running, get in some fast stuff, work on strength and not beat up my body in the process. That last part is the key.

An overriding feature of my training at the moment is no session should floor me for the next few days. I should be able to repeat the same level of training either the next day or at most the day after. That doesn't mean all the runs are easy, some are quite hard at the time. The stimulus comes from a combination of variety and pushing the boundaries a little bit. An individual session won't make a big difference, but get a few weeks of consistent training that gradually raises the overall workload and the sum becomes greater than the parts.

This approach seems to make it easier to hold a consistent volume. Nothing about it is particularly spectacular, but it is a solid challenge in keeping the minimum level up day after day. The biggest part probably is ensuring I have everything else in life sorted first. Takes a good amount of planning ahead of time. One variation to the theme is when I complete a long run. For these I am still being relatively conservative, but I will follow the long run up with a day dedicated to active recovery. This will add a bit more modulation and hopefully accelerate the training effect overall.