Seems a bit of a farce to be reviewing my running this year. It was pretty terminal. So instead I’ll let you know I’ve just had a rest day (other than squad swim)  and went to see Avatar in 3D – awesome movie. First time in a while I’ve thought a movie was worth what I for paid it. Last night I cooked Beef Wellington … here’re the before and after piccies:

Think there is work to be done on the presentation side but it tasted absolutely delicious and I’ll certainly be trying cooking it again.

OK. Back to the run review…

It’s not gone as well as I’d hoped ! Returning to running in the summer was just a string of niggles and false starts. Since Kona however the inserts in my shoes have appeared to be working and I’ve been running pain free. I’ve managed a couple of runs of around the 2+h mark and am starting to feel comfortable with my running. For completeness here are the stats:

Pace is slower and mileage slower this year. The plan is to get the mileage up but no where near what I’ve done previously. The target is more  consistency rather than the massive weeks I used to do.

So how to I become fast at Ironman Marathons without doing so much running I run the risk of screwing my foot further ?

1.I get bike fit. Big rides, big mileage. I want to be riding 5 hours without it being balls out

2.Build my long run up slowly. Target is running 3 hours most weeks. I did 2h40 before Busso and have managed 1h50 here in Christchurch. I will place higher importance on this run than I have in the past, viewing it as my key weekly run and resting up to do it if necessary.

3.Initially I will not run consecutive days. Currently I’m running three times a week but will try and progress to every other day. When I feel more confident with my foot I may try consecutive days on the odd occasion.

Epic Camp is about to start and requires 105km of running in two weeks merely to complete the camp. THat is more running than I’ve done in two weeks since my surgery and as such I need to be VERY careful. I can’t screw up my foot just to get the prize for completion. I need to be careful about the race on day 1 and not be enticed to go too hard because of the Yellow Jersey. In this context going for yellow does seem a little crazy but I’m not sure I can bring myself not to try and compete. Mantra to self “be sensible… head not heart”.