Spring has sprung

I LOVE this time of year. There is something very special about the start of spring with the gradually warming temperatures and the countryside coming to life again after the winter lull. It’s also a dangerous time of year - I tend to get carried away and want to pack every spare moment full with plans for runs, walks, trips and whatever else I can think of. So guess what? The calendar is looking pretty stacked all of a sudden. Hey ho. Lots to look forward to.

My running is also coming back to life. An injury enforced two months off over the winter has given my legs a freshness I haven’t had for quite some time, and I’m relieved to say the niggles I had are now well in check. Phew. It’s quite amazing how quickly the body can bounce back from a period of no running. In the midst of it you feel like you may never find ‘it’ again and the negative voices in the back of your head are working overtime, but of course that’s just your mind playing around. In reality, running fitness is a long term project, and whilst the sharpness on the outside does disappear quickly, all that hard work over the years which has gone into the core of your legs, is of course still there. Thanks goodness for that.

I was hoping to run the World 100km in April which is the same day as the London Marathon on 22nd April however I’ve decided to pull the plug on that. It’s too soon, and there’s too much pavement pounding involved. Not worth the risk. My 3^rd GB vest will have to wait a bit longer. I will be ready fitness-wise, but I probably won’t have the durability in me to batter the roads for 7 or so hours. I may however sneak a shorter race in towards the end of April – I’ll hold that decision for a few weeks. I’m now targeting, with a lot of excitement, the TNF 100 in the Blue Mountains of Australia on 19^th May. I’ve never travelled down under before, so I’ll be excited to be a tourist and see some of the sights of the Sydney and Blue Mountains area, as well as the prospect of some great racing of course.

Training wise, for me March is all about building some base. As Twitter will tell you I’ve been swimming daily during my injury spell and, rather worryingly, I’ve been enjoying it. I couldn’t have written the script for that one. But I’ve now decided to try to keep it up even as my running mileage increases as it seems to loosen my legs and joints out remarkably well, which will hopefully help to maintain the durability and overall strength when I really start to crank the running up in April. I’ve run a great mixture of distances from 5 miles to 40 miles over the last couple of weeks and I will keep up the variety for motivation, interest and as a good overall balance. I’ll also do the weekly Bournemouth AC marathon sessions which are seriously good workouts, albeit on the flat. In April I will step up the sessions and work at threshold a lot more with a view to being ‘fit’ for early May. My fitness for the TNF 100 should flow nicely into Western States where I’m going for my 3^rd finish. I can’t wait.

So despite a challenging start to the year, it’s all heading in the right direction :o)