It’s been five weeks since I wrecked my body at the Kakegawa Marathon. The first couple of weeks after that were quite painful and I wasn’t able to do very much at all in terms of exercise. Since the beginning of May, I’ve managed to start running again and am making steady progress towards my next big event, the Mount Norikura Heavenly Marathon on the weekend of June 22/23.
Running Smarter
I do have a tendency to overdo things and I’m sure that’s why I’ve been struggling with injuries for the better part of a year. Right now, I’m still dealing with Achilles tendonitis and 2nd metatarsal syndrome. Neither injury is keeping me from working out, but they are taking an awful long time to go away. That’s why I’ve started to train more sensibly:
- I’m running three times a week and not on consecutive days;
- I’m warming up with Radio Taiso and a 5 minute walk before I start running;
- I’m running by time, not distance, increasing by 10% each week;
- I’m wearing a heart rate monitor and running at around 140 beats per minute;
- That means I’m running really slowly, around 6:30/km pace;
- I’m only running hills once a week;
- I’ve been doing 10 minutes of daily workouts, targeting legs, glutes and abs;
But that’s not all!
On the four days a week that I’m not running, I’m cycling and swimming. With an Olympic-distance triathlon in July, I need to train for those as well. I’m swimming at least 1,000m twice a week and cycling around 50km a week. If I follow my homemade schedule, I’ll be doing more than what the triathlon requires by the time it comes around.
Looking ahead
To be honest, neither Mt. Norikura nor the Imizu Triathlon phase me very much. I don’t need to take either of them very seriously and can just enjoy each occasion. I am, however, a little anxious about two other events in August and September.
On August 30th, I’ve registered to run the 70K Utsukushigahara Trail Run in Nagano prefecture. I’m not altogether sure I’ll be ready for that, even if I approach it with a “go slow, have fun” attitude.
And then, just two weeks later, I’m heading back to the Izu peninsula to attempt a solo, do-it-yourself, full Ironman-distance triathlon. It will mark exactly one year since I last saw my best friend, Keith, before he passed away, and since he organized the half-Ironman I did there last year, I want to do this to honor his name. I’ll have the support of Shun, who I did last year’s half with, and maybe some other people down there will come out to cheer me on.
It will be a huge challenge to complete both those events, two weeks apart, without injuring myself. Still, that which does not kill us only makes us stronger.
If you like, you can find me on Twitter at @nick_ramsay. I'd love to hear from you!