The Long Slow Return

Months ago enough was enough. Nothing was working the way I wanted it physically and emotionally. I needed a change. I'll go more in depth on the full transformation when it's finished. It involves a parasite, heavy iron, completely out of sorts insulin levels and then some other minor findings. 

The first thing I did was take 2 weeks off of any activity. I didn't run, swim, ride my bike or do much other than sleep, walk or work. 

Then I started running again. I capped my heart rate. You could say I chose the MAF method (180 - age gives you MAF heartrate) but whatever I capped it. I started with a total of 15 miles for the week. Today I'm running 33 miles a week, riding (at the same capped HR) and swimming. My running schedule. 

Monday off

Tuesday Medium run (1/2 of the long run) 

Wednesday short run (1/4 of the long run) 

Thursday Medium (1/2 of the long run) 

Friday Short Run (1/4 of the long run) 

Saturday Short Run (1/4 of the long run) 

Sunday Long run. 

Short runs are 10 beats below the capped HR. Medium runs are run as 1st half 5-10 beats below capped 2nd half at capped. Long run is done as all but the last 3 miles done 5-10 beats below capped and the last 3 miles at the capped HR. 

This week my runs are Medium 6 miles, short 3 miles and long 12 miles. Then there are rules in all of this: 

1. Run trails 90% of the time. 
2. Take adventure runs when possible. 
3. Stop at the designated distance and walk it in. For instance today I hit 3 miles and then walked for 8 minutes back to the car. 
4. Do strides at the end of the medium runs. I do 6-8 controlled fast strides. 

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 Sometimes My work takes me to adventure running. Leadville Colorado is spectacular. 

 My dog is always my warm up in the morning. I walk casually while she runs around hunting for gophers. She's my pal. 

I am lucky where I live. There are trails everywhere. This trail head is 10 minutes or slightly more from the house and it goes for miles and miles and miles. It's challenging to which I like. 

My Results so far. 

1. My pace is slowly but surely picking up at the capped HR. 
2. Running never hurts. I used to be sore after hard runs. I have no hard runs right now and running at that capped HR is rather stress free. 
3. In the past I'd get to 30-40 miles and it would be hard to go any further. Today I'm looking at getting into the 45 mile/week range and sticking to it for weeks. I don't see any reason why I won't be able to do it. 

None of this is new information to me. I've always known this is the way I should be running. I've never done that because of a number of reasons.Those reasons were not getting me anywhere. So enough was enough. 

It's a good life.......