Training Mon 19th - Sunday 25th May

As well as working on psychological tools that can help me train and race at a more consistent and higher level, this week we began work on visualization. Michele continues to help me shake up and reorganise my whole athletic way of life. Thanks to working with a number of world-class athletes, Michelle knows what kind of support system is needed around an athlete. This week I have taken great strides in restructuring my life. There are a number of big changes on the horizon, as yet nothing is signed, sealed or delivered, so I don't want to tempt fate by mentioning too much, but I hope this change will really help my progression. I believe it can act as a massively important stepping-stone, aiding me towards achieving the absolute most out of my abilities.
Training-wise, I eased back on the gas pedal this week. Michelle, for one, could see I was falling into the pit-fall of doing too much too soon. Having been out for so long I'd begun to get caught up in the euphoria of being able to train at full blast, without the worry of re injuring my calf or back. However to train twice everyday at 100% is not going to get me anywhere fast. My body needs time to get stronger, so it can deal with running faster reps in a speed session and churning out greater mileage each week. I'd got caught up playing catch up, so key sessions for me to focus on were highlighted and the rest of the sessions were diluted.
Tuesday's track work was a session for me to go for. I'd done a very, very easy twenty minutes in the morning and allowed my body time to rest before attempting to get the best out of it in the evening. The session was repetitions of 600, 800, 1200, and 1600 metres, with a 200-metre jog recovery. The session was perfect for my state of fitness, not too long in duration and a good mix of endurance and speed. The session went well. I struggled a little with the second half of the 1600 metre rep, but I need to allow time for my fitness to increase, so it was bound to feel a bit tough! I was also helped by the visualization techniques I'd been working on with Michele. At the beginning of the session and at points where I began to struggle, I had to visualize how I ran in my best race, how relaxed I felt, how in control I was of everything and how quickly my legs were turning over. On top of this I was to eliminate any imperfections, to make it the perfect race. If at any point I stumbled or a competitor took my piece of track, in my race it no longer happened. I was out in front and no one could touch me! It worked well, especially when I was beginning to struggle. It took my concentration from a negative, the pain I was in, to a positive, my perfect race. As negative emotions have a greater and stronger influence on us than positive emotions it's important to block out the negatives and let the positives pull you through.
As part of my new regime aimed at giving my body time to recover, the two-hour long runs I had previously planned were shelved for a 45-minute steady run and a 25- minute easy run. This allowed me to tackle Thursday's 20-minute tempo run feeling a lot stronger. This session was of a higher quality than it would have been if I'd attempted it with weary legs. It's the quality that's important right now, the quantity can be built up more gradually, in my body's own time. It also meant that when quantity was the key element of the session, the long Sunday run, I was mentally fresh and eager to smash out an hour and forty. However my next sports psychology class will be on how to deal with nasty training partners who drag their so called 'friends' off, for their first run of over an hours duration in nearly three months, to Boxhill, where even the flat sections are up hill. I guess you keep your friends close and your enemies closer!!