Feeling Good

A beautiful session to be out running this morning.

I headed out for an easy run today, not really sure what to expect, but keen to do a bit of a longer run. Running has been feeling pretty great the last two weeks (within reason) and so I was keen to see how it could feel for a longer run. My intent was to head out for 60 or 70 minutes and so with that in mind I didn't want to push the speed too much so that I could keep my heart rate under control.

In the end the run ended up being a really nice 16km trot. It was one of those mornings where I really just felt like I could have kept running, but I knew that 16km was a good place to stop. Doing more than 16km was going to be pushing the limits in terms of heart and body conditioning. The last thing I want to do is push the heart too much or injure myself because I simply ran more than my body is ready for. The average heart rate for the session was 142bpm, which is about spot on, that tells me it is possible for me to do a longer run while still staying within my limits which is exactly what I wanted to know.

16km today brings my running total for the week up to about 30km. Quite a step down from the peak distances I was doing for Ironman training, but not a bad place to start. Now that I have got through the 30km comfortably and within the limits of my heart I am keen to get in a bit more this week. Not overdoing it, but seeing if I can squeeze another 10km or so into the week.

I don't really have a goal in mind with the running, this certainly isn't a rebuild to racing or anything. My main reason for running is that it is feeling great and so I am keen to do more. One thing I came to enjoy when I was training for Ironman was my long Sunday runs. I would love to be able to get back to the point where I can go out and run 30km on a Sunday. That sort of goal is probably unrealistic, but if I can safely get back to running 20km or so on a Sunday, then that would be rather nice. Baby steps of course, which is very important with running, but I am keen to keep the build going.

I have to say this last week of exercise has felt really good. I have sessions like the run today and I find myself thinking that I am feeling awesome and that just maybe I could my way back to proper training. However, part of the reason that training this week has been so good is because I have been very conscious of my limits. I can have a few days of great training where I feel like my old self, but then after a few days my body reminds me that it does indeed have limits.

I was reminded of these limits most recently on Thursday. I did some solid training on Tuesday and Wednesday and so when I went for a paddle on Thursday morning my heart let me know it needed a break. It is hard to describe just how the heart feels but weary is probably as good a word as any. When I feel that I know it is time to give myself some rest. That is just what I did on Thursday and Friday, taking the days fairly easy. As a result of those easy days I was able to have a couple of great training days this weekend.

Listening to my body like that is going to be the key going forward if I am keen to do some sustainable exercise. Doing some training when I am able, but also not pushing on when the body is asking me not to.

Speaking of my heart, it is back to Dr Stobie's office tomorrow. Tomorrow's appointment is the follow up to my Stress Test from a few weeks ago. I spoke to Dr Stobie following the stress test, but this is more of a proper follow up. Part of tomorrow is going to be a discussion of what I can do going forward. Just what training I can do safely and what will be too much.

Should be an interesting conversation.