new year woes for me - I did my qualifying marathon last Oct and took 2 weeks off before TOM and Comrades training started 1 Nov. I had some doubts on the training plan I worked out for myself - it was a mashup of a few generic internet plans with cross references to coach parry's, percentage checks to see if I was reaching progress blocks with step backs etc and fairly impressed with my Frankenstein plan, but the mileage seemed too high. So I decided it was time to call in a professional. The pro second that the mileage was too high and lured me in with a cookie on a string and before you know it, I'm financially over committed in the worst way possible. The plan started me off lower than my marathon start block did and I scratched my head - huh? why so little mileage? It's not as if I'm couch to comrades? I was told to trust the process and I did. But everything was speed work with only an hour long run on the weekend. Alarm bells went off and I repeated my worries, and was lulled into content again. The speedwork during the week was short but quite rough and severe and I couldn't remember the last time I felt so tired. Unfortunately it all came crashing down when I tore my calf muscle and was out for 2 weeks. I dipped a toe back into running and all seemed fine but one hill repeat another 2 weeks later and I was back where I was. PS I'm not blaming the coach for my stupidity. That's on me. I should have eased into it knowing my own body. Currently I'm on the spinning bike for the next 2 weeks with TOM and Comrades slipping through my fingers. Some hard and expensive lessons learnt! And already a fortune spent on entries, accommodation, nutrition and gear.
