Thursday, February 24, 2011

I'm back baby!

So, after 3+ weeks of being sick, the final one keeping me from training at all, I'm back in the game. I wish I could say I'm completely healthy, but I'm still sneezing. Hopefully it's my old cold hanging on a bit rather then another one hitting me. It's no longer in the chest though, so I intend to get back to my workouts.

Tuesday I went for a short run and did a bike on the trainer. I didn't go to hard, but both felt good. The run was only 20 minutes, and besides a very short walk to puff my inhaler (common need for me when I'm sick or it's really cold out), I ran the entire time at a decent pace. I still remember how intimidating the first 20 minute run in the C25K program seemed. Now, I can do it after coming off an illness and not being 100 percent. Victory for me!

What did make me feel completely out of shape though was yesterday evening's swim. I can't remember the last time I felt so inept in the pool. I couldn't seem to keep my form right and I was getting really winded. Normally I can easily swim 500-1000 metres without needing a break. Yesterday I was stopping for a breather every 50-100. It was brutal. I only hope that a couple more swims and I'll regain the form I had before and once I kick this cold the rest of the way, I'll regain the stamina.

One thing I'm not sure about is my running mileage. After a week long break, how quickly is it safe to return to the mileage I was doing before? In general with training, I follow the 10% rule, and don't increase by more then that. Obviously, after being sick, I don't need to start at zero. If I keep my pace easy, can I go right back up to my previous volume? Or should I take a week or two to build back to it?

3 comments:

  1. So glad to hear you are feeling better! I started to get worried...

    I am the same way in the pool. Two weeks off and I feel like I am back at zero! A couple sessions and you will be back to where you were before you got sick.

    As for the running, I would try running the mileage that you ran last and then increase based on how you feel after that. One week off isn't bad. So if your last long run was 16K, you can do 16K again before increasing. If you feel bad during the run, either slow down or call it quits early. Your body will let you know what you should do.
    Oh but don't have your first run back be your long run. Do one or two shorter runs first. Hope that is clear...

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