We are now at a place where many different emotions are starting to collide. You are feeling accomplishment for sticking to your goals and making some great gains, you are stabilising with regards to routine and consistency, the body might be aching a little with different parts of the body telling you it needs more attention…… and your eating routine may have changed to provide the fuel it needs to continue with the challenge that you have set for yourself.
All of these emotions can be mentally quite taxing and it can start to take a toll. In these cases it is important to take a step back and take a few deep breaths and remember why you started a challenge or a goal in the first place. It is important that any fitness or activity goal provides you with ‘Joy’ and ‘happiness’. This is one of the key objectives we are trying to achieve.
A level of self doubt can also start to sneak into your thought process because you aren’t happy or satisfied with the gains you were expecting. When it comes to running, sports or any forms of activity you will probably make some quick gains…..and this leads to an incredible rush and release of endorphins. This pleasure and happiness pulls you into a false sense of security and your expectations can become unrealistic.
Boom! suddenly everything plateaus or gets worse……and the momentum suddenly starts to slow, your focus starts to diminish and suddenly the personal challenge is dead and is no longer a part of your routine, no longer makes you feel happy….so why should you do it???
First of all remember to compliment yourself on what you have achieved. Even write it down and say it out loud to your partner or friend. Most of us achieve so much in a given day but we concentrate on the negative things and what we haven’t achieved.
It is normal for things to plateau and potentially get worse before they get better. The reason for this is big gains do come in the beginning as you are making a seismic shift as to how you do things. If you are running for the first time in a while, or starting off your first few runs will potentially be significantly different with minutes being shaved off at a time. As your cardiovascular system stabilises and your aerobic endurance develops you will potentially see some great gains. After the big gains though you get to a position where the gains become smaller, or even go backwards.
Why?
- Overdoing or over enthusiasm in the beginning. You suddenly see gains and you push harder and harder looking to get more and more gains. We get greedy for that endorphin rush. The extra fatigue and stresses on the body will impact performance and you are likely to experience negative gains
- Other factors will improve that you wouldn’t normally think about. Whilst your times may not improve (get slower) areas such as heart rate, cadence, V02 Max, general level of comfort (legs, arms, hips) will start to adapt and actually show positive signs of improvement. If you have a smart device you will be able to capture this data and analyse over days, weeks and months. You will be surprised as to what you see. You will also be able to dial in on areas that may require change or adjustment
- We harp on about rest days as they are important to allow the body to recover and maximise gains. If you are doing high intensity training, or long distance running, both require rest periods to allow the body to recover. This doesn’t mean you have to be sedentary. What it means is the tempo should be adjusted on your rest days. For example after a long run the following day you might want to do a light run or a light walk to stretch out the fascia (interconnected tissue). You may even want to consider some yoga or pilates involving some dynamic stretching. Rolling out sore muscles on the massage ball or roller is another underestimated activity that requires time and concentration
- Boredom can be another factor in not achieving goals or seeing improvements. If you do the same routine week in week out it becomes monotonous and uninteresting. It is important to mix things up in terms of activity and scenery. This means try trail runs, mix up the complexity, change up the scenery. Play a sport, go to the beach. Making things different creates subconscious encouragement and excitement
GM Report.
The weeks are flying by and as the guys pointed out we are starting to see some rhythm and hopefully some positive results. What you will encounter as well when you start to stress the body is stuff starts to hurt. This is perfectly normal especially if you are an older guy like me recovering from battle scars of the past. Ironically my knee not subject to surgery (my left knee) was the one that started to play up especially when I started to increase the distance. I started to get pain under my knee cap known as Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome. The reason for this isn’t black and white and could be the cause of a number of things especially in my case.
- Foot pronation – under (supination) or over-pronation
- Tight calf muscles leading to posterior force on the knee (likely as I am known for tight calf muscles due to high intensity workouts and a lifetime of sprinting)
- Tight hamstrings – possibly….surgery resulted in a graft being made out of my right hamstring.
- Tight quadriceps and/or iliotibial band
- Overuse – possibly. Going from a 10km limit to 15 km…whilst it didn’t seem like much of an increase, it exceeded my physical threshold for the day
The honest reality is I have no idea and it is a case of analysing all movements and trying to improve form. From slowing down (reducing my cadence) and running within my lower aerobic threshold I get the following benefits.
- Building my aerobic threshold and muscle endurance
- Enjoy my run because I am relaxed
- Allow for me to analyse my movements, such as my foot landing, my posture, my spring and ability to propel forward with minimal effort
- Allow for deep analysis of any pain or discomfort and where it may originate from
- Improve my form and hopefully eradicate stress and subsequently pain
What have I done since?
Like a smartass I thought I would run a 15km as I thought I was up to it. I finished the distance but I was clearly not conditioned to complete the distance and literally crawled to the finish. Also I pushed too hard too early. Word of advice is concentrate on covering the distance feeling comfortable and pain free….regardless of how long it takes you to complete. Run within a moderate aerobic threshold. Run with a smile as opposed to a grimace.
I also ran another 6km run within a 24 hour period. This was stupid and put me at risk of injury. Unless you are training for a marathon you shouldn’t really be doing more than one really long run in the week. We spoke about mixing it up and doing different types of tempo work, and of course rest! The body needs to recover.
I have a great physio who knows way more than me. When it comes to anything, especially rehabilitative work and training, be the dumbest person in the room. Have someone to hold you accountable and challenge you….even tell you off when you do something stupid. More importantly listen and develop a personal relationship with your professional adviser (trainer, physio, nutritionist). That personal relationship is important as it shows they get you and understand how you work mechanically and emotionally.
Train hard and safe. Engage your Titan. Talk soon!
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