Above is my month 4 training plan. Since we are a couple of weeks into it, i've updated to show what I actually did as my normal training was interrupted by the Tenerife holiday/training and subsequent recovery. This month’s milestone was the 19 mile Tenerife training run as detailed in my previous blog post.
No Long Distance Walkers Association (LDWA) event this month for that reason, and also because 2 weeks into month 5 I must do a 35 mile route. This will be exactly one month before I take part in La Trans Aqu in France in June. After that 35 mile, which will simulate the longest distance I will have to cover in one day in France, I will not do another route as long, probably only 15 miles max. For the next 8 weeks, injury permitting, I will also be concentrating on running.
On the subject of injury, I'll move onto my weekly update. I posted last week about my shin pain which caused me several days limping following Tenerife. I still don't know what it is or what has caused it. It was Friday this week before it felt anything even approaching better, so the week was lost with no training. On Friday I did my normal Gym session with no problems though. Saturday I literally tried running a few steps, and the increased force on the joint still caused pain, so I decided it was not worth running.
However on Sunday (today) I have done a 10 mile walking route. I decided that 10 mile was the maximum I should attempt. My girlfriend asked to come along, since it was such a nice day, and I would not be running. I packed some of the equipment I will be using in June, and on the MDS, including my new PHD minim 300 sleeping bag which arrive this week (5 weeks late I might add!!!), and my Prolite Thermarest roll mat. I also added a couple of 1.5l water bottles and some towels and clothes to add more weight. I weighed the pack before I started (and to the finish) was 7kg’s. This is getting towards the maximum weight I could carry in June, which is 8 kilos. However, with some careful packing I hope to keep it down to 7kg.
The route is posted below. You may notice the new improved map.
I'm now using 1:25000 scale maps instead of the 1:50000 I was using previously. This helped especially today as I was not using GPS. My PDA is in for repair after being destroyed by the hailstorm I was caught in whilst training on the 'Spring in Lakeland' event. I forgot to mention my PDA was a casualty in that blog post. Hopefully it can be revived. So, it was map and compass today, although to be fair there was little call to use the compass as most of the route is easy. I did however take a few bearings to practice and refresh my memory. All of the La Trans Aqu France route will require road-book and compass use. It's been an unseasonably good Easter Bank Holiday weekend, with clear blue skies and temperatures getting towards the high teens.
We set off at a slightly slower than normal pace to see how my shin/knee would cope. It didn't feel right, and was causing discomfort, but not serious pain. However I took a 600mg ibuprofen to keep inflammation down. An hour later, and the pain had got no worse, but had got no better, so I had another. That did take the pain away, but proved to me that it's obviously in no shape to be attempting any serious training this week. I will do my gym sessions and replace the runs with swimming. I have to rest it to ensure I am fully fit to training for the June event over the coming weeks. We completed the 10 mile route in 3 and half hours, so a very gentle training session, just around 3 miles an hour. I've since iced my leg and I’m about to do the same again now. The ibuprofen has worn off and no pain has returned, but I can just tell it doesn't feel right. It is still tender to touch in one spot and stings when my leg flex's beyond a certain angle. I just wish I knew what I had done to cause it, or what it could be? I've been pretty unlucky this year so far with injuries, lets hope this is the last one!
So, I'll wisely keep off the running and cross train in the pool this week. Even if it takes 2 weeks to get right again, I won't rush back to running on it. Besides swimming totally tires me out, so must be doing my cardio fitness (as well as muscle tone) wonders. Speaking of muscle tone, I've noticed my upper arms have acquired imrpved muscle tone since I have been doing a lot of work with the trekking poles, which I also used again today incidentally. I'm fairly light build at only 67kg; useful when you run a long way, and I've been amazed how even my slight build has changed over the last 18 months. There really is not an ounce of fat on my legs at all now, not that there was much to begin with. If I do another fitness test where they measure fat with callipers in various spots on the body(like I did a year ago), I'm sure I will probably be under 10% body fat now (I was 11.5% in February last year). None of this is through conscious effort or building, it's just happened as a result of the MDS training. Wonder what if I can improve further by the MDS 2008? I'm sure I will.
That's all for now, other than a quick hello to all the new people reading my blog. The traffic on the site has rapidly increased over the last few months with many far reaching international hits from all over the world, as well as many UK readers. Welcome everyone, hope this is enjoyable or helpful, and by all means if you think you can be of help or make suggestions to my training (or on this site) please email me from the link in my profile.
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