Who Stole My Fitness?

A return to blogging, and after over seven weeks, a return to running!

Why no running? Well, as I’m sure you’ll be aware, I had a stress fracture in my foot which happened during the West Highland Way Race. Four weeks after said race, I headed to Africa to join Mrs pacepusher, who had already been out there for two weeks working in a school in Malawi, to climb Kilimanjaro, and to enjoy a short safari. Well, we made it to the summit, and we saw three of the ‘big five’ (lions, buffalo and elephants), sadly though, not seeing leopards or rhinos. Summit night on Kili was, without doubt, the hardest thing mentally, and physically, that I have ever done! I suffered nose bleeds and sickness due to altitude, and found the slow pace unbelievably tough (although I don’t think I could have gone any faster if I tried). It still seems a bit surreal that I’ve done it at all.

On my return from Africa, I was welcomed home by the flu, and as a result had to withdraw from the Devil O’ The Highlands. Still, we had a great time watching the race, despite the early start, and witnessed some great performances – you know who you are!

Anyway, last night I found some shoes in the cupboard that Mrs pacepusher told me were designed for running, so I put them on my feet and tried to remember what to do with my legs. I went out with the easier session at the club which was a good move as I threw up during the session as it was! Who stole my fitness? It’s only been 7 weeks!

19:09 6.06 miles 55:22

The session was quite a good one, based on the old pyramid system, starting at 1 minute and increasing by 30 seconds up to 3 minutes, before heading back down again. The recoveries were a bit excessive though, equalling the time run over the interval each time. It was hard, but great to be back running again!

Today I headed out with Harvey for a 5 mile run.

14:05 5 miles 37:26

1 7:23 2 7:36 3 7:53 4 7:19 5 7:15  Average 7:29 min/miles

I tried to push relatively hard throughout, although you’d never guess that from my splits! 7 weeks ago, the last two miles would easily have been sub 7:00 pace, today I was no where near, despite my best efforts!

My quads are shot, I’m guessing as a result of Kili, and I feel weeks away from my previous fitness… but I’m alive, and I’m running. That, as I now constantly remember after recent extremely sad events, is the main thing. I was really disappointed to miss Dario’s funeral, but it sounds as though he had a pretty awesome turnout for his departure – ‘Born To Run’ will hold new thoughts whenever I hear it!

On a happier note, after over 4 months of waiting patiently, today I had a call from the Navy. Assuming that I can run 1.5 miles fast enough, I’m in! Time to start and make some new plans… oh yeah, and find my fitness again!