In June I was struggling to run fast, feeling really tired and decided I needed a rest. This is a bit of an update on my progress since then.
I took a couple of weeks completely off running and felt
fine again. So I started running doing short and gentle runs at first and then
slightly harder and longer runs (up to about an hour). I thought I was over
whatever the problem was. So in the middle of August I completed the Sedburgh
Hills Fell Race. I took just over 2 and a half hours, which was about 10
minutes longer than normal. I was happy with that (considering I had not done a
large amount of training) and felt no ill effects afterwards. I also competed
in the short Round Latrigg Race again I was a bit slower than normal but happy
that I felt OK after.
However, three days later I did an hour long training run
and felt absolutely shattered afterwards. I felt half asleep the whole time, a
bit feverish and dizzy. I was definitely too tired for running. I started to
feel a little better but was worried about trying to support my sister over the
second half of the Joss Naylor challenge (my section was about 8 hours over the
fells with lots of climbing). As I had promised to help I thought I would try
and see how I felt. To start with I was really tired, but I picked up through
the day and felt quite strong by the end and was happy to have helped her
complete it.
For the next week I felt OK and was running regularly but
then suddenly one morning my run took more effort to run slower. Again I felt
shattered for the next week. I had entered the Lake District Mountain Trail and
the day before I felt just about good enough to start. I thought I would jog
round if I felt OK and maybe make it to the finish. Surprisingly as soon as I
started I felt good and was moving quite well. I was astonished to finish
second.
So what is going on? I wish I knew. Sometimes I feel OK and
sometimes really tired. I managed to get a blood test from the doctors but it
found nothing unusual. It seems most likely that I have a virus that I have never
completely recovered from (is my body still not completely recovered from my
Wainwrights run last year?). But if anyone reading this has any better idea
then please let me know.
What I probably need to do is take it easy for a while. I
think I should make sure all the runs I do are short and steady (the problem is
that at my age is if you stop completely it is very hard to start again) and
then once I know I am completely recovered then build it up again slowly. The
problem is that I love running and I enjoy going to races and racing hard, but
I need to think about next year and future years and not do myself any long
term damage.
