Just finished week 7 of the Big Vert plan. I finally seem to be getting on top of it.
Past the teething niggles?
I hope so. I think so.
I’ve had the gamut of lower-leg complaints: both calves, one foot, both heels and one knee. Probably from all the extra climbing. It feels easy — not as hard as running on the flat — but it’s a new stimulus that has taken a toll.
But I think I’m on top of it now. And I’ve been pretty smart (for me!) about handling the niggles: days off here and there and adapting the plan but not paying too much attention to the niggles — some pains need to be run out.
Learnt how to do the muscular endurance (ME) workouts
I was handling these OK but getting niggles.
But I’ve got the trick to them this week: don’t push to hard. Don’t do the exercises as explosively and as fast as you can, even though you can do them more explosively and faster because you’re getting better at them.
Just get through them. Just get used to them.
I even managed to get through the ME session this week nursing a calf niggle that never became worse because (I think) I took it slow.
Nearing uncharted training waters
Certainly in terms of weekly average climbing but also total climbing in one run.
Last Saturday’s long run was one of my biggest training runs ever in terms of elevation gain (1250m+ or so). When I get over 1400m+, that will be my record.
Week 8 is a recovery week. I’ll follow it but perhaps add in hill sprints, which I haven’t done for a while.
Leave a Reply