Running return after illness

A weekend away followed by five days of illness meant I hadnt been running for six days.

I tested the water to make aure I was well enough to run on Friday evening with a gentle 7K run which went OK, but I wasnt sure how I was fixed for a weekend long run. Ideally I should have been aiming to complete my first run in the region of 30Km.

I wasnt sure as to what kind of distance or pace I would be up to as I still didnt feel 100% so I headed out with a vague notion of aiming to run around 2 hours.

After a couple of miles I knew I was OK to complete a half decent long run but it was also obvious I didn't have the energy or strength to run a great pace. 

I settled into a decent enough pace of around 5.30min/Km which I was comfortable with although this is somewhat slower than the pace I will be aiming for in the first half of my marathon and in particular the first quarter.

I managed to cover 22K in 2 hours and was just pleased to have got a half decent long run under my belt even though I know my training will now be one 30K run light.

Overall it was a very enjoyable run as I took on a new route linking a couple of country parks together in a kind of loop around my local area. It was nice to run on a real variety of terrains and through varied landscapes. My run took me through residental areas, open park park land, through woods, round lakes and along motorways running on grass, pavement, gravel paths, muddy tracks and tarmac.

I was so thankful to be back up and running and glad I wasn't laid up ill for any longer. Hopefully thats now my illness allocation used up and I will get a good run of clean health in the build up to my marathons.

One month countdown

Today is a big day, one month count down to my first of three autumn marathons.

How do I feel?

If you had asked me last week my answer would have been very positive as I was on the back of a 7 day runstreak and feeling strong and fit. 

However I have been ill since Sunday with some kind of nasty stomach bug, been off work all week barely well enough to leave the house let alone train. 

I feel so much weaker, feel like I have lost a lot of strength and my body has really struggled in its attempts to fight off the illness. 

As is always the way your diet goes out the window when your ill as lack of appetite and the desire for comfort food lead you to not always eating the healthiest of food choices.

So at the moment I feel pretty demoralized as missing a key week of training at this stage is a big blow. I am hopeful to get out for a decent run at the weekend if I feel well enough so fingers crossed for that.

My concern before falling ill was that although my training had gone well and I had pushed myself hard I was still some way short of being fast or fit enough to run a sub 4 marathon. After a week off I now know that the sub 4 mark is now even further out of reach. 

The challenge when getting back to training after illness is knowing when to start and then getting the balance right of how hard to ease yourself back to training and how hard to push. 

I know I need to just get back up and running but I also know I need a good long run of around 20K+ to stay on course with my training but am fearful that I will not have the energy or strength for this and it will be too much too soon after my illness. 

Any way fingers crossed I get back to full strength and fitness quickly so I can power on with my training and head full steam towards the marathon! 

Enough of my ramblings, thank you for reading, I hope everyone is fit and healthy and any tips or advice on training after illness would be gratefully received.