My inability to run has come back and bit me on the arse again. My achilles/calves are still quite sore, so yesterday I decided two things. First, I’m not running today, and won’t be running again until the soreness goes away. Second, I’m going to revise my run training.

I read up on some run training philosophies yesterday and all seem to suggest that your long run is the most important run of the week, the one which produces the greatest training effect. My problem is that I can’t run for very long at all. My aerobic system is fine, but my legs aren’t happy with the pounding and having to carry my 88kg at a more rapid rate than walking. My lower legs are the weakest link, hence they’re bitching the loudest.

So, there are two problems. First, I’m too heavy, so I’ve got to get rid of some weight, which means upping my training volume. Running more is just counterproductive for the moment, so cycling will be the main focus for a while as it’s zero impact. Secondly, my “long” run is too long, or rather I’m building it up too quickly, so I’m going to knock that back to 5km instead of 7 and keep it like that for two weeks or so and then build up slowly. We’ll see how that goes. I’m also going to add another short (3.35km) run into the weekly schedule so that the overall distance stays the same, as my legs don’t complain after the short runs.