Tendonitis to Training : Slow Progress!

Last Monday I was feeling very disheartened with my progress.
I was trying to run for 40 mins, having managed 35 the day before, and my legs were tired and just trying to run was feeling far too hard. It was a general "oh god this is so hard I'm never going to make it back to the house" type of run. I started thinking about how it's just over 2 months to the World Duathlon Champs, and I've not managed to run for 5 miles.

Luckily I snapped back to reality pretty quickly and realised there was no way I'd be ready for the World Champs if I didn't change my attitude. 40 mins might be hard work, but it was never going to get easier if I gave up! I also thought, I've probably made pretty good progress, but I've not been writing my training down so I can't see the progress I've been making. I'm constantly comparing how I feel and how far/fast I'm running to what I was doing in March - which is incredibly disheartening because that's a world away from the level I'm at now.
I decided to stop focusing on how hard running is at the moment and instead just enjoy being able to run! As soon as I did that, I had a much more enjoyable run and decided to explore a couple of new footpaths in the woods. I got home and found I'd done 45 minutes, had a lovely run and was in a much better mood. I was still really tired with all my muscles aching, but I'd managed my longest run since March and enjoyed most of it!

I also realised how important it is to record my training, so I can 1. get some perspective on my progress, and 2. plan further training to TRY and get in shape for the World Champs.

So, here it is...my training since injury, broken down by week commencing date.

28th May: 2 x 10 min run
4th June: 2 x 15 min run, 1 x 5 min bike
11th June: 2 x 20 min run, 1 x 10min bike,
***FIRST RACE: Dunham 5km: 21.37***
18th June: 1 x 10 min bike, 1 x 10 min run + 10 min bike, 1 x 20 min run
***SECOND RACE: Lymm 5km: 23.12***
25th June: 1 x 20 min run, 10 min bike, 1 x 25 min run
***THIRD RACE: Worsley Woods Park Run 5km MT: 22.16***
***TRACK RACE: Northern League 3km: 12:20.8
2nd July: 1 x 25min run, 15 min bike, 1 x 35min run, 20 min bike
***FOURTH RACE: Forest Park Ladies 5km MT: 21.47
***FIFTH RACE: Worsley Woods Park Run 5km MT: 21.41***
9th July: Tues - 40 min run, 20 min bike.
Weds - 36 min run.
Fri - 25 min run easy.
Sun - 35 min run.
16th July: Mon - 46 min run.
Tues - 10 min, 3x3min efforts, 10 min.
Thurs: ***SIXTH RACE: Sale Sizzler 5km 21.10***
Fri: 35 min run easy.
Sun 60 mins! 7.5 miles

Photos from Sale Sizzler available here

Looking back at that now I can see I'm making great progress and managing to roughly stick to adding 5 mins a week to my longest run, though I did get a bit carried away on Sunday enjoying the sunshine and being able to check out some slightly different routes to the 25-30 min ones I've been restricted to recently.

I've also been doing a lot of races and loving it!
I must confess it was quite hard to get my head round racing and being so much slower than I was a few months ago, especially finishing miles behind people I was competitive with recently. But racing so often has been great for keeping me motivated - I definitely needed some intermediate challenges before the World Champs to break things up a bit. It's also fitted in well with my training as I've needed to do a lot of ~5km runs and it's helped ensure I do something faster than a trot and put some effort in. I've also absolutely loved it - it's been great to enjoy the social side of running, see people and make some new friends from my races!
Racing has also enabled me to put in some little targets - like getting under 21.30, and now I'm aiming to get under 21 minutes at the next Sale Sizzler 5km. I've even got a couple of 10km trail races planned, mostly as a training exercise so I am running hard(ish) over a longer distance, and so that when I do finally get fit, I'm not out of practise at racing.
For the first time in my life I'm actually looking forward to running a 10km this Sunday and am hopefully preparing my body to do some serious training over August and September.
It's great to be back :)