I'm Back (Sort Of)

Well, I'm finally back to running after a five-month layoff.  Long story short, I noticed some discomfort in one of my feet just a couple weeks prior to my race in May.  It turns out I developed metatarsalgia, which is basically inflammation at or around the ball of the foot.  It was never debilitating, thankfully, but it was noticeable and affecting my ability to train properly.

I have ran a few days this week and I can tell I have lost a lot of race fitness, but that is expected.  I may not my usual self at the moment but I'm just glad to be running again!

Now that I'm returning to running I am taking a back-to-basics approach.  In fact, I am using Hadd's Approach to Distance Training, a philosophy I have used in the past with success.

Unfortunately, the plan calls for the first several weeks to be run at a very low heart rate.  Given the heart rate restrictions are so precise running the first several weeks is quite slow regardless of overall ability.  There is no speed work or other aggressive workouts.  Although there are valid reasons for this it admittedly makes training a bit challenging, primarily from a psychological perspective.  Suffice it to say it's tough to run at such a slow pace, particularly when you know you can easily run faster!

I plan on sticking to this approach throughout the winter, likely until the end of February.  After that I will find a target race and resume more traditional training.  The Hadd plan may be a mentally grueling process but it worked for me before so I hope it will do so again!