Slowly starting to build the running back up post-marathon. Four runs this week, and from now on I should be running every day, although mileage will remain in the relatively low 40-50 mile range until June. Everything feels rather slow at the moment, and my heart rate is higher for the perceived effort of the run. I read somewhere it’s common for heart rate to rise when you back off from heavy training, and the same thing happened when I had a few quieter weeks after my sub-40 10K last November, so just going to keep plugging away and ride out the dip in form.
In better news I have started my strength and conditioning routine, and managed two yoga sessions plus three strength workouts this week. The yoga routines from the Yoga Studio app seem to work well, I can really feel them stretching out my muscles and I finish feeling refreshed and relaxed. I was worried I’d find it boring but the 20 minute “class” goes by quite quickly. It has shown up quite how inflexible I am, as I cannot get anywhere near a lot of the poses, but hopefully in time I’ll start to get there!
The strength workouts also feel good. I’ve gathered a mix of exercises from various online articles and running books, to create a 10 exercise routine that seems to work well. I was relieved I wasn’t totally unable to do the pushups, but I definitely have plenty of room for improvement. I aim to build up the number of reps and eventually add weights where appropriate to make the exercises harder.
I am hoping to get in to the habit of doing a short yoga stretching session after most runs, plus a few longer yoga sessions and a few strength workouts every week. If I can keep it up that should help make me a stronger, more well-rounded runner.