The last 2 attempts at a 21K, two months apart , on 29th August at Bangalore University and on 25th Oct at SM Krishna road have been disappointing . In both cases it was a struggle to get it done and the average pace exceeded 7 mins/Km. At the end of the 21K the legs felt as fatigued as if I had run an ultramarathon. Unable to fathom this sudden detoriation in pace and running form - earlier this year I managed 10K runs in about 65 mins. Now 70 mins feels daunting. Which is very disappointing and demotivating as late last year in the run up to TMM 2026 I managed a few 25 -30K runs at below 7 Km pace. Dr G also had no answer for this. He did confirm though that the strength in my inner right calf is definitely not close to where it should be two years post TA surgery , the gastronomous muscle is just not firing resulting in other muscles taking on disproportinate load and that is hampering the running. Though overall I feel I am getting stronger the quads/hamstrings/glutes/calves dont seem to be co-operating. All the aches and pains (specially the quads) are coming on much earlier than they used to before the TA surgery in June 2024. Every run is like a chore and not enjoyable at all - leaving me both mentally and physically unprepared to slog it out for a FM as of now.
I was hoping for things to improve by Nov end with some consistent workouts. . However, realised yesterday that the last date for downgrading the TMM race category is 1st November ,that is, there is just one more long run this Sunday to make a decision. The dilemma is whether to take a risk and somehow grit it out for a 6hr+ FM or to downgrade to a HM which would be less pressure for sure. The head says better to change to HM given the current state of my running. The heart says there is still 10 weeks to go and with focused strength training maybe it will be manageable. Will need to go with one or the other in 5 days from now!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment