Today I was reading up on Fartlek training. It basically allows you to go from a lazy jogger to a racer. Well, I was thinking that could have been me, because I’m a very slow runner… er jogger with a 10k at just over an hour and a 5k always over 30 minutes.
But, I failed to mention that I’m currently writing this post from bed. Why? Well, 2 days ago I did an equivalent of a Fartlek training session and ended up pulling my knee out (I have an ACL tear straight though on my left knee). The reason is that I didn’t run with proper mechanics and with an already bad knee, the speed work only made it worse.
I think tomorrow I’ll be able to get out and do (at least) a 5 or 10k walk. Then it’s back to jogging (easy) and get my chi running working to rebuild my breathing and VO2 max (aka – get back in shape).
There will be time enough for me do speed training in the future, but for now I plan on running regularly and improving my technique at a speed that doesn’t make me sloppy and push my body to injury.
Wish me luck – and we’ll see how it goes. After all, it did do 4 10k races last month with no problem!