For starters, the “T” isn’t Tokyo and the “B” isn’t Boston. Instead, it’s Twincity and Berlin respectively. Ordinarily, Gold Coast would already be part of my racing calendar but work commitments ensure my annual pilgrimage will not happen in 2023.
I’ve been struggling mentally and fitness-wise the past few months and running, while therapeutic, has simply taken a back seat. Work stress ate into my sleep regimen and with just 5-6 hours a night, it would’ve been detrimental had I forced myself into a training program. There’s a good article written about this which you can read up here.
Relentless work intensity and taking on additional roles led to cognitive overload, and I constantly went about the day in a state of brain fog.
With so many months yet to go towards the completion of the project, I knew I had to firstly take stock of my personal wellbeing. The highest priority was of course clocking enough sleep and ensuring I don’t make poor eating choices. Other adjustments include the ones below:
Lights out at 9:30pm, sometimes earlier.
Eat right, supplement (iron and B-Complex), rebuild the energy levels, clear the brain fog.
Dump the ego. There will be a time to run fast again, but not now.
Stop feeding the self-pity.
Consistency before mileage.
Use this opportunity to work on the fundamentals such as
the mandatory long runs
the post-run strides
Core/Stability/Strength routines
The road has been rocky but I think after a month or so, I’m finally starting to make some progress even though there's always something to trip me up - case in point my mother’s recent scare and hospitalization.
I’ve on track for a return to the 50s this week after 3 weeks of build-up and a cut-back and I hope to work it up for another 3 before the next cut-back. I fully expect Twincity to be quite the sufferfest but at least it keeps me going through February and March.
I’ve worked myself back before and I’ll get myself back to running and training well again.
One step at a time.