I’ve changed this week up. You might want to ditch one of the runs in place of some more cross training if the groin is still an issue. But I’ve basically taken out the two speed session we had and replaced them with more tempo, easier workouts, to give the groin another week to recover. Let me know if you want to swap one of the runs out.

169 Points Achieved

Just another solid week of base building i am hoping when I get back to speed work im in a good spot to push the pace and get quick again. Fairly happy with this week and the improvement in my groin. Feeling mildly confident I will make next month’s races.

Somewhat ironically we have hit the highest pts total of the plan. So whilst it might not be as specific as we would like, you could argue your aerobic base is going to be better than ever and the stairs will have helped tone up the glutes and hamstrings too. I think all this work just means once you (and others like me, in this situation) do get back to the speed work it will take us much less time to get back to our peak. But great work Steve.

MONDAY

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15 Points
Start the week strong, I did drop the weights a little to be safe and I done single leg deadlifts instead of normal ones (my balance is crap) I done some adductor exercises with no pain so thats promising too.
That is good news. I definitely feel we need some adductor exercises in here now. As the niggle suggest there is a weakness there and looking at the routine it is missing. But a real positive and well done Steve. I’ve added side lunges to my S&C which I find help.

TUESDAY

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18pts | 30 Mins Stair Climber

18 POINTS

A great form of cross trainer for us runners. Take a few minutes to warm up at find your stride but then push hard. You can real bang for your buck with just 30 mins on the stair climber. I hit around level 10 when doing these but find the right speed for you that you can maintain, but you find this tough.

12pts | 40 Mins Elliptical

12 POINTS

A good way to boost cardio whilst reducing the risk of injury. The elliptical can tone muscles and improve endurance whilst being gentle on your joints. You want to be working at the top end of your aerobic zone, just under LT1 (zone 3 on Garmin).

33 Points
Good zone 2 session put a ten minute run in there just to satisfy the mind a bit, im starting to get pissed off now with this issue to be honest I can see all the races I have planned up to the end of March not being done. I will do the run tomorrow regardless of how the groin is i think.
Great work Steve. Try not to overthink it. Niggles/injuries like this can pretty much go overnight. Obviously I know it’s been lingering for weeks, but at some stage it will go. And once it does you should be good to go again, without actually having lost much fitness, perhaps some speed, I think fretting about races in 6-8 weeks time will only lead to more anxiety, even poor decisions and perhaps delay the recovery. This is coming from someone who has now been out for 3 months, and has a marathon booked in April. Still optimistic I’ll be ok, albeit only a jog.

WEDNESDAY

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Rest Day

0 POINTS

“Rest days are key. Our body adapts and gets stronger when we rest & recovery. Have a good one!”

Very painful massage after work but i think i needed that also had some cupping on the worse areas.
Sounds awful. Hopefully it has helped.

thursday

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15pts | 50 Mins Run

15 POINTS

It’s important to keep the easy runs easy. Focus on good running form and low heart rate.

18 Points
Well I really needed that to go well for the head and confidence that things are improving, I done 5 min on the elliptical just as a pre run warm up. Then managed the 50min run at a nice easy pace there was still a bit of pain but mostly 1 out 10 with the odd spike to a 2 now and then. I done 4 x 30s strides after just to test what would happen, i felt strong but the pain was worse at pace which I did expect tbh but not more than a 3/10. Hopefully tomorrow it will be fine and I will hopefully get tomorrow’s session done although that may be a easy run rather than tempo.
Glad you were able to get 50 mins in. Hopefully things are improving and all feels ok today? Well done Steve.

FRIDAY

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29pts | 6 Miles @ Marathon Pace

29 POINTS

1 Mile WU @ Easy Pace (RPE: 3)

6 Miles @ Marathon Pace (RPE: 5)

1 Mile CD @ Easy Pace (RPE: 3)

A chance to add some extra miles at Marathon Pace. The more you practice the pace the more comfortable it will feel on race dace.

31 Points
Well that was alright obviously I would have liked to do the 6mile tempo but happy with what I done in its place, 10min elliptical, 40min run, 4x1min off 30s (still hurts with the higher impact 😩) and 20min stair stepper. I think all this base training is starting to take affect now as the heart rate was lower today across all the exercises.
31pts by my calculations. It’s frustrating, I get that. But as you say you’re still building a really good aerobic base and whilst it might take a while for the speed to hit the peak again, it’s not like you’re sitting at home having to rest the leg. So always positives to be had. Well done Steve.

SATURDAY

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12pts | 20 Mins Stair Climber

12 POINTS

A great form of cross trainer for us runners. Take a few minutes to warm up at find your stride but then push hard. You can real bang for your buck with just 20 mins on the stair climber. I hit around level 10 when doing these but find the right speed for you that you can maintain, but you find this tough.

12pts | 40 Mins Elliptical

12 POINTS

A good way to boost cardio whilst reducing the risk of injury. The elliptical can tone muscles and improve endurance whilst being gentle on your joints. You want to be working at the top end of your aerobic zone, just under LT1 (zone 3 on Garmin).

30 Points
Not a bad session tbh the stair stepper was busy so waited it out on the elliptical ended up doing 1hr elliptical and then 20min stair stepper. Hoping I can get out for a nice run tomorrow although I know it won’t be pain free but as long as things dont get worse I will try and do the 2hr.
Nice, some bonus points. Have they only got one set of Magic Stairs in Falaise? I get very annoyed when someone is one them at Pure Gym but luckily most people only seem to go on there for 5-10 mins and they are done. Really hope the long run goes ok tomorrow. Great work Steve. You’ve banked and extra 6pts here by the way which is worth 20 mins of running, if you did find tomorrow was tough, no loss cutting it a bit short with pts in the bank.

SUNDAY

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36pts | 120 Mins Run

36 POINTS

Long runs are key. Fuel and hydrate well & join a group if you can.

42 Points
Well that wasnt to bad went over time by 20min but that was because I went with the slower group from hy (forgot it takes longer to do the route) but branched off from them at about 10 mile a picked the pace up to my normal long run pace ish. Groin was ok pain came and went through the run and was only 1/10 it was super nice to get out for a run and the legs will be better for the pounding hopefully. Fingers crossed the groin carrys on improving and I haven’t caused any more damage today. I will probably move the hill session to Thursday but I will message you tomorrow about that.
Really pleased you were able to get this done without too much pain, and nice to run with the group too. If you need extra work before the hills that is fine and we can always tweak that session if not doing it with the group. Plus running up and over Galley Hill for 40 mins probably isn’t that appealing to you 😂 Well done though Steve, hopefully through the worst now.