The Plan of Attack

To anyone reading this I would welcome any feedback or suggestions. As discussed in previous post, this plan is about improving overall fitness, reducing PF problems and spicing things up a bit in the short to medium term. In the long term, I hope to have removed the PF problem, improved my fitness significantly, and correspondingly improved my core strength and running markedly with the ultimate goal of running a full marathon.
How? I am going to cut back my running in the short term to 3 days per week, Tuesday (short run 5-8k), Thursday (medium 8-12k) and one day on the W/end (12k plus). I hope this will allow my inflamed PF to heal over time ( with help from Physio & me), but also improve my focus to generate better quality running, rather than just quantity. All told, I expect to clock up moderate mileage in the region of 30k per week over a fair bit of the summer, which should give me a decent base to build on next year in time for HM season. As far as I am aware, the first local Hm's occur in May with the Greenbelt & Barossa and I plan to be ready to attack them with a vengeance from about 12 weeks out, essentially the beginning of February. All being well, and if training goes to plan, no injuries occur (touch wood), then I will endeavour to run my 1st marathon in Adelaide next August. That's the big kahuna, it's over 50 weeks away so plenty of time to get it right. The goal is now in writing, so I guess I am committed, or should be:) But what else will I do to get there?
I plan to start cross training this week, starting with cycling. I have a good quality mountain bike which was in the $600 odd dollar range when I purchased it new a year or two ago. So, far from top of the range but not at the bottom either, and whilst a road bike would be a better option in the long term, it will be more than adequate to get my heart & legs pumping, and improve my cardiovascular fitness. Whilst it uses my feet & legs so should improve my running somewhat, it will remove the pounding/impact from my feet and should allow the PF to settle too. Need to do more research but I'm sure many of the same muscles (glutes etc) will benefit from being used differently and help my running in the long term. I plan on trying to get two rides in a week, one mid week of 15-30k (40-80mins?) and a longer one on the weekend of 30-50k (80-150mins). I used to cycle back & forth to work (Happy Valley - Netley) years ago which was a 36k round trip and I would regularly do that 3xwk so total around 100k's/wk and more if I went for a ride to see the rest of the family on weekends. It's amazing what having no other form of transport will do for you. It's been a while though so may need to adjust those times/expectations as I go.

The last piece of the puzzle is swimming, and it won't be my favourite piece either! Not a strong swimmer and my technique is pretty ordinary so really need to do some work in this area and will get some lessons to improve that technique for a start. All I really hope to do with this is get decent coz I don't ever expect to be good! I recognize however that this is a tremendous non impact sport that should again take the pressure off my PF and improve my overall fitness markedly if I can get reasonable at it. The local pool at Unley is one of the best in Adelaide and opens on 16/9 and runs right through until the end of May next year, so no excuses for not getting there unfortunately:) Very modest goals in this area, and that is for one scheduled swim a week, with a second if possible perhaps on the weekend with the family. No expectations on time/distance yet but will work through that in due course as I graduate from 'beached whale' to' dolphin' - wishful thinking! I would love to have a dabble at a dua/tri-athlon at some stage but that is likely some time off, well into next year but reckon it would be fun. Might need some tips Rachel???

So that's the plan kids, would welcome any comments anyone has, but I am going to go for it and get on the road to fitness, and it starts this week! Keep smiling!