7. The first set back

Welcome to the Seventh Newsletter!

As the title suggests, training hit a bump this time around. I ended up taking a full week off, and when I came back, I tried to jump right into my plan as if I hadn't missed a beat. That meant diving straight into a 29k run with 500m of ascent after a week of nothing. Not my best idea.

Long story short, I made it to 7k with 200m of elevation before deciding to call it a day. I looped back home, finishing at 12k with 250m of elevation—a far cry from the original target. It’s my first real setback in this program, and while it’s tough not to feel discouraged, I still have a month and a half until the 50k. Time to reassess and adjust the plan moving forward.

What’s going wrong, and how do I fix it?

The immediate problem was trying to jump back in at full intensity after a week off. To correct this, I’m making this week a de-load week for running. I’ll be running every day, but keeping it short with just 5k runs that fit easily into my routine.

The bigger issue? Too much running. It might sound counterintuitive, but with the time I’m dedicating to longer distances, I’ve completely sidelined strength training. In the past month and a half, I’ve only had one strength session—that’s a problem.

Strength is crucial, even for running, and it keeps me mentally sharp. I’ve really missed the feeling of a solid strength workout. So, I’m adjusting my training plan from 4-5 days a week to 3-4 days a week. The structure will stay the same—intervals, hill climbs, and a long run on Sunday—but this tweak will free up time for strength training. I’ll be following a Wendler-style 3-day-a-week program to build up my deadlift, bench, and squat, while alternating my longer runs and adding shorter ones on strength days.

This week is a trial run for this new approach, and I’ll reassess how it’s going by the weekend.

Concerns about the run.

The 50k is a month and a half away, and I’m not worried about finishing it—that’s manageable. The real goal is to do more than just finish. Sure, I could take 10 hours and walk 40% of it and still complete the race, but that’s not what I’m aiming for. I want to finish in the 5-6 hour range and feel like I’ve truly accomplished something. That’s why I’m constantly reevaluating my training.

And of course, here’s the JustGiving page if you’d like to support!