My goal for this week is to focus on easy, zone 2 running. I'm taking this time of recovery to continue working on low heart rate runs, which I think I slightly neglected in my earlier training.

My next running event is the Mornington Half Marathon, which I had originally planned to aim for a PR, but now I'm treating it as just another opportunity to gain extra race day experience.

With my focus on getting my shin splints back under control, this week again I have chosen not to do any speed work or tempo runs. And I miss it. I can't wait for next Thursday when I have scheduled my first workout run in a while.

Here is how my week has looked:

Tuesday - 10km Easy

No need to go into detail again this week, but just some key stats.

Moving time: 1:03
Average Pace: 6:16/km
Average Heart Rate: 146
Relative Effort: 1-2/10.

Thursday - 10km Easy

Moving time: 58min
Average Pace: 5:48/km
Average Heart Rate: 148
Relative Effort: 2/10.

I found this run interesting because of how low I was able to keep my heart rate for most of the run, and considering the pace I was doing. It's hard to know if this was just a good day for me or if my progress in zone 2 runs is already starting to show.

Sunday - 12km Tempo? Intervals? Easy?

I don't know how to classify this run. It was just a mess. I had intended for a simple fast-finish 12k, with 9km of easy running with the final 3km around 4:10/km.

What I actually did ended up being completely different to that.

As frustrating as today's run was, it reminded me how much my easy pace can very between days. On Thursday, my easy pace was at 5:48/km. I thought I could aim for the same pace today and keep within zone 2 HR, but my body was saying otherwise.

I eventually settled in at 6:45-7:00/km as my zone 2 pace for today, after some on and off running/walking, and even sprinting out of frustration.

I felt very unfit today. It seems like these past few weeks of reduced intensity has come at the cost of losing some fitness. Holding faster paces (4:00-4:20/km) today felt much harder than they have in the past. This was also very frustrating.

I tried my best to channel all this frustration into the last kilometre, and finished on a 3:37 split. It felt good to push through whatever I was feeling and finish the run strong.

Sometimes all you need is a 1000m sprint to get you feeling better.*

*Mentally better of course. Physically, I was exhausted.

I know I've been prioritising recovery more than anything else for the past few weeks, and for good reason. Losing a bit of fitness is a small tradeoff to worsening an injury and potentially spending more time on the sidelines.

I'm looking forward to getting back into some higher-intensity runs and building my speed back up again.

Upwards from here.

Weekly Summary:

Total Distance: 32km

13 Weeks Out.