Well, I'm back! It's been a week since my last post and I have actually made it back to write a second post. This is nothing short of a miracle. I am already very impressed with myself. Now, I just need to aim for similar consistency with my training. In the last week this has not happened. Unfortunately a combination of a Covid scare (one of Drew's co-workers tested positive), rumours of a new lockdown (which have now come to pass), and a niggley calf muscle (which I probably would have ignored if not for the other two), have meant that my running this week has been almost non-existent. I guess then, it's as good a time as any to consider how this whole training thing is going to go.
April 2022 is a long time away. A really long time away, especially as far as following a training plan is concerned. No matter what plan I follow and how excited I am for the race, at some point I will start to get bored and lose motivation. Because of this it seems wise to set some smaller goals along the way.
Training Goal No. 1
The first goal I have in mind is Pong Yaeng trail at the end of October. This entry was in place of the cancelled Westwind Trail earlier in the year. I am currently signed up for the 70km and my aim is to try and get 'faster' for it. I don't have time in mind as such, however I do find that 5km/hour pace seems pretty standard for me over that kind of distance, so it would be nice to speed up a little. I will reassess this nearer the time, but getting up to an average of 6 or 7km an hour would be amazing.
Having said all this, with this new Covid spike I'm not sure the race will happen at all. If that is the case I will try to do a 50 - 70km run that same weekend somewhere else. This could be on trails (I really hope so!) or if the situation is still really bad, around Bangkok is also a possibility. If it does wind up being around the flat flat streets of Bangkok, a slightly faster pace would be nice. Again, I will reevaluate nearer the time.
Training Goal No. 2
My main goal for this year was to run a 100mile race, however given the current situation this may not happen. However, on the off chance it does, I have a couple of possibilities in mind at the beginning of December over one of the long weekends. If this does happen the goal will very much be to finish the distance comfortably. I will certainly not be pushing for a time or placing, more using it as a chance to get used to the longer distance. However, I will be taking it very carefully as...
Training Goal No. 3
...over the Christmas holiday the plan is to have a few-days-long training "camp" in Chiang Mai (or thereabouts). This would include a lot of practice navigating, as that is the part of Northern Traverse I am most concerned about, as well as some back to back runs/hikes carrying all my gear. After this I will only have weekend to get to trails until March, so I would like to be able to make the most of this week. My aim will be develop a decent level of fitness in the hope I will be able to maintain (and ideally build on) it in the last remaining months.
Training Goal No. 4
This is definitely more open to negotiation. My feeling is that with two and a half months between Christmas and flying back to the UK in March I may struggle with motivation. In this time I would like to sneak in a couple of challenges to keep motivation high. The optimist in me (who conveniently forgets about things like injuries) would love to do some mad things, like an Everesting, or to run the length of Phuket. The realist thinks that this is likely to spell disaster. However, it is like that by February pollution in Bangkok will be terrible, so this would definitely be a good time to do some recce runs in Phuket, or elsewhere down south. However, this will is something for consideration nearer the time. The last thing I want to do is destroy my legs right before the big event.
And that's it. My current (to be confirmed) training goals along the way to the Northern Traverse. Now, to decide whether it's a run day or a bike day. The sensible side of me says the bike will be better.
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