Sometimes you pay a professional to tell you the blindingly obvious but it’s worth it because often you just need to be told. This week I was reminded of the obvious but also given an insight that I really would not have found out on my own.
First, the obvious. If you are doing more miles your are putting your body under a good deal of stress, this means it’s even more important not to over-do it. The physio suggested that I reduce the number of running days in a week from 5 to 4, hence I found myself in the gym this morning carrying his next suggestion (rather than pounding the streets at 5 AM which I would otherwise have done).
It appears that my sense of balance needs some work; if I stand on one leg, look to the right, then to the left, it’s really hard to stay balanced. What’s even more difficult for me is the “lateral hop” where you are supposed to hop sideways and retain your balance. What he suggested is that I spend time practicing these excercises because if I get better at balancing my running will use up less energy and put less strain in my limbs.
My weekend long run is 15 miles and I am told that’s a good place to be at this point in my training. Getting the right balance between training and rest together with working on my physical balancing skills may be what I need to make the difference. I don’t need to run particularly fast to beat my marathon PB, I just need to keep up an even steady pace for the 26.2 miles.
