Training Update

It has been a month since my last update and finally, some positive progress.

I stuck with the plan from the end of May, following my previous, aborted attempt to return to running. I scaled back to weights and the stairmaster at the end of May, followed by two weeks in Wales in early June. I deliberately did not take any running kit to Wales and for that fortnight, it was only casual walking and quite a lot of calf-strengthening exercises indoors.

The other drama whilst in Wales was that I knackered my lower back. Nothing dramatic, in fact I can’t even recall how it happened. One of those small, innocuous movements with disproportionately dire consequences. Anyway, I couldn’t move much at all without significant pain and it is only now that it is definitely on the mend.

However, the back was not bad enough to halt training on my return home and it was about ten days ago, with much trepidation, that I stepped onto the treadmill with the intention of running.

The first couple of outings were a mixture of speed walking and slow jogging intervals. That seemed to go ok, with only minor discomfort and stiffness the following day after sessions. I managed to graduate to running two solid miles with a short break in between each mile and this was ok.

As of today, I have graduated to running outdoor loops from my house, on a mixed gradient loop. Today, I ran nearly five continuous miles with only very short walking breaks on the steep hill section of the loop. Good pace too, hovering around seven to eight minute mile pace on the flat and downhill.

Thus, to cut a long story short, I am fairly confident that all is good and the lower left leg just needs to settle back into proper running.

So, three months recovery in the end, not something I would have envisaged the day I limped into Carcassonne back at the start of April. However, I am encouraged that I stuck with a recovery plan, varied it when required and exercised the patience necessary to return to running. I wasn’t always sure during those long weeks that the latter would happen but here I am. I am delighted, although still cautious about pushing that progress too hard, too soon.

Last week, I made the decision to withdraw from the Dartmoor Crossing event, scheduled for 1 August. It was simply too close and would put both my training and my leg under too much pressure to try and reach the minimum training standard to do well. It is on the back burner for next year, but it remains likely that I will re-visit it then.

I am therefore in the position of having no booked events at all, which is weird but not unwelcome. I now have the remainder of the summer to build up my training and mileage but more importantly to enjoy both without the pressure of a ticking race timetable.

I will stay fairly local, possibly branching out to some overnight trips in the east of the country until September at least. In September, it is my intention to head to the north-west for ten days or so of running. Probably a little tour of Torridon, Fisherfield and Assynt.

There are some events I could enter later in the year if I decide to. The Tentsmuir Challenge, Glen Ogle 33 or the Dava Way 50K are all possibilities but I am not rushing into anything right now.

In other news, Facebook posts confirmed today that UTMB have taken over Skyline Scotland as part of the UTMB World Series. This was always a predictable development and now gives UTMB three UK World Series events along with Arc of Attrition and UTMB Snowdonia. The communication today also provided provisional confirmation that paid entries for 2026 will be honoured in 2027. I am not much of a UTMB fan anymore, but I have paid my money and I loved the look of the 50K route. So, I think I will await more detail of the race distances and routes that UTMB are going to propose before I commit.

Meantime, it is with the greatest of pleasure and gratitude that I return to running.