"I'd rather be seen on my bicycle than on a park run" - Quote from the dark side

Monday, 17 March 2014

Where I Am Right Now


As the year strolls on and the weeks go by I get more and more questions about when will I run a race and what am I training for. I can't even think when last I went into March without a number of races under my belt for the year already. So where am I right now with my running?

The short answer is that training is going well but I am not race ready yet. I suppose I could have done some 10km or other short distance races if I wanted to, but I don't do many of those anymore. I am slowly building up my fitness and increasing the distance after a bad 2013 running year.

To see exactly where I am I make use of the Performance Management Graph from TrainingPeaks.com. The quick and easy way to read this is as follows: 

The pink line shows how tired I am. 
The yellow line shows how rested I am. 
The blue line shows my general level of fitness.


Love this graph!

The graph shows my running from 10 December 2012 to today. I was building up nicely to the end of March last year when this happened...



After that my running never picked up again for 2013. Every time I started building up again I got sick. At the end of November I dropped a broken piece of glass on my foot and that was the last straw. 




The blue line clearly shows how bad and low my running was at the end of 2013 and beginning of 2014. But it does show the blue line slowly climbing again right now and that is great!

If you maybe wondered...the peak tired/stress point in the middle of the graph was the Num-Num Trail Challenge I ran at the beginning of August last year. A real toughie that!

A truly awesome graph from TrainingPeaks! I use it for exactly this...to see where I am right now.

12 comments:

Robin said...

Looks like you are on your way back...slow and steady!!

KovasP said...

Great visual, but I'd be scared to look at mine. :) My plans are to pick up running in April, then do lots of shorter trail races to possibly get ready for a fall marathon (hopefully on the trails).

Tina @GottaRunNow said...

Sometimes I spend more time reading about running in general rather than checking out what I've done and learning from that. It's smart to check your progress!

Anonymous said...

There is nothing wrong with "just" running, even if people expect you to race. Do whatever makes you healthy & happy!:)

misszippy said...

The important things that you are running and that you are healthy. The racing will return!

One Crazy Penguin said...

That's a really awesome graph! I'm a very visual person so I really appreciate that!

And here's to seeing that blue line keep climbing!

Char said...

Every year is different. And this year I'm sure will be a lot better than last.

ajh said...

I feel like I am in a pretty decent place if only they would stop canceling races I am ready for.

I always think of you and your son when I am in York and see school buses because that is where I took the picture he used!

Jill said...

I'm loving that blue graph pointing in the "up" direction - hooray! A good year ahead for you, I just know it!

Giorgio said...

First of all, you are running happy and healthy. That's important, Johann!

Black Knight said...

Running is the most important thing, the speed will come. I learned to enjoy the simple act of running after all my troubles.

Liz said...

Must get myself one of those graphs! My plans for this year are a little vague, I don't feel that I am at my full potential at the moment.

Glad your fitness is improving and hope you have some better luck in 2014 than 2013!