Week 1 | 16.1 - 22.1

Monday - Rest
Mondays are always tough with getting up early and catching flight to Vienna.
Combined with the fact that Mondays are always mad at work, I am just glad to make it through the day and crash into bed in the evening.

Tue - 5.28k ; 33:48; 6:24min/k
A real struggle, legs felt heavy, breathing all over the place.
The only highlight was running on fresh powder snow, which was amazing.
Took it very slowly on the downhill.

Wed - 6.27k; 40:21; 6:26min/k
Basically the same as day before, luckily there was still some snow left in the park to cheer me up.
Apart from that, it was no fun at all.
Runs like this really test your resolve, I have to admit :)

Thu - Biking - 14.4k; 37:36; 23km/h
Arriving late to Frankfurt, I wasn't very motivated to go biking but forced myself and was glad I did at the end.
Quite relaxing ride, I did push a bit though to see what kind of average speed I can achieve.
It was nice to get out and do something else than running.
Interestingly, my left quad got tired much faster than my right which probably means it is the weaker one.
This could be part of the reason why I have been having problems with my left knee.
I shall pay more attention to how I bike and make sure I don't use one leg more than the other.

Fri - 4.82k; 29:37; 6:09min/k
Short jog before the long run, I felt a bit better and it was nice to be running on flat course again.
Very slow, though.

Sat - 9.79k; 1:02:29; 6:23min/k
Definitely the best run (feeling wise) this week, I put myself into cruising mode and just zoned out.
Very slow pace for 10km, but the speed wasn't the goal here.
I picked up the speed in the last km or so to give my legs faster turnover and to bring down the average pace a bit.
Legs felt fine in general, knee and new trainers didn't give me any issues while running.
Phew, relief.
And yeah, it was longer than the planned 8km, but I just couldn't help myself :)

Sun - Rest
I was supposed to go biking, but the knee felt a bit stiff and I was overall quite tired, therefore I opted for RICE approach instead :)
Since I hit (and slightly exceeded) my planned mileage I don't feel that guilty.


Total running distance: 26.16 km


This has been a very tough week, mostly mentally.
Going into 'serious' training cycle for the first time ever, I was definitely motivated, but my body wasn't.
No pep in legs, zero energy levels, heavy breathing, sluggish pace, you name it.
I don't know where it's coming from, maybe my body is fighting some virus and that's draining me.
Thank god for the bit of snow in Vienna during my two runs, that at least provided a bit of (much needed) positive energy.
Things started slightly picking up on Friday and Saturday, which was good.

Knee still feels stiff, but I didn't get any problems during running, it is mostly when I sit and then get up, I feel the tendons being stiff and sore.
I tried some stretching, not sure if that helps
As I said, I will be icing it regularly and hoping for improvement.

have a good week!

m