Week 10 is over and I'm starting to get a little nervous. Even though it's still a little while until the competition, I don't have too many weeks left for preparation. Also because I'll soon be on holiday for another two weeks, which means a break from running. After that, it's time for the final spurt. That's why it's now time to consider the results.
I have been doing my training as planned every week so far. 4 running sessions, 2 strength training sessions and at least one hour of yoga per week. Even in packed weeks I have kept it up. I didn't stop or even skip a single workout. Although I have to say that four days of training in a row is not ideal. Just like a running workout immediately before a leg workout (don't copy!). But unfortunately, sometimes it had to be done. My running workouts still consist of a long, relaxed run, two runs in the heart rate zone 2 and an interval workout. I'll probably never make friends with the latter, though.
The strength training is divided into upper body and legs. On the one hand, because it's fun and on the other, because the muscles are also needed when running. Especially in the legs, abs and back, of course. For a few weeks I had the feeling that I was weaker than usual during strength training. I couldn't train with the weights I was used to. Now it's not like that any more and I have my old strength back. But I don't know why a few weeks went worse. Maybe I didn't eat enough, or maybe I didn't try so hard to regenerate. But that is part of it.
For me, it has always been difficult to plan and stick to rest days. I try to spend my days as actively as possible. It's very hard for me to do nothing for a day and not move. Consequently, regeneration is also shorter. But during the preparation I always consciously took time for breaks. That means, of course, that I still move and try to do my 10,000 steps, but I also try to consciously enjoy putting my feet up. After the 10,000 steps.
This calm and relaxation is also reflected in my fitness watch. For example, my resting pulse rate. It is generally very low due to the training, but on days when I have also allowed myself to rest and relax, it is particularly low. My watch also tells me that my outdoor running shoes, which Santa brought me, have already covered more kilometres than recommended for running shoes. I say they are now broken in.
But I also keep an eye on other values. Every 4 weeks I do a body check and look at my values for body fat, weight, fat-free mass, visceral fat and much more. I do all this out of curiosity to see how the training affects my body. I am not aiming for any specific values. Unfortunately, I couldn't do the check this week for technical reasons. But I can compare the last two checks before. I can see that I have lost 1kg in 4 weeks and my body fat has dropped by almost 2%. That's absolutely fine with my training load and my body. Again, no one should compare themselves to this.
So my conclusion after 10 weeks is: It's going as planned and that's good! I will also manage the last few weeks if I keep going like this! (But I will have to remind myself of that every now and then).