I’ve been full of a cold since last Wednesday when I led a 300-600-300 wave interval session in the pouring rain at Bubwith. It’s likely my immune system was under strain anyway due to back-to-back 40-mile weeks and a 19-mile-long run the previous weekend.
As a result of the cold, which has been accompanied by a fever, I have had to curb all running, including missing the last of the PECO cross country race on Sunday. Running would have been reckless, and this year is supposed to be about thinking longer term for me — towards London in April and, more importantly, towards longevity of fitness and health.
From experience, colds usually take a full two weeks to clear properly. I have the Liversedge Half Marathon in a fortnight so the sensible course is rest, recover, and build the mileage back gradually when the fever has passed.
In place of exercise, I’ve done quite a bit of planning. It’s tempting to see the whole year as a blank canvas to be filled with activities and milestones that support my 2026 miles goal. I feel restless so the sense of momentum and structure is attractive. Planning also creates excitement. And, if I’m honest, excitement has often been part of how I motivate myself.
But reality rarely matches an ideal. Overfilling the calendar now will only make the inevitable interruptions that will follow feel like failures later. At 58, I have seen it before. Enthusiasm becomes escalation; escalation becomes strain; strain becomes injury or frustration. This year isn’t meant to follow that pattern.
So I need to return to guiding principles. Health first; forty miles per week as a centre of gravity; intensity and races kept in proportion; missed miles left behind rather than chased. It’s meant to be a loose framework, not a straight jacket.
A couple of key events or milestones each month is enough. Planning can be enjoyable, but it doesn’t need to become elaborate. The aim is direction, not total control.
There is another reason to tread carefully this week. I have an appointment at the hospital tomorrow to choose a replacement insulin pump. That is a major decision and one that will affect my training going forward. Any change in my type 1 diabetes routine takes adjustment, so training caution will be required. Its back to the base of the pyramid again: my long-term health underpins everything else.
If this year ends with 2026 miles completed and that base supports a decent attempt at a sub-1:20 half next January at the Brass Monkey and a sub-3 marathon in 2027 at sixty, that will be more satisfying than any single exciting week in July. This project is about containment as much as it is about commitment.
There is still scope to build mileage back up before London on 26 April in ten weeks’ time to achieve a 3:10 Good For Age. There’s also the whole year ahead after that. So I’m not calculating how far behind I might be on the mileage target now. That can wait. Right now my focus is on getting better, managing my blood sugars while ill, and letting the bigger plan unfold of its own accord.
Consistency sometimes means not running. This may sound like a paradox, but I am not trying to be consistent this week or this month; I am trying to be consistent for the whole year. Long-term consistency means staying healthy and avoiding boom and bust cycles that could derail me completely from my primary goal of 2026 miles in 2026. It means protecting the whole 12 months, not the next 12 days.
