Why am I slowing down

Earlier this year I had 8 weeks off running due to illness,(I was all ready to run the Bramley 20) managed to do some bike work in the gym - but, I was back running at the end of March and have been doing 10-13 mile runs at the weekend, have since had time off for a holiday(which did involved cycling most days) and a further week off due to illness - again, but I feel I have gone backwards with a vengeance. I am finishing races at times not much better than I was doing 2 years ago I am increasing my training days to 4 or 5 depending on work etc.etc. and training as often as possible with other people to help motivate me - but, help, what else can I do to get back to where I was - or is this just a case of getting older?? I won't let age get in the way tho'.

I am feeling very de-motivated at the moment.

Whizzy

Whizzy: I am no expert but are you getting enough fuel into yourself before going running?

Nic

I found myself slowing down a bit after doing lots of cycling so not sure if there's a connection there.

I would pick up the speedwork though, just doing weekend long runs will eventually mean that you're only good at weekend long runs!

Perhaps drop the training days to just 3 with 1xhill session, 1xintervals/trackwork and the weekend long run with a rest day in between each?

It's not your age, Whizzy. When 91-year-old men run marathons, NOTHING is allowed to be put down to your age. Especially as you're probably younger than I am...

A couple of thoughts. First, have you fully recovered from your recent bout of illness, or was that bout of illness your body's way of trying to tell you to ease off a bit?

Could you be trying to fit in too much? Four or five training days a week is quite enough, especially if one of them is a 10-13 mile run. If your training depends on work, does that mean that you also work long and erratic hours? Are you doing what I'm often tempted to do and making each training session a hefty one because you don't know when you'll get the opportunity to have another?

And, as Nic suggests, what about food? Are you as careful about fuelling up as you used to be, or are there dozens of things in your life that take priority over getting proper meals?

You will get back to peak fitness, but forcing in more and more training is only going to leave you burned-out or injured again. Have an easy couple of weeks (reward yourself for resisting the temptation to overdo things if that's what it takes) and do a bit of re-evaluation - look at all areas of your life, not just athletic training. Then choose a race a few months into the future as a target, and stick to the training schedules.

And keep us up to date with your progress!

Cheers, V-rap.

I'd go with V-rap's advice - she usually susses us out pretty well