It may be a punishment for being rude about economists on the Marginal Revolution blog. These people have supernatural power, you know. But for 24 hours I’ve been feeling a bit ropey again. It’s definitely the man-flu feeling. Heart rate was up this morning after a rest day Monday. Looks like it might pass in a day though, fingers crossed.

I don’t think I overdid it with the long run. There was no pre-indicator I was ailing, but the previous few days involved some significant stress. Twice in eight weeks I’ve been in situations where elderly relatives have been critically, disturbingly ill, including a New Year’s Eve near-death vigil, followed by a miraculous recovery.

They say stress weakens the immune system. Given that the running, certainly in the short period after each exercise, causes a redistribution of white blood cells away from the upper respiratory tract, it should not be a surprise that I might be more vulnerable to virus than usual. Mild weather also seems to be spreading more around this year than I remember. But even a week out now will seriously jeopardise my position come April 22.

I will aim to do some light exercise Wednesday, come what may, and avoid taking potshots at the economics profession until I’m better.

Resting heart rate 49

Weight 70.5 kg

Mood

Unscheduled rest day

In terms of recovery, the birth of a child must rank among the biggest of body traumas requiring adequate rest. It was reported this week that Paula Radcliffe has already resumed running just over two weeks since the birth of her first child.

This might not be so bad, but in continuing the theme of a bias to overtrain and under-recover, this article notes the experience of 1987 10,000m World Champion and serial marathon winner Ingrid Kristensen, from whom Paula reportedly sought advice:-

“Speaking earlier this year, Kristiansen admitted that she had done too much, too soon. She added: ‘I think Paula can come back in really good shape for the Beijing Olympics but she has to be patient. I did a little bit too much.’”

My own recovery seems to be going just fine. A virus is not a baby, after all. I ran intervals today, for the first time pushing the pace element to one-minute. I did this four times, then a four minute break, then another four times. As for recovery between intervals, instead of measuring by time, which I have done in the past, I followed the Bath University Human Performance Centre advice and waited until my heart rate had fallen to the recovery zone. Interestingly, the first several recoveries took a full minute, but thereafter the recovery rate improved to about 40-50 seconds.

Having pushed my heart-rate up to over 170 bpm, albeit briefly several times, it has left me tired, although with a sense of neurological adaptation. The post-run recovery feels quite different, more uplifting than a normal run.

Resting Heart Rate 46

Weight 71 kg

Mood

Exercise Energy Consumed 575 kcal (35 mins interval/fartlek run, 10 mins bike)

Recovering from a virus, I was advised by an expert friend to do two or three gentle 5k+ runs, before increasing intensity or distance. In the past I’ve always come out of illness like a bull at a gate, trying to catch up for lost time. Now my strategy is all patience. The fact that I’ve lost three weeks, actually means the return should be even more gradual.

Claire Lane, who conducted my maximal test at the Bath University Human Performance Centre, also advised that if my heart rate rose beyond the appropriate zone I should ease back, to ensure that exercise remained appropriate for my conditioning or the training schedule.

I’ve not been good at this, because sometimes it seems to involve running uncomfortably slowly. There is always a tendency to push too hard, because we are driven to believe we must be making an effort: “If it isn’t hurting, it isn’t working”. Only last Friday I ran up a hill, pushing my heart rate up to 163 bpm, when it should have been no higher than 149, especially considering that it was the first day I was not sick. But the past couple of days, I’m starting to get the hang of it.

It is just intuitive to run up a hill. However, the advice not to is echoed by Tony Hope, of heart rate monitor firm Polar. He says that when using their OwnZone function (not available on my model, unfortunately) the watch will indicate you should stop and walk if the intensity of the workout, or hill, is judged potentially injurious. Their latest models can judge the variability in the interval between each heart beat to determine exactly how fit or recovered the body is (even within a workout) and advise accordingly. The Polar site has good information for recovering runners, although the examples for a virus do not cover a period as long as three weeks.

So this week, when I have been trying to keep below 149 bpm, I have stopped and walked more and more if there was an incline that was raising the heart. It is a strange discipline to acquire, but one I’ll need to learn more about as I’m trying to pursue a recovery, rather than work, based approach to training. UK Sport has a useful document on RBT.

Resting Heart Rate 50

Weight 71.5 kg

Mood

Exercise Energy Consumed 797 kcal (7k run, 10 mins bike)

It did start to feel like it would never end. I’d begun to regard a heart rate above 50 as normal. I can’t recall when I’ve sustained such a measurement for such a long period. I was rewarded for not training yesterday: my resting heart rate this morning fell back to 47 beats per minute, indicating the passing of the virus. I suspect it could still go a little lower, as I didn’t have enough sleep.

Over three weeks of no exercise, my weight only drifted up a couple of pounds. Even so, I was eating a lot. Over the past few days, it seems to be moving in the other direction. From 73 kg (161 lbs) last week, my rather imprecise scales are now leaning the other side of 72 kg (159 lbs.) Following on from the BBC’s Truth about Food programme and its revelation that the calcium in dairy products like yoghurt drain fat from food, I’ve started eating quantities after some meals. I’ve also gone back to porridge and honey for breakfast – classic marathoner’s food and a staple of Paula Radcliffe. It certainly has left me full in the morning, even in the recent cold weather, so no need for a couple of pieces of buttered toast and marmalade. The Christmas cake is now but a small, drying triangle, and so much easier to overlook at coffee time.

I’m nervous about losing weight, and the Bath University Human Performance Centre staff warned me not to pay too much attention to it on a daily basis – I guess they’re only too familiar with the danger of obsessiveness in this area. I’m not particularly heavy. But my VO2 Max, or capacity to pump oxygen around the body, will certainly improve for marathon purposes if I dropped some weight. Combining that with higher intensity training looks risky. Two pounds in a week is probably a little too much to lose, and may be a case of more noise than signal, likely to even out on a week-to-week basis. But I’m happy eating lots of fruit, smoothies, pulses and organic meat.

Resting heart rate 47

Weight 72 kg

Mood

Total exercise energy consumed 568 kcal (5k jog, 10 mins bike)