Hello! It’s a minute since I’ve been able to sit down and write a little bit especially about any sort of training cycle in recent memory. 6 months in and what a year it’s been so far. I’ve been preoccupied with a good amount of extra commitments, and injuries that have been nagging me for a while. The constant calf injury has gotten only worse, and being pain free for daily movements is something that I missed starting off 2024. It’s wild to think that this is the worst injury I have had since my college days. I guess I can’t complain and life is pretty good. However, it gets to you after a while, especially after having running be apart of your life 6-7 days a week for about 3 years.
Most of my calendar for 2024 was planned around road races this year all over the country. The goals were big, but I was very optimistic. It was going to be a lot of work, and require some good dedication, but nothing that I haven’t faced before. Welp, things certainly do change…
It’s a tough pill to swallow to watch the days and weeks go on, and no end of this strain in sight. The worst is the inconsistency week after week, when you think your getting better only to go three steps back. To put it simply the year has been demotivating.
You know when you wake up each day and everything just hurts, or you are not sure what’s going to hurt. That’s been pretty much everyday of 2024. I guess it started because I was overcommitted and stressed out. I started to slack off, be arrogant about my recovery and diet and start to fall off of my running training. Then as you get more injured you think to yourself what’s the point of trying to do this. Why keep eating clean, there’s no race planned? Why stay so strict on activity, you’ve done enough maybe just rest now. Why keep doing all of this, maybe take a break?
I don’t think I’m going to be back where I was in 2023 anytime soon. Rightfully so and I deserve it. I was an asshole when it came to the discipline in recent weeks. There was little incentive, my routine living in the big apple has affected my discipline, and other influences have also gotten in the way.
Also, I have been trying to lead a more balanced life, that included friends, events, new foods, and deepening relationships with others. These were all things that I lacked in the past. If it didn’t involve running, started past 8pm I didn’t want a part of it. Truthfully I believe that actually worked for my first few years to establish a base, and it was easy during the pandemic to say “no” to just about anything. So I wanted this year to expand my personal skills and my professional career as well. It’s a balance that is hard to accomplish and be happy with the successes and failures in each.
That’s why with this new “phase” it’s a little different that years past. It’s not structured or as rigorous as all of my previous cycles. It’s a framework and more focused on habits rather than a plan to follow each day. Since I haven’t been able to follow any plan consistently (due to injury or flare ups) having enough backups is where I am going to need to settle.
A lot has changed from 2023 to 2024. I moved into a new city, moved in with a roommate, had more influences around my life, used my injury as an excuse, committed to way to many jobs that I could keep up with, and thought I could keep all of this together and keep progressing forward.
So let’s get back to healthy.
Main Theme of this Cycle
Since I always do my best when I have something written down and can follow it religiously, creating these cycles and sharing them has held me the most accountable. This one is different though, because I can’t confidently follow this one to the T anymore. Some days I can’t workout, I wake up with pains in my feet, or life just gets in the way and there are some other responsibilities to take care of.
Rather than being strict on a program that’s planned for a M-F, this cycle is different it’s going to focus on habits, discipline, and consistency again. The long term goal would be to have enough strength to tackle a marathon come the fall season. We aren’t going for any records in this cycle, but rebuilding a base, getting over these stupid injuries, and trying to balance other aspects of life.
- Main Theme of this Cycle
- Running Plan
- Rehab Specific Exercises
- Lifting and Cross Training
- Physical Therapy & External Modalities
Main Themes:
- Start small and establish the discipline again.
- Rehab the shit out of the knee, calf, and Achilles. Move it as much as possible. Perform strengthening move 7x a week.
- Sleep more.
- Prioritize recovery, this includes sleeping more.
- Run slower.
- Run slower.
- Runs should be slower.
- Don’t run if you can’t.
- Focus on a slow build.
- Lift 2-3 times per week.
- Limit alcohol.
- Work on your habits again. Morning routines. Night routines. Stretching and recovery.
- Add in your warmups before any workouts.
- Add in a recovery stretching plan after.
- Follow each part to the best of your ability to improve and connect the system.
Christopher Sandoli 
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