Since my last mini post, I've recovered, run the Berlin marathon, took time off my feet, picked up training and started getting really fit, ran the Wokingham half and promptly got injured again, this time it's my right hip—same issue as February last year— and had to pull out of the London marathon for the second year in a row 😞.

At the time I thought it was the cycling, and it could still be, but I've been thinking back to my recent injuries and there's something else I noticed in common: they've all came about whilst I was half way into a more intensity-focused training programme. I used to do a lot of volume-based training programmes and really enjoyed them and did really well, injury free, for years. It could be coincidence as I was a lot younger then, but it's possible going from low volume and intensity due to taking time off for Christmas each year straight into an intensity-focused programme is to blame and maybe my aging body can't cope as well.

So I'm going to test that theory. I seem to finally be on the mend from the most recent hip injury and have had two successful easy tester runs without pain during or after the run so from this week I'm going back to MAF and will slowly build my mileage and base back up.

I had great success with MAF in the past, and I know it forces a much gentler "programme" so I'm going to give it another go. Times aren't important to me now—there's no way I'm going to be setting any more PBs, though still being able to do a sub-3 marathon is nice—but running is and I want to be back out there on the roads and trails. We've also recently moved to a more rural area and there are loads of woods and trails on my doorstep that are calling out to me and I want to go explore them.

It's going be tough dropping my pace but I know from experience this is short-lived and it'll be much gentler on my aging body so hopefully doesn't aggravate anything and allows me to build up better and stronger in the long run.

I'm going to track my tests as I did waaay back in 2011 and hopefully get some nice new graphs to show off.