Invisible Coach Sven is reasonably happy with his charge, Dan. Dan's mileage is back to seventy-ish per week. Some of his recent runs aren't too awful. Best of all, today Dan is back at the track for the second week in a row.
Coach Sven has Dan doing 5 x 1600 today. It doesn't have to be a super-fast or otherwise superb workout today; just solid and consistent. Most of all, says Sven, it should be sustainable and something to build on. Sustainable can mean a lot of different things, including the ability to run again tomorrow, the ability to keep the mileage up, and the ability to continue to do speedwork such as this each week or so. That entails remaining (mostly) injury-free.
Dan does okay for his first three 1600s. He's happy to start number four, because now he can start using the mantra, only one to go (after this one). The goosepoop that was such a problem during last week's run is less so today. It's a week older and more frozen this time. Even so, Dan dances around it, trying to keep his shoes clean. Two laps down, thinks Dan, and only two to go, before that last one. It's at this moment - Dan half-done with his fourth interval and Sven cheering from the stands - that it happens.
"EEEEEEE!" and then "Fudge!" yells Dan (except the word wasn't fudge). He just pulled his right calf muscle. Sven yells, "Stop now!" and Dan does. He knows it's not like Sven to get this excited, so he doesn't question the order.
Dan will now have to cut back on his training until his calf heals up. And until Sven says it's okay.
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