So, that Hannover Half Marathon on May 6th is sure sneaking up on me pretty fast, isn’t it?  My training hasn’t been half as regimented as it was for Berlin, but there are some good reasons for that.  My body was pretty tired after that race and made sure I knew it.  Not only did I have soreness around my achilles tendons (which I’ve never experienced before), I’ve also noticed my immune system taking a bit of a dive in the form of sore throats and lethargy.

While I ran a bit during the two weeks following the race, it was sporadic at best.  I am over the moon with what I was able to achieve in Berlin, and now my body is making it clear to me that the Hannover Half needs to be about having fun rather than setting personal records. (I have grand plans for the Bremen Half in October though, which you’ll hear more about soon, I promise.)

After replacing my embarrassingly old running shoes (which were certainly linked to some of the issues I was having), this past week was the closest to a normal training week that I’ve been able to achieve since the Berlin Half.  I took it down a notch by eliminating the speed training, and added in some specific strength training beneficial to runners (more on that in another post).

• Monday: Rest.
• Tuesday: 3 miles + glutes workout.  My first run after taking a full week off to heal. Kept it real slow and tried to stay on soft surfaces as much as possible.  I also spent about 25 minutes working on my glutes and trying to improve the flexibility in my hip flexors.  As I said before, this deserves an entire post of its own.
• Wednesday: lower body workout.  An entire 25-minute workout devoted to strengthening my legs.  Again, my aim is to get stronger and avoid injuries in the future.
• Thursday: Rest.  This was supposed to have been a 45-minute tempo run, but  I felt like I was coming down with a cold.  So it goes.
• Friday: 4.9 miles.  Took it nice and easy and enjoyed running along Rummelsburger See in Berlin.
• Saturday: Rest.
• Sunday: 8 miles.  Despite some twinges early on in my right knee, this was a really great run.  It felt wonderful to be out running a substantial distance again.

I have a full week of training planned for next week, and then a week of taper before the race.   My goal is to do my best to hold it together and have a decent run in Hannover.

Does anyone else have experience running races close together?  How did you manage to maintain motivation and avoid injury between them?