Plateau - a region of little or no change.
Training goes through cycles. There are buildup cycles, endurance cycles, speed cycles. An aspect of the training cycle is the "fitness plateau." It is that part of the training cycle where it seems like I'm not making progress. Each run feels difficult, often times sluggish. Progress seems to have stalled. It's frustrating.
This part of the cycle can last a couple weeks. I'm doing the work, but progress isn't showing. Mentally, it's taxing, especially at 67. It makes me wonder it this is my peak, that it's just not going to get easier or feel more fluid, or breathing will just have to be labored from now on. Until one day....
Ah, today, the cycle moved forward. Today during mile repeats, breathing was less labored, legs were more fluid, less heavy. The feeling of being a runner came back.
Will the next training session be similar? I'll have to wait and see. But today showed me progress hasn't stalled. At 67 I can make progress and running can feel more fluid, less difficult. There will be more plateaus, they will be at a higher level, it may take longer to rise above them, but there will be more rising above the current plateau. Aging isn't a limit, it's another challenge.
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