XC Runner

cfitz

Week 9, Day 6:

40 minute easy run
Stretching


I'm allowing myself one week of eating junk food for Christmas. Only 2 portions per day though.

cfitz

Week 9, Day 7:

Stretching


Week 10, Day 1:

40 minute run
Stretching


Visited my osteopath in the afternoon for my bi-monthly treatment. Got a bit of a massage on my calves from him too.

cfitz

Week 10, Day 2:

35 minute run
4 x 100m sprints
Stretching


First day to add in the sprints after my run. I'll probably do them twice a week to start off with. And I might up the number of reps.

cfitz

Week 10, Day 3:

45 minute run
Stretching


Week 10, Day 4:

45 minute easy run
Stretching


Happy Christmas everyone.

cfitz

Week 10, Day 5:

Rest


Week 10, Day 6:

40 minute easy run
4 x 100m sprints
Stretching


Plan to do a longer run tomorrow, just 50-55 minutes probably. Racing on Wednesday and Sunday of next week so will take it fairly handy during the week. Have a new pair of Nike Forever XC that I got just before my injury and haven't got to wear yet, so looking forward to trying them out.

cfitz

Week 10, Day 7:

55 minute run
Stretching


Racing on Wednesday so will probably do 35 minutes tomorrow and a few sprints after in my new spikes to get used to them.

cfitz

Week 11, Day 1:

35 minute run (started very easy finished hard)
4 x 100m sprints (in my new spikes)
Stretching

Zero degrees, dark, ground hard with frost and bumpy. Not very nice for running.

cfitz

Just posting about my race, will probably fill out the log properly tomorrow.

Race was 3.2k cross country, hard and fast through a forest for a lot of it and then deep sand for a short stretch. I found the sandy part very difficult every time. I finished 30th in a time of 12:00. There were 60 men but I was beaten by one woman also :eek: I was looking at some of the previous results for the runners who were near me in the race and I think all things considered I did ok. The two other guys who finished on exactly 12:00 have run 8:41 for 3000m (29th today) and 1:58 for 800m (31st today). My legs are in ribbons but hopefully they'll recover fairly quickly.

cfitz

Week 11, Day 2:

10 minute warm up jog
1 x 120m strides, 4 x 80m strides (approximate distances on slighty uphill path)
10 minute cool down jog
Stretching
(Got (an unqualified) friend to give me a light sports massage on my calves afterwards also)

Weather was very cold, -4 or something. Had some teenagers running with me so did something that suited everyone.


Week 11, Day 3:

3200m RACE (Cross-Country)

-20 min warm up jog (Because it was very cold. Did some strides but it was very difficult in the sand. Didn't stretch before the race, I always would have before, I'm not sure whether to replace them with drills - or which drills to replace them with)
-RACE
-24 min warm down jog
-Stretching (at night just before warm bath and bed)


Temperature was probably about -2 degrees but there wasn't much wind so it wasn't awful. Most of the course was through a forest and the ground was quite hard with frost. I was worried that I'd be better off in flats, but the spikes worked out fine. The course was a tight 1200m lap followed by a 2000m lap. The start/finish was surrounded by a few hundred metres of deep sand.

I started out quite hard for about the first two minutes and as I soon as I got close to the main group (about top 40) I started to let up. My breathing was very heavy but my momentum was bringing me up a few more places. I settled in soon enough and was making good progress until we hit the sandy part. I lost a lot of ground here, I think running in sand takes a lot of getting used to (I was the only Irish person in the race - the other people in the race seemed much better at dealing with the sand than me).

As soon as we got back into the forest I got going again and was making places throughout the lap. I loved the course through the forest, a really nice change to running around a field. For the final stretch in the sand, I held my ground slightly better and I don't think I lost any places. I finished in 12:00 (30th position) and I think quite a few of the people around me were much better track runners than me.

I was quite happy with my first race in 5 months. It was great fun and I felt like I was in good shape. I'm not sure how I'll be over longer distances but it was an ok start to my cross-country season anyway.

cfitz

Week 11, Day 4:

35 minute easy run
Stretching

Started out very slow and was starting to get into a little bit of a rhythm when two big unaccompanied dogs appeared. So I left the grass and headed down the road for a while. Got back to the grass for the last 15 minutes but I wasn't doing much more than jogging. Legs aren't feeling too bad now and I'm going for a sports massage tomorrow.

cfitz

Week 11, Day 5:

REST

Got a sports massage that seems to have done a good job loosening me out before my race on Sunday.


Week 11, Day 6:

10 minute warm up jog
1 x 100m strides, 4 x 70m strides (approx. distances on a slightly uphill grass surface)
10 minute warm down jog
Stretching

10k cross-country race tomorrow.

shels4ever

Best of luck tomorrow

SUNGOD

your just after reminding me i really must get a rub down as the legs are feeling it lately.
i used to get one regular but have been lazy about booking one recently but i know it will be worth while as i do feel great after it

best of luck tommorrow , what time are you aiming for?

cfitz

SUNGOD wrote: »

best of luck tommorrow , what time are you aiming for?

Cheers. It's a fairly tough cross-country course so I'm not thinking about my time at all. Also, I don't think cross-country courses tend to be marked very stringently so my time might not mean much even in comparison to other times I've run in the same venue. I'll be racing against lots of people I know though, so it should be easy enough to rate my performance.

cfitz

Week 11, Day 7:

15 minute warm up jog
Strides
10km RACE
20 minute warm down jog
Stretching

I didn't expect to be ready for a 10km cross-country race but I was hoping for better than today's performance. I ran out of steam after about 4km and just went back and back. I didn't feel near as good as I did in my race on Wednesday. I've had the beginnings of a cough for the last two days and seems to have taken hold a bit since the race, so maybe I wasn't at 100%. I was only running the race to help out the club and the race really so I don't think I'll have too much trouble putting this result behind me.

Racing Flat

The race will stand to you in a few weeks. Considering you've only been doing 40mins a day or so, you did well to last 4k! Good to be back anyway. 6 weeks to Nat. Inters...

cfitz

Week 12, Day 1:

35 minute very easy run
Stretching

I'm proper sick now. I figured I might be missing a few days so I got out yesterday morning in -4 degrees and fog - probably not ideal for the lungs. Wore a big jacket and hat and gloves and took it really easy. It went fairly well, just a few bouts of coughing. My cold has been getting steadily worse since Sunday, so I'd say I'll miss a few days.

cfitz

Week 12, Day 2:

35 minute easy run
Stretching

Decided to get some Benylin 4 Flu today. Was feeling good and not really coughing much so wrapped up well and went out for an easy run. Interesting nerdy information: I checked out the WADA website and it seems that Benylin 4 Flu does not contain any banned substances but pseudoephedrine is on the 2009 monitoring list to see if people are misusing it in competition.

Racing Flat

I remember being on the plane once on the way to competition and one of the competitors was fairly distressed with bad ear pain. Gave her one of my sudofed tablets and soon as it was swallowed realised it probably had some banned substance. Bit of an anxious week that was not knowing what to do and all....

cfitz

Well I don't think there's much chance of anyone testing me unless I make some big improvements but I like to know that I'm playing by the rules anyway.

cfitz

Week 12, Day 3:

35 minute easy run
Stretching

The cough wasn't very good today, not really feeling sick anymore but the cough is persistent and it was bad while I was running today. Might take tomorrow as a rest day, I hope I can get rid of this cough quickly.

TheRoadRunner

cfitz wrote: »

Week 12, Day 2:

35 minute easy run
Stretching

Decided to get some Benylin 4 Flu today. Was feeling good and not really coughing much so wrapped up well and went out for an easy run. Interesting nerdy information: I checked out the WADA website and it seems that Benylin 4 Flu does not contain any banned substances but pseudoephedrine is on the 2009 monitoring list to see if people are misusing it in competition.

I heard Viagra is also going on the list. Seriously. You've been warned !

cfitz

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

I heard Viagra is also going on the list. Seriously. You've been warned !

Ha, thanks for the heads up - I hope you've figured out an alternative

cfitz

Week 12, Day 4:

REST

Was coughing all night so decided to take that day as my rest day.


Week 12, Day 5:

MISSED TRAINING

Not doing too bad today, but didn't feel like I should be training. Was tempted to go for an easy run but decided against it eventually. The doctor told me that my cough probably won't go away that quickly and that I shouldn't be running much at all at the moment.

TheRoadRunner

cfitz wrote: »

Ha, thanks for the heads up - I hope you've figured out an alternative

No problem. I suppose it enhances performance in more ways than one !

cfitz

Week 12, Day 6:

35 minute very easy run
Stretching


Very slow. Was very windy and I was coughing a lot. Took it really easy, hoping not to aggravate my cough.

cfitz

Week 12, Day 7:

35 minute easy run
Stretching

Run went well. Getting impatient with this cough though.

cfitz

Week 13, Day 1:

REST

Wasn't feeling great so decided to take my rest day. Just planning to do 35 minutes today and hopefully I'll get better as the week goes on.

cfitz

Week 13, Day 2:

35 minute easy run


I'm not sure what to do with this cough. It's hard to know if running is making it worse or not. I've had coughs before where I'd take a few days off and then realise it didn't make any difference so all I could do was train through it. Maybe I'll take a few days off and see if it helps...

MCOS

cfitz wrote: »

Week 13, Day 2:

35 minute easy run


I'm not sure what to do with this cough. It's hard to know if running is making it worse or not. I've had coughs before where I'd take a few days off and then realise it didn't make any difference so all I could do was train through it. Maybe I'll take a few days off and see if it helps...

I'm exactly where you are at with this cough. I've nearly drowned 2 large bottles of Exputex in the last 10 days and though I'm not getting fits it hasn't cleared up and I'm not getting up much phlegm. I had this same type of cough a few years back (a worse dose) getting ready for nat champs and the doc wanted to give me a steriod inhaler. I said no thanks. He then recommended the exputex and said it will take time to clear. He said ideally I shouldn't be running/rowing if I'm not 100% but if I was going to train to take it easy and if it got worse to stop.

The cough went eventually but it lingers for an infuriating amount of time! Taking a few days off doesn't have the same effect as if you had a head cold. If I take a deep breath or exhale fully I'll trigger the coughing but the wheezing has stopped. I have cut out a session when I wasn't feeling great though. I suppose just err on the side of caution until it passes. Maddening though isn't it! Doesn't help with half me team at work coughing and sneezing all over the place :cool:

I'm up for any advice too though (non medical of course HM!)