Diary of a middle-age runner

Woddle

Good to see you back Gerard65
I must give you back your books, I finished the London marathon and am halfway through ultramarathon man, which is surprisingly a great read.

jlang

Hope all stays well for you. Looking forward to seeing you back racing.

stmochtas

Woddle wrote: »

Good to see you back Gerard65
I must give you back your books, I finished the London marathon and am halfway through ultramarathon man, which is surprisingly a great read.

+1

shels4ever

Welcome back , you wont have lost much in the forced break, glad to hear your healthy again. best of luck over the coming months.

gerard65

This log had fallen down to the last page as its been so long since I've updated it, because I've had nothing to write, so this is a quick update. After pulling my calf a couple of weeks ago, this week I've been 'jogging' on grass. I can stretch and walk around with no problems but after about 20 mins running it begins to tighten and I have to stop. I've missed so much this year - the track races I would have loved to have a go and I have had to pull out of the sportsworld 5 mile next week. I just hope I'm OK for the adidas race series in the park over the summer. I've started piling on alot of weight due to my inactivity. I could/should cross train but to be honest I've no interest in any other physical activity - its running or nothing. Don't really know if I should take a complete week off and hope the leg heals or keep doing the 20mins easy hoping I'm not delaying the healing process. Might just rest the weekend and see how it is on monday.

gerard65

Now I've gone and really f up. If I had taken the week off I'd be fine but after a 2 mile run on Monday with no problems, I got too cocky and tried a 4 mile last night. All was OK until the 3 mile mark and pop went my calf again - except worse this time, felt like an elastic band snapping, limped home and would have kicked myself but was too sore. Still limping today, if only I had patience and took another week:mad: I think thats it for another 4 weeks at least. The year is slipping away quickly along with my entry fees for the sportsworld 5 and maybe now the adidas series in the park. I'm really p'ed off -a few more days and I would have been recovered fully - will I ever learn

I feel your pain regarding absences from races - my BHAA season was cut short too (due to shin splints). Have absolutely no races planned for the foreseeable future myself, just going to take it slowly.

I do miss the buzz of races though if i'm honest...

gerard65

Thanks N. I'm beginning to resent the other guys running the track and training at full steam - b*tards;) Whats worse is paying entries for races and not been able to turn up. €17 down the drain for the sportsworld 5 mile and I'm begining to get worried about the €40 odd for the adidas race series, I'm praying I'll be back for July. Another problem is I'm piling on the weight - you wouldn't reckonise me now, I'm twice the man I was:D

shels4ever

gerard65 wrote: »

Now I've gone and really f up. If I had taken the week off I'd be fine but after a 2 mile run on Monday with no problems, I got too cocky and tried a 4 mile last night. All was OK until the 3 mile mark and pop went my calf again - except worse this time, felt like an elastic band snapping, limped home and would have kicked myself but was too sore. Still limping today, if only I had patience and took another week:mad: I think thats it for another 4 weeks at least. The year is slipping away quickly along with my entry fees for the sportsworld 5 and maybe now the adidas series in the park. I'm really p'ed off -a few more days and I would have been recovered fully - will I ever learn

Sorry to hear that, but on the plus side the calf will heal . A trip to the physio should help .
The weight will fall off again once you start training .

gerard65

Thanks Shels, but I'm at the stage now - will I ever be able to run properly again. I know one of the first rules of injury is - "it will get better" but its so frustrating, since January anything that could have went wrong seems to have. This week I've had no pain when out walking so hopefully its getting better. I try get about an hour of fast walking in every evening to keep the legs ticking over but when I'm out I start thinking of all the great sessions I could be doing and putting scheduals together in my head -aaagg:mad:. I'll take another week out and then maybe try a little jog to see how things are, but I'll be taking it VERY easy for a few weeks.

gerard65

Had to try a little jog yesterday evening on the grass in bushy park. Got to 18 mins when the calf played up again. Still sore today. This healing process is taking too long:(. I'll take another week off and see how its then. Looks like the Irish runner 5 mile is out the window. Will have to set my sights on the 10miler in aug.

gerard65

MONDAY 15th Jun

20mins of 1min jog - 1min walk.
May not seem much but its great to be able to do something without pain. I've been advised it'll will take another 3 weeks for the calf to heal 100% but I can start taking small steps. I've been warned in no uncertain terms to start back very easy, but at least I can see a chink of light at the end of the tunnel. Might even make the adidas 5mile next month. Its good to be back:D

SUNGOD

welcome back , im just back as well.
even though its only short distances its just good to be back running.
slowly but surely we will get back to where we were

gerard65

TUESDAY 16th july

28mins of 2min jog - 1min walk.
No problems with the calf. Killed two birds with the one stone, dropped my BAC application form into Woddle on way.

Woddle

gerard65 wrote: »

TUESDAY 16th july

28mins of 2min jog - 1min walk.
No problems with the calf. Killed two birds with the one stone, dropped my BAC application form into Woddle on way.

Yep I got that, thanks, best of luck with the comeback and don't rush back like the last time and would you consider knocking the 5 miler on the head. I know you've paid and all but I would love to see you back a 100% fit and I don't know if racing so soon will help that cause.
But great to see you back

stmochtas

Great to see you back Gerard.

gerard65

Woddle wrote: »

don't rush back like the last time and would you consider knocking the 5 miler on the head. I know you've paid and all but I would love to see you back a 100% fit and I don't know if racing so soon will help that cause.
But great to see you back

I'm being very careful this time. Tonight I'll take off and just go for a long walk. I'll only do the 5 miler if I'm up to 40mins running with no problems, and then only run it as a training session.

gerard65

THURS 18th Jun

30mins of 2min easy running - 1 min walk. Calf still holding up. That completes phase one of 30mins activity. Phase 2 is to build up to 30mins continous running over the next 2 weeks. Still not 100% confident with the leg but thats good as it'll stop me from doing too much too soon.

gerard65

FRI 19th Jun

34mins of 4min easy - 1 min walk.
The rehab continues. This was the first night since hurting my calf on the 24th April to use my forerunner. For what its worth the total milage for this run was 3.3 with an average pace of 10.2.

gerard65

SAT 20 Jun

33mins of 5min easy - 2min walk.

Getting the odd pain in my calf. Don't think its the injury, just normal DOMS type pain -I hope. I'll rest tomorrow.

gerard65

Mon 22nd Jun

30mins of 5min easy - 1min walk
Very humid out there tonight. The extra layer of blubber does'nt help:(

shels4ever

gerard65 wrote: »

Mon 22nd Jun

30mins of 5min easy - 1min walk
Very humid out there tonight. The extra layer of blubber does'nt help:(

Tell me about it, I felt like i was running in a sauna last night.

gerard65

Tues 23rd June

35mins of 6min easy - 1min walk.
Nice run tonight in bushy. Kept to the outside of the field in the shade. Felt more pleasent than last night.
Sportsworld were doing quarters tonight. Would have thought the park was a bit to packed at that hour for fast running but they seem to get around fine, maybe its their numbers - people tend to get out of the way of a big crowd of runners barrelling towards them. They must have the largest active participating membership in the country and thats without a juve section.

gerard65

Wed 24th June

27mins of 8min run - 1min walk.
Increased the running time but reduced the overall time. Calf still holding up but its still not 100%.

gerard65

Fri 26th Jun

32 mins of 10min run - 1min walk. In my new kayano's tonight. I had a falling out with kayano a few months back, accusing them of been too heavy and chunky, but we've made up and are now bestist buddies.
A bit wrecked today. Course finished yesterday and was out for the mandatory numberous pints till the early morning.
Jebus, if I hear anymore about Micky bloody Jackson I'll scream!!!

gerard65

Sat 27th Jun

32mins of 10min easy running - 1min walk. Calf is still ok, the plan is to reach 30mins running by this time next week.
Got my email confirming I'm now a official, paid up member of Boards AC. Hopefully it won't be too long before I'm fit enough to race as a BAC member.:)

TheRoadRunner

gerard65 wrote: »

Sat 27th Jun

32mins of 10min easy running - 1min walk. Calf is still ok, the plan is to reach 30mins running by this time next week.
Got my email confirming I'm now a official, paid up member of Boards AC. Hopefully it won't be too long before I'm fit enough to race as a BAC member.:)

welcome back (again ) fingers crossed you have a bit of luck this time. The approach you are on now seems sensible. It's corny to say but listen to your body and more importantly your calf. Have you been doing any strengthening exercise for your calf/achilles, if not I can recommend a few.

gerard65

Thanks Roadrunner. I got a couple of calf exercises which I'm using.
Noticed an odd pain in my calf today (maybe in my head) so I just went for a walk this evening.

gerard65

Mon 29th June.

39mins of 12min run - 1min walk. Very happy with this session, cover 4.4mls in total without any problems. The plan is still on track:).

RacoonQueen

Good stuff, good to see you getting back. On track for the 5 miler now?