Run Carb.......Run

Carb

Hi all,

First off, sorry about the title. Sort of struggled to come up with something original.

A bit of background on me. I'm 28, about 5' 6'', and I'd guess about 70kgs as it has been that long since I set foot on a set of scales. I'm an accountant, so not overly active, but have two kids aged two and three that keep me on my toes, and plently of outdoor DIY to keep me busy.

I played gaelic football until I was about 18, did weights in the gym for about 12/18 months after this, and have done no structured exercise since then, except for a brief return to football about three years ago. I also smoked for about the past 14 years, the last 8 of which have been on about 20 a day.

I've been considering starting to run for a number of years, but a couple of attempts with cheapish runners left me with aches and pains (especially shins) and I'd eventually give up. 2 and a half weeks ago, I bit the bullet and bought a decent pair of runners and I hit the road.

In terms of goals, my ulltimate goal would be to do a full ironman in summer 2011. My intention is to get into some sprint triathlons at the early part of next season, and hopefully do an Olympic/half ironman distance by the end of the summer 2010.

In the mean time, I'm considering DCM this October but will hold back on a decision for a couple of weeks to seek how my running is progressing. Also want to use the winter to practice swimming/take more lessons. I'll post progress to date in a a separate post as this is starting to ramble on a bit.

Carb

The story so far:

Mon 29th Jun - Ran/walked 2.5 mile in 28 minutes. I was reasonably happy with this. I was able to run to about mid way through, where there is a long steep incline that I had to walk parts of. A liittle bit sore the next day.

Wed 1st Jul - Did the same 2.5 mile loop in 25 mins. Easier than the first night with less walking to be done. No soreness at all the next day

Friday 3rd Jul - The same 2.5 mile loop again. Approximatelly 22 mins. Again, a little easier with a little less walking.

Monday 6th Jul - Quit smoking. Ran the 2.5 mile loop in about the same time as Friday, possibly slightly quicker.

Wed 8th Jul - Pushed the boat out a little and went to mapmyrun and decided on a 6 mile loop. Was a little worried about attempting it, but made it around in about 55 mins. Needed to take a small number of 90 second walking breaks but overall quite happy with the run.

Friday 10th Jul - Thought I'd try the same 6 mile loop, but about half way round knew my legs were not going to do it (1 hours sleep the night before probably didn't help). Took a short cut and ended up doing 4.5 miles in a bout 40 minutes.

Monday 13th Jul - Did the 6 mile route in 48 mins. Delighted with this. Still needing walking breaks but happy with the pace.

Tuesday 14th Jul - Did the 2.5 mile loop in 18 minutes with no walking. Again, very happy with this and would be happy to sustain this pace for the moment and concentrate on doing the distance in more comfort.

BTW: Still of the cigs, eating well and feeling great so far.

xebec

Welcome along Carb, that seems like good going so far, you should take plenty of encouragement out of being able to do 6 miles in 48 mins!

osnola ibax

6 miles in 48 mins, took me 6 months to get to that level

pgibbo

Love your goals and reckon with this much time ahead of you they are well achievable. Lots of hard work but well worth doing.

Congrats on your progress so far and in giving up the cigs.

Slogger Jogger

Welcome aboard Carb. Good targets and so far so good. Good luck.

Carb

Took a rest on Wednesday, and went on the six mile loop last night. The intention was to take it slow and steady (approx 10 min/mile), to try and run the entire route with no walking breaks.

I've only got mapyrun and a wristwatch to judge things, so I ended up overcooking it on the first half, reaching 3 miles in 25 mins. 3 - 4.5 miles was rather tough. It includes a one mile straight on the hard shoulder of the old N2 (very boring), with a breeze in my face. Thankfully I resisted the urge to take a walking break, and after getting through this point, I realised I was still doing the same pace, if not a litttle quicker than the first half. This sort of give me a second wind, so I quickened the pace a little, and ended up completing the 6 miles in 46 mins.

I'm really chuffed with this. Not too bothered about the time although its a bonus, but I feel I've reached a landmark in that I done the run without any walking breaks. Just hope I can do it the next night too.

Carb

On Friday, went on the 2.5 mile loop. Left the watch at home and tried to just enjoy it instead. Nothing to report except its getting easier every time.

Saturday - I wanted to get one more long run in over the weekend. Opted for Saturday and mapped out a new 8.5 mile route. Planned to do ten miles and ended up slightly ahead by doing it in 1hr 20 mins. By an large, I enjoyed this run, up to about 6.5 miles. There was a lot of fatigue over the last two miles, but manged to get there with no walking breaks.

Total miles for the week - 25.5.

Woke up Sunday morning with a whole new world of pain. The area around the the top of my left leg to the front of my hip was very stiff and sore. I initially thought it was my hip, but as the day progressed, it feels more like the left side of my groin. Took the dog out for a one mile walk to see what it's like when I get warmed up a bit, and it does ease. I think its more sore and stiff rather than a torn/damaged muscle. No pains anywhere else except for a blister on my toe. I planned to rest today anyway, so I'll take it one day a time and ease back until it feels right.

Carb

Went out Monday night on the 2.5 mile loop. Didn't time it as I wanted to take it easy and see how the leg felt. There was a little tightness, but nothing that impacted on the run.

Tuesaday - The leg had improved further so I went on the 6 mile loop. Did the 5.5 mile in 44 mins, but the leg was playing up towards the end of this, so I walked/stretched/slowly jogged the last half mile.

The leg is no worse this morning, but I'm going to take the next two days off to see if it will clear up completely. It's a little frustrating as I really feel ready to push the pace or distance a little a this stage. Hopefully a couple of days will sort it out. I may walk the dog to keep the legs loose, but I won't bore you with the details.

menoscemo

That is great going Carb. Your progress is unbelievable.

I know from experience this is really hard to do but I think you should try to slow the majority of your runs down as this will help the fatigue and prevent injuries- maybe take one run a week and try to go fast for a PB- otherwise you risk burning yourself out, mentally and physically.

Carb

menoscemo wrote: »

That is great going Carb. Your progress is unbelievable.

I know from experience this is really hard to do but I think you should try to slow the majority of your runs down as this will help the fatigue and prevent injuries- maybe take one run a week and try to go fast for a PB- otherwise you risk burning yourself out, mentally and physically.

Thanks. Up until now there hasn't been really a plan and it's been more about finding my base. My intention, assuming the leg gets better is to do the 6 mile loop as quick as possible once a week and to do one evening of tempo/hill runs. I also want to do a long slow run at the weekend. Other days will be a mixture of easy runs over various distance depending on how things progress.

Any comments on this are welcome. I'm still considering DCM this year so want to get decent miles into my legs without doing damage.

Carb

Nothing major to report. My leg is till giving me trouble so I've cut out all my longer runs.

Did the 2.5 mile loop on Fri, Sat and Sun (19 - 22 mins) with plenty of exercises and stretching concentrating on my mid and hip section, which I think may be the source of my current problems. 10 years behind a desk have done me no favours. I'm also paying attention to the way I run up hills. My left leg is my predominant leg and I suspect I may be twisting it slightly as I'm coming off it.

The upside is that it does seem to be improving.

Carb

Ok, went for the same 2.5 mile route last night. Legs are starting to feel so much stronger, especially on the hills. Funny the difference a couple of weeks make. I'm starting to enjoy the runs, and last night was the first time in over a week where my leg didn't give me trouble.

However, I'm still getting a deadness in my upper thigh when I wake up in the morning (its usually walked off by the time I get to work) so the problem hasn't fully gone away. In light of this and the advise given to another boardsie in relation to starting to train for DCM at this point, I've decided to give it at miss for this year. It would have been my first marathon and I want to make sure that when I do it, I'm in a position to enjoy it and run a semi decent time. As my overall goal is an Ironman in summer 2011, I think DCM in October 2010 would fit in well with the build up.

I hope that making the decision will remove the urge to ramp up the miles too quickly. I think for now, I'll target the 10k distance and I like the look of the 10k run in Blessington on the 19th September as a target. If I keep the build up slow and steady for the rest of 2009, this should give me a good fitness base going into 2010. I've also the small matter of further swimming lessons and I need to get on a bike at some stage as I want to get some triathlons under my belt next year too.

Carb

Nothing major to report. Progress is slow.

I took Tuesday evening off, as I hoped less frequent running might help my leg fully recover.

Wednesday, I needed to go see the plumber about getting the pumbing on the house finished. 2 miles each way which I took easy at about 10min/mile. My leg was fine for the first 3 miles and then it tightened up again. It was quite stiff ealry yesterday, but could have run on it by last night but give it a miss.

I was contemplating taking a week off from running to let it fully recover, but with trying to quit smoking, I need to be doing something.

So the good news is that my new bike is ready for collection today, so I'll be able to spend the time figuring out how to use the pedals. Happy days.

Carb

Took the bike out for a very short spin on Saturday to see what it was like. It was about the first time in 10 years that I sat on a bike but got use to it fairly quickly. The pedals weren't that hard to get use to, but I'd forgotten how much effort cycling takes. My backside has been fairly sore since, so I wasn't back on it. Migh venture out this evening.

BTW, if you think dogs are a pain when running, they're just as bad for a nervous cyclist.

Went out on the beer Sunday night, which was the first time since quitting the cigarettes. Came through this unscathed, although was feeling quite rough yesterday.

As punishment for Sunday night, I went on my six mile run last night. Took it easy at 10 min/mile. My leg wasn't too bad. When I got home. I put the dogs into their pen, and as I was running down a fairly rough bank, there was a fairly loud crack from the top of my leg followed by a feeling of relief. It has felt like it needed to do that for a couple of weeks. My leg is nowhere near as sore or stiff this morning as it had been previously, so fingers crossed that things will improve from here

Carb

Took the bike out for the first proper spin last night. Stats from the comp. are:

Distance: 16.33 km
Time: 39m 45s
Avg. Sp.: 24.60 km/h
Max. Sp.: 50.50 km/h

Happy enough for a first outing. Felt I could have kept going (albeit, much slower) but no point rushing into it. I don't have cycling shorts yet so there is only so far I can go anyway as the surface on our roads is really crap. Also need to pace myself better.

The bike seems really fast, although I remain to be convinced on the aero position. I know the position is going to feel strange at first, but I felt a little stretched on it meaning there was a strain on my shoulders. I'll see how it goes on the next couple of outings. My legs seem to have appreciated the respite from running on the roads and they feel much looser, and lest niggly around the joints today.

Carb

Took a rest Thursday evening.

Friday, pushed hard around the 2.5 mile loop. 18 mins after a chinese and a cup of coffee so happy enough. Feel like on the the right course I could possibly do close to a 20 min 5k.

Saturday, did the six mile loop in 50 mins. Nothing new here except I'm beginning to lose the battle with darkness in the evenings. Need to start figuring out how I'm going to deal with the lack of daylight.

Sunday, got up at 5.30 to go for a cycle. Was on the road a six. Computer stats are:

Dist: 37.15km
Time: 1hr 37min
Avg Sp: 22.9km/hr
Max SP: 45km/hr

I enjoyed the first three quarters of this but just when I needed things to get a little easier I hit a fairly horrid rise (400ft over 3 miles by my reading of mapmyride). I could have cried. Funny though, once I hit the top, the legs recovered very quick and I began to think about extending the distance. Stuck to the plan though as me and the saddle were beginning to disagree.

I followed this up by taking the kids to the pool, and then spending 2 hours mowing the lawn. To say my legs were dead last night would be an understatement. Glad to get back to work for a rest.:D

Carb

Not a lot to report here. Ran the short 2.5 mile loop Monday evening to try to get my legs moving after Sundays cycle. I got caught late at work on Tuesday and Wednesday.

I've only managed to get the bike out once for a very short spin (11k) due to darker evenings and crap weather. Ran a new route on Friday evening to avoid my neighbours dogs who were all lined up at the side of the road waiting for me, 4.6 miles in 43 mins. Did the same route Saturday evening in 40 mins. Its very hilly, and provides a very good workout, although I'm sure this has contirubted to the twinge I'm feeling in my left hamstring. Took last night off as a result. Haven't decided what to do this evening. My leg is ok when warmed up so at most it will be a very short easy run.

Need to start setting some goals or booking some events. This log and my training could do with something to work towards.

Carb

Another 4.6 miles last night in 43 mins. The hamstring seems to have been just a little DOMS as I have no aches, pains or other ailments today. My legs actually feel very fresh. Thankfully the problem that I've had for the past couple of weeks in my left hip/upper leg area seems to have cleared. I'm beginning to feel much more comfortable on hills, which in my area of Monaghan is really necessary.

We also bought a set of scales for the house, which is the first time I've set foot on scales in about 10 years. I nearly fell off when I seen the number. 11st 4lbs. Although it's a long time since I weighed myself, I'd never seen a number starting with 11 before. I know I mentioned 70kgs in my original post, but this was at best a guesstimate. I also lost weight since then, the belt has had to be tightened by one hole, and my wife recently described me as skin and bones. For the moment, my daily movements in weight are my obsession. ie Sunday night I was 11st 7lb and last night I was 11st 3.75lb. Anyway, I quess there is at least a stone that can be lost easily enough with a little eye on what I eat and a little increase in mileage. Should make things easier on the joints.

Carb

7.5 miles in 1hr 13mins last night. Delighted with this as this was my longest run since I overdid it on my legs acouple of weeks ago. Today there is no sign of aches or injury thankfully. Got caught my the dark however, so felt like a real prat everytime a car went past. No doubt comments were passed about my lack of suitable attire. I'll know for again.

village runner

Carb wrote: »

7.5 miles in 1hr 13mins last night. Delighted with this as this was my longest run since I overdid it on my legs acouple of weeks ago. Today there is no sign of aches or injury thankfully. Got caught my the dark however, so felt like a real prat everytime a car went past. No doubt comments were passed about my lack of suitable attire. I'll know for again.

f Great going. You have got it up to a good base in a short period of time.
Adidas has the saying impossible is nothing as you have come along way.

I also bought a bike this year. Trying to get out on Obsessed with my weight too. 13st 7ibs. Full ironman in 2011 is also the aim. How is your swimming ??? I am cat and is prob the main one.
I dont like the dogs either. Keep it up

Carb

village runner wrote: »

f Great going. You have got it up to a good base in a short period of time.
Adidas has the saying impossible is nothing as you have come along way.

I also bought a bike this year. Trying to get out on Obsessed with my weight too. 13st 7ibs. Full ironman in 2011 is also the aim. How is your swimming ??? I am cat and is prob the main one.
I dont like the dogs either. Keep it up

I'm really happy with the running so far. I'll need to curb my enthusiasm to go further too quickly. I could easily have ran further last night although I'm sure I would have regretted it today. I'd like to get comfortable at half marathon distance, and work then on improving my time. Not sure whether to aim for a late 2010 or early 2011 HIM. Maybe head towards marathon distance in late 2010.

My swimming is a disaster too. I've done one set of lessons to try and get back into it, and I'll be doing another in Sepetember. After that it will be practice, practice, practice. Need to figure out how to fit/incorporate all the training into my 20/22 hours a week commuting.

Regarding the weight, fascinated rather than obsessed would probably have been a better term ie. Sunday night I was 11st 7, by the end of the run last night I was 11st 1.75, and before going to bed I was back up to 11st 4. I'm sure the novelty will wear off.:) I don't think there is any point worrying too much about your weight. You seem to have made good prgrees in this area already. Common sense on diet and the miles you are doing will keep having an impact.

I don't really mind dogs, as long as they stay where they're suppose to. I find it very annoying that owners' think its perfectly acceptable for their dogs to be out along the road chasing everything that passes. Running I can generally live with, but it's only a matter of time before I'm put off the bike.

village runner

20-22 hours a week commuting ? 4 hours a day ? Thats tough. Keep it up. Will be keeping an eye on your progress.

Carb

Aonther 4.5 miles Friday night in 43 mins.

Got up Saturday morning for a cycle. I did approximately 43.5km, although I only measured the middle 27.5km. I used the first and last 8kn for a leisurely cycle, and the middle 27.5km is an uninterupted stretch of hard shoulder that I want to use for tracking progress. So the stats for this section were:

Time: 1hr 2mins
Dist: 27.51Km
Avg Sp.: 26.4km/hr
Max Sp.: 39.5km/hr

Happy enough with this. I'm feeling stonger on each cycle, and I am gradually getting used to the gears. When I managed to get the right gear I found myself accelerating on hills. The bike will be well ready for it's 6 week service however as there is a little jumping about on the cogs going on.

I also had my first clipless pedal incident. The annoying thing was that I had my foot out but I leaned the opposite way. My new bike has now lost a little of it newness:(. Nothing serious, a scratched pedal, scratched saddle and a little scratch on the handlebar. The most important thing is that despite this happening on the main route into Castleblayney on a Saturday morning, nobody seen me, so my ego survived intact:D

Pushed myself hard on the 2.5 mile loop last night and did this in 17m 13s. This is a vast improvement from the 28 mins it took at the very start. I suspect, future improvements will be on a smaller scale.

village runner wrote: »

20-22 hours a week commuting ? 4 hours a day ? Thats tough. Keep it up. Will be keeping an eye on your progress.

4hrs 20mins door to door. Unfortunately this is using the norther commuter line, so I'll need to see how the current disruption impacts me. Irishrail are talking about an extra half hour, so that would be nearly 5hrs a day:eek:

Carb

Nothing really exciting to add.

Monday night, dragged my legs around the 4.5 mile loop in 45mins. I took Tuesday off. Wasn't really intentional, but succumbed to temptation on the way home from work and bought a chinese for dinner. Last night did the 4.5 miles in 44mins. My legs weren't that interested again. I guess Sunday night's run was the hardest I've pushed myself speedwise and it seems to have knocked the stuffing out of me.

I'll see out the next 2/3 days and then it's off to Spain for a week. I've put my body through a lot of abuse that it's not use to over the past 8/9 weeks so I think a week off will be welcome.

Also bought Joe Friel's book. Some very interesting stuff, especially for somebody that knows nothing about the mechanics of the body. Obviously there are large parts that aren't useful yet (I can't exactly ananlyse prior results), but someday hopefully.

Carb

Nothing to report. No runs at all. My legs feels completely fecked and at times I feel really strange. I keep getting very sharp, short twinges like I'm been poked with something pointy. Completely random and can be on any muscle on my body but mainly my lower half. I also feel very stitchy, (if there is such a word). high up just below my ribcage. Even got it briefly walking to the office this morning. I'm assuming that I'm still recovering from the short run Sunday night, which I suppose would be race pace if I ever do a race.

I could actually do a run, but I don't think its would be the most enjoyable experience and given that I'm off to Spain tomorrow night, I'll leave it for now rather than risk making things worse. Should give me a chance to get fully recovered. I intend signing up to TCD's gym today so I'll have that to look forward to when I come back.

Anyway, I'll be offline from tomorrow on for a week or so. But I'll be thinking of you all when I'm baking in 30 degree temperatures on the beach.:D

Carb

Well, I'm back. There's nothing like Dublin airport to give you a rude awakening when returning home. Note for DAA, getting people to walk from the plane to the terminal only really works in countries where it doesn't permanently rain. A real comedown from a week of high 30s and endless sunshine.

Miraculously, despite a week of eating crap, drinking crap and sleeping crap, no more of me came back than went out. Still a couple of lbs over the 11 stone mark. I feel refreshed and well rested.

So far I've got out for two runs. Last night went on the 4.5 mile loop and was all set to knock 3 mins of my fastest time when I bumped into a neighbour with about a third of a mile to go so ended up walking for a bit to have a chat. Would have done it in about 37 mins, but officially I crossed the line in 41 mins.

Did the 2.5 miles in 19 mins tonight. Easy enough run.

Need to have a think about things over the next 2 or 3 weeks and try and get some structure and targets into my training.

Carb

Nothing wild or exciting to add. I took Wednesday night off, and cycled 25km in an hour on Thursday. The bike badly needs its 6 week service as the gears are jumping around the place which is slowing me down. I'm also thinking that I need the handlebars raised by a spacer. I'm not that comfortable in the aero position, and my hamstring feels under serious pressure. I'm definitely not getting the power into the pedals.

Friday night, I ran 4.5 miles in 41 minutes and Saturday night ran 5 miles in 41 mins also. Both runs felt easy enough. This was my first run after dark and thankfully, I think I'll be able to keep doing a good bit of running over the winter.

Did nothing last night as I was going out, and I did nothing today because I went out:rolleyes:. (I slightly overdid it on the sauce). Back to work tomorrow after two weeks off, so it'll be nice to settle into some routine again.

Carb

Suffering a serious motivational blip at the moment. Only did 2.5 miles on Wendesday night and that's it so far for the week:(. I think its a combination of been back at work, and the extra bit of enthusiasm needed to venture out on the edge of darkness.

There are also several things up for decision at the moment. ie. how to incorporate swimming/gym into my day, should I stop using the train and start commute by car and bike. Can't decide until I take the bike up for its service next Wedneday, and then I can start planning the way forward (hopefully).

Carb

Little to add. Did 7.5 miles in 64 mins on Saturday so I'm reasonably happy with my pace, considering the first 5 mile of this I just couldn't really get going.

I think I'm also going to sign off on this particular log. I'm not going to get anything done this week as I've the tax affairs for somebody to get sorted. I'll also do the fitness assessment in TCD, and get the bike serviced.

I've also decided that I'm going to continue commuting by train. My bike fitness is not at a high enough level to prevent impacting the other disciplines. My annual ticket will be up at the end of March 2010 and I think this would be a good time to incorporate the commute into my training.

So my aim over the next two weeks is to get a program finalised for the gym, study this years calender and set some goals for next year, get into the swimming pool, have a word with the Mrs. in relation to a turbo trainer (29th birthday shortly), and in general set up a structured plan with targets to give me something measurable. Probably looking at mornings - swimming/weights, evenings - turbo/running, weekends - longer runs/cycles.

I probably will do a couple of runs when the time allows in the mean time, but I won't bore you with details of my 8 - 10 min/miles. Thanks to those who read/contributed or offered support on this log. It is much appreciated. Hopefully my new log will be of interest/assistance in the future.