My UltraRunning log

Aimman

Must have just missed you on the track yesterday. Mind you, with that running, you would have been a blur. Well done on the PB.

mithril

Wednesday
6 KM in 34:30 (5:45 pace) recovery around Sandyford.

Thursday
5:18KM in 27:30 (5:19 pace) on grass around Sandyford

Friday
Stretching in gym.

Saturday
10KM in 47:57 (4:47 pace) aerobic run on grass around U.C.D. GAA pitch


Very tight calf muscle on Wednesday and spent the remaining of the week trying to free it up through stretching without success.
A sports massage on Saturday with accupuncture did the trick and now calf is fine but knee is niggling. This niggle moves from knee to calf and back again so will get physio to try and diagnose what is going on if it persists.

mithril

Sunday
Summary 34.5KM in 3:48:48 (6:26 pace) long hilly run along the Wicklow Way from Foxes Pub to top of the Dargle valley and back again. (1030 m height gain).

This type of run is all about time on your feet, and the opening KM of 6:30 along a level road would not have been too bad, except I could not physically run any faster.
The sports massage yesterday had fixed the tight calf muscle but replaced it with a dull ache in the front of the knee of the same leg which impacted the running action particularly on the up-hill (unusually with knee injuries I was a more comfortable on the down-hill).

There was no inflammation on the knee cap and I tried a few stretches which did not seem to help. I came close to abandoning after the initial 2 Km when I did not appear to be able to run it off but decided to persevere a little longer and when I moved onto the softer surface of the Wicklow Way it gradually began to improve and I had no obvious pain by the end - maybe becuase by that stage I was flooded with endodorphins.

Cold day but I had a good choice of kit in gloves and running tights and the lovely views in the clear air made up for it.

I reached the half-way point at 2 hours with the view down to the foot-bridge over the Dargle, had a Viper bar and retraced my steps making sure to maintain some kind of running action throughout even on the steep up-hills. The only section of the Wicklow Way I would walk is the very steep climb out of the Dargle just before I stopped today.

Good day's running and moving fluidly with plenty still in the tank by the end.

mithril

Monday
Rest

Tuesday
8 KM in 34:00 (4:15 pace) marathon pace run on U.C.D. track.
Knee still niggling so cut it short early; the plan was 12. Think running this on grass would have been a better idea. Could manage this pace but knee felt unstable with anything faster. Went to gym afterwards and tried to massage the area with foam roller. Think there is a knot above the kinee that might be the root cause. Will see whether it has improved tomorrow otherwise, might go for my third sports massage in a week.
Tiredness from Sunday's long run seems out of the system which is good news. I think I am recovering faster than I used to from long runs.

mithril

Wednesday
My DIY massage session last night did not work.
Tried a run on edge of U.C.D. G.A.A. pitch today but knee was painful even at 5:00 pace so abandoned after less than 1 KM.
Will get a proper sports massage either tomorrow or Friday from and see if that fixes it.

mithril

Knee is quite inflamed and I have not run on it since Wednesday. Tried resting and now icing and Ibugel without getting the improvement I had hoped. Appointment with physio for next week.
I thought it was a tight muscle but less sure now.

3 days without being able to run means an upgrade from a niggle to an official injury - the first of the new year. I think the speed workouts last week did the damage. If I don't see a rapid improvement I will drop out of Ballycotton and focus solely on the Wicklow Way Ultra.

mithril

Sunday
Summary:27.82 in 2:41 (5:48) on 3 Rock Mountain

Decided to chance a long slow run in the hills today even though knee still inflammed, since I was so bored. I am starting to realize how much of my week-end revolves around long runs in the hills and there is a big gap if I cannot manage to do them.

Parked in Taylors pub and jogged up along the Wicklow Way to top of 3 Rock. I had planned to head over to Cruagh Hill but a significant stream was pouring down where I think the DMI route is, and I thought I might get a reaction if I ran on the hard rocks off Fairy Hill.
Instead I did some of the trails at the back of it the hill a few times to build up the distance and finished with a lap of Marlay Park.

Knee sore at first but seemed to settle down a little as I got more into it and I never tried to push the pace above a jog on the steep incline. The constant drizzle stopped and wind dropped after about 2 hours and it became enjoyable.

Had the Garmin off by mistake for about 20 minutes so I think the true statistics are probably 31KM in about 3 hours.

mithril

Monday
Planned rest. Knee too inflamed to run on. Lots of Ibuprofen.

Tuesday
Cross training and core strengthening in gym. Ibuprofen and ice.

Wednesday
Cross training and core strengthening in gym.
Knee feels a good bit better.


Thursday
Summary:10KM in 44:47 (4:28 pace) on grass around U.CD. GAA pitch

Unfortunately, the few days off did not really help. Knee felt no better than Saturday and this was always a slog. Felt more like marathon effort.
Physio tomorrow who hopefully will have a better idea what's going on.

sarsfieldsrock

Good luck with the physio. Those niggly injuries always seem to be the worst to diagnose and treat.
Are you running Conn?

mithril

Thanks. No, not Conn this year. The WW Ultra is the main goal for the Spring. I have entered Ballycotton as well but if I am struggling with niggles coming up to it, I will drop out and concentrate on the Ultra.
10 miles is not a natural distance for me.

Physio thinks its no more than a tight ITB which is about the best diagnosis I could have got. Thats what I thought initially as well but I was not able to loosen it myself with a foam roller.
Should be running properly next week again with the help of Ibuprofen and ice to reduce the swelling and some work he did today to loosen it up.

Unfortunately for me its always stop-start, and I rarely get the long injury free periods of consistent running with gradually increasing effort which is where the real improvements are achieved.

mithril

Friday
Rest.

Saturday
Summary 12.04 in 53:45 (4:27 pace) in laps on grass of U.C.D. G.A.A. pitch.

Ibuprofen every 6 hours and icing the knee reduced the inflammation considerably compared with 24 hours earlier. A little bit sore when I started at first but as the body warmed up got easier and was hitting marathon pace without discomfort near the end. Big improvement since my effort on the same ground on Thursday. Noticeable fall off in conditioning since before injury and I have put on a few pounds since I rested the joint but a couple of weeks of steady running will sort out both issues.

mithril

Sunday
Summary 21.1KM in 1:44:10 (4:56 pace) . Good run in Marlay park. Started at 5:00 pace on grass, and when knee felt OK, switched to tarmac, and ran the last few KMs comfortably at 4:40 pace. Considered pushing on a bit further, but wanted to catch the Ireland rugby game, and felt that it was better to stay within my comfort zone coming back from injury. Have been advised that hills might irritate the ITB and to avoid them until I am out of the woods. Just steady running so for next 2 weeks building up to a 50K run. Then I will take a call as to whether to run Ballycotton.

ultraman1

mithril wrote: »

building up to a 50K run.

will take dat as a definite so......

mithril

ultraman1 wrote: »

will take dat as a definite so......

I will be doing the 50K unless I get injured again. 3:59 is the plan.

ultraman1

mithril wrote: »

I will be doing the 50K , 3:59 is the plan.

mithril

Monday
Summary 3.45 KM in 20:31 (5:57 pace) around Sandyford.
Got detained in work longer than I hoped and in the end 20 minutes of recovery was all I could fit in between it and my evening course.

Tuesday
Summary 10 KM in 41:29 (4:08 pace) pace on U.C.D. track.

Did a modified version of one of Asimonov's workouts - 1KM Marathon (4:15) pace followed by 1KM threshold pace (3:45) in repeats - and I like it. I think slow /fast in a workout provides a better stimulation than a steady pace and the fact that you need to recover while running at marathon pace makes it a bit tougher than a normal interval.

Ran the first 8KM well, but my left leg started to feel unstable after that, and struggled with marathon pace on KM9. I tried for a herioc last Km to finish under the 40 minutes, but soon realised it ws pointless, the knee was getting increasingly sore and running action was way off. Instead I made up the distance with a slow recovery that degenerated into a bad limp in the last 100m.

I will have another sports massage later this week to try and loosen up the ITB further and I think there is a tight calf muscle near the ankle as well which is also giving problems.

mithril

Wednesday

Summary 16.1 KM in 1:16:08 (4:43 pace) aerobic run around U.C.D. GAA pitch.

Tendons that join top of my foot to ankle very inflamed and anointed it with Ibu Gel which seemed to help. I am having niggles at different areas in the left leg but physio thinks its nothing more than a tight ITB and calf muscles. Told me it's plenty of sports massages I need rather than physiotheraphy and I have another one booked for tomorrow.

Started slowly and running through a bit of pain until I stopped and stretched after 5K and afterwards I was getting about 20 seconds extra pace per KM for same equivalent effort.

Running fairly comfortably from that point until the end and extended the run to 7:15 which was the cut-off point for getting home, showered, and watching the start of the Arsenal game.

A group from Dundrum Athletics Club were doing a tempo run at the same time as me, taking in a circuit of the pitch as part of the route. I picked a spot mid-point in the group and was pleased I could hold position comfortably. Friendly group; a few of the runners invited me to join them for the rest of the run but I wanted to stay on soft grass today to reduce impact on my dodgy leg. I got to admit doing a tempo run in a group seems to be a lot more fun than running around a track with a Garmin by yourself but if I did join one in the future it would not be Dundrum - I was twenty years older than all the other runners on the pitch.

mithril

Thursday
Bad case of DOMs and I felt like I had completed a much tougher run the day previously. Poor running form must have put extra pressure on muscles I don't normally stress as much.
Sports massage and acupuncture on left leg in the evening instead of a run.

Friday
Summary 2.34KM in 12:06(5:16 pace) on grass around UCD GAA pitch.

I had hoped for good things from the massage but there was no real improvement.
Limping a little bit even before the run, and the smart thing to do would have been to stay warm and dry in the gym and do some cross-training.

The night epitomised all that is nasty about the Irish winter: cold, rainy, windy and dark.For me though it brought back memories of the Florence marathon which was run in similarly awful conditions but I only lasted 2KM tonight instead of 42.
I thought I might be able to run off the injury like I managed to some extent on Wednesday and set off at an easy pace and stretched after every lap. Gave up though when it became obvious I was not improving and I was limping my way around the field.

mithril

Saturday
Summary
54.25KM in 2:29 (21.8 KM/H) cycle from Blackrock to Sutton, loop of Howth head and back.

After yesterday's fiasco, dusted down the bike from the shed it was hibernating in, pumped up the types, and headed off for some cross-training to Howth.. Hoped the easy repetitive action might help with the injury in the left leg but not sure it worked. At least I was fairly comfortable with the cycle, and never got the sensation I was aggravating the existing condition. Run -cycle sessions on alternating days is probably my best approach for the moment but cycling in the evening is not pleasant this time of year.

mithril

Sunday
Summary 22.83 in 2:01 (5:20 pace) along the DMI route in the Dublin Hills.

4 loops of Cruagh Hill and then headed northwards to Tibradden and back.
Relatively hilly (693M height gain) but not as tough as the 3 Rock loop.

Swapped the Roclites after the first loop for the New Balance 1062 with Sole insoles which I tried last year before the Connemara Ultra marathon, and ultimately rejected. Maybe psychological, but the extra support and improved shock absorption seem to make a big difference. They are a very heavy combination for an Ultra and the gap between the insole and shoe causes blisters but I will try them again for a bit to see whether they help with the injury. Also tried wearing Craft compression socks but did not seem to make much difference.

mithril

Monday
Cross-training in gym.


Tuesday
Summary 45.90KM in 2:10 (21KM/H) cycle from Blackrock to Howth and back. Strong cross-wind and constant heavy drizzle. Hated evety minute but felt better afterwards. Still a lot of inflammation, so started taking 2 Ibuprofen every 8 hours.

Wednesday
Summary 14KM in 56:35 (4:02 pace) on U.C.D. track.

After 6 Ibuprofen , the magic anti-inflammatories kicked in, and leg felt fine. Tried a fast run on U.C.D. track,
alternating 1KM at threshold pace, with 1 KM at MP.

Enjoyable to be running fast without any niggles for a change and first ran few fast KMs well: 3:40,3:37,3:38,3:42.
However slowed considerably once I went over the 10k, and only could manage 4:04 for the final one. Breathing well and moving quite fluidly even in the end, but the power in the legs seemed to fade dramatically. I have not done any fast running over 10K since last May so probably to be expected. A good bit off the pace I would need to achieve for 1:05 in Ballycotton. The raw numbers are quite close but when you allow for the inaccuracy of the Garmin, the elevation profile and the harder surface, I would need to be another 5 second a KM faster.

Next up more Ibuprofen, 2 days of rest and will run the Donadea 50K on Saturday. Then back to physio Monday morning to try and identify the root cause for the inflammation at various joints in my left leg. Will take a call then as to whether to run the Ballycotton 10 mile the following week-end.

dermCu

Jeez Mithril, fair play, you are putting up a great battle against all those niggles and injuries. I doubt most people (myself included) would be able to keep training through all that. You are right though, its time to get to the root cause - even if that means taking a little bit of time off.

mithril

dermCu wrote: »

Jeez Mithril, fair play, you are putting up a great battle against all those niggles and injuries. I doubt most people (myself included) would be able to keep training through all that. You are right though, its time to get to the root cause - even if that means taking a little bit of time off.

A lot of arthritic wear and tear on the joints is the root cause. I am always running a fine line between getting a training stimulus and picking up an injury.
In this case, I think its something bio-mechanical, since sometimes its my left knee, sometimes the left ankle ,and sometimes the left hip that gets sore. I think I probably need to try out orthotic insoles again even though I never found them comfortable.

mithril

Summary
50K in 3:55:57 (4:41 pace) in 10 laps of Donadea Forest Park
9/18. Winning time 3:26:27


Lap Lap Time Pace (KM/Min)
1 24:04 (4:48)
2 24:31 (4:54)
3 24:03 (4:36
4 23:32 (4:42)
5 22:53 (4:35)
6 23:24 (4:41)
7 23:00 (4:36)
8 22:53 (4:35)
9 22:39 (4:32)
10 22:54 (4:35)

I had planned this as a warm-up for the WW Ultra, with the target of slipping under the 4 hours, which would provide a fairly tough workout, but one that could be achieved without going flat-out.

I had done a tough speed workout on Wednesday which caused a good deal of inflammation on the ankle, but icing and Ibuprofen had reduced this to mild soreness by the Saturday morning.

The race itself WAS 10*5KM laps of a forest trail in Donadea Forest Park, so I knew I had a good escape option of dropping out after any lap, if I got into serious difficulty.

A magnificent effort by Ultraman1 in organizing a flawless event. The small number of participants gave it a really friendly atmosphere. The ultra-running community is so small that I had met most runners previously at various events over the last couple of years.

I positioned myself in mid-pack for the first lap and was taken aback by how quickly the gap opened to the leaders who surged ahead. I anticipated a steady even pace would bring more of them back to me as the race progressed, but the standard was really high, and only happened to a limited extent.

Judging by the other accounts most of us seemed to have paired up for the run since running 10 laps of any course, even one as attractive as the forest park, can be monotonous and boring. I found myself running with JeffonTour at a similar pace and once we discovered we were both going for a sub-4 ,we stayed together for the bulk of the race and chatted to pass the time as the KMs mounted up.

From about 20K in, I was conscious that my ankle was getting increasingly inflamed - but at a slow even pace - and I was able to adjust my posture to use my quads more than the calves, and protect the joint. Judging by the rate of deterioration, at about 60K it would have become too unstable to support me and I would have to drop out of the race, but I never was seriously concerned and it did not appear to affect my running action very much. I stopped for 30 seconds to take a leak behind a tree at one point and I was hobbling for about 1KM until I found my rhythm again. If I had an extended stop at any point, I don’t think I would have been able to continue.


We were monitoring our Garmins and the race clock on each lap to remain on target and passed the half-way point just under the 2 hour mark. There always is a psychological lift in a race when you have most of it completed, and since we were both running well by that point, we agreed to try and build up a bit more of a buffer for the next few laps and speeded up.

I had an upset stomach from a dodgy Indian lunch going into the race from a few days previously so was careful what I took on; I had a few mouthfuls of water on every lap , a Nutragrain half-way through it and a few mouthfuls of Lucozade. Does not seem very much but I always felt quite strong and never had any digestive problems, so seems to have worked.

There was only 25m height gain per lap but hills that did not exist in the earlier laps were now appearing, and although we were now maintaining a good pace ahead of target, the effort was beginning to become noticeable for the first time.

We passed the 42.2 KM marathon barrier in 3:18 which I was well pleased with and so was Jeff, since it was a marathon PB for him. At this point for had built up a good buffer and Jeff opted to take it easy for the duration, since he knew his 4 hour target was safe, and I opted to try and power on to the finish . Despite our stated intent, I found it really difficult to accelerate away from Jeff, and it took about 1KM before he faded from view.

The last lap was the easiest as I gave it what I had left . The last KM though seemed to take for ever and I began to wonder had I somehow manage to wander off the route, when I finally saw the turn for the last bend up ahead of me, and the clock on the line. I scrambled over to begin gorging myself on Krusty’s flapjacks, to be accompanied shortly afterwards by some lovely hot soup back in the GAA premises.

Showers at the end of any race are a luxury but the ones in the GAA club-house hovered at a temperature between lukewarm and stone cold. I had encountered them previously at the end of the 10K race in the Autumn and I had anticipated that the faster runners ahead of me had taken all the hot water. I now know they are kept deliberately cold as a pattern of policy by Kildare GAA to toughen their young recruits up. None of the soft luxuries of the capital for them!

menoscemo

Nice going Mithril. I only saw you at the start of the race.
We were calculating afterwards that you must have literally been on the verge of lapping myself and Gohard at your finishing line. You could have been no more than 100m behind us at that point judging by our finishing times/lap splits??

mithril

menoscemo wrote: »

Nice going Mithril. I only saw you at the start of the race.
We were calculating afterwards that you must have literally been on the verge of lapping myself and Gohard at your finishing line. You could have been no more than 100m behind us at that point judging by our finishing times/lap splits??

That's right.
I actually saw you the two of you up ahead as I was heading for the finishing line.

Aimman

I was getting confused on the course, Keith and Joe lapped me twice and then you passed me by for the first time. I thought you were in position for third place, my maths on the run is not exactly Carol Vordaman's standard. Fair play for keeping that pace with an inflammed ankle, and even more so for hanging in for the whole 50k, dispite the option to drop out as you said.

jaymack75

mithril wrote: »

Lap Lap Time Pace (KM/Min)
1 24:04 (4:48)
2 24:31 (4:54)
3 24:03 (4:36
4 23:32 (4:42)
5 22:53 (4:35)
6 23:24 (4:41)
7 23:00 (4:36)
8 22:53 (4:35)
9 22:39 (4:32)
10 22:54 (4:35)

Really excellent pacing mithril. Quite an eye opener when I compare my own lap times I was struggling when you passed me on your last lap and you were looking really strong (you left me for dust!)

Must be very satisfying to finish so strongly

aigster

Super stuff... Dedication rewarded.

mithril

jaymack75 wrote: »

Must be very satisfying to finish so strongly

Yes, I thought I might blow up on the last couple of laps since I have not gone over 25KM since November but I seem to have retained enough of the residual fitness from the marathon to get me through.

Physio has advised me to drop out of Ballycotton since a fast run would wreck my ankles and I am inclined to agree. I did a trial 14K run last week and faded badly in the last section, so I don't think I would be able to hit my target anyway at the moment.

He thinks the problem is bio-mechanical; the glutes are not firing properly and this is stressing the rest of the leg which has to work harder to compensate. Has given me a few exercises to strengthen them and I am also getting a pair of orthotics as well next week. The Sole heat-moulded version I used in Donadea worked well in terms of shock absorption but caused some spectacular blistering as well since it does not fit the shoe properly. A custom made one should be lighter and more comfortable.

I was planning to take a few weeks break if I got a bad reaction to the 50K, but I feel quite fresh and ankle is no worse than it was the day after my speed workout last week. Tried a recovery run this evening but ankle a bit sore still, so abandoned it after only a few hundred metres and took a few Ibuprofen instead. Will see if I can get back to a regular training pattern in the next fortnight, and if I manage this, will give the WW Ultra a shot at the end of March.