touched by madness

Tipsygypsy

Tipsygypsy wrote: »

Plan for this week
Tuesday - 4 miles
Wedesday - 2 miles and strength and stretch
Thursday - 4 miles (will be tough to fit this in since Im travelling - might swop Wednesday and Thursday if I can fit it in)
Friday - Yoga & gentle swim
Saturday - rest/gentle swim
Sunday - 7.5 miles on hills in sunny hot Portugal and gentle swim

So, obviously the next week or two are going to be a little messy since Ill be in Portugal, but hoping to still get 80% of my program done. Anyone with any advice tips on dealing with the heat feel free to pipe up - I'll be trying to get out for these runs by 7/8am-ish to beat the worst of the heat. I've never run on an empty stomach but cant run after eating so this might be tricky (particlarly for the LSR's) so any tips very welcome. Log for the next few weeks will include lots of gentle swimming :D:D.

80%??? HA... I got ONE 2 mile run in. Did do a good bit of splashing around in the pool but you couldnt really call it swimming. I ate and drank and made merry and any thoughts od half marathons or diets or nutrition went straight out the window. Had a great time though.

So back to reality and have to be extra good form here on out (put on on over 2kgs in 10 days - thats alot of deliciousness consumed)
Yesterday (Monday) did 4.5 miles super slow

Plan for rest of week
Tuesday - 3 miles + cross/stregth
Wednesday - 4.5 miles
Thursday - yoga
Friday - 8.5 miles (:eek:that just seems sooooo long)
Saturday - mental busy day - will try to get a cycle in
Sunday - will be a lost day, going out Saturday night for my Birthday so will be in no condition for anything other than the couch (hence LSR on Friday)

Less than 2 weeks til the 10 miler in the pheonix park - feeling pretty unprepared for this at the moment so hoping to have a really good two weeks to get my head in the right place. Farthest so far was 7 miles and that was two weeks ago.

Havent had a chance to catch up on all other logs and posts yet - gonna catch up on ye all this evening, hope ye've had a good couple of weeks.

dolliemix

Super that you're already out and 4.5 miles done! That weight will come off on no time.

It's nice to get a break and enjoy yourself properly. The rest will probably benefit you if you're able for 8.5 this week you'll be well able for the ten on two weeks.

I'm slowly getting bk into after my month break. Up to 3.5 miles!

Tipsygypsy

Well since my last post on the 10th Ive been very lazy bunny: I did go on onto do my 3 mile run later that day but didnt do a single other thing on my plan - but on the saturday night I danced in mad heels for about 2 hours so Im taking that as cross training! And then for most of this week I did nothing either (hangover from saturday didnt fully lift til Tuesday)
I did 2 miles last night (mostly to see if my legs still worked). I havent done a LSR in nearly 3 weeks.

So today there will be a whole heap of easy yoga, and then tomorrow is the FRANK DUFFY 10 MILE - which I will be thrilled if I finish after the shocking bad lack of training in the last 2+ weeks. I reckon I'll be slow even by my own standards but the aim of the game tomorrow will be to finish without walking, my longest run so far was 7 miles, so it wont be easy.

Then on Monday I'll be back on track, with 4 weeks to the half I'll really have to pull my socks up if I want to do it without killing myself off altogether.

Im off now to join that weight loss thread, I'd been doing great steady losing for all of this year up until the last 3 weeks, but between the hol, and my birthday and my mother in laws 60th Ive undone about a months worth of healthyness.

dolliemix

Good luck tomorrow!

littlebug

Best of luck TG. Take it easy and most importantly enjoy it!

Tipsygypsy

woohooooo, I ran the whole Frank Duffy 10 mile and lived to tell the tale.... barely! It really was one of the hardest things I have ever ever done in my life.
So we got up at 6:15 am, horsed some breakfast, bundled the still sleepy kiddies into the car and headed for Dublin. I'm lucky that my parents live in Chapelizod, so headed there, dropped off the kids, got changed and headed up to the park in just enough time see the ludacris queues at the toilets (opting to 'hold it' instead).
Mr Gypsy had decided to stick with me for the support (bless him, I was sure he'd be bored out of his tree at my pace, but he stuck with me), and we started with another friend. For the first mile we went a fair bit faster than I should have been going, and I found the sun on chesterfeild really hard to bear, by the time we were past the zoo I really needed to ease up abit, so the friend went on ahead with another friend and we slowed down, but by now my head was banging from the heat and it took me ages to get rid of the headache. Still kept running all the time and moved along happily. Started to get niggles - achy knees, chaffing, blisters forming at about 5 miles, but kept going, still comfortable enough. Hill went well, slowed down, put the head down and kept a steady pace. Up until now I had been only half listening to the ipod. Now it was time to hit the volume and let it carry me along, this was working really well, husband was surprised as I picked the pace considerably (Black Eyed Peas got me excited) was feeling really good right up until my music ran out just before 9 miles - disaster - I really really really needed that music to keep me focused and moving. That last mile was agony, I just hit a wall (unsurprising given that my longest run to date had been just over 7 miles) and by the end I was just so close to collapsing, I honestly think I would have dropped when I crossed the finish line if I didn't have himself to hang onto. And the urge to puke was overwhelming.
Anyway, I think the difficulty level is adding to my sense of achievement, and while I wasn't over the moon with my time, (1:59:something), I am so pleased to have run the whole thing. And I remind myself that at the start of this year I couldn't run 1 mile and would have collapsed at the mere suggestion of a ten mile run. So decent enough days work for me.
Now, 4 weeks to the half, and I promise to be a good little gypsy and follow the remainder of the plan to the word!
The rest of this day consisted of walking back to the apartment (2ish miles), driving me and three little boys home from Dublin, then feeding and minding those boys solo, for the rest of the day, until my Mister came home a few minutes ago. I'm as tired as is humanly possible. Dying to know how everyone else got on but far too exhausted to read the other logs, look forward reading them tomorrow.
Over and Out.

dolliemix

Well done Tipsy. That sounds horrendous. Well done for plugging on and reaching the finish line. Great achievement!

osnola ibax

Fantastic, great report. I remember getting an assessment in the gym a couple of years ago. I was hooked up to a hrm on the treadmill.

The guy was monitoring my heart rate when all of a sudden my heart rate jumped for apparently no reason. He said, "oops don't know what happened there". I did, the killers came on the radio. Power of music is amazing. Youre report struck a chord (pardon the pun) with me.

claralara

Well done on the 10 miler. And I think you deserve extra kudos for then having the kids for the day and having to drive home. I went home to an empty house and passed out on the couch moving only for food and drink and toilet breaks! I didn’t have an ounce of energy left after it!

jcsmum

Great race report. Well done - great achievement!
Yes they could have done with some more portaloos on Saturday, I always try and allow for that 20 minutes to queue up as there is NO way I could run without going. :eek:

shazkea

+1 on all the support from the other posters above. Great going to finish the 10 miles and as you say you ran the full 10 so well done on the double digits!

Loved the report, felt like I was running with you

Tipsygypsy

Thanks everyone for the support. I'm sure i don't need to tell ye that I was in teeny tiny pieces on Sunday. My back, hips and back side were soooo sore, I could barely move when I first woke up. Funnily enough my legs were absolutely fine. So I took Sunday and Monday as rest days, but tried super hard not to have a post race pig-fest (for the first time), so I'm still on the right track.

Today (Tuesday 24th): Went out for a 5 mile run this evening, really enjoyed it, no problems, probably moved a bit faster than I should have for a 'recovery run' but felt good and I think I needed to prove to myself that I could push it.

The rest of this week:
Wednesday 25th: 3 mile run and strength and stretch (thinking something from the Davina DVD since I haven't a hope of getting to the gym.
Thursday 26th: 5 mile run
Friday 27th: strength and stretch (easy yoga)
Saturday 28th: 11 mile LSR
Sunday 29th: Rest day - but not really because I'm massaging at the Galway City Marathon/Half/Ultra whatever the hell it is, so that's going to be fairly physical - if anyone's doing it come over and say hi, there's only 5 of us and I'm blond with freckles so you cant miss me!

littlebug

Good quick recovery Tipsy!
I'll say hello if I get a chance on Sunday. It depends if the "fan club" are at the finish line waiting for me and how grumpy:rolleyes:/ hungry/ cold/ bored etc they are!

Tipsygypsy

Tipsygypsy wrote: »

Wednesday 25th: 3 mile run and strength and stretch (thinking something from the Davina DVD since I haven't a hope of getting to the gym.
!

3 mile run was crap, did the first mile in 9:40 which is my fastest single mile ever so far (YAY), paid for it by having the beginnings of an asthma attack (BOOO), so had to slow down and eventually stop altogether and walk. When I tried to start running again my knees were really uncomfortable, so I decided to not push my luck and took turns walking and really really slowly jogging the rest of the way home.
So today's lessons are a) bring an inhaler if I'm going to be pushing it and b) whats the hurry? Get myself physically capable of running 13 miles (including stop being overweight)and worry about speed next time around.
Anyway, 3 miles done, roll on tomorrow!

Tipsygypsy

Tipsygypsy wrote: »

Thursday 26th: 5 mile run

So this didnt quite go to plan either, went out and did the first couple of miles okay, right knee was niggling a good bit so decided to turn back after 2 miles rather then push my luck, was still going okay, a bit sore but manageable. then I stupidly dropped my little water bottle (its like my blanky now, I dont *need* it, but it makes me feel Safe). So stopped to pick it up and when I tried to start off again my my knee just wouldn't play - it felt sort of like an elastic band twisting/twanging, I dont know, hard to describe. So I walked and jogged and walked and jogged the rest of the way home.... again. Very frustrating. I took an anti-inflammatory when I got home and now have it up with ice on it. Supposed to do my 11 mile LSR on Saturday so Im thinking Ill put it off until Sunday evening and maybe shorten it a bit, we'll see. Will try to take it easy and keep icing it a few times a day until then. Maybe it will be a thing of nothing and it will be grand in couple of days. Fingers crossed.

littlebug

oohh sounds horrible. Hopefully the icing will do the trick. Sometimes these little niggles just appear and disappear as quickly again.

dolliemix

Tipsygypsy wrote: »

whats the hurry? Get myself physically capable of running 13 miles (including stop being overweight)and worry about speed next time around.

Very true. Have to remind myself that all the time.

Well done on even attempting to try jogging again after the trauma of that.

You're still on track!

Tipsygypsy

Well Im well and truly off track now:(. Decided to hold off on the LSR until Monday to give myself a little extra healing time. So headed out with a plan for 11 miles. Was moving along happily at an ok pace, knee started to niggle a bit at 4 miles, nothing serious but I decided to turn back at 5th mile just in case, by the time I hit 6 miles I was in pain and by the time I hit 6.5 it was clearly not going to be the type of pain you can run through. Stopped and walked for a mile and felt absolutely fine walking, so tried running again and lasted about a minute, pain getting gradually worse with every step. Walked again, felt fine, ran again, lasted a little less each time - did this a few times until I realised that I was being a twat and should stop pushing it, by which time I had gotten it to the point that it was hurting just to walk:rolleyes:, thankfully by then I was less than a mile from home. Took it easy for the rest of the day, iced, elevated, self-medicated etc and I haven't done a thing since. Figured a few more days resting was in order. At the moment it feels much improved, I was tempted to head out for a short run this evening but life circumstances conspired against me (I was too lazy!). My dilemma now is this: half marathon is in two weeks, my farthest run was 10 miles and Ive only done that once, and it banjaxed me. I know that theres no way I can run 13 miles without this knee kicking up again, and even if I could I would probably end up banjaxing the other knee. I have to decide whether to make the half Marathon attempt and just hope to finish it by whatever means, walking, running, crawling - Im thinking run 4/walk4/run5 - ... or do I back out now with grace and aim for one at a later date and put myself back to week 5/6 in my plan (around when I started missing too many runs).
Most likely Ill pick option A, since I have to be in Dublin that weekend anyway and because clearly Im a total fool. Also, I cant see a conveniently timed half this side of Christmas to focus on. I guess Ill head out for 2 or 3 miles tomorrow and see how that goes, and if Im in trouble after that Ill go see a physio and if not Ill take it from there. Wish me happy knees!

littlebug

Tipsy that's really bad luck. Have you (or would you see a physio) about it and see what the verdict is before making your decision?

and by the way I (think I ) said hello to you on sunday but you were working on someone at the time so I hadn't the nerve to say "are you tipsygyspy, I'm littlebug":D

shazkea

Oh TG, am gutted for you but hopefully the rest will do wonders. +1 on getting yourself to a physio and who knows maybe that might do the trick.

I'm doing a walk/run strategy for the half in Dub so if decide that's the route you want to take, let me know as I'd love the company. Hopefully it won't come to that for you though

rainbow kirby

littlebug wrote: »

Tipsy that's really bad luck. Have you (or would you see a physio) about it and see what the verdict is before making your decision?

I would agree with this - the problem may be something that a physio can sort properly, and it's better to know exactly what's up there before making any decision.

dolliemix

Sorry to hear Tipsy. You have been doing so well. I hope its nothing serious and you can get back into it after a few days rest. I've signed up for my first Half in Waterford in December. But I'm not sure if thats an option for you

Tipsygypsy

Am short on time so just going to copy and paste from what I posted in the half marathon support thread....

Well done one and all, so many of you had a fantastic day and really great times, all the hard work paid off!
My day didnt go so well, I got up at 5:30 and headed up on the train, got to the pheonix park in plenty of time, dropped off bag, queued for toilets (nearly 20 minutes:eek: thats madness). I was psyched up, really looking forward to it, knew I wouldnt be breaking any records with my knee but hoped to run 5, walk 3 run 5, that was my master plan - not a hope. Knee started giving trouble by fourth mile, nothing serious but a taste of what was to come, I would stop every 5 minutes and massage it a bit and stretch out but by the 6th mile there was no more starting up again, it was just too painful to run on. I was very close to packing the whole thing in, I was cold, disheartened, pissed off and not looking forward to another 7 miles of walking, decided at that point to keep walking until I got to the top of Kyber pass and then call it quits (that was the fastest way back to baggage), I even rang my husband (on verge of tears) to say I was quiting and to be ready to come and get me. I was so emotional by then, and it really would have been very easy to throw in the towel, but Im nothing if not stubborn and the thoughts of people asking me today and having to say I didnt finish it sickened me, and anyway, I really wanted that t-shirt. So once I stopped feeling sorry for myself I sucked it up, rang Mr Gypsy back and told him I would be contiuing walking after all.... Funnily enough I really enjoyed the rest of the time, ended up tagging on to two other wimmin and they kept me going (Many many thanks mollymay and die trying), enjoyed the park, enjoyed the chat and the craic with the marshalls and the folks passing us on their way home having finished! ended up crossing the line somewhere in the region of three hours, but never did think to look at the clock and had turned off my imapmyrun - that would be well and good but my chip time is missing from the results page - not sure if they just havent gotten them all up yet, I had heard there were 8000 running and theres less than 6000 results up, or if there was something wrong with my chip - I really would like to know my official time, as it will still be a PB for me . Will check the paper tomorrow and if its not there Ill email them.
So back to the drawing board. Will head to physio on Friday, and aim for the Waterford half in December for a retrial! Hopefully that will give me time to heal up. I have a shiney new treadmill and it needs to be put to good use!


So, that was that - first half marathon finished, not the way I wanted to, but finished none the less, and enjoyed. Was really please to see that so many others were so happy with their days work, so well done to everyone, onwards and upwards!:)

shazkea

Tipsy, good to see you back on the logs. Well done on the PB yesterday and brilliant to keep going. As you say it didn't go to plan but at least that's your first half in the bag and onwards and upwards from here. Good luck in physio and see you in Waterford!

jcsmum

So sorry to hear about your injury and your obvious disappointment with Saturday's race.
You should be very proud of yourself though for powering through and finishing. That was not easy!

Tipsygypsy

So finally got to see the physio today. She reckons its all down to my wonky feet, 8 degree something something, 13 degree something else, lazy ass (well, she said weak glutes, but I know that's what she meant), insert other physio-babble here... Wanted to sell me some shiny new orthotics, which I absolutely cannot afford, so cheaper in-sole option ordered and hopefully that will do the job. Will take several weeks to arrive, so in the meantime I'm to stick to distances under 4ish miles (trouble only ever starts after 4), and to work on that lazy ass.
So came home and hopped on treadmill and did 2 nice easy pain-free miles, which was my first attempt to run since Saturday. It was such a relief because I was really terrified to run again in case it ended in pain - I'm a big wuss. Tomorrow I'll hit the road for a few miles and if that goes okay than my new plan will be to start the Hal Higdon half plan again, aiming for Waterford Half Marathon in December, but will hold off on signing up until I see how I do with for the next few weeks and with the insoles.
And this time I will be a good little gypsy and make sure to do ALL my cross training too!

dolliemix

Best of luck Tipsy. Hope the gradual Hal Half plan works out well.

Just finished Week 1 today. You'll enjoy it. 3/4 nice easy under 4 mile runs

Tipsygypsy

Sunday 26th - 2.78 miles back out on the road, 29 minutes. Was aiming for 3 miles but started to feel knee pulling a little so stopped early. Going to take this recovery really slowly! Also spent 30 mins doing some yoga stretches and the exercises the physio gave me.

Plan for the week
Monday - strength & stretch, Davina Pump DVD followed by 30 mins Yoga
Tuesday - 3 miles & plenty of stretching
Wednesday - 30 mins on cross trainer and some yoga
Thursday - 3 miles & plenty of stretching
Friday - 30 mins cross
Saturday - Rest - also massaging at the Galway bay 10 & Half Marathon, if anyone is doing this come on over and say hi.
Sunday - 4 miles (might reduce this to 3 depending on knee)

shazkea

Good to hear you are back and take it easy on the come back trail.

Tipsygypsy

Right, time to get my lazy butt back into action. Update on events during October: knee pain got worse quicker, was down to less than a half mile before pain kicked in, got insoles, pain still there and in other knee as well so decided to just take an extended break and chill out for a few weeks (this included a lot of comfort eating and the occasion slow mile on the treadmill). So I started easing myself back into in last week, 2 miles on an actual road last Saturday which was mostly pain free but really hard (could I have lost all my built up fitness in a month?). On Tuesday I did 3 slow miles on the treadmill, during which I had to stop and walk twice, and on Thursday I did 2.5 on the treadmill for which I also had to stop and get my breath back twice! But thankfully there was no knee pain so it looks like could be back on track.
I had hoped to do the Waterford half, but there's no chance of that. Im planning to take this really slowly. My target is to get myself back up to a comfortable 10k in time for the Fields of Athenry on Stephens Day, because its just down the road from me and maybe it will help me not eat and drink everything in sight over Christmas.
So, the plan:
Today -Friday - Nothing
Saturday - Cross -
Sunday - 3 mile run on road
Monday - Yoga
Tuesday - 2.5 miles
Wednesday - rest or cross
Thursday - 2.5 miles
Friday - rest
Saturday - cross
Sunday - 3.5 miles on road

I wont hold it against myself if I have to take all the above very easy - the last thing I want right now is to have a bad session that puts me off again.
Will catch up on everyone this evening, Im dying to hear how all the DCMers got on, was up supporting Mr Gypsy for it and thought it was a great day (easy for me to say from the sidelines!)