No Roots...

PositiveNegativ

...no trees?

Here's the thing. In years passed I trained hard to be the best hill runner I could possibly be. I loved every minute of it until things started to hurt and gaps in training became longer until training became gaps in layoffs.

Just under a year ago MRI, ultra scan and expert medical opinion laid out in black and white that my racing days were behind me. One Achilles Tendon was no longer properly connected to the heel, surgery wasn't really an option, the hard kilometres were coming home and I'd the next 30 or 40 years to consider.

So game over, do something else. But nothing else seems to do. So I've decided to pick a race, do what preparation I can without causing further damage and see what happens. So without recent training in my legs I'm going to see what can be done on one maybe two runs a week and some bike work. See if I can manage to get to the start line or finally have to accept as truth what the doctors said.

To begin:
In the last ten days I did two recce runs of the Annagh Hill race route with Donothoponpop and assorted other boardsies, both approx 70 minutes of mixed terrain ups and downs with stiffness of the tendon lasting a couple of days after each run.

Today:
58:25 up and down Mangons Lane to Ballycumber Hill again with Donothoponpop. We had 33 minutes of uphill, no walking allowed as we worked on trying to maintain an even bounce up the hill. Climb about 310m, distance roughly 9.8km. The sky was clear with views to take minds off the effort.

The warm burning in my quads and lower back stiffness post run have taken me back 10 years already.
Next run, sometime next week.

donothoponpop

Look forward to following this log. Hopefully next weeks run will bring you back 20 years. Although running through those puddles today took at least a combined 70 years off the two of us:D

TheRoadRunner

good luck. Do you do any strengthening exercises for achilles/calf. I use to run ocassionally with a guy who was 63. He was told 30 years ago to give up running as his achilles was fecked. He ignored the advice (as all runners like to do) and worked on strengthening his weak spots. His achilles actually has a ball of scar tissue the size of a marble. He went on to run sub 2.30 for the marathon and some very fast times over shorter distances. Still does the exercises to this day.

Raighne

Good luck PN, hope this experiment works out well and fair play for not giving up despite the disheartening medical advice.

PositiveNegativ

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

Do you do any strengthening exercises for achilles/calf

Not anymore. The failure of such exercises along with extensive, intensive and expensive physio & laser treatments led to the MRI, Ultra scan and the surgeon.

Will start to include some now that I'm using my legs again.

PositiveNegativ

Out of bed early this morning feeling surprising mobile. With little sign of adverse reaction to yesterdays run I decided to take the bike for a road spin.

My mountain bike is a pretty good one with narrow road tires but like myself has seen better days. The front derailleur is gunked up so I'm stuck with the big ring only, at the back the lowest gears aren't acceptable either. Pretty shameful really.

Did an hour on mainly flat back roads in the drizzle and pot holes. Distance wise just under 21km so easy maths to calculate average speed.

In these parts there are nearly as many 'No shooting' signs up as 'Vote for gombeen' signs. As I cycled past sets of them I couldn't help but wonder if they are connected?

PositiveNegativ

Decided to take my hangover out for a spin on the bike. Heading out with no particular aim I found myself passing through Coolafancy with Annagh Hill looming up ahead. After a very stiff 2km road climb where Bordeaux Red came close to (re)appearing I found the forest entrance I'd in mind and did a low loop around Annagh Woods to the Gap then down home over public roads in worse condition than in the woods.

The views were almost alpine, sun shining on the faces of the hills as thunderheads built up behind for the afternoon downpour. Which I narrowly avoided.

That's three days exercise from four. Feels like training.

PositiveNegativ

Met up with Donothoponpop at very short notice (my fault) for another run up Mangon's Lane. This a variation on the previous run as I wanted to test myself up a particular moderately steep hill along side a fence. The underfoot is mainly grass with a little heather nearer the top so quite representative of the hill race I've in mind to do.

With 20 minutes of gradual climb as our warm-up we turned up along the fence. I wanted to see if what was a comfortable pace at the bottom was comfortable at the top. It wasn't, I had to ease back a fraction halfway. This short hill (approx 450m & 100m climb) took 4:22mins. A bench mark set. Something to revisit in a few weeks to gauge progress or the lack of.

Beautiful morning for the sweeping downhill route we used.
Still no reaction from my secondhand Achilles.

Slogger Jogger

Good to see you out and about and doing a bit. I'll be up for meeting for a cycle perhaps at the weekend. I cycled that route on the lower trails through Annagh hill to the gap 2 weeks back too. In Aughrim I found a short trail that links the forest gate at Van de Vell nursuries with a bridge over the river Aughrim, a nice grassy downhill. Looking forward to getting running myself at some point and meeting up with ye. The hill up to Ballycumber from Kyle beckons.

PositiveNegativ

I've decided to add in a morning pulse reading as another means to track progress. This morning post breakfast - 52bpm. An eye opener given where it was 5 or 6 years back but I've got to start somewhere.

I see a pattern of 2 or 3 bike days and 2 runs per week developing so will stick to that for the next few weeks. I'd almost forgotten how addictive this training lark is.

PositiveNegativ

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

a nice grassy downhill.

with slick tyres :eek:

PositiveNegativ

First thing. Waking pulse 41 bpm. Much more like it and a big change from yesterday. Goes to show the effect of caffeine & digestion.

Another mostly road bike spin, this time with a bit of flat off road in Tommnafinnoge Woods. Added in a few steeper hills, had to manually hammer my front derailleur inwards to drop to the middle ring. For the remaining flat bits I just peddled faster. 26.2km total.

Spent nearly as long afterwords cleaning and tweaking the bike. I've done as much as I can without proper tools. No real improvement, will just have to make do.

Planning to get my Walsh PB's wet tomorrow. Looking forward to that.

PositiveNegativ

Tonelagee and the Mist.

Racing in the hills is about belief. Belief based on experience, on the hard evidence of races run and the results gained. For me to race in a few months I need to prove to myself that I can cover the ground. Today's run a first step in building that belief.

The plan with Donothoponpop was to run the Tonelagee and the Lake race route to see how it felt. We had mist, saturated ground and ice. We didn't have rain or wind. We had an almost perfect day and it felt great.

No heroics just a steady plug up the hill, thumb compass in place and eyes picking out land marks. The first descent really is too much fun to describe. The second climb went by remarkably quickly, I even felt the urge to attack the last few minutes of it which had the unfortunate consequence of a minor detour. One for the mental filing cabinet.

For the last descent we had a bit of fun. Grip levels were low so speeds were likewise but the limit is the limit. Two fully grown giggling children hitting the bottom for a gentle cool down and a stretch or two.

There was a little tightness in my Achilles early in the run. No reaction at the moment but I will know more in the morning. Pulse this morning 42bpm.

donothoponpop

PositiveNegativ wrote: »

Tonelagee and the Mist.

Racing in the hills is about belief. Belief based on experience, on the hard evidence of races run and the results gained. For me to race in a few months I need to prove to myself that I can cover the ground. Today's run a first step in building that belief.

You should take a lot of belief out of your run today, you skipped up, then down, then up agin that mountain, with an easy composure.

Nice to see that even the pro's get it wrong, sometimes in the mist.

PositiveNegativ

Gentle all round lower body stiffness from yesterdays run. Nothing more. Taking that as a good sign. Spent much of yesterday evening resisting a very early night. Pulse this morning 41bpm. Steady as she goes.

Cycle planned with Slogger Jogger for tomorrow morning.

PositiveNegativ

Met up with Slogger Jogger this morning for a road cycle. No definite plans apart from high viz vest and rear light on, the mist this morning had to be experienced to be believed. Visibility was down to next to nothing. SJ suggested a loop around Croghaun Mountain and set off at a stronger pace then I've been doing of late. No complaints, got to work hard some days.

For the next hour we climbed above then dropped back into the mists. The bright light and still wet landscape making for amazing views when we were in the clear. Sadly I was under time pressure so had to turn down SJ's offer of refueling with freshly made pancakes. Next time. Pulse this morning - 42.

PositiveNegativ

OH was running up Mangon's Lane so I accompanied her up for twenty minutes, practically freewheeled down with the brakes on before heading off for 35 mins on a local road that would fit in very neatly with the surface of the moon. Quite a head wind near the end.

Fun session coming up tomorrow, Walsh's are going to get muddy.

PositiveNegativ

Another trip to Annagh hill = another soaking.

Again with donothoponpop we set off on what has become the now usual warmup along the forest road before taking the recent race route climb up along the wall. Before starting Dpop had made it clear he was feeling the effects of recent hard days and I wasn't to wait for him on the climb. So like a true training buddy I buggered off and made a big effort running up along the wall. Maybe it is the recent bike work but this climb seemed easier than recently, I almost felt like I was being pulled upwards. I'd started hard zigzagging to keep the pace and simply flew up the hill. It almost felt easy. Strange. Checked my watch, nearly a minute quicker than previously. Very strange.

We left the race route at this point turning left at the gate following the wall down through Knockdhu like fields of rough grass. Turning right we diagonally climbed back up to the ridge emerging at the point were the carpet had been lain for the race. Easy running from there to the forest corner before u-turning and following the ridge back to the gate and down the hill race up route, practicing the faerie dance down through the rivers and heather just out from the wall.

I was quickly pulled back to reality near the end when I gave my dodgy AT a real hard pull on some uneven ground. It hurt for a bit and I've probably done it some harm. Time will tell. Probably just what I need to keep ambitions in check.

Normal 42 bpm pulse this morning.

PositiveNegativ

Pulse (44bpm) up a few beats this morning which I'm taking as a good sign. Body trying to compensate for the increase in activity.

No AT stiffness this morning, also a good sign but I'm a little wary. Think I'm going to drop back on the running for a bit.

Have toolbox, Haynes book and bike. Hopefully by this evening all will still be functioning.

PositiveNegativ

No Election down here, great tidy towns spirit in these parts. Hardly a 'vote for gobeen' poster in sight, top marks to the people of South Wicklow.

It's been a rather disjointed few days, just had time to rush around a lunchtime spin. Same loop as the 11th of this month, so a few minutes faster.

Haven't managed to fix up the bike. Any suggestions on how to unseize a Deore front derailleur welcome.

PositiveNegativ

Once again found myself at the Gap pub with hills in mind. Good first climb up race route to the gate, just under 18 mins so steady. As last run I turned left down along the wall going down as far as the first fields. Not having a breather at the top made the descent that bit tougher to get the legs turning. U-turning I climbed back up to the gate, roughly 6 mins of solid climbing.

Turned right and down along the wall with the plan of turning at the bottom to run straight back up. On the descent down to the corner of the field, not the gap in the wall that the race used, but a good 400m further down, I was preparing myself for that internal crack/don't crack conversation. The one were you tell yourself 'if you can't run this in training, how do you expect to do it racing'.

We'll it didn't happen. In fact the question while running up became 'will I do another climb?'. Now I've always found hills a bit like pints. Way better to stop thinking you could go another before ending up staggering about puking on your shoes. So I left it at that. Roughly 26 mins of metronomic uphill running. Took the race route descent down very easy.

This route came out at roughly 6.7km with 640m of climb.

On the negative side, I can feel the insidious creeping stiffness in my AT that's the first sign of trouble. Got to ease back. Think I said that a few days ago...

donothoponpop

PositiveNegativ wrote: »

Once again found myself at the Gap pub with hills in mind. Good first climb up race route to the gate, just under 18 mins so steady. As last run I turned left down along the wall going down as far as the first fields. Not having a breather at the top made the descent that bit tougher to get the legs turning. U-turning I climbed back up to the gate, roughly 6 mins of solid climbing.

Turned right and down along the wall with the plan of turning at the bottom to run straight back up. On the descent down to the corner of the field, not the gap in the wall that the race used, but a good 400m further down, I was preparing myself for that internal crack/don't crack conversation. The one were you tell yourself 'if you can't run this in training, how do you expect to do it racing'.

We'll it didn't happen. In fact the question while running up became 'will I do another climb?'. Now I've always found hills a bit like pints. Way better to stop thinking you could go another before ending up staggering about puking on your shoes. So I left it at that. Roughly 26 mins of metronomic uphill running. Took the race route descent down very easy.

This route came out at roughly 6.7km with 640m of climb.

On the negative side, I can feel the insidious creeping stiffness in my AT that's the first sign of trouble. Got to ease back. Think I said that a few days ago...

It's a lot of climbing work, on one of the steeper hills around. Can't imagine the ground was any friendlier than late either.

You're in danger of impressing readers of this log with your ability to climb, but suffer for it with your heel. Too much, too soon (but you know that anyway).

PositiveNegativ

donothoponpop wrote: »

You're in danger of impressing readers of this log with your ability to climb (slowly:D), but suffer for it with your heel. Too much, too soon (but you know that anyway).

Duly noted.

This log still feels a bit alien. All my training in the past was done quietly and recorded purely for my own record. All 'showing off' was left for races.

I'm being hyper sensitive about my AT. Tomorrow mornings first steps well tell if I've over cooked it.

PositiveNegativ

Woke up expecting the worst. Wiggled ankle, nothing. Out of bed, a few steps, all seemed fine. Walked straight down and back up the stairs. Legs are tired and a little stiff. But that's all, nothing more, not today anyway.

Going to leave off running for short while, my quads have been taking a hammering the last few weeks so time for a breather to allow some adaptation.

Spoke to my bike guru (IMRA year book cover star) this morning, net result: new drive set for bike purchased online. Broken finger nails here I come.

PositiveNegativ

Navigation course with 11 IMRA folk. More calories burnt trying to stay warm than from walking. Good crowd, the light of contour and compass seemed to be turning on. Hopefully they'll put in the practice, plenty of talk of trying the Circuit of Avonbeg...

For anyone doing the WAR in Glendalough be prepared, the flood damage to a section of the miners track is horrendous.

No reaction in my reactive bits. A waking pulse this morning of 38bpm. The training/resting balance seems to be about right.

PositiveNegativ

I'd kind of settled on parking the bike up until the new parts arrived but the weather this morning wasn't for sitting about indoors.

Headed out to do a usual loop but detoured off the regional roads into the real back roads including stretches familiar to WWR Leg 7 & 8 runners. The south side of Lug almost hovered before me, pulling, urging me to venture that way. Not today, next week perhaps and on foot.

One urge I am fighting at the moment is to enter the Maulin race. The climbs are bast*rds, but some of the downhills are fun...

PositiveNegativ

Met with Donothoponpop for a loop hill run over the South Western slopes of Ballycumber. Clear skies and semi frozen ground. The initial run out was gradual, steepening as we went. All very controlled and even paced. The final 700m from shoulder to top is through heather some times up to knee high. Keeping a running action requires huge effort and high knee lift. Hitting the top I checked my pulse, 180+

Then some fun, a quad track descent giving way to grass. We both pulled up stopped not by any physical restraint but by the view. Low mist on the valley floor, hills rising silently.

U-turning at the bottom I retracted my steps, running the loop solo in reverse. I've used this hill a lot in the past, dragged a few boardsies up it. Today I went at it with determination, attacking every time I felt a falter in my pace. Arms driving, breathing deeply and loud I gave as much as I have. Uphill tempo run Number 1. Eleven minutes of big effort to re-hit the top. Giving it all like a training athlete, no holding back, no excuses.

Was this the highpoint of the run? Not even close, that came shortly afterwards when auto piloting down off the hill through ankle high heather. Gravity providing the pull, me letting it lead, doing no more than placing my feet, flowing down the hill. This almost effortless flow is what I miss most about hill running. The combination of slope, terrain and mood is rare so all the more welcome when it arrives, unexpected, unannounced. Percentages, enduro points, finishing positions pale compared. It's for moments like this and days like today that studded runners were invented.

Waking pulse the last few mornings has been erratic 44 -38 -41 -40. Not sure what, if anything it means

PositiveNegativ

I haven't been this stiff in quite a while. Quads, gluts, IT bands all feeling the effects of yesterday's effort. Even my calf muscles which normally only stiffen up after fast descents are a bit distressed. No reaction in the all important AT, I can still pinch it gently without pain.

Goes to show, running up hill is hard work, running up hill fast is very hard work. I really should go out on the bike for an easy spin but the various bits haven't arrived yet. Dispatch notice sent on Tuesday... Not happy at all.

Waking pulse 42bpm

PositiveNegativ

Accompanied OH on her long run along the Railway Walk and through Tomnafinnoge Woods. Just enough rolling resistance from the gravel and mud paths to counteract the low speed. Not the warmest of mornings so I was pleased to have some uphill at the end to work up a bit of body heat.

Short sections of the Railway Walk have been resurfaced with a clay that sucks hard at wheels and feet. We'll have to get a few blazers out to inspect if this represents a material change to the bridge to bridge course and what impact this might have on the validity of the current record time.:rolleyes:

donothoponpop

PositiveNegativ wrote: »

Short sections of the Railway Walk have been resurfaced with a clay that sucks hard at wheels and feet. We'll have to get a few blazers out to inspect if this represents a material change to the bridge to bridge course and what impact this might have on the validity of the current record time.:rolleyes:

Just back from that part of the world, and read your post. There was an official inspection of the new surface, which does indeed represent a significant material change. Samples have been sent off to la Bureau international des poids et mesures for analysis. In the interim, you make take as read that the surface will naturally become more compact over the coming weeks. The Committee will not however be commenting on rumours that (at least one) attempt to lower the record may be made in April.

Slogger Jogger

Then the 'b' sample will need to be tested?

Extended route will need a time too.