Time to put up

Clearlier · 17-10-2011 2:03pm #1

I've been fairly free with advice for others recently so I think it's probably time to put up what I'm doing. Hopefully some will comment and provide their insights because while I'm often clear about what others should do I sometimes lack that clarity for myself. Perhaps even just logging my training here will help me with that process.

Having read some thoughts of other posters I've realised that it's time for me to go back and work on my speed a little. I pretty much ignored it for the past couple of years as my weakness was definitely my endurance. I'm not saying that isn't still a weakness

but my speed is arguably equally bad now. With that in mind I set myself the target of PB's at 10k, 10 miles and half marathon before spring marathon preparation sets in.

Goals for the next 6 months or so are:

Half marathon PB - Currently 1:27:11. I'm running a flat one in Gosport on the 20th of November. This is currently my strongest PB and I'd actually take any kind of PB gladly at the moment.

10k PB - Doing a local one on the 11th of December. This PB is relatively soft at 41:03. sub-40 has a nice ring to it and should be achievable.

10miles - this one is unlikely to happen now as it looks like I'm on babysitting duty. A pity as my PB is 69:40 and due a substantial revision.

Spring Marathon (hopefully London but I need a club place for that):
Current PB is 3:24 and DCM '10 (first marathon)

The main goal here is sub-3. A dream goal would be 2:49:38 which would represent a 1 hour improvement on my disastrous experience at London '11. My fallback goal is 3:10 and guaranteed entry to London (assuming they don't change the standard).
Obviously as I get closer to the day these goals will narrow.

ecoli · 17-10-2011 2:08pm

Great to see this log put up.I find the logs can give great perspective on training both from a person point of view but also others contributing. Am interested do you train yourself or are coached by someone? Given the advice you have given over the last while you do seem to know your stuff but I know myself,I have been a victim of being able to give good advice to others yet making mistakes in my own training because sometimes training yourself is the hardest thing to do objectively

Clearlier · 17-10-2011 2:31pm

ecoli wrote: »

Great to see this log put up.I find the logs can give great perspective on training both from a person point of view but also others contributing. Am interested do you train yourself or are coached by someone? Given the advice you have given over the last while you do seem to know your stuff but I know myself,I have been a victim of being able to give good advice to others yet making mistakes in my own training because sometimes training yourself is the hardest thing to do objectively

You've hit the nail on the head ecoli. I'm not coached by anybody. My primary sources of information for training theory are Lydiard, Hadd, P&D and increasingly Daniels. There's no club coach for the road runners although the more serious guys do get together and draw up a training schedule for the marathon which is made available to everybody. They got input from Liz Yelling last year which provided a few more creative sessions however they're targeting 2:30 or better which is on a slightly different level to me

.

Aside from the racing goals I've mentioned above my current training aim is to start running more than 50mpw with a view to taking on either the 55-70 or the 70-85 P&D schedule. If I do the former then I should be able to push the effort of the runs a little higher which may not be a bad thing. The latter is heading towards the kind of mileage that I think is required to run a serious marathon and I'd like to do one of those in a couple of years. A middle ground that I'm considering may be to pick the 55-70 plan but do short (3 - 4 miles) doubles 3 - 4 days a week. My schedule by the time I start the plan will make that relatively feasible. I'd also use those to make sure that I did strides and drills a bit more regularly than I have been doing. Actually just writing this is telling me that the 70-85 idea is stupid:o so this log has already been useful.

Clearlier · 17-10-2011 3:02pm

So a little bit of training news. I'll start from Friday because I ran a 5k on Bournemouth promenade that evening. 3 miles to warm up and another couple to warm down afterwards. The gun time was 19:24 - no idea what my time was as I forgot to stop the garmin. Conditions were relatively tough as we ran into a strong wind for the outward half and the path was largely covered in mini sand drifts except for a path that had been made through it. This made overtaking a bit more difficult than it should have been and a slight mis-timing of my warmup left me near the back of the 250 runners. The biggest mistake I made though was slowing down when I caught up with a couple of people from my club. One of them is slightly better than me, the other a bit worse. I should have copped that the better one was running steady into the wind and hard back because that's how he has been running the last 2 club sessions that I've been to but when I saw him I backed off and went from 6:10 pace to 6:35 pace. Stupid error that I'll try not to make next time. I had been hoping that I might be close enough to going under 19 mins. There's another 5 in this series though and if I run a few more and don't go under 19 at some point I'll be very disappointed.

Saturday was a 0, I had the kids all day long and the youngest is still keeping us awake at night which left me pretty tired. The earliest I could have run at was about 8pm so I decided to let it slide in favour of my planned 17 mile run on Sunday morning.

Sunday - I was feeling ok but not quite 100% and when I took my pulse in the car before I set off it was 41-42 which is too high for me so I just did an easy 9.5 @ 8:40 and 125HR

Clearlier · 17-10-2011 8:44pm

3.15 miles (according to mapmyrun) at a very easy effort in 27 mins. Had been hoping for a bit more but a mixup with the other half left me short of time. Still, probably stopped me from doing too much after yesterdays shorter run. My HR was back near normal at 36 so hopefully it was just a hangover from the race on Friday followed by relatively little sleep. I still woke up in the middle of the night though which is totally unlike me (my wife says she has go give me a good kick and even then I'll often not remember getting up when the next day rolls around) so I'll be keeping a closer eye on my body for the next while though to make sure I'm not overdoing it.

Clearlier · 18-10-2011 10:52pm

13 miles in about 1:40. Still haven't found the garmin. I did find my (very) old polar HRM though but forgot to actually start the thing so didn't accurately record my time. Ran with the club initially but they were doing intervals which after a race and an intervals session last week was not really what I needed. It ended up being a pyramid progressive run with HR at approx. 130 - 140 - 150 - 140 - 130. It wasn't planned and it's probably not ideal but 13 is long midweek run for me and I have a leaking filling which is making me feel a bit ill at the moment. Looks like the dentist on Thursday :eek:

Clearlier · 21-10-2011 9:24am

Day|Training|Distance|Pace|BPM|Time
Friday|Easy Run|4.05 miles|8:37 mile pace|1025|34:54

Hope you don't mind ecoli but I've copied your table. Seems like a good format to me.

BPM if anyone is unfamiliar with it is Beats per mile. It's assesses how hard my heart had to work. With some exceptions it's useful to allow comparisons of different types of runs. If I can get below 1000 in the lead up to my half then I'm confident I'll get a PB. 1025 is probably the lowest I've ever had which is good however it reflects two unplanned rest days, a short run (the first 10 minutes of running usually give me a low number) and the fact that it has gotten much colder here.

I may get a chance to double up this evening but it'll be difficult to find a window tomorrow unless I get up at about 6 again.

Clearlier · 21-10-2011 11:28pm

Day|Training|Distance|Pace|BPM|Time
Friday|Tempo|8.81 miles|7:17 mile pace|1076|64:07

So the plan was 20 mins warm up, 40 mins at tempo pace and a few minutes to warm down. I target a specific heart rate for tempo runs because I'm a bit lazy and I can convince myself I'm working hard when I'm not so 160 is what I look for although I'll give myself the first mile to get there. I did the warm up and the first 10 mins of the tempo into the wind with the last half hour with the wind. It felt like I was working really hard for the tempo into the wind but this wasn't reflected in my heart rate I put it down to taking a while to get going and started pushing it to get my HR up to 160 after the turnaround. I soon found myself floundering though, unable to get enough air in, HR and pace dropping. I pushed through as best I could but was down to 7mm and 155 HR by the end. It too me a while but I've realised that it's stiffness in my back which hinders the speed at which I can move my shoulders. It's an old problem for me courtesy of a rugby injury I picked up 15 years ago. I've worked on it with my physio for a long time now and I'm miles better than I was but it still comes back if I don't diligently do all the stretching exercises. As it happened I did do them this afternoon but this probably caused everything to stiffen up again. Anyway, disappointing because I was looking forward to a half hour of 6:30 pace but I'll do the exercises, do some reps which I had planned for Thursday before life got in the way, maybe some hills and build back into this session. I'll aim to do it again in 3 weeks time - hopefully a nice confidence booster about 10 days before my target race.

Woddle · 22-10-2011 3:06pm

Clearlier wrote: »

BPM if anyone is unfamiliar with it is Beats per mile. It's assesses how hard my heart had to work. With some exceptions it's useful to allow comparisons of different types of runs. If I can get below 1000 in the lead up to my half then I'm confident I'll get a PB. 1025 is probably the lowest I've ever had which is good however it reflects two unplanned rest days, a short run (the first 10 minutes of running usually give me a low number) and the fact that it has gotten much colder here.

I hadn't heard of that before. Do you have software that does the maths for you or do you do it mile by mile?
I suppose it could be a good indicator of fitness aswell as comparing different runs?
Have you any links you could share, I wouldn't mind reading more about it.

Clearlier · 22-10-2011 9:31pm

Clearlier · 22-10-2011 9:44pm

Woddle wrote: »

I hadn't heard of that before. Do you have software that does the maths for you or do you do it mile by mile?
I suppose it could be a good indicator of fitness aswell as comparing different runs?
Have you any links you could share, I wouldn't mind reading more about it.

Hi Woddle,

I use excel, easy way to do it is to multiply your average heart race by your average mins per mile. N.B. You have to decimalise the time, so 7:30 pace needs to be 7.5, 7:45 is 7.75 etc..

Yes, it's a pretty good indicator of fitness although like all heart rate related measures you can only compare your own runs, you can't compare yours to anyone elses.

When comparing runs you do need to take into consideration the terrain, temperature, gale force wind, etc.. Sessions of intervals and reps will also show a relatively high result compared to easier runs. It's something that I think is worth looking at and I do use it to gauge my level of fitness over a long period of time - day to day values fluctuate a bit but 6 weeks ago I didn't have a single run below 1100 bpm whereas my recent runs are in or around the 1050 bpm. That said, it's just one way of looking at your fitness and I'd be wary of relying too much on it.

Edit: Forgot to mention that I picked it up from a guy in my club but it's also automatically calculated on this training site.

Clearlier · 23-10-2011 9:40pm

Day|Training|Distance|Pace|BPM|Time
Sunday|Long Slow Run|16.85 miles|8:45 mile pace|1162|2:27:20

Emphasis on the slow as I lost concentration a bit and was dawdling along for a while on my second loop. It's a very hilly course but I still should be running 15 to 20 seconds a mile faster.

Felt a bit tired towards the end which I suppose shouldn't be a surprise given that I haven't run beyond 14.5 miles in a couple of months but still slightly disappointing.

Spent a lot of time time trying to release the nerves going down my left leg, made for a pretty funny looking gait for a while but it helped and there were even a few small sections where I got my back working properly. It looks to me like this was the culprit for Fridays poor run.

ecoli · 24-10-2011 9:49am

Clearlier wrote: »

Day|Training|Distance|Pace|BPM|Time
Sunday|Long Slow Run|16.85 miles|8:45 mile pace|1162|2:27:20

Emphasis on the slow as I lost concentration a bit and was dawdling along for a while on my second loop. It's a very hilly course but I still should be running 15 to 20 seconds a mile faster.

Felt a bit tired towards the end which I suppose shouldn't be a surprise given that I haven't run beyond 14.5 miles in a couple of months but still slightly disappointing.

Spent a lot of time time trying to release the nerves going down my left leg, made for a pretty funny looking gait for a while but it helped and there were even a few small sections where I got my back working properly. It looks to me like this was the culprit for Fridays poor run.

Wouldnt get too hung up on the pace. Run by feel thats why i think its always better to have a range of atleast 30 secs for your easy runs (and even as much as 45 for LSRs) 20 sec per mile means you heart is still working at the right level (the heart is not a garmin after all so pace doesnt have to be exact) as your BPM was higher than last few days you were obviously still working hard enough so after that it simply a case of time on your feet

Keep it up

Clearlier · 24-10-2011 8:11pm

Clearlier · 24-10-2011 8:14pm

ecoli wrote: »

Wouldnt get too hung up on the pace. Run by feel thats why i think its always better to have a range of atleast 30 secs for your easy runs (and even as much as 45 for LSRs) 20 sec per mile means you heart is still working at the right level (the heart is not a garmin after all so pace doesnt have to be exact) as your BPM was higher than last few days you were obviously still working hard enough so after that it simply a case of time on your feet

Keep it up

Thanks for that ecoli. What was in my mind was that I did the first half in about 8:30 pace and the second in about 9mm pace and I was thinking that I did that because I just wasn't concentrating. In reality of course I spent several miles of the second loop doing drills and other strange machinations to try and release the nerve in my left leg so it's no wonder I slowed down a little. Feeling better today than I expected so maybe it helped a little.

Clearlier · 26-10-2011 11:16pm

Day|Training|Distance|Pace|BPM|Time
Wednesday|Upper Aerobic Run|8.41 miles|07:08|?|1 hour

After carding a 0 yesterday due mainly to a big deficit of sleep but aided and abetted by my sciatic nerve sending a few warning signals up my left leg I wasn't really feeling up for heading out after I had put the kids to bed - am I glad that I did though.

This is one of my favourite runs. It's around about marathon pace intensity for me. I aim for 8 miles at a HR of 150. I managed to get the Garmin working but have temporarily mislaid the HR strap (think I gave it to the 1 year old to amuse him in the car but couldn't put my hands on it:o). Fortunately I keep an old Polar HRM in the car so I dug it out and used it to check on my intensity. I needed it too because I wasn't able to dial into the effort level like I would expect to. Part of that was the need to navigate through the odd sand dune but part also because I haven't run this pace for too long and my body kept pushing me towards tempo effort.

For anyone who has read the Lydiard presentation I put this at his 1/2 effort pace. I think that anyone who can follow his base schedule would be in absolutely fantastic shape. For variation I sometimes run it at 155 effort. I've been focusing on getting in a medium long run up until now instead of this but for the next few weeks I'll be doing this type of run instead. They help me with running form and they also make tempo runs easier to manage. In the past this type of run has been key to my best performances (need to remember that!).

Clearlier · 27-10-2011 10:17pm

but had nothing left on the last one

.

Easy run tomorrow - I may end up doing a longer run on Saturday rather than Sunday to fit in with family.

Clearlier · 29-10-2011 10:11pm

Clearlier · 02-11-2011 3:50pm

. Felt good and had to hold myself back a little.

Day|Training|Distance|Pace|BPM
Tuesday|Intervals|10.3 miles|08:05|n/a|

The club session was 3 * 4/3/2/1 mins with 90s between reps and 3mins between sets. I wasn't quite sure how to go about this session to be honest - not sure what pace you should run it at or what you should be looking to get out of it. I decided to run most of the reps at 10k pace and throw in a few really fast ones. The 10k reps I took at 40min 10k pace which looking back at the HR no.s was too easy, except when I did a faster rep they were coming in at <150 for the rep and I doubt that I was maxing out much higher. Happy at that as it hints (vaguely) that I might be in sub-40 10k shape. For the faster reps that I did I picked out the same guy that I had raced up one of the hill reps on the previous Thursday and followed him. The first one gave me a 5:45 3 min rep into the wind feeling pretty comfortable, the second I made the mistake of telling him I was going to try and follow so he took off like a scalded cat and I like an eejit tried to stay with him. It was a 4 min rep with the wind and I was about 5:25 pace after 2 mins and 5:40 pace after 4 mins so a bit of a blow up there! The other guy told me he blew up too just not as badly as me. I think he's afraid that I might be catching him! I am aiming to but he's not in my sights yet. He has gone under 59 mins for 10 miles and I haven't yet done a 5k @ 6min mile pace yet. Anyway for the last rep my Garmin switched to the default screen away from the training screen which meant I couldn't press the lap button which annoyed me and I set off like a demented rabbit. I quickly realised that I was going way faster than normal but decided to see how long I could hold it. I held it until the end so slightly disappointed not to get the lap data. More importantly though that was probably (I didn't notice it until about a mile into an extended warm down when I hurt the tendon that holds the arch of your foot up, It hurts around my ankle but I was able to get a physio appt. for lunchtime and she was able to pinpoint it as it's a bit swollen.

So, I have to ice it and take it easy but keep the range of motion in my foot. If in 3 days time I can do single leg heel raises with a bent knee then I can start easy running, if not wait until I can. I should still be ok for the target half in Gosport but I'm probably done with anything faster than a tempo run until after that. Annoying but I've had far worse injuries in the past.

Clearlier · 06-11-2011 2:18pm

Did the prescribed exercises with no difficulty on Friday and yesterday so went out for a run today. I got about a mile and a half down the road before it started complaining. Initially tried to run through it but it quickly became clear that it wasn't just some residual stiffness.

My thoughts are turning towards my orthotics at the moment which were reheeled over the summer somewhat inexpertly. I've put another pair on that I know aren't right but don't give me this problem and I'll try running tomorrow. If I don't have the problem then I'll be confident that it's the orthotics.

Clearlier · 09-11-2011 2:58pm

Went to see the physio today who looked at me run in both orthotics and strongly advocated staying with the ones that I have been using. She confirmed that the injury had gone and couldn't see anything wrong with my gait - well nothing that would cause this particular problem.

We did notice that I was cramping ridiculously easily in my foot which she linked to tight hip flexors. She also thinks that it may have been that the initial healing caused adhesions which were the source of the pain on Sunday. I don't think that's the case (although she's more often right about me than I am so I'm keeping it in mind). So I'm under instructions to loosen out my hip flexors particularly on my right side.

I'm more inclined to think that some of the changes that have occurred in my gait are the source of the problem. I haven't actively tried to change my foot placement but I have been doing exercises which resulted in a slightly straighter foot (previously stuck out at a 45 degree angle). I'm convinced that these are a good thing long term but they may have been part of the source of this problem. I've started doing the exercises detailed here and it does feel like they're making a difference - also to the nerve pain/sciatica that I've had on my left side. I also need to do my core work a bit more consistently and I suspect that losing a little weight would help.

I'm about 30/70 for my half marathon on Sunday week. I'll do a short run tonight and build it up over the next few days. If I am trouble free between now and Sunday week I'll probably do it. Finger, toes, legs etc. crossed as I'd like something from the training even if not quite a PB.

Clearlier · 10-11-2011 2:28pm

3.2 miles this morning. Really easy. Very focused on my form. I seem to have made it through the run.

Now 35/65 for the half marathon

Clearlier · 12-11-2011 12:45am

Did another slow controlled run this morning. 3.8 miles @ 8:45 pace. I was very stiff and struggled to get moving at all well. Going to try and do longer runs than this on Sunday and Monday. If they go well I'll do the half. If not, I'll have to pass.

Clearlier · 13-11-2011 11:51am

4.5 miles @ 7:56. Started feeling my ankle/foot after about 3 miles so headed home early. The half marathon next Sunday is looking very unlikely at the moment.

Clearlier · 15-11-2011 11:19am

It's probably obvious if you've been reading my logs that I'm not going to do the half marathon on Sunday but it's still bloody hard to say it. I'm reasonably confident it's a problem with my orthotics and I've just made an appointment to get them adjusted but the earliest I can get is next Tuesday. I could run in my 'spare' pair but they're not quite right for me and my physio could see a noticeable difference in my gait when I was switching between them last week with my normal pair giving me a much better gait. I could also try running with no orthotics but there's a decent chance I'd tear my hamstring and looking at the bigger picture it's not worth the risk.

Even as I'm writing this I'm thinking that I could try a few miles tonight in the spare pair and get my physio to take a look at me tomorrow. I might do this but I suspect the sensible option will be to knock it on the head. Am surprising myself with how difficult I'm finding it to let this one go. I'm almost certainly not in any chance of a PB now anyway.

Clearlier · 16-11-2011 11:13pm

So, the physio took a look at me running today in the old orthotics and I am pronating a little more than she'd like but not enough to stop me from running on Sunday provided I can fit in a 6 or 7 mile run before then. This shouldn't be a problem except that I've picked up the cold my two sons have and it's gone straight to my chest. Even though it's not too bad, running with a chest cold is a bad idea in my book so I'm having to be patient.

On the plus side this past week or so of virtual non-running has meant that I've refocused on my core which while a long way from perfect is better than it was. I found my old dumbbells from when I used to play rugby. I purposely haven't lifted any weights in a few years as I wanted to lose some of the muscle I had. I managed 3 sets of 12 reps doing standing bicep curls with the last couple being a real struggle :eek:. All the stabilising muscles in my back are complaining today:o. I think that it may be time to look at reincorporating some weights into my training plan. Not sure how though so if anybody has anything they can recommend please let me know.

On the weight thing - I may be weaker but I'm not any lighter and as I mentioned near the start of my log one of the key factors in me achieving my running goals over the next 6 months will also be me achieving some weight goals. The weighing scales we have broke a few months ago and I finally got around to replacing them today with this. I plan to post some numbers on a weekly basis so that I can compare progress over time although I'll probably find myself looking at it more regularly than that. It gets a bit stupid if you start trying to chart daily variations though as there are so many factors that can cause short term fluctuations.

To set a benchmark my numbers at the moment are:
Height 175cms (5"9')
Weight - 87.7kgs
BF% - 16.7%

Ok, I'm having doubts about these scales. The weight seems about right but the body fat % is much lower than I expected to see. I have a 37 inch waist and when I stopped growing taller I weighed about 75kgs. Allowing for 3% body fat as the lowest you could ever go (doubt I'd ever want to) this would suggest that 75kgs is about the lightest I could hope to ever get to as reducing my current body fat % to 3% would bring my weight to 75.7kgs.

My main weight goal for the next 6 months is to get to <80kgs by the time I next run a marathon. If I get there then I expect that I'll have done the training to go under 3 hrs.

Editing again to say that it seems that I can raise and lower the results by being dehydrated or over hydrated. Wikipaedia are also saying that a device made by the company that made mine significantly overestimated body fat in one study!!!!!!!!!! All I really wanted was a scales and I've got that but I had hoped to get a little bit of interest out of the BF% measurement. Somebody told me that they had become reasonably reliable over the past few years. I've got a large pinch of salt between my fingers!

Clearlier · 01-12-2011 1:00am

A warning to anyone who might be reading this. I'm not sure that it's that interesting as it's mostly a summary of my injury problems over the past couple of years leading into what's caused my current difficulty.

Two weeks since my last update. I've had a chest cold which stopped me in my tracks. I've been able to do enough though to discover that the problem with my ankle hasn't been resolved. I have been consistently feeling pain between 2 and 3 miles. To add a little wrinkle to the mix I also hurt my neck/upper back

So, physio today and we had a good long think about it which ended up with her putting on some new kind of tape which is supposed to provide more feedback than the traditional zinc-oxide. I was sceptical but it worked and I managed to run for 35 minutes which is the longest I've done in a while. More importantly it told me what's wrong.

I've mentioned/hinted before that I do a lot of work to improve my stride. My physio was horrified at the state of my stride when she first saw me. My essential problem is that I was running mostly on my left leg. This meant that I wasn't pulling my left arm back, the muscles in my upper back on that side were pretty wasted away, I was using my shoulder instead of my torso for balance and was experiencing some pretty severe neck/back pain. Mostly it stems from an injury I picked up in rugby training 15 years ago which wasn't treated very well. I hadn't a notion of how to look after myself - otherwise put I was 19!

Anyway, I've made a lot of progress over the past couple of years but it really only clicked into place over the past couple of months. The key change I made was to deliberately shorten my stride with my right leg and deliberately push off on it so that impetus is coming from both sides. Previously I would have gotten most of my forward motion from my left leg which is reflected in various weaknesses in my back and persistent ITB niggles in my left leg.

Obviously the improvement in my stride is a good thing and my physio professed herself amazed at the difference in my running (not sure I could spot it to be honest but I could definitely feel it). The problem is that because I haven't been using my right foot to push off, the muscles used to do that are weak and unable to handle what I'm asking them to do. The taping that my physio put on today told me that if I went back to running my old way that I could probably continue to run relatively pain free (in my foot but with the other niggles).

Going back to the old way doesn't seem like a sensible option for any number of reasons so I'm going to persist with the 'new' way of running which means as many strengthening exercises as my foot can handle and short runs - I have to stop before the pain hits which could be tricky. Neither the physio nor I really know how long this is going to take at this stage. It could be a few weeks or it could be a lot longer. I've joined a gym again so I may end up using the treadmill mixed in with the cross trainer and maybe the rower if I can persuade my hip flexors to comply. It also gives me a great place to focus on doing some of the core exercises I know I need to do but too often let slide as part of the problem is a relatively weak core on my right side which is putting a little extra stress on my foot.

So it's great to have an answer to the ankle problem - it even has a name - posterior tibialis syndrome.

Time to move forward again.

Clearlier · 02-12-2011 1:37am

15 mins on the treadmill - focusing on maintaining form, could feel the strain my foot was under without actually straining my foot. Also got on to the rower for the first time in at least 10 years. I still can't do it! Nearly killed myself just doing 2k in 8mins. Lower back is crying out but the clunk that I've had in my right hip area has gone (probably temporarily) almost certainly as a result of the stress I put on the area trying to get myself in the right position for rowing. Also, did a few drills and was shocked at the difference in power between my left and right foot when doing bounding sideways.

It's all good!

Clearlier · 12-12-2011 12:12pm

Time for a little update. The ankle/foot/arch hasn't recovered and I still can't run. Both my physio and podiatrist think that the problem is with the orthotics so I'm bowing to the inevitable and getting new ones. A little bit nervous about it but it seems like the only way forward. I certainly can't keep going as I am now. I've been told that I'm second reserve for a club place for London but I'm going to write it off now.

I need to start thinking about some new targets.

Clearlier · 24-12-2011 1:08am

Still not training which is frustrating the hell out of me. I've let my discipline slide a little in a bout of self-pity and need to snap out of it!

On the plus side I picked up a new pair of shoes yesterday and allied to a couple of changes made to both my previous pairs of orthotics my injury has eased off a little. I'm alternating between each of the orthotics and none at all at the moment as each set up gives me different problems. I should have my new orthotics early in the new year - there'll be an adjustment process and then I'll start building my training again.

I've been thinking a little about targets and my thinking is heading towards getting some of my times down at the shorter distances before doing another marathon. I also need to decide whether I'm going to seriously address my weight or not. I simply can't get to the level of running that I think I can get to carrying the weight that I'm carrying at the moment. I'm pretty certain that it's a mental thing as I've read about nutrition to have a pretty good idea of what my diet should look like. I wonder if a fear of failure isn't part of the problem. Ridiculous as it sounds there's a part of me that says you've ran x time at x weight when you weren't exactly at the pinnacle of fitness so if you got down to your optimal weight you could probably run y time which is pretty impressive. However, there's a voice at the back of my mind saying 'what if you can't run that time?'. I need to move on from that and seize the opportunities that I have. If nothing else this injury is a reminder to strike while the iron is hot.

How am I going to look back at this period in my life. Will it be a series of missed opportunities and ducked challenges or will it be a time I can look back at knowing that I gave it everything I had? Who cares what I achieve so long as I achieve all that I can?

I need to find a way to be the best that I can be.

Clearlier · 18-01-2012 11:20pm

So it's a new year but not yet a new start for me. I got my new orthotics today but a mile walk this evening tells me that they're not where they need to be. That in itself isn't too worrying because I'm used to and expect new orthotics to require tweaking but what seems to be a high heel and lumpy inner heel cup have me worried. In short I haven't much confidence in this orthotist (she's covering a period of maternity leave). She made a right mess of replacing the heel posts on my previous orthotics and in my discussions with her she hasn't shown me that she really understands what she's doing. It feels like she's a bit of a hit it and hope merchant. It probably doesn't help that the podiatrist who employs her and does know her stuff is off sick at the moment.

Anyway, orthotics aside I had a think about a few things over Christmas and the upshot of it is that my physio has agreed to put together a programme for me to get me fit to run. She is going to go on maternity leave shortly and she's in the process of handing over to a colleague which is handy for this as we get a fresh pair of eyes to look at what I'm doing, identify all my weaknesses and areas where I lack flexibility. The idea is that we set some targets for every different part of my body, spend the next few months getting myself to the point where I hit those targets and then move into a maintenance mode where I spend less time on strength and conditioning but also have some markers to tell me when I've let things slide. Up until now I've tended to be diligent enough at doing the work when I'm injured but ease off on it when I'm back running. The plan with this is to catch it before I get injured.

The assessment is on Friday and in he meantime I've been getting into the routine of early starts. I'm using the treadmill to warm up because it's so easy to stop if my ankle/arch/foot starts telling me that it's hurting and I seem to be managing 15 minutes consistently. I went for 30 minutes towards the end of last week but had to cut it short at 28 mins. I also had an unplanned 20 min tempo to pick up the car last night where my foot told me to watch out a few times but didn't actually give me any trouble in the end.

I should also note that I recognised over Christmas that my groin area and the part of my hamstring that's on the inside of my knee had gotten very, very tight and I suspect that may have been a contributing factor to the original injury.

So the plan for the next couple of months is to strengthen my core, get rid of all the imbalances and inflexibilities and run just a little. I'll maintain the 15 mins I'm doing each morning - maybe upping it to 30 mins at the most. Once I've got my body to where I want it to be I'll start introducing evening runs although I may introduce short ones to warm up for the evening session of S&C that I'm planning as well.

Time to put up

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