Taming the marathon beast...

Dilbert75

Ah jeepers A - sorry to hear that, especially about Clontarf. Maybe the Physio will give you the ok?

Runchick

Dilbert75 wrote: »

Ah jeepers A - sorry to hear that, especially about Clontarf. Maybe the Physio will give you the ok?

Best case scenario he says I'm good to go, I can do a good session later this week and continue with the half as planned. I'll know better tomorrow but am not hopeful - I was very close to developing achilles tendonitis last year. Physio scared the life out of me then with the 'threat' of 6 weeks of absolutely no running if it got that far - I'm reluctant to push things unless its absolutely safe to do so.

Runchick

Back from physio, good news is achilles is ok, calf muscles absolutely riddled with knots though. He worked on them for ages but needs further work next week. When I asked him if I could race a half next week he said only if I'm not bothered about continuing marathon training for a long time after Strongly advised against it, reckoning legs will be race ready in about 3 weeks but injury risk before then is high. Even typing this I'm half tempted to ignore his advice and run Clontarf anyway but the thought of putting myself out of DCM makes me shudder.

Lesson learnt: get a regular massage, change shoes more often and do more stretching.

All common sense stuff and should be second nature at this stage but as usual I'm learning as I go. Just glad it's nothing too serious and I can get back to easy running later this week.

Step back week it is, I suppose the break will do me good and I can get stuck in to Meno's plan next week.

ncmc

You are wise to follow the physio's advise, you would kick yourself if you raced clontarf and ended up doing serious damage. It's not worth it. But it's annoying to have to withdraw and if I remember correctly it was quite expensive? Maybe they'll allow you defer til next year.

Good advise about the stretching, massages and shoes. I'm brutal for stretching and forever put off trips to the physio to try and save money and its so foolish of me. I feel it in my legs at the moment I can tell you.

Speedy recovery to you, better a week out now than 6 down the line!

Runchick

Thanks ncmc hadn't thought of deferring, I'll give that a go. I have absolutely no excuses not to get a physio/massage more often as I can claim it back through health insurance :rolleyes:. Its so bloody painful though...he was gonna do some dry needling but I point blank refused as the calf was very tender already. But the massage may have been even worse What on earth do we put ourselves through all this for

Runchick

Update time...I'm in no-man's-land with running these days. No race to prep for due to an injury which isn't really an injury, not following a DCM plan just yet as I've taken this week as a step-back week. Would really liked to have done Meno's session this week just to see where I'm at - mind you I have a feeling I would be disappointed with the result so prob better off not knowing

Anyway a few runs this week:

Thur - 5.07m @ 9.33 Av HR 146 - did this mornng after physio as it was the only time to get a run in before the weekend. Calf was a bit tender after but nothing too bad.

Thursday night was spent celebrating our wedding anniversary - resulting in champagne, wine, cocktails - the works - so Friday was a horrible experience spent wanting to die - my inability to torrelate booze gets worse the more running I do - no more of that carry on until after DCM :rolleyes:

Sat - 12.03m @ 9.44 Av HR 153
HR seems high but Garmin was spiking for the first few miles so its definitely skewed on the high side and it was bloody hot out there so the heat alone probably made it higher. I decided after 10 miles to throw in a steady-paced mile before the final c/d mile. It was run at 8.48 pace and it felt good to speed up a bit. I'm wondering is this a good idea in long runs now and again to run a steady mile towards the end of the run? Probably a lot easier now than in a 20 miler mind you.

So Clontarf HM was supposed to be my short-term goal before DCM kicks in. Training suffered due to health problems and the threat of injury knocked it on the head for good last week. But I'm still gonna run it - not race it. I will be doing a LSR of that sort of distance next week anyway, we'll be in Dublin anyway and I've paid for the blooming thing so it makes sense. If I run it at MP it would be a steady effort but shouldn't aggravate the calf. I'm not worried about being tempted to race it when I get there as I haven't put in the training I wanted to do for it so know I wouldn't do as well as I had hoped and there's no way I'm risking injury but I'll go for the craic. Maybe catch up with a few boardsies down there

Dilbert75

Runchick wrote: »

But I'm still gonna run it - not race it.

Yay!

blockic

Runchick wrote: »

But I'm still gonna run it - not race it

Ya sound like me now!

Runchick

Dilbert75 wrote: »

Yay!

Game plan is now to stay as close you you guys as possible instead of as far away as possible, easy on the 'car talk' please

Runchick

Sun 7 Jul - recovery

4.48m @ 10.46 Av HR 132 - ends a nice easy week of just 21ish miles. Feeling good about getting stuck in to marathon training now. I probably needed the break regardless of injury but enough of that, back to business

Murph_D

Hey, just discovering your log, Runchick - good stuff. Hope that injury continues to hold off. And enjoy Clontarf.

Runchick

murphd77 wrote: »

Hey, just discovering your log, Runchick - good stuff. Hope that injury continues to hold off. And enjoy Clontarf.

Cheers Murph, I don't know if the log is a good thing (my running seems to be getting worse :eek:) but it helps with the motivation

Runchick

Mon 8 Jul - easy

5.1m @ 9.53 Av HR 144

Tues 9 Jul - progression run

6m @ 9.00 AV HR 153

Headed out early for an easy run but decided to do Meno's progression session. Only had an hour so just 1m w/u and 1m c/d. Plan was 8min @ 9.15, 8.55, 8.10, 7.45
Actual was 8min @ 9.10, 8.45, 8.14, 7.36.

Looks grand written down but the heat was an absolute killer and I got the last one wrong. I started it running to feel but looking at the watch a minute in and the pace was 6.35 :eek: way, way too fast and not sustainable for me resulting in a few stops thinking I was going to be sick I was absolutely spent by the end and had to stop completely to catch my breath. Good session though, might tack on a few recovery miles with the dog this evening and take a rest day tomorrow. No issues from the calf so hopefully it stays that way :rolleyes:

Runchick

Wed 10 Jul - recovery

4.16m @ 10.54 Av HR 129

After reading various posts about pace I'm really trying to slow down recovery, LSR and easy sessions. It makes sense to keep the fast stuff for sessions and racing.

Thur 11 Jul - easy

4.47m @ 9.27 Av HR 145


Had to really work to slow this down. 9min pace seems to be my natural, comfortable pace and I always end up at it so had to work to slow this down.

Achilles/ lower calf is niggling at me :mad: Have been icing, rolling and stretching so hopefully I can get through Clontarf on Saturday without it getting any worse. Couldn't get back to physio this week so have to wait until next week, fingers crossed it behaves until then :rolleyes:

DOCO12

Achilles/ lower calf is niggling at me :mad: Have been icing, rolling and stretching so hopefully I can get through Clontarf on Saturday without it getting any worse. Couldn't get back to physio this week so have to wait until next week, fingers crossed it behaves until then :rolleyes:[/QUOTE]

Hope the icing, rolling and stretching behave for ya Runchick. Best of luck with Sat

Runchick

DOCO12 wrote: »

Achilles/ lower calf is niggling at me :mad: Have been icing, rolling and stretching so hopefully I can get through Clontarf on Saturday without it getting any worse. Couldn't get back to physio this week so have to wait until next week, fingers crossed it behaves until then :rolleyes:

Hope the icing, rolling and stretching behave for ya Runchick. Best of luck with Sat [/quote]

Thanks DOCO12, on my way to Dublin now. So excited about Clontarf, even if it's just a training run

Murph_D

Runchick wrote: »

HSo excited about Clontarf, even if it's just a training run

Enjoy the race - I regularly run most of this route as it's my preferred training location. Take advantage of the grass. I know you're not trying to win it but best of luck anyway and stay injury free!

Runchick

murphd77 wrote: »

Enjoy the race - I regularly run most of this route as it's my preferred training location. Take advantage of the grass. I know you're not trying to win it but best of luck anyway and stay injury free!

Cheers murph it'll be a bit more leisurely than our wee jaunt around Omagh so I'll be enjoying the scenery, drove down that way today - you are very lucky to be able to run there

ncmc

Best of luck today runchick, just take it handy and don't let the temptation to race it overcome you! In this heat, it's probably nicer to treat it as an LSR anyway and you have the golden opportunity to learn all about the used car market in Mayo!

Runchick

Sat 13 Jul - HM

13.15m @ 8.56 Av HR 165

Had an absolute ball in Clontarf today! Its well documented here that I'm well below my best these days and with physio warning me about racing a half with a dodgy calf I settled on running it at MP. Just to make sure I would do just that I didn't do anything I would normally do to prepare. No taper, and a pint of Galway Hooker with dinner the night before (best beer ever btw ).

Planned to run around 9min miles and intended to hang around the very glamorous 2 hr pacers (ahem..) but started out a bit ahead and kind of stayed there. I flirted with the idea of running a 1.55 and was on target for that but coming back on to the sand on the way back didn't agree with the calf too well (reminding me why I wasn't pushing on) so I cruised home in 1:57:42 taking a few walk breaks on the home straight when the calf really started to tighten up.

Effort wise the heat made it uncomfortable enough but I never felt like I was really suffering. HR is definitely a fair bit higher than I would expect it to be for that pace (the last HM I raced HR averaged 170) so the heat definitely makes running tough. Fair play to all those racing today and well done to Gavlor and RunningKing for super performances in tough conditions.

Was great to catch up with Mr & Mrs Dilbert, Belcarra and RunningKing after and to see Murphd77 out cheering on the runners. Lazed around with the family for a while enjoying the atmosphere and the sunshine. Was reduced to limping for a while - very tender achilles - but seems much better now so I'm hoping I haven't pushed it too far. Back to physio on Wednesday so won't attempt any sessions until after that.

Overall a great event, really well organised and a fab route - beach running rocks

Aimman

Well done and glad you enjoyed the day.

Murph_D

Good running runchick - that heat must have been a killer (just back from a 22k LSR myself and I was suffering, and yesterday was hotter!). Good pacing too - you seemed to be right on schedule.

Runchick

Sun 14 Jul - recovery

4.53m @ 10.57 Av HR 134

Recovery run in 3pm sun (hot) to finish off a good week with 37 miles.

Mon 15 Jul - easy

6.05 @ 9.34 Av HR 142

Early morning running again, bliss :P

Then

3.2m @ 10.04 Av HR 135

Didn't plan to do a double (even after all the talk on the graduate thread) but the arrival of new runners made it impossible to resist Well they actually arrived last week but I reluctantly sent them back for a bigger size on advice from physio - anyway new saucony triumph 9's - totally different shape to my old saucony's - lower heel and much lighter...they feel amazing so I might just invest in a second pair and rotate them

I definitely feel a spring in my step again (not because of the shoes!) and have heaps of energy. In hindsight I was fairly low on energy for a long time after Limerick...things are looking up

Runchick

Tues 16 Jul - easy

8.09m @ 9.35 Av HR 147 (HR prob a bit lower than this as Garmin was doing it's spikey thing for a mile or 2)

Probably would only have done 5 or 6 miles but doing 8 means I've done
1000 miles this year - yay :D:D

(now all I have to do is put this to use and actually finish the next 26.2 :eek:)

RedRunner

Hey Runchick.Just found your log and had a good read. Well done on a disciplined run in Clontarf and congrats on hitting the 1000mile mark. No doubt you'll put those Limerick demons to rest in October.

Runchick

Wed 17 Jul - physio/ rest

Physio not as bad as I thought. Calf is extremely tight and causing the sharp pain in the achilles but should be ok if I manage it properly from here on. Its absolutely in bits today, covered in bruises and very tender. Getting very friendly with the foam roller and a tennis ball :eek: and doing stretches and strengthening work every day should keep it under control. I'm taking this as my warning shot - it'll be my own fault if it gets worse.

Thur 18 Jul - session

11.11m @ 9.08 Av HR 154

2m @ HMP with 0.5m recoveries X 3

Planned HMP 8.15 - wasn't sure about this but last training cycle I trained at HMP of 8.30 and went on to race a half at 8.11 so thought 8.15 was about right.

Rep 1: 8.04 (165), 8.07 (167) - demons at me from the start "just take a break", "stop", "why the feck are you doing this anyway?"

Rep 2: 8.09 (166), 8.04 (168) - demons getting worse - "your calf is sore - just stop after this one", "cut the session early - sure you had physio yesterday, probably shouldn't be doing this"

Rep 3: 8.27 (165), 8.14 (168) - gave in a bit and took 2 walk breaks, to be honest that was all I needed to finish the session.

Only meant to do 10 miles but misjudged the course and finished the reps with 2.5 miles to home, 11.11m in total.

Good day's work and home for breakfast by 8am

dazza21ie

... demons at me from the start "just take a break", "stop", "why the feck are you doing this anyway?"

Gotta love the little voices in the head, they sound very familiar!

....Good day's work and home for breakfast by 8am

Nice to have lie in before a session isn't it Good session by the way.

Runchick

Fri 19 Jul - recovery

3.08 @ 10.40 Av HR 127

Sat 20 Jul - rest (wanted to run but stuck to the plan)

Sun 21 Jul - LSR

16.45m @ 10.04 Av HR 143

Made a conscious effort to start really slow and build to finish faster. This is not what I typically do in training or races so am really trying to change my approach. Worked really well - first 5 miles were 10.30ish, last 3 or 4 were 9.30ish. Very enjoyable run but achilles fairly aggrevated again :mad:

48 miles for the week, running mojo is high

Runchick

Mon 22 Jul - recovery

3.56m @ 10.54 Av HR 128

Tues 23 Jul - easy

5.11m @ 9.35 AV HR 140

Legs felt extremely heavy for this one and I couldn't figure out why, until I remembered the evening before - an hour out on the trampoline with my 7 yr old daughter teaching me how to do somersaults :eek:, oh yes, that'll do it (she says I have lots of practice to do :rolleyes:)

Wed 24 Jul - LSR with strides

10.46m @ 9.42 Av HR 143

Gotta love stepback week, midweek long run done and dusted before breakfast My main focus on these easy and long runs is keeping HR low. Low 140's max, allowing it to drift to mid 140's on inclines and hills. Was kinda glad to throw in a set of pyramid strides towards the end to mix things up. 20(7.05),40(6.54),60(7.32) uphill,40(7.07),20(7.38) seconds(pace), getting HR max up to 166.

Runchick

Thur 25 Jul - recovery

3.52m @ 10.40 Av HR 128

Followed by physio - calf got another battering - still can't foam roll the bit worked on last week :eek: Brutal but necessary - tightness more or less gone so just up to me to keep it that way.

Fri - rest - calf so bruised and sore I don't think I could run on it anyway

Sat 27 Jul - recovery (yawn)

4.06m @ 10.37 Av HR 132

More slow easy running ahead of 10k tomorrow. Not sure whether I will PB but if its not a sub 50 I think I'll give up and take up knitting :rolleyes: Looking forward to a good ol' race though

Gavlor

Best of luck tomorrow!

ncmc

Best of luck tomorrow! Hopefully it will be a bit cooler for you, racing in this heat is a killer.

RedRunner

Good luck in the race tomorrow. Hope it goes really well for you.

blockic

Good luck runchick!!

DOCO12

Best of luck Runchick !

Murph_D

Yep. Tear it up!

Runchick

Sun 28 Jul - 10km race

Newry and Mourne Women's Mini Marathon

Target time: sub 50
Actual time: 51.17 :rolleyes: Av HR 167

Honestly felt the sub 50 was a cert. Woke up with sore ears, throat and feeling icky (have felt this for a few days now but this morning was worst, typical :mad:) - not a great start but did my best to ignore it, downed a honey mix for the throat and a few paracetamol.

Was a point-to-point run so a bus took us to the start. Got off the bus, 250+ women on a narrow country road, jogged down a lane to pee :eek:, jogged back and was horrified to find the race about to start and I was stuck at the back, sh!t. Race started and I was well penned in...don't panic I thought, no warm up anyway so take first mile easy...but I panicked when I saw the pace reading 10min/m and started weaving through the crowds as best as I could. Planned pace was 8min/m for the first 2, then sub 8's the rest so I had a bit of work to do. Finally got through the crowds and first mile clocked 8.29 but it was uphill and I was breathing heavy already. Second mile - more climbing, into a headwind and in full sun - not fun - 9.06 - oh cr@p I thought, not exactly going to plan.

Mile 3, 4 and 5 weren't too bad, I found a girl to pace off and stuck with her but did stop to walk at least once - my upper body, especially my arms were absolutely aching to the point I couldn't keep going - wtf :rolleyes: Splits 7.38, 8.10, 7.47. Turned a corner to find the hill from hell - steep enough to make me gasp and enough to kill my race - I gave in and walked up it cursing myself - mile 6 8.48. Nice downhill finish and sprinted this - this was the first time I actually felt strong the whole race - 0.25m @ 5.52 :eek: and beat the girl I'd been pacing on the sprint.

Finished 21 out of 250ish women so far from last at least

Few observations:
- I hate hills, I hate running in warm weather
- I give in too easily - the first 2 miles didn't go to plan and I gave up - I know this as HR didn't get anywhere near 10k effort until the very end :rolleyes:
- I'm not progressing as well as I'd like and am a bit annoyed but really love the buzz of these events and it hasn't put me off.

Anyway I'm not gonna give up just yet. I'll keep plugging away - all my PBs this year were set in cold conditions so maybe the weather is a bigger factor than I realise. Also I don't feel great now - sore head, ears, etc. so something's working on me - could this be why my upper body was aching while running? Maybe rest is required. One of these days I'll run a good race :rolleyes:

ncmc

Sorry to hear race didn't go to plan Runchick, although it definitely sounds like you are coming down with something. Personally, I wouldn't have even lined up if I felt like that, so you showed great htfu to even get to the start line. You sound so like me, string of bad races, giving up too easy... That's just me in a nutshell. Try not to let it get to you, racing in this warm humid weather is a nightmare even in full health. Take an easy week and dare I suggest, a few days off and make sure you look after your health! You will be PB central when the weather cools down!

Murph_D

Sorry you're disappointed, Runchick. I agree completely with ncmc. Doesn't sound like you are in full health so don't let this result get you down. You did well under the circumstances and well done on the top 25 finish

Runchick

Thanks for the encouragement guys, I really need to sort out my mental attitude, Lesson from today - positive mental attitude makes a race, I would argue that it's even more important than the training! Since my spectacular DNF I haven't had confidence, giving up comes too easy:(

Big Logger

Runchick wrote: »

Thanks for the encouragement guys, I really need to sort out my mental attitude, Lesson from today - positive mental attitude makes a race, I would argue that it's even more important than the training! Since my spectacular DNF I haven't had confidence, giving up comes too easy:(

You havn't given up at all, sure you got straight back on the horse.

I think your race just wasn't executed well, you have the speed with the 7 min miles at the end of the race. You just need to prep better next time and get the warm up in and early to the race. Study the course.
Look at the type of runner you are, if you need more time for hills then don't plan 8 min miles all round, give yourself the extra 20 secs or so on the hard bits so you don't lose heart if your time slows down.
I don't think you let the cold get to you during the race really.

ncmc

If you learn the secret of PMA, please pass it on to me! I am the EXACT same, all it takes is a couple of bad races and all of a sudden the demons become very persuasive and it's all too easy to slow down or stop. I agree, I think getting the mental attitude right is totally as important as training... Just harder to get right

RedRunner

Well done today. Wouldnt go into too much analysis on this one. Nobody can be expected to perform at their best if feeling unwell. I don't think you gave up at all. You started and finished the race even though not in the best of health. That shows you have mental strength in my books.
Looks like we will both be having easier weeks this week than originally planned!
Recover well.

DOCO12

Sorry to hear you didn't hit your goal pace today but seriously when your coming down with something you can't expect to perform as well as hoped. You should def give yourself a few days rest , it will do you the world of good. And you will have no prob smashing that time when your back to full health and the weather has cooled down

New runner

Aw Runchick sorry to hear you disappointed in your race today, it's amazing how even 1 run can knock your confidence but on a positive note it only takes 1 good 1 to get it back also. As others have already said def sounds like u coming down with something n considering that, no warm up, heat etc u did really well. Try put it behind you n move on, to finish in top 25 was really good esp in circumstances so well done!

Runchick

Gotta love Boards for support, thanks guys Yeah this week will be slow and easy, starting with complete rest tomorrow - I must be feeling cr@p as planning a rest day doesn't bother me

The PMA thing will take practice, that's where the midweek sessions will come in handy...not giving in to the demons here will hopefully translate to mental strength in a race...

New runner

Btw Runchick I've just found your thread which is why I haven't commented before n hey reading back past 2 weeks I'm amazed u did so well today! U have sore calf n were battered n bruised 2 days ago from serious physio day before!!! Hi cut yourself some slack. Maybe no sessions or speedwork until that calf mends. ( says myself who's running with hip bursitis ( rolls eyes) lol! )

Runchick

Not much to report - respiratory infection, antibiotics, feeling pants, no running this week

This log is turning in to the 'what not to do when marathon training guide'... don't drink water during a marathon, race when not well, jaysus if she'd brains she'd be dangerous :rolleyes:

ncmc

Runchick wrote: »

Not much to report - respiratory infection, antibiotics, feeling pants, no running this week

This log is turning in to the 'what not to do when marathon training guide'... don't drink water during a marathon, race when not well, jaysus if she'd brains she'd be dangerous :rolleyes:

It's so easy to give advice, not so easy to follow it though! I think we have all made silly mistakes in our enthusiasm, I think the best thing you can do now is take it easy, make sure you are 100% better before you hit the road again, it sounds like you could be suffering from a bit of overtraining. You have loads of time left til Dublin, and it's not like you're coming from zero like you were last year. Just look after yourself, I know you're keen to right the Limerick wrong, but it's not worth making yourself ill or overtraining yourself into the ground. Trust me, I'm an expert at giving advice (taking it however....:rolleyes::o:pac:)

Runchick

Thanks ncmc I've been suspecting overtraining - well the only symptoms being proneness to illness and poor race performance. RHR is lower this week than it has been for a long time though

That coupled with a house full of little people who just love to catch bugs and share them - I suppose the training is lowering my immunity and eventually it all catches up :rolleyes: Ah well a week of sleeping when I'm usually running is kind of nice...another strangely satisfying effect is having all my running gear washed and ready to go - when I get back out there I can coordinate properly and not just grab the first thing that's clean :eek: (ok that's probably a random girl thing but I get more of a kick out of it than I should admit to :eek::p)