Be still my beating heart

Dub13

Ososlo wrote:

Yeah, the preparation was ginormous. Especially being a first, I wanted to have all bases covered. As an example, I had my regular fuelling that I had used in training, but I also back up fuelling in the form of different gels, and if they didn't work, then liquid foods as backup, and if that didn't work then a variety of solid foods. In the end I didn't use any of the extra stuff, but it's great to have it all for next time. Great to hook up with you on Strava and now I can keep a closer eye on what you are up to (at least I hope it's you!!!! ) Thanks P! ?

Yea that's me all right. Did you ever give anymore thought to joining a Dublin club...?

Neady83

Ososlo wrote: »

Yeah, the preparation was ginormous. Especially being a first, I wanted to have all bases covered. As an example, I had my regular fuelling that I had used in training, but I also back up fuelling in the form of different gels, and if they didn't work, then liquid foods as backup, and if that didn't work then a variety of solid foods. In the end I didn't use any of the extra stuff, but it's great to have it all for next time.
Great to hook up with you on Strava and now I can keep a closer eye on what you are up to;) (at least I hope it's you!!!!:eek:)
Thanks P! ?

Sounds very like preparation for adventure racing (I've a drawer full of bars, gels & all sorts that come out for every race and go back in again) ...... you have the endurance, nutrition and gear sorted - bit of bike work and you'd be sorted. Just saying

Firedance

Neady83 wrote: »

Sounds very like preparation for adventure racing (I've a drawer full of bars, gels & all sorts that come out for every race and go back in again) ...... you have the endurance, nutrition and gear sorted - bit of bike work and you'd be sorted. Just saying

:D are you on commission or what?

aquinn

Sincere and heartfelt congratulations on such a super performance. What an incredible achievement. I was impressed by the first report and hadn't expected the second. Can't believe the jacket is too big, sake.

Mind the recovery phase, go easy on yourself.

RubyK

Epic race and report Ososlo!! What an achievement, I hope the recovery is going well for you, and roll on the rest of your running plans

Neady83

Firedance wrote: »

:D are you on commission or what?

I've a pipe dream of an all girl adventure racing team of boardsies trying to be subtle about it though. I thought it was working

martyboy48

Neady83 wrote: »

trying to be subtle about it though. I

Ha ha, subtle alright

I would have thought it would be easy enough to gather a few women up to take part in something not to demanding at first, to dip their toe in

Anyways, back to the amazing ohsosteady A

Ososlo

Dub13 wrote: »

Yea that's me all right. Did you ever give anymore thought to joining a Dublin club...?

Hey!
Naw, not for me right now. More than happy going it alone for now, but won't rule it out for the future.

Well done A on a super achievement. You should be very proud of all that you have achieved.

Any thoughts of a parkrun in the near future?

Ososlo

Exactly wrote: »

Well done A on a super achievement. You should be very proud of all that you have achieved.

Any thoughts of a parkrun in the near future?

Thank you! Hope all is good in your world

haha I see you were reading closely! Well, yeah, I gotta face up to the old 5k fear soon. It'll be a case of going watch-less and just running as hard as I can for as long as I can. Whatever happens, happens...I don't have a clue what way it would go, as I haven't done any speed work in so long due to the niggle, but only one way to find out!

FBOT01

Ososlo wrote: »

Thank you! Hope all is good in your world

haha I see you were reading closely! Well, yeah, I gotta face up to the old 5k fear soon. It'll be a case of going watch-less and just running as hard as I can for as long as I can. Whatever happens, happens...I don't have a clue what way it would go, as I haven't done any speed work in so long due to the niggle, but only one way to find out!

Looks like the St Anne's crew that were in Belfast are heading to Donabate this week for some parkrun tourism so feel free to join us

Ososlo

Neady83 wrote: »

Sounds very like preparation for adventure racing (I've a drawer full of bars, gels & all sorts that come out for every race and go back in again) ...... you have the endurance, nutrition and gear sorted - bit of bike work and you'd be sorted. Just saying

Neady83 wrote: »

I've a pipe dream of an all girl adventure racing team of boardsies trying to be subtle about it though. I thought it was working

haha, sounds like fun Neady! Not sure I'd be much use on a bike, but never say never! I'd love to own one actually, but where I live, they are easy pickings for the local youffs.

aquinn wrote: »

Sincere and heartfelt congratulations on such a super performance. What an incredible achievement. I was impressed by the first report and hadn't expected the second. Can't believe the jacket is too big, sake.

Mind the recovery phase, go easy on yourself.

So kind, A! Fingers and everything crossed that you're back in action yourself really soon!

The tee-shirt is FAB and fits like a dream, so all's not lost

RubyK wrote: »

Epic race and report Ososlo!! What an achievement, I hope the recovery is going well for you, and roll on the rest of your running plans

Thanks a million, A! Recovery going brilliantly and can't bloody wait to do the 12 hour! SOOOO excited about it:D
Hope your own running is going really well. What's next up for you???

FBOT01 wrote: »

Looks like the St Anne's crew that were in Belfast are heading to Donabate this week for some parkrun tourism so feel free to join us

Very kind of you to ask me along, M, but it's a bit too soon. I haven't even run a stride in months! Need to get a little bit of pep back in my step before my attempt, and it'll likely be St. Anne's or my local one.
Enjoy Donabate!

hillsiderunner

Huge congratulations Ososlo, what an enormous challenge and great that you got your 100miles done. Hope you are having some lighter weeks! Know it's only short-distance for you but am wondering if you are tempted by DCM 2016? Your base must be incredible after all the ultra training.

Ososlo

hillsiderunner wrote: »

Huge congratulations Ososlo, what an enormous challenge and great that you got your 100miles done. Hope you are having some lighter weeks! Know it's only short-distance for you but am wondering if you are tempted by DCM 2016? Your base must be incredible after all the ultra training.

Great to see you back
Thanks! Yes, I took a full week off, and am on the last of 3 lighter weeks of building back up.
The next target race is Castleisland 12 hours at end Sept. I probably won't be recovered enough from the 12 hour to race DCM, but really want to do it as a fun day out, so will jog it and enjoy it!

Ososlo

June 27 – July 3
0 miles
Rest and recovery
The first 24 hours after the race, I could not really move. Getting to the loo was a major challenge and felt harder than running for 24 hours. By 48 hours, I was able to make it to the sitting room. Things improved vastly from thereon and I was able to walk fairly well and made it to work by Wednesday, even managing to get up and down the stairs on the bus without too much hassle. Big toe was very sore around nail area and everything a bit achy, but in the main, I felt quite good and was delighted to come out the other end with no injuries.

I drank every night with as much consistency as I put into my training over the last 10 months! I spent a few days in my parents’, sharing a house with a very sick kid and visitor from the States. How I managed to avoid picking up even a cold is a miracle as everyone else in the house ended up getting sick. SO happy not to get sick! I had factored getting sick into my recovery plans as apparently 68% of ultra runners get sick after a very long race so was willing to take 2 weeks completely off if I needed to.

July 4-10
35.6 miles weekly total
Legs feeling good and health good, I got back into things very slowly with the first run back being 41 mins and 11:26 pace. Things improved in distance and pace as the week went on and Sunday’s longer run was 10 miles at 9:53 pace. Ran every day except Thursday as I felt a bit tired. An ever so slightly sore hamstring on a few runs, but nothing I was concerned about. Oh and I met Singer on Wednesday when I was having a little stretch towards the end of my run. Super nice bloke and we had a great old natter and jogged together for a short bit! My second Boardsie to run with ever

July 11- 17
60 miles weekly total
Had a few runs early in the week where I felt light-headed and a bit dizzy so cut them short. Long run at the weekend is up to 13 miles at 10:09 pace, and felt good. The odd time when running I’ve felt my hamstring and the side of the opposite knee – not any pain, but just a bit tender so advised I still have some residual fatigue from Belfast and that it takes 4 weeks to completely recover from such a long race so keeping everything really handy. Just happy to be back running!

July 18 – 24
59 miles weekly total
Did a few runs with my brother this week. He’s just back at it, after a bit of a lazy lay-off, so my pace suited him fine. He's now living in the Kingswood area and is looking into joining a club. I wonder would the local club have him
Hamstring still making itself felt every now and again, early in the week, so still no faster running allowed. Everything is fine once the effort is kept slow. Wednesday night was a nightmare, a real life nightmare:( A toe nail came off UGH. I can’t even bear to think about it, let alone look at it. Got a toe-sock from the chemist to cover it up so I don’t have to subject anyone else to it, or myself. There is no soreness whatsoever, it just creeps me out. There is a second nail about to come off and the big toe nail is completely black, so I guess the inevitable will happen there too. So I guess now I have finally become a real runner, many times over. I think I preferred not being a real runner. Luckily they aren’t hurting me, but I don’t want this to happen again, so will chat to Gary in AK to see about maybe changing my shoes to a different brand with a higher toe box or something. I wore shoes which were a full size bigger than my regular shoes for the last 50 miles of Belfast and this still happened, so I need to re-think the footwear strategy. I think they’ll be ok over racing for 12 hours… hopefully. I only ran 5 days this week. Monday was a planned day off, and I didn't run Thursday due to the toe nail coming off and wanting to let it settle. I am being encouraged to run 6 days a week from now on, so will try my best to take one full day recovery each week. Not promising anything, but I'll try!

So the 4 recovery weeks are up and I’ve a solid mileage base built back up from which to build upon. I noticed huge improvements this week with the body. Am completely niggle-les, and there is a bit of pace starting to return to the legs. I’m delighted with how the recovery went, as I know now, if I stick with the long long stuff, that my body is able to cope with the training and the racing. I had a bit of a swollen tonsil yesterday, and my run last night was very slow so I cut it short, but I gargled with salt and water a few times yesterday and last night and I seem to have zapped it, and energy levels are back this morning, despite a poor sleep.

So all roads now lead to Castleisland 12 Hours, and I’ve been thinking about some goals. I have 9 weeks, so plenty of time to work up the mileage again and inject a bit of pace also. I hit 61 miles at 12 hours in Belfast with a sick stomach and about half the fuelling I had originally planned to take on, so I definitely want to do a lot better than that in Castleisland. One goal will be to achieve Sparthathlon qualification which is 68.35 miles (110km) in a 12 hour race. I think this will be achievable if things go my way. I actually think I might be able to do a little bit better than that even, so the A goal will be 70ish miles. There are a good few already signed up to the 12 hour race so hopefully there'll be a decent field with some good competition.

Now that I’m completely niggle free, I can start to add in a bit of speedwork and I’ll be starting with some hill blasts this week which I’m really looking forward to and I’ll do some progression runs also and work the long run up to 18 miles or so. It’s all so exciting!!!!

tailgunner

Great to hear the recovery went well, and delighted to see the log back up and running. Best of luck with your goals for Castleisland!

Younganne

great that recovery went so well. Best of luck with the goals and training for 12 hrs. My toenails come off all the time :eek:, you'll get use to it!

Firedance

tailgunner wrote: »

Great to hear the recovery went well, and delighted to see the log back up and running. Best of luck with your goals for Castleisland!

big + 1 to this

Maximus Alexander

You're an actual machine. I too am glad this log is back.

Dub13

Good read as always, nice to see you looking forward to doing some speed work. I will keep an eye out for you latter.

AuldManKing

only catching up now. Welcome back to Boards

I think every superlative has been used and I echo every one of them - amazing level of commitment, organisation and dedication.

Was it the fact that you were so organised and put every waking hour into the prep that "actually achieving 100 miles" didn't seem to be so big - that was the plan (albeit B plan) after all?

How do you feel now about it, looking back on it?

chickey2

Delighted to hear your back running with no niggles. Good luck with the training.

What did your family think of you doing the 24hour race?

Ososlo

AuldManKing wrote: »

only catching up now. Welcome back to Boards

I think every superlative has been used and I echo every one of them - amazing level of commitment, organisation and dedication.

Was it the fact that you were so organised and put every waking hour into the prep that "actually achieving 100 miles" didn't seem to be so big - that was the plan (albeit B plan) after all?

How do you feel now about it, looking back on it?

Hey auld man! Thanks, and it’s good to be back logging - I did miss it.

Yeah, I guess it didn’t feel like such a big deal as I did feel beforehand that it should be very doable. I felt I had set myself up very well to achieve the B goal and felt the A goal was very possible too. However, until you’re actually running for that long, you don’t REALLY know what it’s going to be like. On paper, it’s easy to work out paces and strategies and fuelling etc, but reality can be very very different, especially when you’re inexperienced, and when things are not going to plan from very early on. So, in hindsight, I think it's a bigger achievement than I did before the race.

How do I feel about it now? Well, there’s no point in saying I could have done much better, as the stomach problems didn’t allow me to do much more that I did. I did what I could under the circumstance, so am happy with the 100 in that respect, and to re-iterate what I said above, in the days after, I appreciated the achievement much more than before the race and in the immediate aftermath.
However (there’s always an ‘however’), I could kick myself hard, for not running for the full 24 hours. If I had continued to run for the last hour, I could have covered another 4 miles or more. I would have gone from 42nd place overall to 26th!!! And from joint 7th woman, to 5th. So, I won’t be forgiving myself for that in a hurry! I know I was in bits towards the end, but I could have crawled!!! However, it’ll all spur me on no end for the next one as I will be doing everything in my power to not let that happen again.

Ososlo

chickey2 wrote: »

Delighted to hear your back running with no niggles. Good luck with the training.

What did your family think of you doing the 24hour race?

Cheers! I'm very lucky!!!

Well, my Mammy thinks I'm great She takes a great interest in my running. Yes I'd get little comments every now and again about it maybe all being a bit too much and potentially bad for me and she'd worry a little about my health, but she knows I'm gonna do it regardless! When I hear the puff of her cigarette on the other end of the phone line when chatting to her, I do have to bite my tongue

Seriously though, they were all very supportive as they know how much it meant to me and some of them were there on the day crewing for me.

jake1970

Great to hear the recovery went well O. Do you have any tune up races before Castleisland? Maybe a marathon or two:)

Singer

Ososlo wrote: »

Now that I’m completely niggle free, I can start to add in a bit of speedwork and I’ll be starting with some hill blasts this week which I’m really looking forward to and I’ll do some progression runs also and work the long run up to 18 miles or so. It’s all so exciting!!!!

Great to see you back logging, running niggle-free but most importantly enjoying your running

Not being able to get to the toilet sounds crazy!

Ososlo

jake1970 wrote: »

Great to hear the recovery went well O. Do you have any tune up races before Castleisland? Maybe a marathon or two:)

Thanks Jake! You're motoring along yourself!

Glad you asked this actually, as it made me go and check what's available and there is a 50k in Staplestown (loops, yay!:D) and a marathon there at the end of August, and another marathon in Longwood in mid Sept, so I have a few options fairly close by. No harm to drop one race in to break up the training for one of the long runs! Cheers!

Ososlo

Monday July 25th
8 miles recovery
First 2 miles very slow and then increased the pace as feeling good. GPS messed up a bit so not sure of stats.

Tuesday July 26th
4 miles easy @ 10:18
Feeling a bit tired so kept it short and very easy.

Wednesday July 27th
4 x 8 sec Hill Blasts
6.3 @ 9:43
Short hill blast session. Did this with my brother in the Phoenix Park on one of the grassy hilly trails across from Military Hill. Too short to really have anything to say about it. Full recovery between reps. Enjoyable. Left me wanting more...

Thursday July 28th
Recovery 8 miles @ 10:38

Friday July 29th
Must have taken it off as nothing on Strava. Oh yes, now I remember, I intentionally took it off as I'm trying to take one rest day per week from now on.

Saturday July 30th
am: 6 miles easy @ 10:05
pm: 8 miles easy @ 10:02
Evening run was horrible due to there being 3 **** sitting on a park bench in my local park and making lewd comments each time I passed. The first time I passed them wasn't too bad, and I just smiled and said hi. Sometimes it's the best option. However, from then on it got really disgusting with the stuff they were coming out with. The park was fairly quiet too, but any time I passed and there was someone close-by, they'd say nothing. Complete and utter ball-less pricks. Yes I could have run elsewhere, but I just decided not to let them spoil my plan and do what I was going to do anyway. Yes they did spoil my plan but I didn't want them to think they did. Was in foul humour after that one.[/FONT]

Sunday July 31st
17 mile LSR @ 10
17 loops of local park. Can't remember much. Must start updating log more frequently or at least writing up something after each run as it's good to read back on as the long runs get longer and can be helpful for future long runs. Just took some Nuun I think. Stomach a bit dodgy afaicr
Weekly total: 63.8 miles

Monthly total: 219 miles

Monday 1 August
I realised last week that nearly all of my running lately has been one mile loops of my local park. I'm getting into a really bad habit of not bothering to venture any further, so with this in mind, I'm going to try to mix things up a bit from now on.
3 miles recovery @ 12:47
Decided to try to run as slowly as I possibly could without walking. It was a hilly route in Kilkenny and I was feeling tired so not too hard to go very slowly. I'm going to try to do one extremely easy run each week from now on, like a walk, but not a walk.

Tuesday 2 August
8 miles easy @ 10:19
On a track so take the average pace with a pinch of salt. Was in KK and decided to see what it's like running on a track for a few slow miles in preparation for Castleisland 12 hour. Did this on Watershed track in KK. Not sure if the surface is similar to other tracks but it did feel very soft and bouncy and felt good on the legs. Didn't get bored in the least so bodes well for CI. WAs going to do a very very long track run some day soon but it seems that this is not necessary at all from what Ed and Thomas and Enduro have said so I doubt I'll bother now. I don't want to end up getting bored of running on a track before the race even starts so I'll save it. Enjoyable run.

Wednesday 3 August
7 miles @ 10:22 - Hill blasts x 5
Was feeling very tired starting out and the warm up was abysmally slow, but said I'd do the first rep and see how I was feeling. I ended up feeling great and really enjoyed the short session. I found a better hill than last week in the PPark which is steeper and tarmac, so easier to sprint up with some control of my footing. Grand little session and the cooldown was much faster than warmup! Legs felt great after it!

Thursday 4 & Friday 5 Aug
No running. Had to have a small operation relating to the medical incident back in April. Was told beforehand that the worse case scenario would have me out of action for about a week and a lot of further investigation, test etc, in the coming weeks and months, and best case scenario, the news would be good and I'd be back to normal within a few days. Was given full anaesthetic so no pain throughout which was great as some of the tests were UGH. The outcome was fantastic. Was given the all-clear, full bill of health, given 2 weeks off work, and told I could go back running as soon as I felt up to it.
How lucky am I? All that good news was hard to take! I'm a complete Olympics junkie, so to be told I had 2 weeks in which to fully enjoy the games was like mana from heaven.
I fully intended to run on the Friday, however I didn't sleep at all on Thursday night and the procedure and general anesthetic took a bit more out of me than I thought it would, so just took Friday as another recovery day. See, I can be sensible sometimes:)

Saturday 6 August
am: 6 miles @ 9:59
Easy few miles to see how the body was after the op. All pretty good. A bit of discomfort but nothing bad enough to stop me from running. Yes, in an ideal world I probably should have taken the rest of the week off to recover fully and let everything settle, but let's face it, that was never gonna happen...
pm: 5 miles @ 9:51
Yes, probably stupid again, but enjoyed it and again, just a little mild discomfort.

Sunday 7 August
20 mile LSR @ 10:02
Back to my 4 mile laps of North Road and Chesterfield Avenue. Very very windy and it was directly in my face for a lot of Chesterfield Avenue on each lap. Felt good and just very very easy due to still being in recovery mode from Thursday. Did increase the pace a little for the last few miles, but nothing too taxing, and increased again for 8:30 pace for the last half mile or so. Took Suceed-Caps instead of Nuun as I'm playing around with my electrolytes to see if they suit me better and I think they do.
61.8 miles weekly total

Monday 8 August
5 miles recovery @ 10:56
Can’t remember anything and didn’t take any notes.

Tuesday 9 August
Progression run
10:15 9:40 9:04 8:53 8:31 8:18 7:58 and short cool down. This was great and I really enjoyed stretching the legs out nicely for a decent period of time. I was breathing pretty hard by the end of it and thought the pace would have been a bit faster (didn’t look at watch until after) but it’s so long since I’ve done anything bar slow easy running, it’s ok - for now. Will do it again soon and hope for more improvements.

Wednesday 10 August
am: 7 miles recovery into easy @ 9:55
pm: 4.2 miles easy @ 10:03

Thursday 11 August
I was supposed to take a rest day today and felt I really needed, however, my car wouldn’t start and I needed to get to town and back so donned the shoes and off I went from Santry to Jervis Street and home again a few hours later. Nice enjoyable run but I had a lunch date so had to crawl in so I wouldn’t get too sweaty. It’s wonderful that as well as being wonderfully enjoyable, running can be a useful saver of time and money sometimes!
Round trip: 9 miles @ 10:24

Friday 12 August
am: 7 miles @ 10:10
Should have taken off as I knew before I went out that I was exhausted and needed a break, but I went out anyways… idiot… what’s new? Was wrecked.
pm: 4 miles @ 9:53
Would you believe it? I went out again. I was pondering a lot on this run about why I was actually running when I was so obviously in bad need of a day off - or at least a half day. I opened up a bit of a discussion on my Strava log ‘Running - Healthy hobby or unhealthy obsession?’ which got some interesting feedback and reinforced to me that I’m 100% totally addicted to running. No point in saying otherwise. Thankfully someone on Strava talked some sense into me that I was #floggingadeadhorse and I took Saturday off.

Saturday 13 August
rest (finally....)

Sunday 14th August
15 mile long slow run @ 9:40
Wow! What a great run! I felt A-MA-ZING. It was lovely and cool, I was mentally and physically well rested from the day off, I didn’t need any water or fuel of any kind for the first run for months and I could have just kept on and on with my one mile laps of local park. If Carlsberg did long runs…. I had to keep it short enough though as I had a 50k coming up in 6 days. [/FONT]
Weekly total: 65 miles

Monday 15th August
am: 8 miles recovery @ 10:19
Went to the Phoenix Park for a change. It was very warm but was enjoyable once I kept it super easy.
pm: 6 miles @ 10 pace

Tuesday 16th August
am: 8 miles @ 10
pm: 4 miles @ 9:31
Left the evening run until too late and it was getting very dark very quickly in my local park so knocked the run on the head even though I felt fantastic and legs were full of zip.

Wednesday 17th August
6.2 @ 10:15
Easy run. Felt wrecked tired.Time for a day off.

Thursday 18th August
Rest.

Friday 19th August
Rest. Really felt I should run, as I hate not getting in a few miles even the day before a 'race, but not really a race type race race' but I was absolutely shattered and felt things were catching up with me, so definitely thought the extra day of rest would serve me better than a sorry plod about the local park for an hour.

Saturday 20th August
Staplestown 50k as long slow run
This was a training run for Castleisland 12 hour. The aim of the game was not to race it, but to run it at 12 hour starting effort so I’d get a good 5 plus hour run under the belt. It’d be my longest long run before Castleisland I would imagine as I don’t think it’s necessary to go much longer. I also wanted to practice the new fuelling strategy. All went grand until about 22? (can't remember exactly) miles when I stopped briefly to fix my shorts (they had been falling down for a lot of the race:o), and when I started running again, I got a sharp pain in the side of my knee. Never had that before, and it freaked me out. The course was a lot hillier than I’ve been running for the last few months, so maybe that had something to do with it. The camber might also have added to the problem, along with the fact that I’ve over 800 miles on the shoes I’ve been wearing and they have a big piece cut out of the toe box due to toenail issues, so they might not have been giving me the support I needed, and the problems came to the fore over a very long run. I was on my 5th of 6 loops of the Staplestown course, and pretty much made up my mind to pull out at the end of the 5th loop as the knee was hurting quite badly intermittently, and I didn’t want to cause any further damage. When I passed the startline again heading into the 6th loop however, the knee eased up and I felt ok again so I decided to continue on running. However, a few hundred metres up the road, it started hurting again and brought me to a halt. I could possibly have walked/hobbled the last lap on it, but it felt kinda pointless to do that for what was essentially a training run. I hummed and hawed about what to do, jogged on a bit, walked a bit, turned back a few times until eventually I made up my mind to stop, so I did the walk of shame back to the start line. Met Gary the organiser, and he suggested it might be an IT band issue which I'm fairly sure now it was/is. Had a great chat with him about running and then met Artiefunkin (well done again), and a quick chat with UM1 who’s looking well on form for the big one, and headed back to the car. Iced the knee for the afternoon and rested and elevated and worried, and foam rolled loads, so much so that I still have huge big bruises all over my legs!
Total: 25.3 miles @ 10:09 pace

Sunday 21 August
You know that horrible feeling in the pit of your stomach when you wake up and think you might be injured? Fearing what might lie ahead - the great unknown... You move about, hoping the hurt will go away, but it won’t. Moving the knee hurt quite a bit and I was very worried. Walked about a good bit and it started feeling a bit better as the morning wore on. It got to the point where it wasn’t hurting at all when walking, so I decided to go out for a tester run (surprise surprise, any excuse:rolleyes:). The first half mile wasn't great, and I was ready to turn for home when it started feeling a little better once I hit the flat ground. It improved more and more as the run went on to the point of being completely pain-free as long as I stayed on flat terrain. I cannot relate how happy I was during and after this run as I had really feared the worst.
am: 6 miles recovery @ 11:24
pm: 4 miles @ 11:38
yeah, I couldn’t just leave it at that:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:, I had to go out again to really make sure it was ok:o
First mile was a tad sore, but after that was perfect.
Weekly total: 67.7 miles

I've run 3 times since then and the knee is really good, even on the uphills and downhills, but I've been keeping to the flat in the main. I got new shoes yesterday, and Gary in AK looked a bit bemused when he saw the state of the runners I was wearing with the big area cut out of them and with how worn they are. I normally have a few pairs of shoes on the go at the same time, however, finances haven't been great recently so I've been making do with the one pair for most of my runs and rotating now and again with other shoes that probably have even more mileage on them! Not ideal, but hopefully things will pick up soon again with my work, and I can get a new pair for CI.

I'd have hoped to be doing a bit more mileage at this point, but circumstances haven't allowed it, and I can't force it, so it is what it is. If I can get the long up to about 30 before CI I'll be happy and the weekly mileage to peak at about 15 hours (90ish miles) but if it doesn't happen, I'm sure I'll still be ok for the 12 hour. It'll all work out in the end!!!!

diego_b

Nice update A, do you do much strength work as part of your general week?

Ososlo

diego_b wrote: »

Nice update A, do you do much strength work as part of your general week?

Hey!
I do AIS (active isolated stretching) before every single run without fail. I know it's stretching, but I do believe that it contributes towards maintaining bodily strength too. I do a Lunge Matrix routine before most runs, and a Myrtl routine about 3 times a week.

diego_b

Ososlo wrote: »

Hey!
I do AIS (active isolated stretching) before every single run without fail. I know it's stretching, but I do believe that it contributes towards maintaining bodily strength too. I do a Lunge Matrix routine before most runs, and a Myrtl routine about 3 times a week.

Certainly boxing off the stretching aspect there I would think! What you are doing would be body weight only exercises though so maybe you might consider changing them up if your body has got to used to them and maybe losing some of the benefit. Just thinking like we would with running if you keep doing the same runs all the time that you reach a plateau so maybe a change needed. You could try varying them with additional weight added like a kettlebell (my favourite) as when running the forces on the body are more than just body weight alone. This is something I had to do when progressing the exercises I was prescribed last year. I would suggest maybe a check with a physio on the knee though. If it's just an exercise change or progression it might be something small is needed to tweak things.

Also saving some of those links, the flexibility of the hamstrings in the first video...wow!

Ososlo

diego_b wrote: »

Certainly boxing off the stretching aspect there I would think! What you are doing would be body weight only exercises though so maybe you might consider changing them up if your body has got to used to them and maybe losing some of the benefit. Just thinking like we would with running if you keep doing the same runs all the time that you reach a plateau so maybe a change needed. You could try varying them with additional weight added like a kettlebell (my favourite) as when running the forces on the body are more than just body weight alone. This is something I had to do when progressing the exercises I was prescribed last year. I would suggest maybe a check with a physio on the knee though. If it's just an exercise change or progression it might be something small is needed to tweak things.

Also saving some of those links, the flexibility of the hamstrings in the first video...wow!

Yep, thanks D, great points there, you might be correct about needing to change things up a bit. John's gonna give me some more strength and stability stuff and show me how to do it properly when I'm down your neck of the woods for the race next month. I'll hold off seeing anyone about the knee for a bit as it's fine at the moment. I'd say the new shoes will really help too! They feel so cushioned, I don't know myself!

Firedance

Ososlo wrote: »

Hey!
I do AIS (active isolated stretching) before every single run without fail. I know it's stretching, but I do believe that it contributes towards maintaining bodily strength too. I do a Lunge Matrix routine before most runs, and a Myrtl routine about 3 times a week.

You put the rest of us to shame

Hope the knee stays okay, if it is your IT band then foam rolling the TFL (ouch ouch ouch) should help but you're probably doing that anyway (I think you told me about the TFL originally!!)

P.S. enjoy the new shoes!!!!!!!!!!!

aquinn

I'll be perfectly honest. I'm a bit surprised by the above update as a reoccurring theme, which in my opinion, was running when you really should know better. Coming from where I am at the minute I see most of the above as pure stupidity.

Running after a GA, running doubles when worried about pain. I'm a bit gobsmacked to be honest.

Good news on the all-clear from the hospital, absolutely and glad you're taking a weekly planned rest day but FFS, doubles when exhausted also?

I don't want to start anything with this so ignore at will. It's my opinion.

diego_b

Ososlo wrote: »

Yep, thanks D, great points there, you might be correct about needing to change things up a bit. John's gonna give me some more strength and stability stuff and show me how to do it properly when I'm down your neck of the woods for the race next month. I'll hold off seeing anyone about the knee for a bit as it's fine at the moment. I'd say the new shoes will really help too! They feel so cushioned, I don't know myself!

No probs, fingers crossed it hold steady for you and good stuff on the runners, you've more than earned them!!

Ososlo

Firedance wrote: »

You put the rest of us to shame

Hope the knee stays okay, if it is your IT band then foam rolling the TFL (ouch ouch ouch) should help but you're probably doing that anyway (I think you told me about the TFL originally!!)

P.S. enjoy the new shoes!!!!!!!!!!!

haha yeah, I was the one who told you! Yep, it got a good going-over!

aquinn wrote: »

I'll be perfectly honest. I'm a bit surprised by the above update as a reoccurring theme, which in my opinion, was running when you really should know better. Coming from where I am at the minute I see most of the above as pure stupidity.

Running after a GA, running doubles when worried about pain. I'm a bit gobsmacked to be honest.

Good news on the all-clear from the hospital, absolutely and glad you're taking a weekly planned rest day but FFS, doubles when exhausted also?

I don't want to start anything with this so ignore at will. It's my opinion.

Yes, I agree with you, everything you say is true and you're not the first one to say it! The doctor did say I'd be fine to go back running within a few days though, but in hindsight I probably should have taken a bit longer. Will I ever learn? Probably not.
I think I need to start logging more regularly so that you can talk some sense into me more frequently and catch me before I do something really stupid!

Kennyg71

As a coach said to me runners are alway tired but in a good way, some impressive mileage but after 100 miles in one stint I'm sure you can handle it. And logging defiantly helps with detective work when accessing if we need to tweak things.

But have to hand it to you ultra runners your a hardy bunch:)

Ososlo

Kennyg71 wrote: »

As a coach said to me runners are alway tired but in a good way, some impressive mileage but after 100 miles in one stint I'm sure you can handle it. And logging defiantly helps with detective work when accessing if we need to tweak things.

But have to hand it to you ultra runners your a hardy bunch:)

Thanks! Noted about the logging. If I'm to bother at all, it's much more useful to do it more regularly.

haha, don't know if I'd call myself an 'ultra runner' yet (I've only done 2 ultra races!), but it's a work in progress!

The Muppet

Having read your post on nutrition this morning have to say I'm amazed at the milage you doing on a cheese sandwich and a few nuts . Fair play .

aquinn

The Muppet wrote: »

Having read your post on nutrition this morning have to say I'm amazed at the milage you doing on a cheese sandwich and a few nuts . Fair play .

What's this now? I hope a snack pre-run and well fed and nourished post-run.

Ososlo

The Muppet wrote: »

Having read your post on nutrition this morning have to say I'm amazed at the milage you doing on a cheese sandwich and a few nuts . Fair play .

haha, slight exaggeration there

Ososlo

Monday 22 August
6 miles recovery @ 11:08
Knee good except for the very odd twinge. Felt tired so just the one short slow one today. See, I can be sensible;)

Tuesday 23 August
am: 9.5 miles @ 10:12 easy
Enjoyable around the Phoenix Park.
pm: 4.5 miles @ 10:12 easy
Went to the seafront in Clontarf. Absolutely amazing night with wonderful scenery. An absolute joy!

Wednesday 24 August
6.6 miles easy @ 9:56
With my brother in the Phoenix Park. He dragged me up and down some trails but I didn’t think that was a great idea in case the uneven terrain aggravated the knee, so kept to the path. He’s way faster than me and does most of his everyday runs in early 7 pace, so it’s just not a good match as he gets bored as it’s so slow, and just wants to talk loads which I’m not really into. We’ll do the odd one together and maybe when I’m doing “faster” stuff we can meet up and he can drag me around.

Thursday 25 August
Day off. In fear of incurring the wrath of aquinn, I thought I’d best stick with resting today:) J

Friday 26 August
8.2 miles @ 9:48
Feeling very fresh after my day off, I did the first bit easy and injected a little bit of effort into the later miles:
11:21 10:07 10:09 9:59 9:53 9:33 8:56 8:45

Saturday 27 August
7.5 miles @ 10:25
Went to the Phoenix Park to do my 28 mile long run, but I knew after the first lap of my Chesterfield/North Road loop that today wasn’t the day for it. Not sure what was up, but I just felt way too sluggish, and no matter how slowly I went, I still felt crap, with lifeless legs and laboured breathing so pulled the plug. When I got home I felt like I had run 28 miles. Was wrecked and rested on the couch for the evening.

Sunday 28 August
28 mile lsr @ 9:54
Well, what a difference a day makes! I felt super doing this. Stayed local and did 28 x 1 mile loops of my local park. Went out at 10am and while it was sunny, it wasn’t too warm but it did get quite warm as the morning wore on and it was quite hot by lunchtime. Nothing fazed me today however, and I felt full of energy and legs were full of zip and breathing perfect. Started out at 10:30 pace for the first 2 miles and then the pace naturally decreased to 10 pace without any extra effort. At 24 miles, I picked it up a tiny bit to 9:30 pace for 2 miles, and the last 2 miles were the fastest at 9:20 and finished at 9:10ish pace. Could have kept going when finished. I felt a bit of a twinge in the knee in the later stages of the run, but not enough to make me stop. Brilliant run and delighted I waited to do it instead of slogging through it on Saturday. I often find lately that I can feel dreadful during a run one day, but the next day I can feel fantastic for no apparent reason.
Weekly total: 70.4 miles – 11h 52 mins

Monday 29 August
Was in KK and busy with family stuff, so took my rest day today. Lots of energy today and legs felt perfect after the longer one yesterday. I got to talking with my mother about my running and she said she does worry about me and her friends worry about me too with my excessive exercise. I asked her did she think I was healthier now or when I was smoking a packet of fags a day and drinking a bottle of wine. She didn't really answer.... I told her she was worrying needlessly but she said that I'm sure Scott's (of the Antartic) mother used to worry about him before he headed off on his voyages too'. Can't argue with that!

Tuesday 30 August
Couldn’t run in the morning as planned.
pm: 10 miles @ 10:04
Back in Dublin and normal service resumes. 10 x loops of local park. Feeling good so threw in a few strides.

Wednesday 31 August
am: 10 miles @ 10:26
Went to Phoenix Park to do 8 miles, but enjoying it so much, I extended it a bit. Warm and windy. A bit slow but just went with the flow.
pm: 6 miles progressive @ 9:01
9:56 9:32 8:58 8:42 8:12 7:45 (.3) 9:20 (cooldown)
Feeling great in the evening, so threw on the ST5’s and let the legs do what they wanted. Could have run all night, but thought I should keep it short enough due to the longer morning run.

Monthly total: 291 miles 49 hours

So, nearly back to where I was before Belfast on the mileage front. Delighted with that and feeling good in general. I don’t think the knee niggle is anything to worry about but I am continuing to roll the tfl and calfs regularly and to do my usual AIS, LM and Myrtle. Only 3 weeks to go now until Castleisland and I can't bloody wait!!!! I’ll be paring back the long run from this weekend.

Got to thinking about DCM a few days ago and how to run it. After reading Chickey’s log, I started wondering what kind of time I could manage if I decided to race it. I was quickly put back in my box however by my coach, and told in no uncertain terms, that I won’t be racing it as I won’t be recovered from CI 12 hour, and I’m still probably recovering to some extent from Belfast. I guess I’ll be taking about a week off completely to recover from CI and then just building back up over the following 3 weeks, so it’d be stupid to think I would be in a position to race it. So it’ll be done at LSR effort with maybe a pickup for the last 10k. Looking forward to it regardless and I will get a good feel for the course for racing it next year. That's all assuming I get out of CI unscathed.

chickey2

Sounds like you're being sensible!

Mother's worry no matter what you do! I'm sure you're better off ultra running rather than excessive smoking and drinking (or doing trans antarctic expeditions!)

diego_b

http://www.icemarathon.com/

Just saying...

davedanon

Ososlo wrote: »

With my brother in the Phoenix Park. He dragged me up and down some trails but I didn’t think that was a great idea in case the uneven terrain aggravated the knee, so kept to the path. He’s way faster than me and does most of his everyday runs in early 7 pace, so it’s just not a good match as he gets bored as it’s so slow

Sounds tasty. So when's he going to rock up to Tallaght AC?


(or were you talking about the noisy neighbours?)

mel.b

diego_b wrote: »

http://www.icemarathon.com/

Just saying...

Entry fee only €13500 :eek: :eek: Although it does include a private jet transfer

Firedance

mel.b wrote: »

Entry fee only €13500 :eek: :eek: Although it does include a private jet transfer

Lets not forget the T-shirt..... :cool:

Ososlo

diego_b wrote: »

http://www.icemarathon.com/

Just saying...

haha, I think that'd push the Ma over the edge altogether. I do like the cold though!

davedanon wrote: »

Sounds tasty. So when's he going to rock up to Tallaght AC?

(or were you talking about the noisy neighbours?)

cryptic! BP I presume you mean!

Logistically TAC makes sense and the one he's been looking at. No idea when as he's very blasé about it atm.

Bluesquare

Very impressive mileage - you must me one strong lady ! I'd say you would do a very impressive marathon time when you get a chance to race one !

Ososlo

Bluesquare wrote: »

Very impressive mileage - you must me one strong lady ! I'd say you would do a very impressive marathon time when you get a chance to race one !

Thanks! The mileage aspect is never any bother, it's the speed aspect that's lacking, IN A BIG WAY! So that'd need to be worked on before I could do anything decent with a marathon.
You're going great guns yourself, and can't wait to see how you do!