Back to the Future

RedRunner

OOnegative wrote: »

Good man R, great to see you running a PB again after all your injury woes.

Thanks B! It was soft enough PB to be fair but a PB is a PB. The next PB attempt will be a bit more challenging.

RedRunner

Bungy Girl wrote: »

Nicely done, R! Showed some amount of grit to pull it back after the slower miles. GPS doesn't work so well in St.Annes (and the course is twisty I think ?) so I'd trust the official measurement and bask in that PB. Hope the body feeling ok after ?

Thanks G. yeah the course is quite twisty and turny in places. It's defo going down as an official PB to be sure. They are few and far between these days!:)

Left hamstring a little sore still so am giving it all the time it needs. Rested yesterday and back cycle commuting today. There's no serious damage there , just need to stretch well and give it some loving care for the rest of the week.

No plans to do much mileage this week. Am registered for 10k in St Annes on Saturday so will see how I'm feeling later in the week.

RedRunner

3/4 to 6/4 - Rested up the hamstring (left) to give it time to get over the strains of the ten miler on onday and concentrated on Core work during the week with some cycle commutes.

Ended up going out for a few beers because someone was leaving the job and sure I wasn't going to be racing tomorrow or anything!:eek:

7/4 - Needless to say preparation wasn't great for this one! In fairness I hadn't intended racing it anyway and only because I've been annoying people to get out to BHAA races did I actually get myself out of the bed this morning.

Managed to get around despite being green around the gills a bit and the hamstring (left) while it tightened up on the last stretch on the avenue was ok. The right hamstring though also tightened up and it felt a bit strained (but not bad) after the race. Probably due to dehydration and over compensating for the left hamstring. I'll never learn!

All things considered not a bad run out in 48:44 but of course I can do a lot better than that.

so today is Tuesday and I haven't run since then and I don't plan to do much this week to allow time for the leg to recover and then I'll ease myself back into things. Clean living for the next 7 weeks which will culminate in my next goal which is a 10k race in Vienna. I'm going as part of my work's Athletics Club team to a European competition for similar workplaces all around Europe. Looking forward to this and want to put in a good performance for this. Goal will be sub 45 mins. So all things going well can get stuck into a 10k plan from next week.

Other races planned will be Dublin Night Run on April 22nd and I'm considering Terenure 5 13th May with maybe a couple of BHAA races in between. But it's all about Vienna on June 1st in terms of next goal.

RedRunner

Been resting up all week to allow the hamstring to settle and the opportunity came up to do a very short run on Thursday. 1 mile in fact. A lunchtime mile for wellness week, a wellbeing promotional thing at work. So I decided this is an ideal opportunity to test the hamstring and see how it feels. A slow paced mile, what could go wrong ?:rolleyes:

There were walkers and runners and I was leading the run so a few of us decide to do a recce ( is that how you spell it?) on the route and do 1 mile before the real thing. All good. On the second lap it became evident that the hamstring still wasn't right and needs more time. Was doing probably 9 min miles so I was not over exerting in any way. more worrying though was that my left Achilles starting hurting. WTF!!, where did that come from? I had no early warning of this!

So it appears the injury rollercoaster begins again! :(:(

I'm less worried about the hamstring/adductor, that's a one week , maybe 10 days problem that will be sorted. The Achilles on the other hand is an unknown quantity and could potentially be several weeks. So much more getting into a 10k plan next week!

And the ironic thing is I just signed up for DCM 2018 in the morning. It seems I only have to think about doing a marathon and I get injured !!!

Give me strength!!!!!!!!!:rolleyes::rolleyes::(:(:mad::mad::mad:

RedRunner

Still off running.

made a bit of a comeback last week and jogged around parkrun with the lovely AQuinn , rested Sunday and ran again on Monday but during Monday's run the Hamstring played up again and had to cut the run short.

it's that bit of tendon behind the knee so I'm back to icing and stretching and have to make do with the cycling ( now that I have it back from shop after a €150 service!)

In the meantime I've been getting more and more depressed and eating crap and piling on the weight! So to cheer myself up I entered the London ballot and signed up for a 6 week nutrition course in work. basically you get 1 to 1 advice on diet, exercise etc and have to get measured at beginning middle and end eg weight, body fat etc Have to keep a food diary etc etc so I'm hoping it'll help with the discipline.

It's not like I will learn anything new but it is a framework for control and a platform for discipline....well at least for 6 weeks anyway!

Giving the leg more time before I try running again and being very very patient!

HelenAnne

RedRunner wrote: »

Still off running.

made a bit of a comeback last week and jogged around parkrun with the lovely AQuinn , rested Sunday and ran again on Monday but during Monday's run the Hamstring played up again and had to cut the run short.

it's that bit of tendon behind the knee so I'm back to icing and stretching and have to make do with the cycling ( now that I have it back from shop after a €150 service!)

In the meantime I've been getting more and more depressed and eating crap and piling on the weight! So to cheer myself up I entered the London ballot and signed up for a 6 week nutrition course in work. basically you get 1 to 1 advice on diet, exercise etc and have to get measured at beginning middle and end eg weight, body fat etc Have to keep a food diary etc etc so I'm hoping it'll help with the discipline.

It's not like I will learn anything new but it is a framework for control and a platform for discipline....well at least for 6 weeks anyway!

Giving the leg more time before I try running again and being very very patient!

So sorry you're injured again! It might be an idea (maybe! I'm sure others would know better!) to just completely switch off from running and from trying to fix your injuries for a while? Sometimes I think all the effort we put into curing niggles - stretching / rolling / icing etc can be stressful, because you're thinking about it all the time, and in my (completely gut instinct non-scientific) opinion being stressed can make you more injury prone.
During your six-week thing in work you could decide to take time off from running AND from rehab / cross training? You could just do gentle walks, get more sleep etc and give your body the best chance to recover. And then after the six weeks start running again with couch to 5k or something, just to really let your muscles / tendons etc build up strength again gradually.
Does that sound mad? It's just that you've been so unlucky despite doing all your rehab / strength work etc that maybe you need a complete reset?
Get well soon, whatever way you decide to tackle it.

RedRunner

HelenAnne wrote: »

So sorry you're injured again! It might be an idea (maybe! I'm sure others would know better!) to just completely switch off from running and from trying to fix your injuries for a while? Sometimes I think all the effort we put into curing niggles - stretching / rolling / icing etc can be stressful, because you're thinking about it all the time, and in my (completely gut instinct non-scientific) opinion being stressed can make you more injury prone.
During your six-week thing in work you could decide to take time off from running AND from rehab / cross training? You could just do gentle walks, get more sleep etc and give your body the best chance to recover. And then after the six weeks start running again with couch to 5k or something, just to really let your muscles / tendons etc build up strength again gradually.
Does that sound mad? It's just that you've been so unlucky despite doing all your rehab / strength work etc that maybe you need a complete reset?
Get well soon, whatever way you decide to tackle it.

Thanks H. There is a lot to be said for that for sure. Every time I think, yes I'll do that, I wonder if in the end I would actually benefit and all that would happen is that I'd just enter another cycle of injury but deferred. It's an option though that I grapple with on a regular basis in my head.

Before you wrote this I had been thinking to myself, If I can get to DCM and do it, I'll take Nov/Dec/Jan off and sign up with some S&C guy for one on one regular sessions and . And if I don't get London in the Ballot I think I will give that some serious consideration.

RedRunner

First measurement for my 6 wk nutrition/fitness focus is on Thursday but I weighed myself at 100.7kgs this morning. The goal is to lose 6kgs over the 6 weeks and hopefully give myself a chance of losing more beyond that.

I'm cycle commuting this week and today I hit the gym at work for 30 mins.

5mins forward/5 mins reverse on the elliptical trainer
5 mins running on treadmill @8km/hr pace
Some leg curls on the body workout station thingamajiggy.

Leg felt ok on the run.

aquinn

Mind yourself R, go easy on yourself.

Have you seen anyone over the hamstring and tightness?

Good luck with the 6 weeks clean living.

Duanington

Might be worth spending the time to find someone who could work with you on the weakness that keeps popping up R?

I know some of the lads at the club have been to a S+C specialist to work on specific weaknesses and are reaping the rewards as a result ( weekly visits, tailored routines, supervision and feedback on the running week\plan etc)

RedRunner

aquinn wrote: »

Mind yourself R, go easy on yourself.

Have you seen anyone over the hamstring and tightness?

Good luck with the 6 weeks clean living.

Thanks A. Haven't seen anyone yet on the hammer. More to do with cash flow than anything else. Its on the mend though

RedRunner

Duanington wrote: »

Might be worth spending the time to find someone who could work with you on the weakness that keeps popping up R?

I know some of the lads at the club have been to a S+C specialist to work on specific weaknesses and are reaping the rewards as a result ( weekly visits, tailored routines, supervision and feedback on the running week\plan etc)

Sounds interesting D. Can you get me more details on this? Could be worth investigating.

Duanington

RedRunner wrote: »

Sounds interesting D. Can you get me more details on this? Could be worth investigating.

You know one of the lads so I’ll get him to message you, R

RedRunner

Measurement Day 1:eek:

So here it is the scales or the calipers don't lie. I'm putting it all out there for all to see and cajole me if I'm not hitting my targets

Current Weight - 99.8kg

Current Body Fat % - 28.9% (Ouch)


Goal is to lose 6kg over next 6 weeks,work on quality of my diet and reintroduce running after my injury. Will continue to try and do a little strength work on a regular basis too as well as cycle commutes.

Cycle commute today plus did 10 mins running @9kmph on treadmill. No reaction from hamstring.

RedRunner

11/5- Cycle commute both ways (10km ew)

12/5 - Easy few miles including debut at Fairview parkrun and short warmup. Went up to volunteer as VI(Visually Impaired) Guide but was surplus to requirements .More guides than were needed on the day, which is a good sign for future. Went around in 26.03 and really felt the lack of fitness. No reaction from leg so all good. Nice to bump into Murph_D and Annpr who were volunteering.

13/5 - 30 mins easy around St Annes while the youngest played a match.

Feeling more comfortable each day with the leg. The youngest's match was abandoned as the ref was getting abused by opposition sideline after sending off one of their players (who deserved to go) . I wouldn't mind they were 5-0 up and had just won a penalty. Idiots!. They were taunting players who got injured too including one lad who had to have an ambulance called for. Totally out of order. No place for that in the game. Wouldn't see that in GAA at least in my experience.

14/5 - Cycle commute in followed directly by 45 min "conditioning" class. Strength and conditioning type class, lots of lunges with weights, body press, running (yes running), press-ups, sit ups, jumping jacks, and other stuff I cant remember name off. Lots of sweat and pretty zonked after it.

Cycle commute home in pm and off to shop for my protein foods, healthy snacks, and stuff I just wouldnt normally be eating

RedRunner

Been a while since posting last so i'll give you the executive summary....

Basically have been getting back into the swing of things with gradual increase in miles peaking at 28 miles last week. Was keeping all the runs reasonably short and longest has been 7 miles.

With marathon training looming, its time now to manage the load upwards, especially the long run.

With no speed work to speak of for fear of injury I've entered the Lord Mayor's 2 mile series in Raheny. So this , along with some parkruns will serve as my fast stuff for another while. Got off to decent start with my first run a few weeks ago in 14:11 and managed to break the 14 mins last night with a 13:43. Delighted with that and considering I stepped off a plane only 2 hrs earlier was really pleased with that. It seems a 10 day diet of beer, wine and ice cream can do wonders for your speed......if only!

I got 7 runs done over the 10 days I was away in Algarve sowas happy with that. The running in the heat and the hilly nature of the runs must have stood to me last night.

In other good news I made my debut at 800m distance at BHAA Trinity races. I had no idea how to run this to be honest but I think I judged it fairly well for a first attempt. Thanks to support from Murph_D and Duanington on the night!

I possibly could have pushed it a bit earlier on 2nd lap but kicked coming round last bend and took a few places finishing 4th on night in my category. Got a bonus email then while on my hols that i had been bumped up to 3rd place as guy who came 3rd had won the mile and you cant win more than one prize on the night. I ran the mile in 6:35 or something but the 800 took everything out of my legs so that was just going through the motions a bit.

So next up is to try put a plan together for marathon training and get myparkrun time down with a sub 22 attempt due soon...maybe even this saturday as it is pacer saturday I believe.

Niggles-wise...left knee and achilles a bit of an issue but thats probably down to recent hill work and just an overall need for some deep massage to loosen things up. Time to get the foam roller out again too.

RedRunner

Since last update I strained a hamstring in one of the club 2 mile races.

A ten day layoff followed but I'm back now and had a good week last week including running the liberties 4 mile and south dublin 10k on sunday . Diodnt race either flat out but they were good workouts and got 30miles in last week.

So just trying to build on that now and be careful with my work load. To help me manage this I'm using an injury predictor spreadsheet. It is based on the acute:chronic workload ration and will warn me if I'm doing to much.

Essentially you fill in minutes you ran and perceived effort level weighting. It compares what you are doing with the average over previous 4 weeks and triggers amber and red flags if you are increasing intensity and/or workload inappropriately.


Last weeks workload was;

Mon : Rest (Cycle commute)
Tues : 5.94 miles easy 9:15min/mile avg
Wed : Liberties Run 4 miles @7:45 avg with 3 mile w/up
Thurs : Rest
Fri : Rest
Sat: parkrun 24mins @7:47 with another 3 miles between w/up and c/d
Sun : South Dublin 10k in 48:20 with another 5 miles between w/up and c/d

30miles for week


Mon : 23/7 - Rest ( cycle commute)
Tue : 24/7 - Easy 6.42 miles @9:21 plus cycle commute

RedRunner

wed 25/7 - Session with MC

1 x 1k,4 x 500, 1x 1k (about 90 secs recovery between each)

Splits :

1k - 4:45 - 7:26/mi avg

500 - 2.00 - 6:24/mi avg
500 - 1:50 - 5:56/mi avg
500 - 1:55 - 6:20/mi avg
500 - 1.52 - 6:08/mi avg

1k - 3:48 - 6:16/mi avg

0.8mi w/up and c/d either side. for 4.45 miles total

Never did a session like that before but really enjoyed it and the hamstring didn't complain.

RedRunner

thurs 26/7 - 4 miles @8:55. Easy lunchtime run. Woke this morning to an aching Achilles tendon. Darnation! Was convinced I may have to turn back in this run before I even set out. But in the end it was actually ok. No real pain but knew it was there. Looks like this is one i'm going to have to constantly manage from now on with daily icing, massage and exercise regime.

Why does this always happen to me just after I sign up to races! FFS!!!

Anyway lets not fret just yet, daily management of it might be enough to keep it at bay while keeping the mileage up , will just have to wait and see.

Have this regime that requires 180 reps of eccentric heel drops per day:eek:. Hopefully that will do the trick.

RedRunner

RedRunner wrote: »

Last weeks workload was;

Mon : Rest (Cycle commute)
Tues : 5.94 miles easy 9:15min/mile avg
Wed : Liberties Run 4 miles @7:45 avg with 3 mile w/up
Thurs : Rest
Fri : Rest
Sat: parkrun 24mins @7:47 with another 3 miles between w/up and c/d
Sun : South Dublin 10k in 48:20 with another 5 miles between w/up and c/d

30miles for week


Mon : 23/7 - Rest ( cycle commute)
Tue : 24/7 - Easy 6.42 miles @9:21 plus cycle commute

RedRunner wrote: »

wed 25/7 - Session with MC

1 x 1k,4 x 500, 1x 1k (about 90 secs recovery between each)

Splits :

1k - 4:45 - 7:26/mi avg

500 - 2.00 - 6:24/mi avg
500 - 1:50 - 5:56/mi avg
500 - 1:55 - 6:20/mi avg
500 - 1.52 - 6:08/mi avg

1k - 3:48 - 6:16/mi avg

0.8mi w/up and c/d either side. for 4.45 miles total

Never did a session like that before but really enjoyed it and the hamstring didn't complain.

Redrunner - 4 pieces of fast work in a week with your history is just plain daft when you're getting back into training...

RedRunner

Exactly wrote: »

Redrunner - 4 pieces of fast work in a week with your history is just plain daft when you're getting back into training...

I take your point Exactly and thanks for the input. The timing of 10k wasn't great and if I hadn't registered I'd have just done an LSR. In my defence however I would say that I didn't run any of the faster stuff at full tilt, maybe 80-90%. And I did take plenty of rest eg 2 days after the liberties run.

But I can see the logic in what you say. That's unlikely to happen again between now and DCM.Cheers

RedRunner

thurs 26/7 - 4miles easy @8:55/mi avg

fri 27/7 - Rest

sat 28/7 - parkrun. Club day at parkrun and decided to give sub 22 a shot. Couldn't keep the pace up on the second lap and was loathe to try and push it to the extent I'd risk a hamstring upset . Happy with the workout though and a 22:16 which is an improvement on recent performances. Conditions were very wet and only had a short warmup and cool down.

sun 29/7 - 14 miles LSR @9:03/mi avg. Happy with this, nice to get a good long one under the belt.


32 miles for the week.


mon 30/7 - Rest ( cycle commute)

HelenAnne

RedRunner wrote: »

thurs 26/7 - 4miles easy @8:55/mi avg

fri 27/7 - Rest

sat 28/7 - parkrun. Club day at parkrun and decided to give sub 22 a shot. Couldn't keep the pace up on the second lap and was loathe to try and push it to the extent I'd risk a hamstring upset . Happy with the workout though and a 22:16 which is an improvement on recent performances. Conditions were very wet and only had a short warmup and cool down.

sun 29/7 - 14 miles LSR @9:03/mi avg. Happy with this, nice to get a good long one under the belt.


32 miles for the week.


mon 30/7 - Rest ( cycle commute)

Well done on your parkrun & long run (I was about halfway through my 11 miles when I saw you yesterday) - you are very magnanimous not to mention that the pacer started to accidentally speed up in the second lap ...

RedRunner

31/7 - Easy runmute 6.31miles @9:25/mi avg

1/8 - Should have been a session but had watch programming malfnction so abandoned the idea and just did an easy one. 5.43miles @ 9:45/mi avg

2/8 - LSR - 12.81miles @9:39avg. Away for weekend so got this one done earlier in the week. Didnt enjoy it all tbh. a bit of a slog b u t boxed ticked and another one under the belt.

3/8 - Rest

4/8 - Despite a boozy friday evening , got out the next morning around the unfamiliar roads of Arklow 5.84miles @9:05avg

5/8 - rest

30 miles for week. happy enough

RedRunner

mon 6/8 - 7.6 miles @8:36avg.

5m steady with corkscrew hills of sutton thrown in, 1 m easy, 1 mile hard and cooldown to finish.

This was a real confidence booster of a run, held the steady pace handily enough and good to get some more hill work in.

Splits were:8:33,8:31,8:22,8:39,8:25,8:59,7:53,(9:57)

RedRunner

tue 7/8 - 6.42mi @8:54avg - steady lunchtime run with a work colleague

Along quays and out along poolbeg parkrun route and beyond towards the lighthouse and back again.

wed 8/8- rest

thurs 9/8 - 10.09miles @9:04avg

fri 10/8 - rest

sat 11/8 - 4.27mi@8:12 avg including parkrun in St Annes (23:36)

Took it easy enough on first lap and then pushed it on lap 2 so it was a bit of a progression run rather than a fast effort


Sun 12/8 - 14.47miles @9:02avg. 13@mp:eek:

7am start with one of the girls from the club so I could get back to catch most of the European Champs marathon. She was doing 16 and is targetting 3.30-3.40 in DCM. I've decided my target is sub 4 this time round so this in retrospect was a bit fast but a good test nonetheless. Was feeling tired in last mile and the achilles was a bit sore so I need to watch this.

Good week with 42 miles in total. Step back week this week with Kilcock 10 mile race on Sunday. Good timing to ease off on the achilles, so hopefully with a bit of TLC it will be ok. Am icing daily, rubbing in Voltarol 2% and taping up for runs. Taking nurofen plus also and drinking beetroot juice which I think has anti inflammatory properties. Need to step up the exercises too. I'd rub the sh**e of a himalayan mountain goat into it too if I knew that would help!:D:D

Mon 13/8 - Rest

RedRunner

tues 14/8- 4.26mi @8.40. Handy local loop into Raheny village and back by the coast. Achilles wasnt too bad on the run, no pain but it was "present" if you know what i mean

wed 15/8 - session

4 x 1k followed by 4 x 150m hill sprints 90secs recovery for both sets

the 1k reps were on grass in st annes, Took the first couple easy enough in that I didnt risk having to slog the last two.Felt strong on the last so but a bit of pep into it. The reps were a little short of 1k according to garmin but i wont quibble with that

Splits were:

4:05 ( 6:46/mi avg pace)
4:00 (6:41/mi avg)
3:59 ( 6:43/mi avg)
3:43 (6:10/mi avg)


4 x 150m hill sprints. Wasnt sure if I should do these at all with my achilles as it was a bit sore by now but I chanced it.

Splits: 35.2;31.6;33.0;31.7


Planning rest now for next two days. Achilles pretty sore.Shame cos everything else is going so well.

Duanington

Mind yourself R, the achilles can be a tough one to get right when it goes wrong, hill sprints and a sore achilles are not a wise combo to be honest, its only a matter of time before it pops if its sore

aquinn

Yay, someone gave out to you before I did.

Come on R, what are you thinking? I'm still reeling from the 13@MP, where did that come from like?

You should know better. Go easy getting the miles in. None hill sprints!

RedRunner

Duanington wrote: »

Mind yourself R, the achilles can be a tough one to get right when it goes wrong, hill sprints and a sore achilles are not a wise combo to be honest, its only a matter of time before it pops if its sore

Thanks D. You are of course 100% right! It was a bit risky I know that.

I seem to have found myself in an all too familiar spot again. I know the "right" thing to do would be to stop running completely now, forget about DCM and rehab.

My hope is that I can manage it somehow between now and DCM and then take a couple of months off, but I'm not sure i'll be that fortunate if I'm honest. I always think to try and fail is the best path rather than just give up on it immediately.

It even seems crazy to me that I'm still considering running on Sunday in Kilcock, but I am! I'll give it every chance, even until Sunday morning before I make a call on it.

As regards DCM I feel my Achilles will eventually make that decision for me.

I really think I need to call a halt on this distance running lark and become a track fairy!