Back to the Future

Duanington

RedRunner wrote: »

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!

Only you know how sore it is but in my experience, Achilles stuff is usually linked to the calf muscles so it tends to be the faster stuff that sets it off....a physio would be the way to go though...no reason why you couldn't manage it for the next few weeks and see how things play out.

RedRunner

Duanington wrote: »

Only you know how sore it is but in my experience, Achilles stuff is usually linked to the calf muscles so it tends to be the faster stuff that sets it off....a physio would be the way to go though...no reason why you couldn't manage it for the next few weeks and see how things play out.

It's been building for a while now. More likely to be cumulative but I know what you are saying. Foam rolling the calves to beat the band over next few days and beyond as well as the calf exercises, eccentric heel drops etc.

RedRunner

aquinn wrote: »

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!

Wrist duly slapped!

RedRunner

16/8 - Icing, rolling, voltarol, calf stretches, calf raises, heel drops, you name it

17/8 - As above

18/8 - As above

19/8 - Kilcock 10 Mile or as I call it now "The Miracle at Kilcock"

I said I'd give myself every chance of running this race so I worked really hard in the days leading up to it working on the achilles. I left it as late as the warm up to decide. I had a bit of a dull ache in the heel when running. The achilles tendon itself wasnt as sore as it had been but there was some discomfort in the heel. Since it didnt feel too bad on the warm up I decided to give it a go.

Goal was to try stay as close to 80 mins as possible but finishing was the primary target. I didnt want to get stranded out in the middle of nowhere so i was resolved to doing what was necessary to get around in one piece if it came to it.

I had afew people from the club at work doing this and there were a few club mates there too. Hopefully we'll get more out to this one next year.Everything about the race was excellent.

Splits wise it was certainly a race of two halves. Got off to a sprightly start but reigned it back in a bit and was in a good rhythm for the first three or four miles and feeling comfortable. The heel was ok for now but it wouldnt be long before it raised its ugly head.

Miles 1- 4 : 7:28, 7:43, 7:36, 7:47

The course was pretty flat for the most part and a few nice downhill sections too to help keep the pace good. Nice quiet country roads in terms of no traffic with the occasional local family out supporting. No wind to speak of and I was going pretty well. Ahead of schedule and on PB pace. Surprising myself a bit.

Mile 5 was a bit slower and I was feeling signs of tiring and the heel was beginner to bother me slightly. Mile 5 in 7:51

Mile 6 is where the heel was making itself known in earnest and as I went through the 6 mile marker I was thinking, I wish this was a 10k race and not a 10 mile one. I had an in the heel now and it was beginning to affect my stride and rhythm as you might expect. Mile 6 in 8:20

Miles 7-9 were a bit of a struggling . Was concentrating on just keeping it going and not letting the the soreness get to me too much.I wont say pain because it wasnt really sharp pain, it was the kind of discomfort you could work through but only for a limited time. I took a gel at roughly 7 miles and stopped to get some water in briefly. Got going again pretty quickly and jumped in with a group to help me keep the concentration and keep the pace relatively consistent, if a bit slower.

Miles 7-9 : 8:21,8:20, 8:31

As we headed up the canal path towards the finish there was a bit of a headwind. I served as a wind breaker for some girls for a while. They openly admitted it and apologised. Being 6'5" and 15 stones plus has it advantages for others as well as myself!:)

One of the 80 min pacers passed me in mile 8 but he was well ahead of pace. Think he came in under 79 in the end or just over. I was focussing on keeping going and by time I got into last mile I was trying to push it a bit. Closer to end I could hear another pacer coming up behind me and it was clear he was much better experienced in pacing duties and his advice and local knowledge of what was left in terms of the course was encouraging and gave me a bit of a lift. When he called out 800m to go I decided to push harder and i was really labouring with the leg at this stage. I knew at this stage that I was odds on for sub 80 and maybe even close to a pb so i just knuckled down and went for the line. Heavy breathing, limping all the way. As much to get all over with and stop the discomfort as trying to get a good time.
Last mile I did in 7:41 and crossed the line in 79:15 (by my watch ) but 79:28 official chip time.

My pb is 79:05 so this was result while really satisfying was also slight tinged with disappointment. All in all though I was happy to get through it with the leg and it gives me the confidence that the pb will go in the future again once I can get a decent block of training in. Maybe next year on this course.

So I call this the " miracle at Kilcock " because a few days earlier I was in serious doubt that I would run never mind put in a decent performance.

A great race folks. Would thoroughly recommend it to all on here.

So a day after the race , I dont feel too bad. The heel is sore and I'm limping slightly but it could be worse. The physio is on holiday till wednesday so hopefully will get an appointment this week.

Of course , me being the unluckiest person in the world, the story doesnt end there. Cycling into work today, I hit a bump and somehow it tweaked my back so i'm now also suffering from some back pain. Something tells me I need to take a couple of weeks off! So that's the plan .Hopefully that be enough to sort me out and that'll give me 8 weeks to DCM which is still enough time to get some decent work in. Here's hoping anyway.

20 miles for week done.

Wubble Wubble

"The Miracle at Kilcock" Brilliant Great to chat to you beforehand. Sorry about the sting in the tail yesterday!

RedRunner

Injury Update:

Glad to say that the heel and back have both been improving very gradually over last few days. Can't get a physio appointment until next Thursday though !:eek: I don't want to go somewhere else so I will bide my time. She promised to call me if there is a cancellation and I can get in a bit earlier.

In meantime I'm keeping the fitness up somewhat by cycling to/from work each day.

RedRunner

27/8 - Cycle commute plus some gym work.

20 mins on the elliptical trainer ( 10 forwards, 10 backwards)

Tried 5 mins running on the treadmill and it was painful. This physio appointment cant come quick enough at this stage.

The back is grand now but the heel seems to be a slow one. I'm afraid to do too many exercises for fear of doing the wrong ones and aggravating the problem. I can do plenty of heel/calf raises ( up to 40 single leg) so there is some strength there at least. It's odd in that sometimes it is painful to the point that i'd walk with a limp and sometimes it feels ok. Running is definitely out though. the only question is now how long will it take to rehab. All will be revealed on Thursday I guess.

RedRunner

29/8 - cycle commute both ways

Physio Visit

Got a call that there was a cancellation so jumped at the chance to get in a day earlier. The long and short of it is that its a bit of a wait and see. She certainly found some tightness and scar tissue in the calf, some tightness in the hamstring and also in the back , all on the left hand side which could be contributing to extra workload on the Achilles and causing the problem.

She did some deep tissue massage on all those locations and some dry needling on the calf and taped it up too. Suggested that I try a few mins running on saturday but ultimately I will know when it is ok to return running pain free.
The positives: No real inflammation of the Achilles and the work she did last night seemed to make a difference. She is not saying forget DCM...yet.

The negatives : The unknown. Could be grand in a few days, weeks or months.

She also suggested I get some gel heel inserts to take some pressure off the Achilles and see if that helps.

My calf is sore today now after the dry needling. Will see how it feels over the weekend and try a few mins running if I think that is doable.

For now it seems one day at a time before making any longer term predictions.

Baby75

Hopefully, that does the trick and sorts out the Achilles for you! cycling is great to keep up the fitness and will help you get back running again.

RedRunner

Injury Update.

Progress has been slow. Didn't even try running until yesterday with 10 mins on the treadmill. It was more to have some information for the physio this morning than because I wanted to. There were signs of improvement. I ran for 10 mins rather than 5 mins which last week was painful. This week 10 mins was without pain but there was still some discomfort there.

Back with the physio this morning at early o'clock. She did some more work on thecalf and was happy that it was looser than last week and she did some uncomfortable work on the plantar fascia too, ouch!

She is pretty convinced though that a lot of it is down to the tightness in my hamstring so she spent a lot of time there and gave me some dry needling in hammy. It might make sense given that hamstring tightness has always been an issue for me and my last injury before this was a hamstring strain on that side.

She gave me a few exercises to do and taped me up and scheduled another appointment for next Friday. In the meantime it's one day at a time...

7 weeks to DCM ...tic toc...

OOnegative

If you consider running DCM your down right stupid R, and I mean that in the nicest possible way, you went through the exact same thing last year and it got you nowhere only more injured. Forget the idea of it, I get your reasoning believe me but you keep going the way your going your going to sacrifice running many more DCM’s in future years as your going to do serious damage. Go out and support and enjoy the day and aim to get to the start line of DCM 2019 fit and healthy.

Duanington

RedRunner wrote: »

I know the "right" thing to do would be to stop running completely now, forget about DCM and rehab.

If you don't take B's advice, just take your own, R. Not an easy choice to make of course but the choice for any future marathons ( and probably other races) could well be taken out of your hands if you don't get this right

RedRunner

OOnegative wrote: »

If you consider running DCM your down right stupid R, and I mean that in the nicest possible way, you went through the exact same thing last year and it got you nowhere only more injured. Forget the idea of it, I get your reasoning believe me but you keep going the way your going your going to sacrifice running many more DCM’s in future years as your going to do serious damage. Go out and support and enjoy the day and aim to get to the start line of DCM 2019 fit and healthy.

Not strictly true B. Got a hamstring injury at HM and ran DCM comfortably. My next injury didn't happen until following April and got a good HM and 10 mile race done in between. Nevertheless I accept your sentiment. It is a different scenario this time around.

Duanington wrote: »

If you don't take B's advice, just take your own, R. Not an easy choice to make of course but the choice for any future marathons ( and probably other races) could well be taken out of your hands if you don't get this right

I'm an eternal optimist D, which is why I generally leave the call until late in the day on these things.


You'll both be pleased to know though that I'm making the call today not to do DCM. While the injury is improving there is just not enough time to get the appropriate training done. This time last year when I strained my hamstring I was in a different place. I had done some good long runs including an 18 and 21 miler so there was work that was banked. This time round I've only got to 15 miles and even if I got back running next week the risk is high that I'd just be chasing miles and that is not a good place to be in. So i'm calling it now, disappointing and all as it is. It makes sense.

Next steps are to get right again between now and Christmas. The plan for 2019 depends on success of my London ballot entry. If that is successful I will give it a shot again. If not , I think I will give up marathon ambitions for 2019 and devote myself to targeting a sub 20 5k and throw in some track experience too.Maybe i'll get Murph_D to coach me after his successes this year:)

Duanington

Best of luck with the rest of the recovery, R - see ya back on the roads soon I hope

OOnegative

Far from pleased to see you pulling the plug on DCM R just didn’t want to see you doing more damage to yourself. I entered & missed DCM 2012, 2013, 2014 so I know how you feel. Gave up entering after that!!

Baby75

I am sorry you have had to call it a day on DCM this year, I made that decision a few weeks ago it was hard but I feel much better about it now

RedRunner

OOnegative wrote: »

Far from pleased to see you pulling the plug on DCM R just didn’t want to see you doing more damage to yourself. I entered & missed DCM 2012, 2013, 2014 so I know how you feel. Gave up entering after that!!

Ah I know B, thanks. 2013,2014,2015,2016 and 2018 now is my record. Not very pretty reading!

RedRunner

Baby75 wrote: »

I am sorry you have had to call it a day on DCM this year, I made that decision a few weeks ago it was hard but I feel much better about it now

Thanks Baby75. Sorry to hear you are in same boat. We should form a support group!:) I'm sure I'll feel ok about it in a day or two.

Back in Black

Hope you will be back on the roads soon. Maybe the shorter stuff might suit you better for a while!! - easy for me to say seeing as I've never done a marathon and have no intention of doing one!

Baby75

RedRunner wrote: »

Thanks Baby75. Sorry to hear you are in same boat. We should form a support group!:) I'm sure I'll feel ok about it in a day or two.

It is needed LOL you will be fine, having another target or goal to aim for help's I am nervous about booking anything at the minute but a friend gave me a 10k entry so when I can run again I can look forward to that.

all I am hoping for is I am back running and feeling good by the time DCM rolls around so it will take the sting out of being on the sidelines:)

Murph_D

The right decision of course. Havent been following too closely but I reckon it was that 13 mile LR with clubmate at well more than MP that was the last straw for your already suffering Achilles? Good to note these turning points for future reference. But sorry to see you out again.

HelenAnne

Sorry to hear that, Robbie. Here's to a sub-20 5k for us both, though. That's something to aim for!

Wubble Wubble

Sorry to see you're having to miss out R. That sub-20 could still be a possibility this year. Jingle Bells?

RedRunner

Wubble Wubble wrote: »

Sorry to see you're having to miss out R. That sub-20 could still be a possibility this year. Jingle Bells?

ha ha...No chance!

RedRunner

Injury update.

I haven't tried to run since last week but I sense some slight improvement in the heel. It's very gradual and at this stage I think it just needs more time.

Was at the physio this morning and she thinks similar. She says the calf is much better and the hamstring is improved but still a little tight. A bit more dry needling in hammy and we agreed to leave it another couple of weeks and if still having a problem she might refer me on if no improvement.

I think though it just needs time. In meantime will keep up the cycle commutes and the strength work and hopefully look forward then to a good Winter block of training.

HelenAnne

RedRunner wrote: »

ha ha...No chance!

Why not? I’m targeting that for (one of 😂) my attempts. I seem to be going backwards at the moment, but Jingle Bells is ages away and a fast course. If you get your Achilles right you have 3 months to train!

RedRunner

Quick update folks.

Basically I'm back running pain free now. Took the 6 weeks really for the pain to go away completely. So at the moment I'm just running every other day around 5k distance. I did a hung over parkrun in Gdansk last weekend which was interesting and have done a couple of handy ones since.

Will do the parkrun tomorrow and then next week hopefully do 4 days running, 5 the following week etc and then think about increasing distance.

Plan wise depends on London ballot result which should be out next week I think.
All in all I'm just happy i can get out there and run again. I was getting fatter by the minute and less and less easy to live with!

RedRunner

No London joy in the ballot ! In a way I'm not too unhappy about that. It means no Spring marathon and I can concentrate on getting fitness back between now and Christmas and then the plan to get faster over shorter distances in 2019. Sub 20 5k is dream territory but sure might as well shoot for the stars.

I'll do a bit of XC over the Winter too to try and build up strength, starting with BHAA Teachers on Saturday ( but i'm doing that more just to participate rather than go all out). I've tentatively put the feelers out to a senior clubmate too for some personalized coaching so if that comes to fruition i'm sure that will help too.

In the meantime, it's just great to be back running again.

Wubble Wubble

RedRunner wrote: »

No London joy in the ballot ! In a way I'm not too unhappy about that. It means no Spring marathon and I can concentrate on getting fitness back between now and Christmas and then the plan to get faster over shorter distances in 2019. Sub 20 5k is dream territory but sure might as well shoot for the stars.

I'll do a bit of XC over the Winter too to try and build up strength, starting with BHAA Teachers on Saturday ( but i'm doing that more just to participate rather than go all out). I've tentatively put the feelers out to a senior clubmate too for some personalized coaching so if that comes to fruition i'm sure that will help too.

In the meantime, it's just great to be back running again.

See you there. Something tells me you'll be passing at least one fella out in a sprint finish at the end, "participating" or not

RedRunner

So I've had a couple of weeks now back running post injury and please to say things going ok. Have kept all the runs short and no sessions yet. Picked up the pace at the end of some of the runs which I like to do sometimes but no real speedy stuff to speak of. Too early for that.

No bad reaction from achilles and no pain during runs but it is tender if I go poking at it. I tape it up for each run too for some extra support.

The last couple of weeks look like this:

Post injury Wk 1:

Mon : 3.49mi @8:59avg

Tue : Rest

Wed: Rest

Thu: 2.79mi @9:19avg

Fri : Rest

Sat: parkrun 3.08 mi ( 25:23) @8:15 . 1.25 w/u and 1.63 c/d

Sun : 4.12 miles around st annes @9:12avg

16.36 miles for the week.


Post Injury Wk 2 :

Mon : Rest

Tue: 3.49 mi@8:59avg

Wed: 3.38mi@8:56avg

Thu: 3.3mi@9:02avg

Fri: Rest

Sat: parkrun (23:59) @7:47avg . Short w/up of 0.69mi

Sun: Trot around st annes before youngest's match kicked off. 3.53mi@9:33avg


17:47 miles for the week.


I've registered for the Jingle Bells 5k for the first time ever after years of hearing what a great race it is.This gives me a target and 6 weeks to prepare.The plan is to get into some kind of shape that I can give it a lash and see where I am at. Hopefully something to build on as I try and get the 5k time down closer to 20mins.

The club Fit4Life series starts next week too. This is a series of 6 weekly 2 mile races so I will use these as hard mid week sessions and hopefully they will bring me on a bit.