We're on the road again ......... to who knows where.

Myles Splitz

Sensible decision on the marathon.

My two cents on how to approach the rest of the year, I reckon if you use the time wisely there is no reason why you couldn't set yourself up to run sub 18 5k/ 37 10 km/ 3 hour marathon.(arbitrary times just using to make the point).

There will be many who say focus in building the easy miles to the point where you can handle the marathon training sufficiently but I reckon you could go one further and focus on a more rounded approach. Many people will build the miles slowly and develop themselves aerobically but still approach the 5km to HM with the same mentality and while they will see improvement they get caught in a bit of a cycle.

Most club coaches try to incorporate a Long Term Athlete development plan for kids but I think it is something missing in Adults turning to the sport later in life.

My advice would be as follows:

Mileage
Stick with the 20 miles in a well rounded week and let the mileage build naturally. Aim to increase from maybe 5 miles a month. Aerobic development is a key element but this will come by approaching it in a consistent nature, day after day, week after week, month after month.

Workouts:

Stick to one quality session a week for the first 3 months. Rotate a paced run with hill reps in the early phase:

Week 1 : 20 min @ pace
Week 2 : 6x1 min hills with recovery ratio of 1:2/3

Aim to add 2 min for paced runs and 1 rep per hill every two weeks. You can change things up each month maybe changing the hills to 1 min reps with a recovery ratio of 1:1. These type of sessions will be aimed at developing your lactate threshold and vO2max efforts which having an aerobic element will boost your aerobic fitness more than just the miles.

After the 3 months you will get adding a second session may help for further progression but only if it is proportional to overall Hard:Easy composition of the training week.

Long Run

Once a week progression from 80 min -120 min max. It is not a case of longer runs will boost aerobic capacity further you will get benefits will from this length without compromising recovery during the week for other sessions. It will boost the aerobic capacity without it being the primary focus of the week.

Easy Runs
Twice a week starting with 40-45 min progressing every 4-6 weeks by no more than 5 minutes.

Non aerobic development work
Normally called supplementary work however I wanted to avoid that terms as it implies that it is "extra stuff" that tends to be ignored. Personally I would add a 5th day a week that is not running yet will in my opinion be the key determining factor long term in going from a 20 min/42 min/3.30 marathon runner to 16.xx/sub 37/ sub 2.50 runner.

Again rotate this on a 4 week cycle

Week 1) 30 min circuit* + 30 min running drills
Week 2) Olympic Lifts
Week 1) 30 min circuit* + 30 min running drills
Week 4) Low Intensity Plyometrics

*When I say circuit here I am not talking about a random collection of exercises but rather exercises working on hip stability, lateral (side to side) movements and posterior chain exercises which would focus more on sport specific movements of running while still containing an aerobic element due to short recoveries associated with circuit training.

Running Economy
Once a week after runs alternate either at 6 sec hill blasts (97-100% effort) with full recovery (2-3 minutes) or 8 x 60-80m strides with walk back recovery (around 5k effort)

Add these elements and spend 6-8 months in non specific approach (you can still race during this period and will see you times improve but it is a long term approach) and I can assure you that come next summer you will be smashing times you never thought possible once you get into specific training.

Many people tend to view event preparedness as simply having the aerobic capacity and muscular tolerance to handle the training but ultimately falter with training because you have to look at all the elements that make a fast/efficient/strong runner.

RonanP77

I can't attach this any better (is it called embedding) but it's my plan for the rest of the year, including my targets for each event and the paces I'll be doing different workouts at.

macinalli

RonanP77 wrote: »

I can't attach this any better (is it called embedding) but it's my plan for the rest of the year, including my targets for each event and the paces I'll be doing different workouts at.

I haven't been really following this thread, but you've pulled out of DCM as you're coming back from a long injury and want to develop a better base before tackling the marathon? That makes a lot of sense, but I don't see the logic then in this plan. I know you plan on going easier in some of them, but you still have 10 races in 5 months. IMHO that seems an awful lot, and a recipe for injury. My 2 cents is that you'd be better cherry-picking about 3 races over the rest of the year, and spend the rest on easy running and building that base....

RonanP77

Parkrun is only 5k so I wasn't thinking of them as being any big deal, I can certainly drop one of those.

You can see from the target times that I'm not pushing myself really on any of the longer runs other than Waterford. I guess I could drop Monaghan but I've been looking forward to them all. The two 10k runs shouldn't be massively difficult either, depending on how flat they are I should already be capable of those times.

It's all about getting the miles in, mainly nice and slow, the events are there as little goals for me, something to break thinks up and make it all more enjoyable.

Edit; Ok, I've had a look and I'm dropping the Monaghan 10 mile, that leaves a nicer gap between events. The last Parkrun is gone too, so it's 7 events now in over 5 months.

RonanP77

Today is the big day, my HM (Breffni 3 Province Challenge) is in 4 hours. I've had fairly poor preparation for it, I ran 21.2k in training a few weeks ago (too fast and too many hills) and I've only run twice since. It left me very stiff and sore for almost a full week, after two short runs then my ankle is annoying me, it's only occasionally bit it's very sharp shooting pains on both sides, thankfully its alright yesterday and today.

I haven't slept right now in a few days (although I did get about 6 hours last night) and I ate out too many times (on holidays from work and we've been out and about every day).

I did make sure to hydrate big time yesterday and I'll take on a bit more this morning, I had a big breakfast and I'll have something small now soon (about 3 hours before the run) I'll make sure to do plenty of trips to the toilet before leaving so I dont need to worry about that. I'm just about to run a hot bath with plenty of radox to work out any muscle tension and I got a running belt in Lidl that I have to stock with jelly babies.

I'm bringing Lucozade with me and I'll get water at the stations. I don't know if there'll be any pacers but I'm hoping to do it in 2:10, the plan is to run at 6 min/km which will allow me just over 3 mins for water stops (i'll walk while drinking) or if anything happens along the way to delay me and I'd still make 2:10. I'm confident I'd be capable of doing it faster but dont see the point in pushing my luck. Ive heard there are a few long pulls on the route but its not too hilly so I should be fine. Fingers crossed now that the rain stays away and the wind eases off.

I wont have another HM for at least a few months but this will give me a good idea of what to expect and I'll make sure to prepare better in the week or two before hand, I'd hope to go sub 2 for it.

Bungy Girl

Best of luck!

RonanP77

Well that's my first official HM in the bag and I loved it, bleeding nipple and all :eek:

The people on facebook lied to me when they said there was two hills, there might have been two flat sections, the rest was all hills, it was very tough going.

Start;

I lined up at the back because I intended going out very slow, there was no point getting in anyones way. It was a little crowded going over the precision timing thingy at the start line but thinned out fairly quickly as even the slower runners took off fairly fast.

1k - 9k

500m out and there were only two people behind me, I maintained a pace a little quicker than planned, averaging about 5:50/km. It wasn't long before I started picking people off, I knew at the beginning that a few of them were going out far too fast and they'd slow up before long. It started to lash rain fairly early on and my top was stuck to me, it go sunny after a few km but I never dried out.
At the 8k mark I looked down and noticed a red patch on my nice white top, my nipple was bleeding. The first thing that popped into my head was being told to smile while running on the DCM novices thread, I thought " how the hell am I supposed to smile when I have 13km to go with a bleeding nipple". I actually started laughing at that and went on with a big stupid grin on my face.

10k - 15k

I stopped at a marshal on the 10k mark and asked for a plaster, he said he had one and took out a first aid kit to search. 5 people passed me as I was waiting (I thought it was a good 2 minutes but Garmin says 39 seconds) only for him to tell me he didn't seem to have any.
I ventured on and that short stop seemed to give me a new lease of life, I felt great and decided to up the pace a little, the next 5k were done at an average of about 5:08 and I felt really strong. I passed about 10 people on that stretch.

16k - 20k

I met in with a guy and got chatting, I slowed it down a bit and he picked it up a bit and we stayed together at a 5:35/km average. The hills were taking their toll on me at that stage so I didn't mind dropping off a bit anyway.

21k

We upped it a gear about half way through this one as we were on the last stretch before town, I didn't think I had it left in me to actually up the pace but I felt alright.

21.1k

I managed to come up with a bit of a sprint finish and passed 3 people over the last 100m or so, crossed the line feeling happy and relieved in an unofficial time of 1:58:07, I missed the exact official time but it was a few sec either side of 1:58. I collected my medal and went in search of a bottle of a bottle of water.

After:

I struggled to walk, which was a big surprise as I'd been fine a few seconds earlier. I was stiff and sore and couldn't even manage to stretch, I went for a slow hobbling walk instead so I didn't seize up. I was fit for more in regards to cardio but the body wasn't having any of it. There was a BBQ as well as biscuits, sandwiches, tea, coffee, water and MiWadi. I got a few glasses of tat, grabbed a burger and wandered about a little more before collecting a bottle of water, some chocolate bars and heading for the car. I did manage a few minutes of stretching there, put a plaster on my nipple and headed for home.

I was fairly impressed with the whole thing, there were about 6 water stations on the route, they all had bananas and chocolate at them, even orange wedges at one. It was well signposted, there were a good few marshals and a decent atmosphere. I said a few weeks back that I'd skip the Monaghan 10 mile which is two weeks away, I'm definitely sticking to that. I'll see how I feel over the next few days, if there are any niggles (possibly my left hip or ankle) I may go see the physio. The next planned race is a 10k in about 4 weeks, I'll take it handy for a week now, some walking and cycling but little to no running.

I did figure one thing out, I'm incapable of doing a race as an LSR, I stuck to my plan for 10k but after that it was out the window

nop98

Well done Ronan good stuff. Great time for a first HM, especially as you didn't "race" it as such.

For the man-problem, I've a few tops that have the same effect on my chest. Total p.i.t.a. especially since they're great tops which I like wearing otherwise. One of the lads on the Novices thread recommended using a bit of kinesiology tape. I've been using that since and it's fine, you don't even notice it (until you take it off :eek:).

Good luck with the 10k!

Dubgal72

Great stuff Ronan! I really enjoyed reading that report, especially the bit about smiling I hope the body plays ball, be nice to it and recover well this week
Absolutely no harm to see a physio for preventative checks now and then, especially if you have injury history.
Well done on the PB, plenty more where that came from, all in good time. As a lsr, like you said yourself, it was pants but as a race, that was a damn good strategy
Will you make it to the Phoenix Park next week?

RonanP77

I'm visiting tennants Saturday morning and then staying over in my sisters so the whole weekend is booked up I'm afraid.

Looking back over yesterday, I love the HM distance so now I need to decide whether to do the 10k in 4 weeks or put all my effort into another HM in 8 weeks and try to chip away at my time. If the one in Dublin is flat I should easily manage 1:55.

Tom Joad

Well done Ronan - that's a great time on a very tough course - some of the hills were a killer - there was one near the 10 mile mark that was carnage and I lost a minute on that mile. I was even racing it and the hills were zapping the legs. Make sure you allow the body to recover after it.

nop98

Hey Ronan, DCHM in September isn't flat, but not that hilly either.

The trouble is that the one decent drag is in the final 2 miles, as soon as you come back into PP, all the way home. You really need something in the tank there, if you're aiming for a time. It's not steep but looooong. The rest is flat or downhill, for example all the way down Chesterfield avenue from Castleknock.

The atmosphere is tremendous and I can really recommend it.

RonanP77

I definitely have the DCHM in mind, I'd rarely ever be in Dublin so had no idea what to expect from the course. It sounds a lot easier than the Breffni one. I was thinking of Waterford then in December but if I want to get my times down much I'll definitely need to work on that specifically and drop both planned 10k runs as well as Parkruns. I'll see how I am in the next few days and take it from there, I might go for a handy 10k cycle tomorrow or Tuesday to work out the muscles and joints without putting any pressure on them.

nop98

Last thought: there's the Frank Duffy 10M in the PP at the end of August, which is roughly the same route (the DCHM has an extra 5k loop around Farmleigh House if memory serves, but other than that, it's more or less the same). Same great atmosphere. If you want to do some recce for the HM, and suss out the finish, I can recommend it!

RonanP77

The Atone Flatline HM is on in the morning, I'm both looking forward to it and dreading it. The longest run I've done since the last HM 6 weeks ago is 7km last Sunday, I've probably run a total of 50km over the 6 weeks.

I've been carrying a lot of niggling little injuries to my calf, ankles, knee, both hips and my hamstring. Hopefully all will be good tomorrow. I haven't decided which pacer to stick with yet, it would've been 1:50 if I had trained fully but I won't be able for that now. 2:00 might be a bit ambitious so I may go with 2:10.

tipping

RonanP77 wrote: »

The Atone Flatline HM is on in the morning, I'm both looking forward to it and dreading it. The longest run I've done since the last HM 6 weeks ago is 7km last Sunday, I've probably run a total of 50km over the 6 weeks.

I've been carrying a lot of niggling little injuries to my calf, ankles, knee, both hips and my hamstring. Hopefully all will be good tomorrow. I haven't decided which pacer to stick with yet, it would've been 1:50 if I had trained fully but I won't be able for that now. 2:00 might be a bit ambitious so I may go with 2:10.

Best of luck Ronan but would you not be tempted to give it a skip. If you've that amount of niggles racing a half will only make it worse (speaking from experience here).
If you do run it figure out what's more important, a few minutes off a time that you can easily beat when properly prepared or coming out of it in 1 piece, so I'd go with the 2:10, if everything is good after 10 miles you can crack on a bit.

Just my 2c..

Dubgal72

Hi Ronan, you must have read my mind, had been meaning to pop in or PM to see how you are...you've been very quiet!
Sorry to hear about the niggles Have you had a chance to see anyone about them?

RonanP77

tipping wrote:

Best of luck Ronan but would you not be tempted to give it a skip. If you've that amount of niggles racing a half will only make it worse (speaking from experience here). If you do run it figure out what's more important, a few minutes off a time that you can easily beat when properly prepared or coming out of it in 1 piece, so I'd go with the 2:10, if everything is good after 10 miles you can crack on a bit.

Yeah, I think going for 2:10 would be best, that way I'll be fairly comfortable and enjoy it. I'm guessing it's easier with a pacer because I won't need to look at my watch at all and he/she should set a very steady pace.

Dubgal72 wrote:

Hi Ronan, you must have read my mind, had been meaning to pop in or PM to see how you are...you've been very quiet! Sorry to hear about the niggles Have you had a chance to see anyone about them?

I didn't see anyone because none of them lasted too long, it's just that as soon as one problem improved, another one popped up. I'm half expecting discomfort with my hips but everything else should be ok.

RonanP77

Fantastic morning here in Athlone, nice and sunny but not too hot, I'm looking forward to this now but there are still some nerves. Everything seems well organised so far. Fingers crossed it goes well for me. I'll do up a report this evening when I get home.

Bungy Girl

Best of luck Ronan, hope it goes well for you. Can't fault the weather anyway!

RonanP77

I'm not sure if that went well or terribly. I have a new tec t-shirt (it's not very nice) a medal it is very nice, and I'm not in too much pain at the minute.

Start;

I was sensible and lined up a few rows behind the 2:10 pacers. There was a good buzz about the place but you'd expect that with 1,200 runners. Weather was good and I was feeling fresh after a bit of a warm up and some gentle stretching. It was a very slow shuffle to cross the start line when the time came, as we were so far back.

0-2km; (5:56, 5:59)

I stuck to the plan and stayed with the 2:10 pacers but it drove me crazy, we were tripping across each other. I felt good so I decided to push on a little.

3-6km; (5:33,5:09,5:07,5:04)

I was feeling really good and picked the pace up a good bit, weaving in and out between people and slowly gaining on the 2:00 pacers, I passed the first water station at 5km and was disappointed to see there wasn't any food. We were spoiled in Cavan with fruit and chocolate at every station. I hadn't brought anything with me and hadn't eaten in about 4 hours at that stage.

7-11km; (5:00,4:47,4:54,4:56,5:07)

Things were starting to bunch up as I caught the 2:00 pacers so I upped the pace again and passed them, I was still feeling fit and fresh. A break from running was looking like it had done me some good. I started working my way towards the 1:50 pacers and actually caught them. My intention at this stage was to pass them at about 19k and set a really good time (good for me anyway). Another water station around 10k and still no food.

12-16km; (5:12,5:39,5:25,5:13,5:08)

I was starting to feel stiffness in both hips and slowed down a little, the 10k pacers got further and further away and I decided on a 1:55 finish instead. People I had passed earlier started going past me and my head went down a little. The final water station was around 15k.

17-19km; (6:18,6:02,6:18)

I was suffering from the lack of fuel now. As regards cardio, I was 100% but my body was letting me down. My right hip started to get really stiff and sore and I could feel a little twinge in my left knee. At this stage I decided I'd be happy with 1:57:59

20-21.18km; (7:12,6:40,0:53)

I actually had to walk stretches while massaging my hip, my knee was more than a twinge now too. I was being passed constantly and was really disappointed. I picked it up slightly when I saw an 800m sign and a little more 100m out.
I finshed in an unofficial time of 1:57:33 for a new PB.

Finish;

There was water, coke,muffins and bananas at the finish line. I got a bit of everything after collecting my medal, cert and a pen. I walked about a bit and did some stretching before going to the car for the long drive home.

It wasn't a bad course, I might do it again next year, depending on if I'm doing DCM or not. I seriously suffered from not fuelling, my body just shut down on me. I shouldn't have gotten caught up in it like that anyway, I should have stuck with the 2:00 pacers when I caught them. My knee is a little sore on the stairs but other than that I'm fine.

I just noticed the official times are completely messed up and it has me at a 2:12 finish. I'll contact the FB page and see whats going on.

tipping

RonanP77 wrote: »

I'm not sure if that went well or terribly. I have a new tec t-shirt (it's not very nice) a medal it is very nice, and I'm not in too much pain at the minute.

Start;

I was sensible and lined up a few rows behind the 2:10 pacers. There was a good buzz about the place but you'd expect that with 1,200 runners. Weather was good and I was feeling fresh after a bit of a warm up and some gentle stretching. It was a very slow shuffle to cross the start line when the time came, as we were so far back.

0-2km; (5:56, 5:59)

I stuck to the plan and stayed with the 2:10 pacers but it drove me crazy, we were tripping across each other. I felt good so I decided to push on a little.

3-6km; (5:33,5:09,5:07,5:04)

I was feeling really good and picked the pace up a good bit, weaving in and out between people and slowly gaining on the 2:00 pacers, I passed the first water station at 5km and was disappointed to see there wasn't any food. We were spoiled in Cavan with fruit and chocolate at every station. I hadn't brought anything with me and hadn't eaten in about 4 hours at that stage.

7-11km; (5:00,4:47,4:54,4:56,5:07)

Things were starting to bunch up as I caught the 2:00 pacers so I upped the pace again and passed them, I was still feeling fit and fresh. A break from running was looking like it had done me some good. I started working my way towards the 1:50 pacers and actually caught them. My intention at this stage was to pass them at about 19k and set a really good time (good for me anyway). Another water station around 10k and still no food.

12-16km; (5:12,5:39,5:25,5:13,5:08)

I was starting to feel stiffness in both hips and slowed down a little, the 10k pacers got further and further away and I decided on a 1:55 finish instead. People I had passed earlier started going past me and my head went down a little. The final water station was around 15k.

17-19km; (6:18,6:02,6:18)

I was suffering from the lack of fuel now. As regards cardio, I was 100% but my body was letting me down. My right hip started to get really stiff and sore and I could feel a little twinge in my left knee. At this stage I decided I'd be happy with 1:57:59

20-21.18km; (7:12,6:40,0:53)

I actually had to walk stretches while massaging my hip, my knee was more than a twinge now too. I was being passed constantly and was really disappointed. I picked it up slightly when I saw an 800m sign and a little more 100m out.
I finshed in an unofficial time of 1:57:33 for a new PB.

Finish;

There was water, coke,muffins and bananas at the finish line. I got a bit of everything after collecting my medal, cert and a pen. I walked about a bit and did some stretching before going to the car for the long drive home.

It wasn't a bad course, I might do it again next year, depending on if I'm doing DCM or not. I seriously suffered from not fuelling, my body just shut down on me. I shouldn't have gotten caught up in it like that anyway, I should have stuck with the 2:00 pacers when I caught them. My knee is a little sore on the stairs but other than that I'm fine.

I just noticed the official times are completely messed up and it has me at a 2:12 finish. I'll contact the FB page and see whats going on.

You should be very happy. Well done and you'll have learnt from the few mishaps for the next one. Ideally though you shouldn't be suffering as much so try to get on top of the niggles.

RonanP77

tipping wrote:

You should be very happy. Well done and you'll have learnt from the few mishaps for the next one. Ideally though you shouldn't be suffering as much so try to get on top of the niggles.

I'm obviously doing something wrong in training, I need to have a good think about it.

I contacted Precision Timing, told them the time on the video I crossed the line so they corrected my time, there was a mixup with chips. Official time is 1:57:32.

tipping

RonanP77 wrote: »

I'm obviously doing something wrong in training, I need to have a good think about it.

I contacted Precision Timing, told them the time on the video I crossed the line so they corrected my time, there was a mixup with chips. Official time is 1:57:32.

Mostly interested cos you just sound exactly like I was last year.
http://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057383578/1/#post94354787

I found a decent Physio, got a few things sorted out in about 3 sessions and built back very slowly from there. Got some good S&C exercises that worked wonders with the knees, slowed down all training runs and listened to the body more. Went from pain up and down stairs , stitches when running, shin pain, foot pain etc runs to nothing..
Just be prepared to hit reset and you can see a huge improvement in a few weeks. I just focused on running pain free rather than x miles per week. Will be following with interest.

RonanP77

I did the Cavan Colour run for Sosad in Virginia yesterday, it went fairly well. It was a good event with a huge croud.

I haven't run much since Athlone, lots of niggles and tightness. I had been neglecting my foam roller for weeks now so that was the main cause. I got back on it and things started easing out slightly.

I started in the first wave, went out a little quicker than intended but eased back then to finish just under 23 mins, nowhere near a PB but I wasn't going for one. I found it tough enough, for the first time in ages it was my cardio that let me down. That was disappointing. I had a splitting headache at the end but I put that down to the coloured dust, one eye was full of it and my lungs were fairly well coated too.

I'll have a few sessions on the Foam Roller this week and a few walks with light jogging, next Saturday I have a Parkrun thingy for work,the following Saturday then is the first Parkrun in Navan. The roller will be getting plenty of use.

RonanP77

I've been fairly quiet the last few months but kept ticking over walking and cycling most weeks. I've been going to the local running track the last few weeks, taking it nice and easy and only doing around 3k. Last night I ran with a workmate and we did 4.7k, the first 3 laps were at a nice warm-up pace then upped it a bit.

The track is class, so smooth and easy on the legs. I'll keep at that for the winter now along with weekly cycles around the forest/lake and after a 10 year break, I'm going back to martial arts training next week. That should do for cross training.

RonanP77

My first MMA class was last Monday week, I hyperextended my hip due to my training partner jumping out of the way of a push kick - he was meant to be holding the pads for me. It was a tough class and it was Thursday before the stiffness wore off.

My 2nd MMA lesson is on the 4th and first BJJ lesson is on the 9th so probably only 1 short run next week on the Thursday 7th.

A new year now and a new approach for me. I'll keep up my running but no events for the year, no long runs and only run at most twice a week. All running will be done on the local track to start.

I was at the physio a few weeks back for a slight bicep injury and we spoke about my running. She told me this year I have to keep the miles very low and stay off the roads, to forget about pace and don't compare myself to others.

I put on a bit of weight since the last HM (shouldn't have done 2 so close together) and I piled on the lbs over christmas, putting me at 168lbs - 21lbs above my ideal weight a few days ago. Half of that should fall off over the next few weeks once the beer, chocolate, crisps and mince pies are cleared out. Then the hard work will start, trying to shift the last 10lbs. Because my cardio will be limited this year I may decide to only drop back to 150lbs.

January will look something like this;

Monday - MMA
Tuesday - Run 3k/Cycle 6-8k on trails/Rest
Wednesday - Rest (no choice here)
Thursday - Run 3k-5k
Friday - Rest
Saturday -BJJ
Sunday - Rest

February I'll extend the Tuesday run to 5k and the Thursday run will be at 5k.

March I'd hope to push Thursday to 5k-7k.

No point planning beyond that yet, until I see how I'm holding up.

Notwork Error

RonanP77 wrote: »

I was at the physio a few weeks back for a slight bicep injury and we spoke about my running. She told me this year I have to keep the miles very low and stay off the roads, to forget about pace and don't compare myself to others.

Does she run or play any competitive sport? Saying something like that would be setting alarm bells off in my mind if she is not proactively searching for a solution and that is all the advice she gave, I'd be looking for a new physio if that's the case.

RonanP77

Notwork Error wrote:

Does she run or play any competitive sport? Saying something like that would be setting alarm bells off in my mind if she is not proactively searching for a solution and that is all the advice she gave, I'd be looking for a new physio if that's the case.

She's a Pilates instructor and does a little running but nothing competitive. The main reason I go to her is she does evening appointments and she's only 5 minutes up the road from me.

Notwork Error

RonanP77 wrote: »

She's a Pilates instructor and does a little running but nothing competitive. The main reason I go to her is she does evening appointments and she's only 5 minutes up the road from me.

Might be worth your while to go farther afield for a second opinion. It might mean sacrificing a bit more time travelling but a maybe another sports therapist or physio could get you back on your feet and running without half the injury problems, would you not think it worth a shot?

RonanP77

Notwork Error wrote:

Might be worth your while to go farther afield. It might meas sacrificing a bit more time travelling but a good sports therapist or physio could get you back on your feet and running without half the injury problems, would you not think it worth a shot?

I can only fit in two days running a week now anyway, I need to start over and build up again slowly, that much makes sense. If I have problems with that small amount, on a soft track, then it would be time to go elsewhere.

RonanP77

I've shifted 11 lbs since my last post. The MMA is going well and the BJJ even better. I definitely need to invest in a cup though. I had small protein shakes after both, along with some stretching, so this week is the first week that I can walk comfortably after MMA. It was taking me 4 days to recover before this.

Tomorrow night should be my first run of the year now, I'll hold it at around 7 min/km and only do about 3km. That shouldn't be too hard on me. Next week I'll try to get out for a cycle on Tuesday and my plan will be in full action then.

RonanP77

I went for a nice handy run on the track last night, about 7 min/km. After 1.5 km I could feel slight pains in my left ankle and calf and both hips. I finished that lap, had a good stretch and went home. I had ice on both shins and the calf then until I went to bed.,

BJJ, cycling and walking are my sports now, they're all fairly low impact. I have two good bikes so might as well make more use of them. One is for the roads and the other is for forest trails.

I'll do gentle stretching and flexibility a few days a week as well as foam rolling, probably a little on the weights too.

I love running but it's too hard on me, I'm constantly injured. I'll still run every now and again if I'm feeling 100% but it'll be very rare. MMA is even a struggle for me now because of my hips too, I find it hard to swivel for kicks. I may go to BJJ twice a week and drop MMA, I'll decide in a few weeks. We did spinning back kicks on Monday and it was tough.

I'm probably not supposed to update this with BJJ, MMA, walking/hiking and cycling so updates from now on will be few and far between.

RonanP77

Bit of an update on the training/health/fitness/injury front. I've been on a few short walks and cycles but mainly just been doing Bjj two days a week, Tuesdays is a double class now. I haven't even gone to MMA for the last month. My hips are finally feeling 100% again now that I'm away from the kicks as well as the running. My calves and shins are feeling perfect too.

I caught the flu about 3 weeks ago which was annoying but didn't stop me working or training, and just as I was getting over it (about 10 days ago) I got Pleurisy and Pneumonia (lots of coughing, struggling to breathe and a good bit of pain from the right lung + zero energy) so that had me off work and totally out of action. I should be back at work next Tuesday, back at Bjj the following Saturday and back on the bike the week after.

I still have a bit of pain in my big toe from an MMA injury I picked up 5-6ish weeks ago (it went black, swelled up and wouldn't bend so I'm assuming it was a sprain) but a bit of tape keeps that right for training, I just wouldn't like to run on it.

Next month I should be upping Bjj to 3 days a week (so 4 classes) and with the cycling and walking, I should get the fitness back fairly quickly. I feel my core getting a lot stronger and my flexibility is improving.

I'm not getting my hopes up but if everything keeps going the way it is, I could see myself sticking one very short run on soft ground a week/every few weeks into my schedule, starting in about 6-8 weeks. It's not much considering I was up to 20+ mile / wk last summer but it's better than nothing. I wouldn't have any intention of going beyond one run a week for the rest of this year anyway, I get a better buzz and better workout from Bjj, full contact sparring has a way of burning off stress & energy that nothing else can match.

I still get jealous when I see FB friends logging long distance runs and planning out races but I figure I'm just not built for that. If I can fit in the occasional short run it'll be enough to keep me happy. If I manage to get to that stage I'll pop back in here for another update. If even that small amount of running causes me problems, I'll officially announce my permanent retirement from both running and my training log.

El Caballo

RonanP77 wrote: »

I still get jealous when I see FB friends logging long distance runs and planning out races but I figure I'm just not built for that.

I understand that injuries can be frustrating but I feel you are throwing in the towel without taking steps to find a solution. If you love running, you should be taking steps to help you get back running. All the rest in the world won't do you any good if you don't proactively search out a fix as your injury problems aren't slight niggles that will go away with a while off. If something isn't working, change it and I don't think you've tried to yet so it's a big early to be throwing in the towel when you haven't explored your options.

It's a small commitment to make that might open a door to you getting back into something you love. Nothing ventured nothing gained. Do you not think it's worth it just to see before you start thinking that you are just not built for running?

RonanP77

El Caballo wrote:

I understand that injuries can be frustrating but I feel you are throwing in the towel without taking steps to find a solution. I posted a while back that maybe you should consider finding another physio who might be able to help and you blew me off saying you could only run two days a week anyway........If something isn't working, change it and I don't think you've tried to yet so it's a big early to be throwing in the towel when you haven't explored your options.

Not doing what someone suggests is not blowing them off, you get lots of conflicting advice on here so you can't follow it all.

Something wasn't working so I did change it, that's the whole point. My hips were stiff and sore from running and kicking so I changed to walking, cycling and Bjj, none of which are hard on the hips. That's helped my improve fitness and core strength without being hard on the hips.

El Caballo wrote:

I realise this post might get your back up but I'm being straight with you on the off chance that you might reconsider that quote above. It's a small commitment to make that might open a door to you getting back into something you love. Nothing ventured nothing gained. Do you not think it's worth it just to see before you start thinking like that?

Why would it get my back up? It's a post on an internet forum made by a complete stranger.

I seem to be healing up nicely the way I am, without spending a fortune on a physio, I'm doing this while still being active and doing something I enjoy even more than running. I'll get over the lung infection first, increase the amount of Bjj I've been doing (meaning an even stronger core, better range of movement in the hips and legs) and then give it a go again.

El Caballo

RonanP77 wrote: »

Not doing what someone suggests is not blowing them off, you get lots of conflicting advice on here so you can't follow it all.

Something wasn't working so I did change it, that's the whole point. My hips were stiff and sore from running and kicking so I changed to walking, cycling and Bjj, none of which are hard on the hips. That's helped my improve fitness and core strength without being hard on the hips.






Why would it get my back up? It's a post on an internet forum made by a complete stranger.

I seem to be healing up nicely the way I am, without spending a fortune on a physio, I'm doing this while still being active and doing something I enjoy even more than running. I'll get over the lung infection first, increase the amount of Bjj I've been doing (meaning an even stronger core, better range of movement in the hips and legs) and then give it a go again.

Fair enough, I'm was just saying that when I seen the quote above, it looked like you'd thrown in the towel and given up on getting back into it when it seemed you wanted to,. I was just pointing out that there might be other options and not to make a hasty decision and put a disclaimer on it in case you misinterpreted me. I obviously picked it up wrongly, apologies.