Can I really do this?

eyrie

Great to hear you're enjoying the running this week. Good luck tomorrow! I'd imagine there'll be a great atmosphere for it so hope you enjoy!

Baby75

Good luck tomorrow and enjoy it

gypsylee

Saturday 17th March - Streets of Portlaoise 5km

It was bitterly cold for this run so was glad to get started. The first three kilometres went great, hit a hill and a head wind around 3.5/4 km which knocked me for six. A little stop to blow my nose and have a cough and then gave the last kilometre all that I could. Delighted to get my sub-30 on a tough morning.

Distance: 5 km. Chip time: 29.28.

Splits: 5.41, 5.31, 5.45, 5.59, 6.12.

And then the snow arrived on Sunday morning and lingered until Monday morning. I didn't get out for my LSR as planned on Monday morning due to icy paths, had a family thing on for the rest of the day and I was just too lazy in the evening to get out. And it was very cold!

eyrie

Well done!!! Congrats on the sub-30, particularly given the conditions!

Baby75

Well done on the sub 30 min 5km

ariana`

Nice one! Well done on hitting your target.

Sunny Dayz

Wow well done for getting sub 30 on such a cold morning! Those a great splits. Great stuff!!

Huzzah!

gypsylee wrote: »

The first three kilometres went great, hit a hill and a head wind around 3.5/4 km which knocked me for six. A little stop to blow my nose and have a cough and then gave the last kilometre all that I could. Delighted to get my sub-30 on a tough morning.

The dreaded 3.5km mark in a 5k! Really nice going there. Looking good for 29 April

ultrawoman

Excellent! Well done!!!

gypsylee

Thanks all. I am getting a bit concerned about the lack of LSRs lately. I have five weekends before the Wexford half. Any suggestions on distances to aim for as regards LSRs between now and then. I was thinking 12km, 14, 16, 18, 10.

ariana`

gypsylee wrote: »

Thanks all. I am getting a bit concerned about the lack of LSRs lately. I have five weekends before the Wexford half. Any suggestions on distances to aim for as regards LSRs between now and then. I was thinking 12km, 14, 16, 18, 10.

What's your most recent LSR and how long ago is that?

gypsylee

ariana` wrote: »

What's your most recent LSR and how long ago is that?

I have only done a couple 10kms since February. Did 12.6km on the 14th of January. That's my longest run this year!

ariana`

gypsylee wrote: »

I have only done a couple 10kms since February. Did 12.6km on the 14th of January. That's my longest run this year!

You're winging it a little bit so :pac:

I bet you'll get advice from more experienced runners but for the next 5 weeks i'd recommend focusing on time and not worry about distance. I'd aim to get a mid-week medium-long run in as well as a weekend longer run.

Something along the lines of

Week|Mon| Wed| Sat
1|30min|45min|75min
2|30min|45min|80min
3|30min|45min|85min
4|30min|45min|90min
5|30min|45min|90min
6|30min|30min|Sunday - RACE

I don't think you need to taper the weekend before, you may get better advice from more experienced runners but I think you should be fine to taper the week of the HM. The race is on a Sunday so if you do your last long run on Saturday you still have 8 days to taper which is sufficient IMHO, i think you'll get more from the confidence of having done an additional long run.

gypsylee

Thanks ariana for the advice. The plan is doable but I think I need LSRs of longer than 90 minutes. Last year I did my longest LSR before the half of 18.6 km in 2 hours 10 minutes. I am a slow runner.

ariana`

gypsylee wrote: »

Thanks ariana for the advice. The plan is doable but I think I need LSRs of longer than 90 minutes. Last year I did my longest LSR before the half of 18.6 km in 2 hours 10 minutes. I am a slow runner.

That's ok to be a slow runner, we're all slow relative to someone else. Adjust the Saturday upwards starting from where you think you can manage right now, add on a few mins each week. So you could do 90, 95, 100, 105, and 110 minutes. I think you'll be fine on the day but you will certainly feel a lot more confident going into it if you have a consistent 5 weeks leading up to it. I think the midweek medium long one will help as well. The time changes next weekend too so there is an extra hour of daylight so no excuses

gypsylee

Thanks ariana. The brighter evenings will definitely help.

juke

Sub-thirty - well done

gypsylee

Hate having to report that I will not be running the Wexford Half on the 29th of April due to a minor (hopefully) injury. I had a niggle in my ankle after the 5km run on St. Patrick's Day. Decided to run on Wednesday night and disaster. Managed 2.5 km with niggle and then pain. Could barely walk. A visit to the physio on Saturday morning and she confirmed I had strained my Anchilles. A good (painful!) session and advised some stretching exercises, foam rolling, a golf ball and bottle of frozen water followed by ice. No running for two weeks, back to her on the 7th of April when hopefully I can return to running and should be okay for the 10 mile in the middle of May.

This is my first injury since I started running two years ago. At least it happened early in the year so I get it sorted and hopefully be fighting fit for marathon training. She advised me to foam roll every day from now on, not only on running days. I know I should have been doing some strengthening exercises so will be doing those daily from now also. I am limping at the moment and can only walk slowly which is annoying.

The weather was so nice over the weekend and I was itching to get out. Patience is not my strong point. I am signing up for a Pilates course which starts in April so that should improve my core strength hopefully.

ariana`

So sorry to hear about the injury and having to miss the race but it sounds like you have a solid recovery plan in place and doing Pilates and more strengthening exercises will have many knock on benefits. Best of luck with the recovery x

juke

Sorry to hear this. Do your rehab, you'll be itching to get back to it, so hopefully it's a minor blip.

Sunny Dayz

Aww no sorry to hear about your injury. Do rest up and do what the physio says so you can recover properly. You'll be back on form in no time!

Huzzah!

Ah, rats. That's so disappointing and no doubt, really annoying! Seems the Wexford half is cursed around here. Hope you're fighting fit again soon.

gypsylee

Three weeks on from my ankle injury and it is a slow process to get back to full fitness.

Back to physio last Thursday and she told me to do a 10 or 15 minute run on the local football pitch on Saturday to see how I got on. I was happy to be able to run very slowly with just a slight niggle. Did 2 km around the pitch in 16 minutes. Plenty of foam rolling afterwards and the ankle feels fine now. I have to ring her later today and she will give me a plan based on how Saturday's short run went.

I know I pushed myself too hard at the St. Patrick's Day 5km run and that probably caused the damage. From now on I am going to stop chasing times and just concentrate on getting the miles in the legs. I never knew how much I enjoyed running until now, when I can't.

My focus from now on is getting back running and getting my fitness level back up before the marathon training starts in earnest in June. Hopefully I won't be on the sidelines for much longer. Feeling fat and unfit at the moment, and the number on the scales has gone up nearly half a stone while I have been sitting around eating! That stops today too.

eyrie

It's a frustrating process, but it's very encouraging that the run on Saturday felt pretty good, and that you didn't have any ill-effects afterwards. Hopefully that means you'll be able to start building back up now. Nice to be reminded of how much it means to you too, it'll be good motivation when you're back to full fitness!

gypsylee

Still running on grass, not feeling the love for it at all but thankful to be able to get out running. Needs must.

Tuesday 10th April

Back on the football pitch. Managed 3 km in a slow 22 minutes but ankle felt okay after it.

Thursday 12th April

Another 3 km in 22 minutes on the grass. It's so boring running around the pitch.

Sunday 15th April

5km. 50 minutes. 10.12 km average.

I had signed up to do a 5km run in Naas with my sister, daughter and niece. The physio told me I could "power walk" it but not to run. It was so hard seeing everyone else running over the start line and I had to stay walking. My brother, who has dodgy knees at the moment, was walking it too so we sauntered around. Only six people finished behind us but I was just happy to complete it.

The physio had told me that sometimes a good walk can help an Anchilles strain and I cannot believe how much better my ankle feels since yesterday. No swelling and not sore to touch. Delighted with it.

The plan for this week is to get out for three short runs on grass this week and to get back out on the roads next week, all going well with the ankle. I don't want to rush into doing too much too soon and undo the recovery process.

Baby75

I hope that Achilles gets better quickly mine flared up at the weekend not a happy camper here

gypsylee

Baby75 wrote: »

I hope that Achilles gets better quickly mine flared up at the weekend not a happy camper here

Sorry to hear that. It's very frustrating. Do you suffer with it often?

Baby75

gypsylee wrote: »

Sorry to hear that. It's very frustrating. Do you suffer with it often?

No, well only recently it crept up on me I had pain in my calf felt like shin splints a little and my soleus muscle was tight and niggly so I went to physio and he found a tender spot on my Achilles, he worked on it and all was great until a few weeks later before a big run & after a spin class which seems to be the main cause of it. back to physio and plan in place, I was actually able to run and have no issues at all until after an easy run Thursday it was a bit tender. then I guess being on my feet for 24 hours at the weekend up in Donegal at the race set it off again. So no running for me now and back to physio on Friday.
I actually think I would be much better if it was an obvious strain that swelled and was painful that happened my hubby and he was better within 2 weeks and no issues since

sorry for the essay

gypsylee

Baby75 wrote: »

No, well only recently it crept up on me I had pain in my calf felt like shin splints a little and my soleus muscle was tight and niggly so I went to physio and he found a tender spot on my Achilles, he worked on it and all was great until a few weeks later before a big run & after a spin class which seems to be the main cause of it. back to physio and plan in place, I was actually able to run and have no issues at all until after an easy run Thursday it was a bit tender. then I guess being on my feet for 24 hours at the weekend up in Donegal at the race set it off again. So no running for me now and back to physio on Friday.
I actually think I would be much better if it was an obvious strain that swelled and was painful that happened my hubby and he was better within 2 weeks and no issues since

sorry for the essay

Hopefully the physio on Friday will give you a better idea of how things are. Fingers crossed you are back running soon.

gypsylee

My ankle is feeling so much better. No pain and only a slight limp when walking now. I am foam rolling and doing the exercises the physio recommended religiously every night which I think is helping greatly. Going to keep doing this.

Tuesday 17th April

3.1 km on the football pitch in 23 minutes. Boring run.

Thursday 19th April

Decided to run on the Curragh Racecourse this evening for a bit of variety. The grass was a bit iffy due to horse hoof marks. The gallops have a lovely mulch surface and it was lovely to run on. Beautiful evening and so peaceful up there. Really enjoyed this run.

4 km in 29 minutes. Average pace 7.19 km.

Saturday 21st April

Back on the gallops for this one. Felt good so managed my first 5 km run since my ankle injury. Delighted with this run. I feel so unfit though. Had to stop a couple of times. I am sure this will improve though now that I am back running regularly although slowly.

5 km in 35 minutes. Average pace 7.07 k.m.

Gutted to be missing the Half next Sunday though but concentrating to getting my fitness back and upping the mileage to twenty miles a week before the Marathon training starts at the end of June.