Finding Shotgun

shotgunmcos

Friday 10 August

Plan: A Swim
Actual: Easy Run 6.27 miles @9:07

I had both swim and run gear ready. Up at 5:30, looked at my schedule and didn't see a window to get a run done. Opted to swap the swim for a run. Started very easy downtown and across the bridge at 10min pace then down to 9:30 and 9min pace before I came back up town and again felt the hammer tighten a little. It eased again on the last half mile home at 8:40 pace. It was careful management of the effort though. Niggle ever present but comfortable, at times felt like I could push on and other times had to hold back. After the stretch and shower I felt grand. So no worse than Monday and running 2mins per mile faster. Progress. Had a proper downpour in the middle of it too and duly soaked but loved it!

Session with the Physio shortly afterwards. Hit my goals on the glute strength test. 15 reps each of single leg ups off the left and right off 17 inches. So he made me single squat down to 14 inches on single legs and the next goal is 15 of those on each leg. Hip Hinge improved from 71 degrees to 79 degrees.

He did a few more hip and leg strength tests before suggesting some dry needling. I had it done once before years ago so why not. The hamstrings are large muscles and when they twinge boy does it pinch! He found a few tight spots which are now suitably sore but fingers crossed by Sunday afternoon an easy run will feel even better than this morning. Apart from that its continued focus on glute strength and hammer flexibility.

shotgunmcos

Monday 13 August

Plan: Easy Run 4-5m + S&C
Actual: Easy Run 6.29m @8:17 + 32min S&C

I didn't run at all last weekend as the hammer just felt tender from the dry needling. Careful about it tonight. Out at 9:30 pace on a mild muggy evening. It felt fine, good even. Pushed on the 2nd mile to an easy effort, still ok. Pushed on to a steady sort of effort 7:50 pace for 2 miles and still ok, not perfect but better. I was certainly not risking anything so brought the pace back to recovery type pace for the last 2 miles home. Happily got up the last incline without the hammer tightening up, just a little heavier than the other one. The S&C after was the physio prescribed exercises but lower squats. Hmmm a run where I didn't feel miserable afterwards, Woop! I can press the hamstring and still feel the spot, it feels like a bruise but not as deep as it was.

I need to progress carefully. Just increase the volume of easy miles this week as long as it stay in check, keep on top of the S&C, rolling and stretching.

Keeks

Are your pace zones set for where you are now or where you want to be?

shotgunmcos

Keeks wrote: »

Are your pace zones set for where you are now or where you want to be?

Hi Keeks
While I know what my goal pace goals are, I use effort first. The paces are what they are for that effort. For sessions paces are based off next target, a sub90 half. However with the injury it's been weeks since I did a session. I'd still use effort to gauge and would start at the slower end of the zone. When ready I'll start with HM pace reps at goal race pace.

shotgunmcos

Wednesday 15 August

Plan: Easy 5 miles
Actual: Easy 5.49 miles @8:10

5am start for this one as I had to commute to Dublin today. HR 134/148 so right zone. First thing I noticed, it was dark. Been a few weeks since I ran so early. A few sodden leaves on the ground and thick clouds. Autumn is here. Muggy and windy. I had to get it done early as I knew I'd be in no mood for it when I got home. Sure enough 4hrs to get home would annoy anyone. Hamstring a little dull but felt fine. Need to keep up the glute and hamstring S&C through the winter. Essential to avoid a repeat of this mid program.

shotgunmcos

Thursday 16 August

Plan: Easy-Steady 5 miles
Actual: Steady 5.59 miles @7:37

Very happy with this run. Had a window before the next meeting so shoes on and out into an immediate squally windy and horizontal rain. Downhill felt uphill. Still, 7:49 for that first mile and my hamstring felt fine. Easier next couple of miles with the wind at my back or my side. Lots of little spurts avoiding people dodging puddles in town or drivers not looking both ways before pulling out. It was a mix of wind, rain and sunshine. Proper gnarly Irish Autumn weather. Even the ducks and Swans were up on the slipway out of it. The last mile back to work involved a long drag and I did feel the hamstring tighten just a little. Heart Rate 146/154. It just felt good to be at a working effort after weeks of plod. I wouldn't push any harder than this yet.

shotgunmcos

Friday 17 August

Plan: Easy 7 miles
Actual: Easy-Steady 7.78 miles @7:52

Fairly windy out there again today and apparently to get worse over the weekend as Storm Ernesto approaches the SW shores. Same run as yesterday but tacked on the North Circular Road loop to add a couple of miles. The hamstring felt good again running down town, a little fatigue on the NSR into the wind but recovered fine heading down the strand to the Treaty Stone. I love this section of Limerick. Its steeped in history and running across Thomond Bridge you can easily imagine yourself approaching the Towers and Walls of King John's Castle as it originally stood in the 13th Century.

The run got a little tougher for the last 2 miles. The wind in my face back down the other side of the quays, the climb uptown through the park and again the headwind along the whole length of Hyde Road. I did feel a slight tightness on my hamstring on the last hill to work but nothing concerning. Overall the effort at 144hr average and 160 max was more steady than easy but it was more like 5m easy and 2m steady. Still, another solid run.

shotgunmcos

Saturday 18 August

Plan: Recovery 6 miles
Actual: Recovery 6.98 miles @8:41

I felt good and struggled to keep the pace down for the first mile. I had a break here as I bumped into my old PE teacher (my favourite school teacher) and chatted for a few minutes. The rest of the run around suburbia was grand. Slow but sweaty as it was so humid. The hamstring felt good but I have a niggle at the top of my left glute that is literally a pain in the ass. At me all the time... walking, steps etc and having tiny kids gives almost no opportunity to rest :rolleyes: Still, happy to be running.

shotgunmcos

Sunday 19 August

Plan: Medium Long Run 10 miles
Actual: V Uncomfortable 4.75 miles @8:13

At least Limerick won so it was a good day! We had just sat down to watch it when Zoe walked in feeling unwell. Limerick scored the first point and she projectile vomited over us. A bug, poor thing.

As for the run? It was about as much fun as cleaning up after Zoe. It was almost sunny but not sunny, almost raining but not raining. Some kind of thick humidity in between. Easy effort felt steady. The real complaint though was the pain in my @ss. The hamstring felt almost perfect and I was looking forward to testing over a longer planned 10 miles. The left Glute ached every step. I thought it would calm down as I warmed up but it didn't. I cut a shorter loop home, unhappy.

Its not a direct running niggle but an indirect one from all those blasted single leg squats the physio had me doing. I obviously tweaked something :mad:

shotgunmcos

5 Days later...

Plan: Hamstring feels good, joy! Go out an run
Actual: Nothing. *****ng Gluteal strain! :mad::mad:

Limping around the office. I tried to run easy yesterday morning but I couldn't run to the end of the block without it hurting. The Glute is even worse than the hamstring as you simply cannot avoid using it. Particularly with small kids. I did 30 mins easy on the rowing machine yesterday for the sake of sanity. It didn't hurt as much and felt better after the first 10 mins.

It has stemmed from the one legged squat exercises prescribed by the physio. All was good until he told me to drop the height to squatting to 15 inches. That extra effort caused the strain on my weaker left glute. Seeing him again on Monday.

Rather annoyed and back to eating rubbish and having to listen to Love Island lunchtime chat as I can't run or even go for a walk to escape it. Its just a matter of patience. I strained the other glute years ago, got dry needling on it and it was grand a few days later. It will be grand.. so I tell myself.

Reading all the other great logs and seeing people out running in the rain has not dampened my motivation. It just sucks to be logging woes instead of miles!

aquinn

None of us are good at being injured. Can understand eating junk too as a result. This physio will also do dry needling as it what I would have recommended as it hurt like hell and I limped for a day but it did wonders for my calf recently.

If you aren't in pain then the rower will provide benefit and distraction so try that again over the weekend.

Positive, happy thoughts.

career move

I feel your pain. Nothing worse than being constantly injured Sending a virtual hug your way

OOnegative

Feel your pain on the injury front, going for second opinion on the Achilles this evening myself but none to hopeful. Lay off for a week or so altogether, as in nothing?

shotgunmcos

Tuesday 28 August

No Running yet, despite 7 full days off. I tried on Sunday but didn't make it to the end of the road before hobbling back. The gluteal was just too sore to even get going. I saw the Physio again yesterday and explained that I managed a half hour on the rower ok and it felt better once warmed up. He found some painful knots on my hip, right where the hip and gluteal meet and rubbed it out.

Off the single leg squats now to reduce the load on the left gluteal and I have a set of hip mobility and band strength exercises to do instead. He recommended to try short runs first and build if ok. I was too sore yesterday and hopped on the rower for 30 minutes steady state today. Apart form a head cold and my heart rate hitting 180 as a result, it was ok. The hip feels bruised where he kneaded out the knots so I'll just give it today to ease off before trying a run tomorrow.

If I have to call him before this Friday it will be more dry needling. Best case scenario is that I don't have to call him for another 2 weeks.

The Charleville half marathon is 3 weeks away. I had originally intended to go for a sub90 benchmark but since its the 6th week with injury I'll be happy to be in a position to finish it. Even if I get easy running this week I still have to test the right hamstring on hills and speed to see if it holds up.

ThebitterLemon

Be careful you're not prioritising a short term goal to the detriment of a proper injury free return

In the nicest possible way you sound like an obstinate stubborn fcuker and I'm speaking from experience, too many relapses due to poor recovery

TbL

shotgunmcos

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Be careful you're not prioritising a short term goal to the detriment of a proper injury free return

In the nicest possible way you sound like an obstinate stubborn fcuker and I'm speaking from experience, too many relapses due to poor recovery

TbL

Cheers It's not a priority and I won't run it if the hammer doesn't pass the tests. The benchmarks I set out can be training sessions or events. The A goal is to start the marathon programme healthy and with as solid a base as I can develop by then.

Career Move is probably best placed to say how obstinate I am/or not but I do listen. I followed the Physios routine and it unearthed a different issue.

career move

Hahaha. I was going to reply to TbL earlier and say 'stubborn obstinate fcuker' was your middle name but I thought better of it


Doesn't make it any less true though ..….. oh the tales I could tell

shotgunmcos

Friday 31 August

Plan: Recovery 3-5 miles
Actual: Easy 6.02 miles @8:39

After another 2 days of nothing its nearly 2 weeks since I've last run. Managed to get through a day of digging up the garden yesterday so today called for a run attempt. I set out on a short loop to pass my house within 2 miles. The glute felt tight starting but I ran really easy and decided that if it was the same or worse by the time I passed by door again, I'd pull up.

By mile 2 it felt a little better so I kept going and found a rhythm in the swirly wind. By mile 4 it loosened out a bit more. I pressed up a hill and hit 7min pace for a minute and it nearly felt better. Probably due to engaging the glutes correctly at a higher pace. I settled down again for the last mile home happy that, while it was not fresh, it felt looser than it did in mile 1. Time to start on the mobility and strength exercises again. If nothing else I'm in a better mood as a result

shotgunmcos

Hello Autumn!
Saturday 01 September

Autumn eh?! Its 22deg and sunny in Limerick
Plan: Easy 6 miles
Actual: Easy-Steady 6.24 miles @8:07

Firstly, woop, 2 days running, running
Secondly I thought we were done with this warm sticky humid weather already!
I was hungover but I had to run into town to retrieve Caz's car as promised. I rarely drink and mile 1 reminded me why. It sucked. Not only did my hip/glute start tight and made it uncomfortable but I felt positively wretched. Anyway car retrieved and dropped home after mile 2. The hip/glute had started to loosen up but a bathroom stop while dropping the car back meant I restarted in a cold sweat again.

It warmed up quicker though and I felt better after the stop. More hills than I would have liked but 4 more miles done with no issues. I need to find time with a tennis ball later after I take the eldest to the Munster Match.

shotgunmcos

Monday 03 September

Spending more time reading other logs that updating my own lately
Plan: Easy/Steady 6 miles
Actual: Easy 7.24 miles with 3m steady (7:34, 7:32, 7:28)

The heart rate doesn't lie. Avg 149 meant this was more steady than easy. My glute/hip was as usual pretty tight starting out. I really need to start the S&C again. I was disgusted this morning to see 82.4kg on the scales. It sunk in more as I laboured through town on an extended lunchtime run. By mile 2 my butt had loosened up a bit so I did the 3 miles steady. Just about 7:30 pace and I felt heavy and unfit. The last 2 miles were supposed to be easy but it was back up town into a wind mostly and the effort barely abated.

Back to easy easy running for the next few and the S&C

shotgunmcos

Wednesday 05 September

Plan: Easy 6 miles
Actual: Steady 6 miles @7:56 (Feic sake, how hard is it to run easy..)

I think I know what I'm going to dress up as for Halloween. on the way back up town I saw a skinny tracksuit ahead, head dropped and weaving from side to side. I took a wide berth and looked back to see the best real life representation of a zombie. The poor lad was the picture of no hope. Off his tree, drooling, red eyeballs on his way to meet more of his kin in the park. I'd sympathize only they do their thing beside a busy playground FFS. On second thoughts, perhaps a bit too scary for the tiny gang I will be chaperoning from door to door. Limerick City is really full of all sorts of Halloween inspiration.

The worst part of the run was a lazy plodding 159 cadence and my core a stark reminder of the last 2 years of eating biscuits.

The best part was running out the Condell road to the first Pier. Its about a km from the last bridge out of town. I usually run passed it. Today I was adamant to stick to the 6ish miles. So, I paused at the pier and had it to myself. I watched a Swan catch and eat a fish and just gazed back down the river I rowed so often in my 20s to the same bridge. Floods of great memories hit me at once. The run back up down was as light as a breeze afterwards.

shotgunmcos

Happy Friday! 07 September

Plan: Easy 7 miles
Actual: Easy 7.37 miles @8:10

Despite what my heart rate says I took this easy. I think it spiked for the first mile. I was more concerned with the hip/glute. Still the same. Took ages to loosen out but felt better by the time I was running back up town. This run took an hour and felt twice as long. A little bit of a slog. More to do with late night Netflix and early morning crazy kids than anything else. Oh to feel fresh for just 1 run...

Still, thats run #3 done this week If I can reach 10 miles on Sunday I'll be happy.

shotgunmcos

The 10 mile didn't happen on Sunday. Didn't get up and missed the window. Annoyed with myself. Still 82kg on the scales. Booo

Monday 10 September re-focus

Plan: Do something, anything
Actual: Row 30min Steady State, S&C 30 mins

Steady State on the erg is usually around LT. Held 1:56.4/500m for it with a max hr of 175. Fought the urge to stop.

The S&C was strength and mobility focus on the hips and gluteal. The weaker left glute definitely tires faster. Run in the morning come hell or high water!

shotgunmcos

Tuesday 11 September - Wow the S&C really hit the glutes last night!

Plan: Easy 5-6 miles
Actual: Easy 6.59 miles @8:09

I was up at 6 but Zoe also got up and wanted to play. She had been up during the night and was yawning an moody. Daddy was likewise. Managed to get her back into bed before she woke up the house. I then sat on the bottom step yawning at the back of the front door for 10 minutes. Finally got out. It was wet. The Glute (aka Piriformis) was tight. Loosened up, the usual....
The last 2 miles were horrible butt clenching needing the bathroom badly kind of miles. One to forget. Happy to get it done as my eldest has a Rugby match this evening and I wouldn't have had a window after that.

shotgunmcos

Wednesday 12 September

Plan: Row + S&C
Actual: 30min Steady State Row, 30min S&C

Last week I tried to run every 2nd day with the other days off. I managed 20 miles total without making it worse. This week similar only with something on the days between runs.

The erg was tough again. Held 1:56.8/500m but max heart rate reached 178. Red Zone. The S&C was a stretchy session since I still have DOMS from Monday.

It's less than 15 weeks to the start of the program. May seem far away but 2 months of managing injury makes it seem like a lot less time. I expected to be lighter and fitter than I am. Just have to be patient I guess.

shotgunmcos

I had planned a run yesterday but I couldn't.

:mad::mad: It wasn't from running or squatting or rowing or running up an down stairs to little kids. From sitting around an office.. I sh!t you not!

Walked to work yesterday morning fine. Suddenly felt tightness in the hamstring, same one as back on July later in the afternoon. Felt sore when I pressed into it. I have no idea what I did to it.

The likelihood of me running a sub 3 next May bank holiday has taken a nosedive the last 2 months but as much as one part of me is saying running is not for me, I'm not giving up yet.

I was asked also to come on board as a Backs Coach for my Sons Rugby team. Couldn't now even if I wanted to. Not being able to run sucks :mad:

Fingers crossed I just over stretched it and it will come right over the weekend. Just had to write it down so I'm not moaning about it at home.

You guys and gals get it, right?!

Neady83

Sh1t M, I'm really sorry to see this injury dragging on like this for you especially when you've been making such progress and been so dedicated to it.

Keep ranting and raving on here, there are plenty of people keeping an eye on your log and maybe something will spark an idea or in any case ... get it off your chest here.

Chin up lad, you're doing all the right things, I'm hoping it comes right for you soon.

aquinn

How are you doing, any improvement?

shotgunmcos

aquinn wrote: »

How are you doing, any improvement?

Thank you for asking A. Have not been blogging because I'm doing F all. Torn glute. Much better but slow going. A couple of tester runs each of the last 3 weeks but 4-5 full days off each week too. Weight gain. Head in a bad place. A few min of Yoga with Zoe or a bit of running on a field coaching rugby just keeping me sane.

12 weeks to the start of a Hansons type plan. My only aim is to get in good enough shape to start it. Felt OK running on and off the pitch at a match today so building up a few miles and starting S&C again this week.

Well done on Charleville. Some great performances from boardies there. Great to read but a bit depressing too if I'm honest

shotgunmcos

Wednesday 10 October

Plan: Run
Actual: A Run

4 and a bit miles around the bridges in town after Rugby coaching. It was a run for the body and soul. At its core I was simply happy to be running - injury free!! The legs felt fine. The lungs were burning a little but I'm unfit and that was expected. The tide was full in town and 2 swans were trapped on the wrong side of a pier over a slipway. They seemed happy enough and would probably walk across the boardwalk to jump back into the river if they wanted. I fell in step with another runner for a few minutes. We said nothing, just a smile and nod. She had headphones on and turned off after a couple of minutes. It was lovely silent company actually. I was lost in my surroundings and miles flew by. I still wore the wool base layer and jacket from the rugby coaching and it was mild, I should have thrown them off. I melted! A half an hour of stretch yoga afterwards made this a good day.

After 45 days of no running in the last 2 months.. I needed this.