Tuesday 25 March 2014
Whatever will be, will be
The above pretty much sums everything up for me at the moment. In summary following on from last week I was anxious to try and get rid of the niggle or whatever was going on with my Achilles. I visited Mark last Tuesday night and got some dry needling on the Achilles which involved 6 needles being stuck in my Achilles at various points. Luckily I couldn't see it going on.
Mark also commented how it seemed inflamed compared to the other one. I did around 45 mins or so on Thursday & Friday but there was no real improvement, no better but not any worse either. I took Saturday off to give myself the best chance at running on Sunday. Again there was no real difference so I called it quits after 4 miles rather than risk doing something silly for the sake of it. I visited Mark again on Sunday evening and following consultation with another physio who had suffered the same injury himself the area was strapped up with Kinesio tape to try and help a bit and some self massage was recommended around the area to try and get the excess fluid away from the area.
I will try a few miles this evening to see if there is any improvement but from reading about it achille's tendinitis does not necessarily heal in a hurry.
With 19 days to go to the Marathon I feel everything is in the lap of the gods to be honest. Never mind the important sessions or training I'm missing on what should be a peak week there is nothing I can do about that now. It's no longer about worrying about goal times or paces but more trying to get to the start line in a condition that I can finish the race.
I would prefer to be out running miles than constantly icing the area or taking anti-inflammatory's to try and reduce the inflammation. That is the annoying part. It wouldn't be so bad if this was just another race but this is 'The Race', the one I have always wanted to do. The race that has driven me to get out the door and complete sessions on the most horrible winter nights we had this past few months.
Wednesday 19 March 2014
Not great, but it could be worse
So after an easy week of sorts last week it was all about getting back to normal this week with only a couple of peak weeks left to go before tapering/easing off for London.
As usual with me though things never do seem to go exactly to plan. On Monday I joined the Balbriggan Roadrunners group for 5.75 miles at an easy pace around Balbriggan. Achilles felt a tad tight after the long run the day before but nothing major.
Tuesday is speed night and Gary had told me in advance to get there early and start into a 50 min Tempo at 1/2 marathon pace. After a 1.5 mile warm up and some stretching I set out on laps and laps of the track, felt a bit sluggish for the first 10 minutes or so but built into it and finished with 7:26 pace for the 50 mins. Wrapped up with a mile cool down.
Wednesday was a 6 mile recovery and the Achilles was throbbing a bit and ended up getting it looked at by Mark that evening. Had a couple of days off on Thursday/Friday and didn't really want the tempo hanging over me so set out on Thursday to see could I manage it. Got going after a 1 mile warm up on my usual loop where I could stop if I needed to and not be too far from home. Once I got 5/6 miles into it I was going to finish it as I didn't want to have to do it again. Managed the 11 miles @ 7:56 pace but it wasn't pleasant. The pace wasn't an issue just the pain and picking up a nice blood blister on the other foot :-( Was pretty difficult to walk later that day but with the tempo out of the way I was happy to take a couple of days off and let things settle down a bit.
Came back at it on Sunday with 4.3 miles at an easy pace. Didn't really feel the love for this one to be honest and was still in pain but not as bad. I think the run the next day was hanging over me a bit. Spent a good bit of the evening icing the Achilles and foam rolling as well. What a wonderful way to spend your bank holiday Sunday night.
The plan for Monday was 7 miles before the Balbriggan 1/2 marathon at around 8:40 pace and then do the first 7 miles of that at 8:30 and the last 6 at 8:20. I honestly didn't know doing the warm up miles if I would even be lining up at the start. I had committed to meeting Niall Campbell though so I just got on with it and got through them ok though without much discomfort and made the start line just in time. Took off at an easy pace but the start is downhill so by the time I was joined by a friend of mine Matt towards the end of the first mile the pace was a bit fast at under 8 min miles. We toddled along and chatted and the miles ticked off and soon enough we had a loop done. The pace felt pretty easy and not pushing it, although quicker than it should have been. Legs tired a bit on the 2nd loop but not surprising with the amount of hills. Was really happy to get to the finish in one piece and think I finished in 1:46:xx without ever really forcing the pace.
I suppose the bad news again is that I haven't run since but I kind of expected that after Monday and got some dry needling (ouch) on the Achilles on Tuesday night from the ever reliable Mark. I think it's probably sensible to try and get it sorted properly now and take a couple of rest days than have it linger on closer to the marathon.
All in all still 57 odd miles over the 8 days. It could be worse.
As usual with me though things never do seem to go exactly to plan. On Monday I joined the Balbriggan Roadrunners group for 5.75 miles at an easy pace around Balbriggan. Achilles felt a tad tight after the long run the day before but nothing major.
Tuesday is speed night and Gary had told me in advance to get there early and start into a 50 min Tempo at 1/2 marathon pace. After a 1.5 mile warm up and some stretching I set out on laps and laps of the track, felt a bit sluggish for the first 10 minutes or so but built into it and finished with 7:26 pace for the 50 mins. Wrapped up with a mile cool down.
Wednesday was a 6 mile recovery and the Achilles was throbbing a bit and ended up getting it looked at by Mark that evening. Had a couple of days off on Thursday/Friday and didn't really want the tempo hanging over me so set out on Thursday to see could I manage it. Got going after a 1 mile warm up on my usual loop where I could stop if I needed to and not be too far from home. Once I got 5/6 miles into it I was going to finish it as I didn't want to have to do it again. Managed the 11 miles @ 7:56 pace but it wasn't pleasant. The pace wasn't an issue just the pain and picking up a nice blood blister on the other foot :-( Was pretty difficult to walk later that day but with the tempo out of the way I was happy to take a couple of days off and let things settle down a bit.
Came back at it on Sunday with 4.3 miles at an easy pace. Didn't really feel the love for this one to be honest and was still in pain but not as bad. I think the run the next day was hanging over me a bit. Spent a good bit of the evening icing the Achilles and foam rolling as well. What a wonderful way to spend your bank holiday Sunday night.
The plan for Monday was 7 miles before the Balbriggan 1/2 marathon at around 8:40 pace and then do the first 7 miles of that at 8:30 and the last 6 at 8:20. I honestly didn't know doing the warm up miles if I would even be lining up at the start. I had committed to meeting Niall Campbell though so I just got on with it and got through them ok though without much discomfort and made the start line just in time. Took off at an easy pace but the start is downhill so by the time I was joined by a friend of mine Matt towards the end of the first mile the pace was a bit fast at under 8 min miles. We toddled along and chatted and the miles ticked off and soon enough we had a loop done. The pace felt pretty easy and not pushing it, although quicker than it should have been. Legs tired a bit on the 2nd loop but not surprising with the amount of hills. Was really happy to get to the finish in one piece and think I finished in 1:46:xx without ever really forcing the pace.
I suppose the bad news again is that I haven't run since but I kind of expected that after Monday and got some dry needling (ouch) on the Achilles on Tuesday night from the ever reliable Mark. I think it's probably sensible to try and get it sorted properly now and take a couple of rest days than have it linger on closer to the marathon.
All in all still 57 odd miles over the 8 days. It could be worse.
Monday 10 March 2014
Letting the body recover
After the race last weekend and the effort put into it the body naturally needs some time to repair itself and recover. This doesn't mean doing nothing, but rather not trying to push the boat out again too soon afterwards.
Monday was a recovery run of just over 4 miles where the legs felt heavy and all over the place, but with the pace slow enough it helped aid recovery. This was followed up with some foam rolling on tight spots in the legs which was painful but seemed to work. Tuesday's session was shelved by Gary as he emphasised the need to recover properly before going again so there was just a 30 minute steady run which along with the warm up was just under 6 miles for the night.
Wednesday saw a return to strength & conditioning class after an easy 5 miles to warm up. The legs showed how they weren't recovered fully during the finisher but that was OK. The tempo session was replaced with a 90 minute easy run which ended up as 10 miles and there was another 6 miles easy on Friday breaking in my new Mizuno Wave Inspire 10's. Legs had been pretty tired as was 6th day in a row running but woke up a bit for the last couple of miles.
With Saturday being a planned rest day as I had to play golf I was hoping the body had recovered sufficiently for the long run on Sunday. This was to be 19 miles and I was out in Stamullen early to get some miles in before meeting with the other from the club for their long run. I got 6 in before joining them. With the early start the legs took a few miles to get going but were grand then. We set off on a 9 mile loop and with the good company before we knew it I was back at the car with just under 15 miles done. Took a drink on board here and a gel just to try it out and set off for another 4 miles. While the legs were tired at this point the pace seemed to pick up a bit which was a good sign. Maybe I just wanted to get finished.
All in all was happy with the run and the week in general. Just over 50 miles covered in what was meant to be an easy week :-)
Monday was a recovery run of just over 4 miles where the legs felt heavy and all over the place, but with the pace slow enough it helped aid recovery. This was followed up with some foam rolling on tight spots in the legs which was painful but seemed to work. Tuesday's session was shelved by Gary as he emphasised the need to recover properly before going again so there was just a 30 minute steady run which along with the warm up was just under 6 miles for the night.
Wednesday saw a return to strength & conditioning class after an easy 5 miles to warm up. The legs showed how they weren't recovered fully during the finisher but that was OK. The tempo session was replaced with a 90 minute easy run which ended up as 10 miles and there was another 6 miles easy on Friday breaking in my new Mizuno Wave Inspire 10's. Legs had been pretty tired as was 6th day in a row running but woke up a bit for the last couple of miles.
With Saturday being a planned rest day as I had to play golf I was hoping the body had recovered sufficiently for the long run on Sunday. This was to be 19 miles and I was out in Stamullen early to get some miles in before meeting with the other from the club for their long run. I got 6 in before joining them. With the early start the legs took a few miles to get going but were grand then. We set off on a 9 mile loop and with the good company before we knew it I was back at the car with just under 15 miles done. Took a drink on board here and a gel just to try it out and set off for another 4 miles. While the legs were tired at this point the pace seemed to pick up a bit which was a good sign. Maybe I just wanted to get finished.
All in all was happy with the run and the week in general. Just over 50 miles covered in what was meant to be an easy week :-)
Monday 3 March 2014
I get knocked down but I get up again...
Been a couple of weeks since I posted as suffered another bit of a setback and have only run 6 times in the past 2 weeks.
Did a good session on Tue 18th (7x4 mins) and was looking forward to 3 days off work and getting training done mostly before the weekend as there was some real life stuff planned and taking over most of the weekend.
Got up Wednesday morning and changed ready to go for a run and Boom got hit by a spasm in the back. Went ahead and met Susan and did the run but was pretty tight after it. Had hoped to do my Tempo run the next day but as I attempted the warm up I knew it wasn't going to happen and I limped around 5.5 miles at around 9:50 pace.
I had hoped it would clear up and gave it a couple of days but eventually got stretched out on Monday which seemed to help. Went along and got a good 30 min Tempo in on Tuesday night and had the quandary with the race the weekend that I couldn't start really ramping up the miles again before the race so just did a couple of days easy running.
With all the goings on I hadn't really thought too much about the 1/2 marathon or a target time and even had to check what my PB was the day before. Maybe that's the best way to be. Travelled over with Susan and as we got closer to Navan we could see the sky turning grey followed by the inevitable rain. Saw the 10K runners pass us as we headed towards the car park and even though it was early in their race there didn't seem to be much enjoyment on their faces :-(
Met Rosemary & Eamonn as we left the car park and also one of our elites Neil Callaghan for the first time. He was hoping to run around 75 mins but obviously had a great race to finish 3rd in 72:40. Got changed and after meeting Niall Campbell decided to ditch the base layer and just go with the singlet (was glad I did). After a 1.5 mile warm up with Gareth we were at the start line and I moved forward trying to find Rosemary & Susan but alas I couldn't locate them anywhere. I presumed I would see them somewhere on route but for now I was on my own. Race started fairly promptly which was just as well as the rain was pretty heavy waiting around.
Miles 1-4 (7:24, 7:30, 7:15, 7:16)
My plan for the first few miles was around 7:30 pace and see how that felt. Took it steady from the start and had settled well after the first mile was out of the way. The first couple of miles was different to last year so was content to use it to get into the race. After we came back onto the course we were used to the I spotted the others in the distance and hoped to make up ground to them in the next few miles without doing anything mad. Was a bit surprised when the 3rd mile registered as 7:15 as it didn't feel like I had picked up pace too much despite having overtaken a few. Keeping the same effort I was gradually making up ground on the others and joined then after around 4 miles.
Miles 5-8 (7:19, 7:25, 7:27, 7:22)
I tucked in with the others and everyone was in good spirits as we registered another quickish mile but I knew the mail hill on the course and gradual rise towards the end of the first lap lay in wait. We coaxed each other up the hill saying it would be over in a minute and it was. I let the legs come back to themselves a bit and set about keeping the effort consistent then. Passed the clubhouse at around 7 miles and was great to see so many familiar faces from the club that had hung around after the 10K. This definitely put a pep in the step setting out on another loop. Legs were hurting at this stage and tried to take a bit of water on but the stomach was rejecting it so just did without. We were now running into the wind mainly which seemed to have picked up and although the effort had increased a bit the pace was only holding steady at best.
Miles 9-13.1 (7:28, 7:10, 7:13, 7:18, 7:20, 6:31*)
Another mile into the wind brought us to the main road and a change of direction. Shortly after the 9 mile mark Susan told me I was looking strong and told me to head on so I decided to try and pick it up over the next couple of miles if I could. I set about just trying to pass as many as I could and working from group to group. This seemed to help as the next mile registered at 7:10, but there was still 3 miles to go. Knowing the last 1.5 miles was tough enough I was hoping the wheels wouldn't come tumbling off. A 7:13 mile brought me to the flyover and legs were pretty shot at this stage. A slight downhill and up the hill and over the flyover to be greeted with a pretty strong wind wasn't what I was hoping for. It didn't help that I felt out on my feet but knew if I just kept putting one foot in front of the other it would be over soon enough. Pulled up alongside Karen Clarke here and exchanged pleasantries as best we could. I think we helped each other a bit and with around 400 metres to go I spotted another group of maybe 4/5 runners that could be picked off so set about trying to. Got them with about 150 metres to go and amazingly some of the earlier club gang were still there. Swung onto the track and I don't think I was ever as happy to see the finish line. After hanging over the railings and getting sick a little I checked my watch so see 1:36:24 showing. Checking later this was an 88 second PB which I was thrilled with.
13.14 miles in 1:36:24
Avg Pace: 7:20
Caught up with the others as we got changed inside and there seemed to be lots of great PB's and times run by everyone on what wasn't an easy day.
Summary: A really well organised race by Bohermeen in my opinion. A bit of a confidence booster at the end of a difficult month where I didn't hit any of my goals. They were always going to be toughies and probably needed a perfect months training in reality. Sometimes we and definitely me forget that we do this for a bit of fun mainly. At least with the bits of layoffs I have had I got a chance to remind myself of that and how lucky we are to be able to run in the first place.
The next month will hopefully all about building endurance and getting 4 decent long runs in before taper for London. It's all getting a bit too real now and I know from previous experiences there is no comparison between a 1/2 Marathon & Marathon.
I'll be doing what I can to help this transition over the next few weeks, hopefully with no more enforced breaks. For now these legs need a few days easy running to recover from yesterday...
Did a good session on Tue 18th (7x4 mins) and was looking forward to 3 days off work and getting training done mostly before the weekend as there was some real life stuff planned and taking over most of the weekend.
Got up Wednesday morning and changed ready to go for a run and Boom got hit by a spasm in the back. Went ahead and met Susan and did the run but was pretty tight after it. Had hoped to do my Tempo run the next day but as I attempted the warm up I knew it wasn't going to happen and I limped around 5.5 miles at around 9:50 pace.
I had hoped it would clear up and gave it a couple of days but eventually got stretched out on Monday which seemed to help. Went along and got a good 30 min Tempo in on Tuesday night and had the quandary with the race the weekend that I couldn't start really ramping up the miles again before the race so just did a couple of days easy running.
With all the goings on I hadn't really thought too much about the 1/2 marathon or a target time and even had to check what my PB was the day before. Maybe that's the best way to be. Travelled over with Susan and as we got closer to Navan we could see the sky turning grey followed by the inevitable rain. Saw the 10K runners pass us as we headed towards the car park and even though it was early in their race there didn't seem to be much enjoyment on their faces :-(
Met Rosemary & Eamonn as we left the car park and also one of our elites Neil Callaghan for the first time. He was hoping to run around 75 mins but obviously had a great race to finish 3rd in 72:40. Got changed and after meeting Niall Campbell decided to ditch the base layer and just go with the singlet (was glad I did). After a 1.5 mile warm up with Gareth we were at the start line and I moved forward trying to find Rosemary & Susan but alas I couldn't locate them anywhere. I presumed I would see them somewhere on route but for now I was on my own. Race started fairly promptly which was just as well as the rain was pretty heavy waiting around.
Miles 1-4 (7:24, 7:30, 7:15, 7:16)
My plan for the first few miles was around 7:30 pace and see how that felt. Took it steady from the start and had settled well after the first mile was out of the way. The first couple of miles was different to last year so was content to use it to get into the race. After we came back onto the course we were used to the I spotted the others in the distance and hoped to make up ground to them in the next few miles without doing anything mad. Was a bit surprised when the 3rd mile registered as 7:15 as it didn't feel like I had picked up pace too much despite having overtaken a few. Keeping the same effort I was gradually making up ground on the others and joined then after around 4 miles.
Miles 5-8 (7:19, 7:25, 7:27, 7:22)
I tucked in with the others and everyone was in good spirits as we registered another quickish mile but I knew the mail hill on the course and gradual rise towards the end of the first lap lay in wait. We coaxed each other up the hill saying it would be over in a minute and it was. I let the legs come back to themselves a bit and set about keeping the effort consistent then. Passed the clubhouse at around 7 miles and was great to see so many familiar faces from the club that had hung around after the 10K. This definitely put a pep in the step setting out on another loop. Legs were hurting at this stage and tried to take a bit of water on but the stomach was rejecting it so just did without. We were now running into the wind mainly which seemed to have picked up and although the effort had increased a bit the pace was only holding steady at best.
Miles 9-13.1 (7:28, 7:10, 7:13, 7:18, 7:20, 6:31*)
Another mile into the wind brought us to the main road and a change of direction. Shortly after the 9 mile mark Susan told me I was looking strong and told me to head on so I decided to try and pick it up over the next couple of miles if I could. I set about just trying to pass as many as I could and working from group to group. This seemed to help as the next mile registered at 7:10, but there was still 3 miles to go. Knowing the last 1.5 miles was tough enough I was hoping the wheels wouldn't come tumbling off. A 7:13 mile brought me to the flyover and legs were pretty shot at this stage. A slight downhill and up the hill and over the flyover to be greeted with a pretty strong wind wasn't what I was hoping for. It didn't help that I felt out on my feet but knew if I just kept putting one foot in front of the other it would be over soon enough. Pulled up alongside Karen Clarke here and exchanged pleasantries as best we could. I think we helped each other a bit and with around 400 metres to go I spotted another group of maybe 4/5 runners that could be picked off so set about trying to. Got them with about 150 metres to go and amazingly some of the earlier club gang were still there. Swung onto the track and I don't think I was ever as happy to see the finish line. After hanging over the railings and getting sick a little I checked my watch so see 1:36:24 showing. Checking later this was an 88 second PB which I was thrilled with.
13.14 miles in 1:36:24
Avg Pace: 7:20
Caught up with the others as we got changed inside and there seemed to be lots of great PB's and times run by everyone on what wasn't an easy day.
Summary: A really well organised race by Bohermeen in my opinion. A bit of a confidence booster at the end of a difficult month where I didn't hit any of my goals. They were always going to be toughies and probably needed a perfect months training in reality. Sometimes we and definitely me forget that we do this for a bit of fun mainly. At least with the bits of layoffs I have had I got a chance to remind myself of that and how lucky we are to be able to run in the first place.
The next month will hopefully all about building endurance and getting 4 decent long runs in before taper for London. It's all getting a bit too real now and I know from previous experiences there is no comparison between a 1/2 Marathon & Marathon.
I'll be doing what I can to help this transition over the next few weeks, hopefully with no more enforced breaks. For now these legs need a few days easy running to recover from yesterday...
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