What difference does a second make?

Peckham

Having been monitoring logs here, I've been thinking about starting my own. Will be good motivation during the winter months when there are no big race targets, and also because I'm changing my training programme a little.

Provisional targets for 2009 (still thinking about them):
1) Sub-3 marathon (am targeting Berlin, but dependent on personal commitments)

2) Get an automatic spot in 2010 NYC marathon (i.e. a 1:23 half, my PB is 1:24 and a bit at Longford 2008). Will complete the hat-trick of qualifications for me - already have Boston and London under my belt (yet to run them though!)

3) Race as many BHAA/similar races as is sensible in first 6 months of year (and finally run a 10k race, which I've never done before).


Have yet to fully identify my training yet, but for the next few weeks my running likely to be a bit ad-hoc (i.e. run to enjoy it, rather than sticking to a plan). However, I am going to start on some gym work, which I haven't done in a couple of years (before I started running). Will be using the book "Explosive Running" to guide this, and will also start doing a lot more of the stretching work that he recommends.

christeb

Well starting the log is the toughest part*. Excellent looking forward to reading!


*this statement is blatently untrue

--amadeus--

Excellent - be interesting to folow this one!

Have you given up on a spring marathon then? And because I am to lazy to Google what are the qualifications for NYC and what is "Explosive Running"? Is it worth a read?

donothoponpop

Best of luck Peckham, I look forward to checking out your progress. Love the title! Now go get it...

Peckham

--amadeus-- wrote: »

Excellent - be interesting to folow this one!

Have you given up on a spring marathon then? And because I am to lazy to Google what are the qualifications for NYC and what is "Explosive Running"? Is it worth a read?

Spring marathon is not really feasible, as (a) the thought of starting a new marathon training cycle in the next month is not appealing at all, and (b) would rather avoid intensive training during the winter if possible!

Qualification for NYC (for males aged up to 39) is either 2:55 for a marathon or 1:23 for a half marathon. Needs to be on an "approved course", so must check out which half marathons are approved in this part of the world. I've had rejections in the 2008 and 2007 lotteries, so if I get another rejection in 2009 then my place is guaranteed for 2010 anyway...but an automatic place would be nice.

Explosive running is more aimed at sprinters, but also caters for long distance. It's more of an instruction book than a reading book, and goes into a lot of detail on strength and stretching work that can help with the running side of things. Have had it for a year, but only going to start using it now.

Peckham

4 miles in 29:55 last night. Felt nice and comfortable with HR around the 150 mark throughout. Would have liked to do another mile or two, but had to get the dinner on the table!

Won't get out again until Sunday, which is a shame. So plan is to do 6 or 7 on Sunday.

Peckham

Just over 3 miles last night (first run in 5 days!). Had intended to go out for a five miler but started to get some slight knee pain after about 2 miles, so decided to head home - to be honest, it's the sort of knee pain I would have pushed through in marathon training, but not worth it now.

Have had enough of a break from running now, so am going to start slowly building the intensity back up. Plan is to get out for c.20 miles this week (all of the sessions being easy-going 3-5 mile runs), and will gradually increase the length of the runs and intensity of sessions over the next few weeks. Will also be introducing Pilates (first proper class tomorrow) and some light gym work from next week.

Hope to start this plan at the start of December and use it to aim for Raheny 5. I like the structure of the plan and feel comfortable with the content. May push out the long runs a little to keep things ticking over with one 10-13 mile run per week.

shels4ever

I like the look of that plan myself, But might stick with my 800's for now, and maybe drop to 400's the last 4-5 week before the race.

Slogger Jogger

Good luck Peckham. I jumped into the 10K plan by HH and am finding it good and stimulating. I think its quite effective too. On a tempo run today my HR was around 150 and I think that its relatively low on account of the recent training I've done, and I'm 40.

Woddle

Hey Peckham looking forward to reading your log and probably/most likely learning a thing or two from you, so best of look with it.

stmochtas

Good Luck Peckham, looking forward to reading this. Looks like there is a large Boards contingent training towards the Raheny 5 at the mo. It would be nice to have our colours on for it.

Peckham

This week is turning into an awful one training-wise. Haven't run since Monday's session and inner thigh is feeling tight.

Did however do my first pilates class this evening which was something a bit different. Felt like a great session in terms of stretching.

Won't get out tomorrow either, but determined to get out Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Nothing too hectic though.

Peckham

A pilates-induced injury meant I skipped yesterday's run as picked up a strain at the pilates class (something to do with the gluts I think). However, got out this morning for a very enjoyable 5.6 miles.

Hopefully I'm now back on track and can string a few consecutive days of training together! Am setting myself the objective of doing 4/4/6/6/6/7 over the next 8 days, and then will start into the HH plan I'm using for Raheny 5.

Peckham

Back out this morning and followed the same route as yesterday, but adding a bit extra to make it a 6 mile run (my longest run since the marathon).

I entered what I thought was my Maximum HR onto my Garmin (197 - the peak HR during the windy BHAA Dollymount 6k), but it had me consistently at 81-84% max HR during the run (as it did yesterday). Can't be right as I felt pretty comfortable throughout. Must do a proper Max HR test.

Peckham

Think I tempted fate by hoping that I was back on track. Monday morning brought pretty intensive knee pains, so haven't run since Sunday. Seems like my orthotics have reached the end of their life, and got fitted for a new pair last night.

Also went to Pilates class last night, which I think I'll keep up - can definitely see how it will benefit. Will be staying off the running until the new orthotics arrive (2 weeks :eek:), but will focus on stretching, gym and Pilates in the meantime.

Sosa

I got orthotics during the summer,but had to stop wearing them as i developed severe pain along the base of my right foot,i could not curl up my toes for example,now ...it didnt stop me running,but it was painful when i wore my work shoes and i could not walk bearfoot...they are in the press ever since and will not see the light of day again.
I should bring them back really...i must give him a call later

Peckham

Sosa wrote: »

I got orthotics during the summer,but had to stop wearing them as i developed severe pain along the base of my right foot,i could not curl up my toes for example,now ...it didnt stop me running,but it was painful when i wore my work shoes and i could not walk bearfoot...they are in the press ever since and will not see the light of day again.
I should bring them back really...i must give him a call later

Did you get them casted for you, or did you buy them "off the shelf"? If they were fitted, then this certainly should not have happened.

Sosa

They were specially made for me in Canada.
I dont know the name of the fitting that the chriopractor used for me,but he had what was like a door mat hooked up to his laptop and got me to firstly walk casually with my right foot landing on the mat then with my left foot,then on the screen,you could see clealy where all the pressure was landing on every step.from this information he designed the orthotics for me,they took two weeks to arrive back,were fine at first,then it started to get painful.there awas a lump in the orthotic ( only way i can describe it ) under the metatarsals in my foot that was supposed to help
I think that was the problem .....

stmochtas

As a matter of interest what conditions would Orthotics be prescribed for?

- Over-pronation
- Flat feet
- Suppination
- Something else

Any injuries I have had occur on my right leg/foot. I over pronate on my right foot. This may be coincidence and I am wearing the right shoes but if issues were to keep re-occurring I may need to look at other options.

Peckham

Mine are prescribed for flat feet that is causing over-pronation. Used to give me significant knee and hip pain (particularly on my right side), even with supportive shoes, but orthotics worked wonders - have one pair for day-to-day shoes, and one pair for running.

stmochtas

Thanks, Who diagnosed that they may help? Physio maybe?

Sosa

Peckham ...are your running ones soft ?
Mine are hard ...could not possibly wear them running ...

I am an excessive over pronator ...i wear support shoes and i have not had as much as a twinge since i stopped wearing the orthotics.
I developed a bad case of tendonitis in both my knees 6 years ago,and got over it,when i started running last year i felt it coming back and panic set in.straight to the chiropractor and got the orthotics,wore them for i'd say 6 weeks ( not running ),pain set in on right foot,stopped wearing them and my foot recovered within a week.
Everything seems fine with the knees so i wont be rocking the boat !

Stmochtas,i have flat arches...land on the outside of my foot and roll inwards ...that increases chances of injury.My orthocics were raised on the inside of the sole so that when i rolled inwards it levelled out.

Peckham

Yes, my running ones are soft (lyncos) and my day-to-day ones are hard. Were diagnosed for me by a physio (who is also my fiancee, so I assume I wasn't being sold something I didn't need )

TheRoadRunner

Peckham wrote: »

Yes, my running ones are soft (lyncos) and my day-to-day ones are hard. Were diagnosed for me by a physio (who is also my fiancee, so I assume I wasn't being sold something I didn't need )

now that is very handy. A physio on call 24 hours a day

Peckham

First session in the gym in over three years. Planning on doing two gym sessions a week from now on (plus two Pilates sessions), which will add a bit of interest. Gym is about a mile and a half from home, so on cross training days will jog there, workout for 45 mins and jog home.

Brought along a copy of Explosive Running which has plenty of strength exercises specifically for running (albeit more aimed at sprinting). Left it with gym owner who is kindly going to read it and design a specific program for me bearing in mind my objectives are all focussed on distance running, so don't really want to bulk up too much.

Did a 45min session this evening. Arms feeling a little sensitive, reckon I could be in pain tomorrow!

Odysseus

That looks like its going to be an novel training regime Peckham. It will be interesting to see the improvements you get from it.

Peckham

Will definitely try and stick to it in base training anyway. If I can get 25-30 miles per week, plus two gym sessions and two Pilates sessions, I'd be a happy man! Will take a few weeks to build up to that though.

Peckham

That gym session last Friday certainly hurt. Took until Monday for the muscles to tighten up, but when they tightened up, it was pretty bad! It was a new experience for the upper half of the body to be really sore, whilst the legs felt pretty light (despite having done weight work on both). Goes to show the muscle imbalance that running can create.

It's now 10 days of no running, so hoping that the knee pain I got has gone. Haven't got the new orthotics yet, but going to run 1.5 miles to and from gym this evening and see how I get on.

Pilates last night felt good - some good ab-crunching work!

Peckham

Yesterday evening, 1.75 mile run to the gym, 50 minute session in gym and then 1.25 mile run home. Felt fantastic...

...however have noticed my right knee twinging again this morning. Very frustrating after such light running.

Peckham

4.2 miles last night. Felt great, cruising along at about 7:45 pace. Knee feels very tight this morning in the exact same spot as before. Must have done some damage in the marathon - time to get it checked out I think.

Very frustrating.

TheRoadRunner

Have you looked at your runners. Maybe it's time to get a new pair if they have a good few miles on them. I had a similar problem a few years back.

Are most of your runs on the road ?

Peckham

Pretty much all of my running is done on the road. Have some grass options around me, but they're not suitable for running in the dark.

Shoes should be okay. Am using the pair I was using for the last few weeks of marathon training (switched to newer shoes for the race), and would estimate they have <300 miles on them. Have tried to bend and twist them, and they seem to have a lot of support remaining. Might switch to the newer pair and see if it makes a difference.

TheRoadRunner

yeah I know it's stating the obvious but the roads really are a killer. I had a really bad knee complaint a while back. Every 100 metres or so I would get a shooting pain right in the middle of the knee.

I was training for a marathon at the time and had paid a lot of money in flights/hotel etc so didn't want to rest. I switched all my training off road for a month and it managed to rectify itself.

I'm lucky I can get out during the day though, it is tough to run off road with no light.

Maybe a trip to your physio and an x-ray might turn up some damaged knee cartilage or something along those lines.

Peckham

Feeling very envious reading the many positive training and racing stories here. Not great news from me as knee is still giving me problems. Have had it all checked out by a physio and whilst it doesn't look like serious damage, I'm going for a scan to get it checked out. Have also been given some strengthening exercises to do in the gym....however the upshot of it all means it looks unlikely I'll be back running this side of Christmas, which will mean a serious hill to climb with the training in the new year.

Not feeling particularly great about it all.

Krusty_Clown

Hi Peckham, think of it as 'giving the rest of us a chance to catch up'.
Sure the knee will be back in shape in no time, and sooner than you know it, you'll be back to wishing you had a few days off of running. Good luck for a speedy recovery.

donothoponpop

Chin up, Peckham! It's a tough break, particularly after your "limbo" time from Dublin, but these bad times are what you judge the good times by. You'll be back training soon enough.

Peckham

Still no running to report, but two good gym strengthening sessions on Sunday and Tuesday (coupled with Pilates tonight, my core strength will be getting quite good...although my aerobic fitness is probably down the toilet!).

The gym session I had on Sunday involved a lot of strengthening on the quads (i.e. sqauts and lunges), as this has been diagnosed as where the knee problems are probably emerging from. Was walking on Monday/Tuesday in the same fashion as I was the few days after the marathon!

Have booked in for a MRI scan on the knee on Friday, so hopefully that will dismiss any concerns about more serious damage.

stmochtas

You are similar to myself at the moment. My aerobic fitness will have been impacted by this break, but the core and strength work is going to have some benefit. I am working on flexibility at the moment as that may have been the source of my problem.

Peckham

MRI scan Friday evening. In a bizarre way, it made me feel like a proper athlete going for a scan - i.e. the way you hear of footballers or rugby players going for a scan after being taken off injured in a match. Will get the results of that this morning....am feeling slighly anxious about it, as I've been told that it could potentially come with a recommendation of retirement for the sake of my knee. On the flip side, it could also give me the all clear to go out and do a few miles over the Christmas break. Here's hoping!

Great gym session on Saturday morning. Was under no time pressures, so spent a good while there.

Ice skating in RDS yesterday - not sure if that counts as training in any way, especially considering the burger, fries and onion rings I had afterwards!

MCOS

Hope the scan results give you the information you want and you are back soon. I know it feels awful when you can't run and you feel as though your fitness is slipping by the minute. Good attitude about it Peckham, lucky with your OH and you never know the same plan with a slightly stronger core may be the difference that gets you a few seconds!

Peckham

Scan results give me the all clear, showing no problems with my right knee. Not only that, but it shows that the three marathons I've done so far have done no damage at all to that knee. Therefore, marathon running is a harmless activity. QED

Very relieved!

Knee pain I've been having comes down to a simple muscle imbalance. Am addressing this already through core strengthening and specific weights work, and will start back into gentle running over the Christmas break.

Sosa

Thats good news Peckham ....you can enjoy Christmas all the more now ...I had problems with my knees 6 years ago ...i thought i was finished at sport forever it was so painful.
But,similar to you,results showed no major problems,i did have to take 6 months off though,but when i came back it was perfect and has been ever since ( touch wood )
Keep thinking that one day that twinge will come back ....friends told me i was mad to take up running,that it would almost guarantee the knees to flare up again ...14 month on ...pain free.....who says running is bad for you ? The dont know what they are talking about !

donothoponpop

Great news Peckham. Enjoy your Xmas and look forward to that sub 3 in 2009- imagine the life of frustration if the scan had doomed you to never getting that extra second:eek:

MCOS

Excellent! Goal back in focus then

christeb

Great to hear there's no damage, onwards and upwards

Peckham

It's not for a long time that I felt so satisfied with a 2 mile run (even if it was 2 x 1 mile)!

Ran to and from the gym last night (1 mile each way), and my mind was on my knee the whole time, but couldn't feel any pain at all (whereas normally you can create fictitious pain if you think about it hard enough!)

Another good gym session - some of the work is getting much easier, notably the squats and lunges which may explain why the knee pain has gone (touch wood!).

Will get in a few runs over the next few days. Will aim to get out tomorrow and Friday (just 3 or 4 miles each). All going well with the knee, I'd like to get in 3 runs between now and Sunday, and then 4 next week (up to 5 miles) plus 2 gym sessions. If that all goes well then I'll map out a race plan for January to March.

Toyed with the idea of doing Streets of Wicklow 5k on Stephen's Day and taking it easy, but that would be a silly idea as I'd undoubtedly try and push the pace, so have dismissed it!

Peckham

Good Christmas so far for me on the training front. Have been out 3 times since last update, and all feels good. Knee still seems a little sensitive, so won't push harder/longer for a little while yet....but good to get out 3 days out of last 4.

Dec 25th: 3.62 miles @ 7:26 pace (HR 85%)
Dec 26th: 5.11 miles @ 7:19 pace (HR 82%)
Dec 28th: 6.22 miles @ 7:28 pace (HR 85%)

Trying to keep the pace down, but I seem to be programmed to that pace when running casually! HR data clearly shows the lost fitness!!

Tomorrow will hopefully be run to & from gym (2 miles total), plus 45mins core strength work whilst there.

donothoponpop

Good to see you back at it, Peckham. Those pace times seem a bit quick for someone coming back from injury, but, you're right, it's hard to slow down to an "unnatural" pace sometimes.
Have you targeted a Spring marathon?

Peckham

donothoponpop wrote: »

Good to see you back at it, Peckham. Those pace times seem a bit quick for someone coming back from injury, but, you're right, it's hard to slow down to an "unnatural" pace sometimes.
Have you targeted a Spring marathon?

Am trying to slow it down, but it's tough! It's something I've always struggled with in long runs and recovery runs.

No spring marathon for me. Hopefully Berlin in September, although yet to set the 2009 targets.

Peckham

4.2 miles today at about 7:30 pace again (80% HR). Didn't make it to the gym, but will do so tomorrow morning. Knee twinging a little.

Woddle

Great to see your back in the swing of things, hope that knee thing will disappear, have you ever tried a foam roller. My ankle has been hurting the last week and I put it down to not using the roller as much as I use to. Over the last few days I started using it, paticularly on my calfs and I'll be back running tomorrow, as it feels near on 100%
Will I see you at any of the xc races for bhaa