DCM training by complete novice.

menoscemo

8.02 miles tonight in exactly 1hr 10 minutes tonight. 8"44 pace, avg HR 147. My highest HR was 154 which would be my normal avg HR on an LSR :eek:

All was really comfortable and at a relatively fast pace for a long run. I have really noticed that my avg HR is coming way down on longer runs while my pace is maintaining or if anything getting slightly faster. I guess this is a good sign I think that doing the short runs as speed tests is really helping.

menoscemo

Was gonna do my 4 mile yesterday and 16 mile lsr today, but I felt totally off yesterday so I took a rest instead. Just did my 4 mile now and plan to do the 16 mile tomorrow evening or sunday morning (depends on how much I drink tonight!).
Anyway 4.10 mles in exactly 36 minutes. 8"47 pace, Avg HR 145.
Nice and easy, tried a road route for a change and realised why I prefer the park nowadays!!

menoscemo

I went out for my 16 mile LSR early this morning. I was having a really difficult run, quite slow and higher than normal HR. I think this proves I am not a MORNING RUNNER!! However I was forced to pull up on 10 miles as My left knee got really sore. It came on all of a sudden. The pain comes from the inside thigh just round the knee and seems to go right up the inside of the thigh as far as the groin. Worst of all I was about 4 miles from home at the time and had to walk most of the way home before flaggin down a taxi. I am now sitting with a bag of frozen chips tied to my knee, hoping I will be ok for next saturdays 5 mile race in Phoenix park Arghhhhh, and I was just saying in the week how well the training had been going and how amazed I was that I had no signs of injury :rolleyes:

anyway 10.19 miles in 1"33, pace 9"13 HR 151.

Sub430

That's unfortunate menoscemo, I've been following this with interest, you've been doing really well, very consistent.

Hopefully it's just your body saying take it easy for a while - could work to your advantage though, you'll be fully fresh for next week.
Best of luck.

menoscemo

Sub430 wrote: »

Hopefully it's just your body saying take it easy for a while - could work to your advantage though, you'll be fully fresh for next week.
Best of luck.

I really hope so. I am just back from the Dubs match, I have been on my feet most of the day and it is not stopping me from doing normal things as such and it is not swollen, but I cannot bend my knee back past about 60 degrees. I might see a physio later in the week, but there will certainly be no running....I really want to do the 5 mile race on saturday though but I fear it might be impossible.

osnola ibax

menoscemo wrote: »

I really hope so. I am just back from the Dubs match, I have been on my feet most of the day and it is not stopping me from doing normal things as such and it is not swollen, but I cannot bend my knee back past about 60 degrees. I might see a physio later in the week, but there will certainly be no running....I really want to do the 5 mile race on saturday though but I fear it might be impossible.

ah jaysus, theres a long time between now and then, dont give up hope yet, RICE, rest. ice. something beginning with C. elevate

LambDave

Really hope it turns out ok for you. You've been putting in some savage training so wouldnt worry about taking a couple of days off to let yourself recover.

menoscemo

I think the C is Compression???

Anyway, thanks lads. I had Ice and Biofreeze gel on the knee/muscle since last night, and today it feels quite good (am able to bend the knee back), so hopefully I'll make it...I think the injury is not as bad as first feared, I think I might have stopped my run before it did too much damage.
I will rest the next few days for sure but I would like to get out on Thursday just to do a 4 mile jog and make sure I am ok to run on Saturday. I Will probably go to the gym a few days to make up for my laziness otherwise I might put on half a stone before saturday

menoscemo

Went to the gym today and decided to do a smooth 5k on the 'Dreadmill' to test the waters. Thankfully all went well, no pain at all. I even yanked it up in the middle to my goal 5 mile pace for 1k .

So it seems like it was all a bit of a false alarm, similar to when I thought my claves had gone a few weeks ago. I did a few leg weights after my running (as well as upper body) for the first time in months and noticed that my ability to do the leg curl had really dropped-I could barely do 3 x 10 at 25KG!! Interestingly this targets the inner thigh muscle near the knee that gave me trouble. I reckon the muscle has just got weak, so i will be introducing this into my weights routine from now on.

Anyway, I plan to go to phoenix park tomorrow night to jog the 5 mile course, then take it easy on friday and race on saturday. I will go back to my programme ext week if all goes well.

In other news My weight has dropped for the first time in months. I was at 75kg when I started this log, but somehow rose to about 77kg as my running upped tonight i weighed myself at 74kg after the workout so all going in the right direction. I have no idea why it rose nor why it has dropped again now, so hope to just plod along and fingers crossed I can drop a few more KG.

osnola ibax

Hey meno, great news, hope you get your goal time on sat.

In terms of the weight thing, when I started running 6 months ago my weight went up aswell for ages and only started to come down after a couple of months. I put it down to toning, but who knows. I've certainly lost a stone since then.

Do u have a garmin, yes I'm sure you do. Is there any chance you could wear it if doing the course and post up an elevation profile. Would be really handy, also for the 10 miler which is apparently two laps of the five miler. Cheers

menoscemo

osnola ivax wrote: »

Hey meno, great news, hope you get your goal time on sat.

In terms of the weight thing, when I started running 6 months ago my weight went up aswell for ages and only started to come down after a couple of months. I put it down to toning, but who knows. I've certainly lost a stone since then.

Do u have a garmin, yes I'm sure you do. Is there any chance you could wear it if doing the course and post up an elevation profile. Would be really handy, also for the 10 miler which is apparently two laps of the five miler. Cheers

Yeah, no problem. I'll post it up tomorrow night.

menoscemo

Ended up staying really late in work today, and normally I would have gave my run a miss, but having been inactive of late and to keep my Promise to Onsola Ivax, I went out to phoenix park at about 8.45 and ran saturdays course.
Took it easy and found it fine, also feeling good! Overall 5.01 miles in 44"35 avg pace 8"54 HR 149
Here is the elevation profile from my garmin:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/8979892

First mile and a half are downhill. The start on chesterfield av is a wide road but it narrows to a pedestrain only road within half a mile (Kyber Road). This road is also pretty full of pot holes and uneven tarmac so you really want to be out of traffic when you hit it. anyway, at about 1.5miles you turn off Kyber road onto Military pass and hit your first uphill stretch for the next half a mile, nothing too tough but it is steadily up. You reach 2 miles in the middle of the curves on Military road and right at the 2 mile mark, you go right down for the next 3/4 mile. The last quarter of the mile is slowly uphill, but still mile 3 is probably the quickest on the course...Mile 4 is steadily uphill, no big gradient just a steady slog, it flattens right out at bang on mile 4 and the last mile is as flat as a pancake.

So in summary: mile 0 to 1.5 steadily downhill. 1.5-2 uphill medium gradient. Mile 2-2.75 downhill and fast. 2.75-4.0 steadily uphill. mile 4-5 flat as a pancake- a perfect opportunity to strecth the legs and go for that PB.

Overall it is not a difficult course, I expected it to be much tougher and the hills to be steeper. I think unless you train on totally flat ground it will be no problem. All the same you would want to have energy for that 4th mile it could be a killer if you've gone off too fast.

osnola ibax

Legendary stuff menoscemo, that's a brilliant summary, and elevation profile to boot, can't ask for more than that.

Hope I didn't put you under pressure to do the course tonight, glad it went well and no major aches or pains. I'm really looking forward to race now. Really think I can give sub 40 a good shot. Do you think you will achieve your goal, I think I saw you put down 38 in the how fast will you go thread

menoscemo

osnola ivax wrote: »

Legendary stuff menoscemo, that's a brilliant summary, and elevation profile to boot, can't ask for more than that.

Hope I didn't put you under pressure to do the course tonight, glad it went well and no major aches or pains. I'm really looking forward to race now. Really think I can give sub 40 a good shot. Do you think you will achieve your goal, I think I saw you put down 38 in the how fast will you go thread

No Probs, no pressure lol, glad I did it in fact, it is easy to make excuses not to do runs- yeah hope to do 38 minutes, will certainly give it a go... have you sorted out how you are getting? I will probably drive up to Ashton gate, there is a pub right at the gate and there are parts of the park there where hopefully they let you park (there are loads of little roads inside the gate not affected by the race course). I had a look tonight and ashton gate is less than a mile from the start line, so even if you have to park outside in one of the local estates it is no Problem.

Anyway my humber is 3119 PM if you want to meet up before the race, I imagine we won't be too far from each other at the finish line, I think you will smash 40 minutes easily.

osnola ibax

You should maybe consider posting that course summary in one of the main forum threads dealing with the 5 mile race / race series. I think that would be really useful to a lot of people, especially culchies like my good self who don't know the park well (only been there twice, zoo as a young lad, and arcade fire gig couple of years back).

I have some pretty serious hills in my training runs so Im hoping I'm well prepared. Just wish I could stop eating, don't know if cake loading is as effective as carbo loading.

osnola ibax

I've pm'd you there, on my iPhone at mo so not sure it will go through, but I'll give it another go from pc tomorrow if not, gotta catch up on some running sleep now

menoscemo

osnola ivax wrote: »

You should maybe consider posting that course summary in one of the main forum threads dealing with the 5 mile race / race series. I think that would be really useful to a lot of people, especially culchies like my good self who don't know the park well (only been there twice, zoo as a young lad, and arcade fire gig couple of years back).

I have some pretty serious hills in my training runs so Im hoping I'm well prepared. Just wish I could stop eating, don't know if cake loading is as effective as carbo loading.

Done...

osnola ibax

hey, meno, I've just pm'd again there so let me know that you have received it. For some reason I can't see sent items, maybe its a subscription thing

menoscemo

Headed out good and early for this and was parked up by 8.45 just inside Ashton Gate. Went down to the finish area to change/drop off bag and spent a while limbering up. Was meant to meet Onsola Ivax but couldn't see him. I headed to the start area about 20 minutes before the race, knowing that getting a good position would be crucial. Stayed back about 30 mts from the start line as I calculated this to be about right for me. By Chance I met OI in the start zone and had a chat about the race. I told him I wanted to go out quick and he said he would be happy with an 8 minute first mile and 40 overall :rolleyes:. I was determined to get 38 minutes as I had predicted it earlier in the week. I knew getting a fast first 2 miles would be crucial.

Anyway come start time we took about 30 seconds to pass the start line. OI veered of the right and me the left. Immediately I had slow runners/walkers ahead so I jumped up on the grass verge a few times and set off on a few sprints of overtaking mass numbers. Withing a quarter mile I was settled in a bunch of runners who seemed to be going my pace. One glance at my garmin however showed me I was already at 170bpm!! I concentrted on breathing, normally i never go above this and was afraid I would blow myself out. Coming up to the mile mark I spotted Onsola about 30 yards ahead of me . 'Christ' I thought, I am pushing hard and only doing an 8 minute mile. Just then my Garmin bleeped to signal the first mile 7"13 - 8 minute miles my arse!!!

Second mile i tried to hold it, the runners around me seemed to be going at a good speed for me and I didn't want to waste energy going after OI so I blanked him, ('I'll get you later' I thought!). My HR was well over 170 by now but i seemed able to hold it which surpised me mile 2 7"33, mile 3 7"39, I was happy with those as it kep me in line for sub 38. As expected mile 4 was the toughest with the long slog up the upper glen Rd, I was passing loads of runners now and loads were panting and wheezing, many stopping. I was delighted to do the mile in 7"51 keeping the mile under 8 minutes. As i passed the 4 mile marker I was still going strong despite my HR being in the unchartered waters of high 170's so I decided I was leaving nothing behind and went out on the long run home. Started passing everyone and with about half a mile to go I spotted OI in the distance, decided to make him my target. as we turned with 400m to go I was sprinting on and my HR was in the 180's (new max for me), OI was within about 10 or 20 yards, just as I though I had him I saw him looking up at the closk and realising he was withing a hundred yards he made a sprint for the line. My body gave out at the same moment and I limped in. Still delighted with 7'10 for the last mile and 37"38 (chip time) overall. My Garmin measured the course at 5.03 miles.

So splits were/avg HR were: 7"13/167, 7"33/172, 7"39/173, 7"51/175, 7"10/180(max 184).

So I have taken 3 minutes of my pb from my only previuos race 2 months ago. I have also realised that my Max HR is not 178, and that I can run races at a higher Hr than seems possible in training and sutain it for longer.
Overall I am delighted, I feel that I hvae made progress and am a real runner now!!

aero2k

Well done on beating your target, menoscemo.

menoscemo wrote: »

I have also realised that my Max HR is not 178, and that I can run races at a higher Hr than seems possible in training and sutain it for longer.

Isn't it amazing how pinning on a number and getting in the middle of a crowd helps the speed!

menoscemo

Back to trusty Hal Higdon's novice marathon training programme this week. I pulled up at mile 10 of my 16 mile LSR last weekend which was effectively the end of week 11. Last week I did only a couple of short runs and saturdays race. I am not too worried about last week's LSR as it was a drop back to 12, but am unsure as to whether I should go back and do week 11 again or plough on to week 13. I am tending towards the latter as I will be getting in more long runs that way and will repeat both weeks anyway whn I come back from holidays in August. This is effectively my last week of training before jetting off... so I will be doing 4-9-5-18 this week. If I can't manage the 18 I will stop at 16 I guess, but that's the weekend and it s still far away.

4.14 very easy tonight in 35"43. Pace 8"38 av HR 145. Delighted that my 'very easy' runs sem to be getting quite fast, quicker than some of my 'fast runs' from a few months ago

menoscemo

aero2k wrote: »

Well done on beating your target, menoscemo.
Isn't it amazing how pinning on a number and getting in the middle of a crowd helps the speed!

Absolutely

menoscemo

9.26 miles in 1hr 21min 28sec. Pace 8"48, av HR 149.
Lovely evening if a bit breezy.Straight out from work; this morning I expected rain so took no suncream, I think I have burnt my head off!! Physically the run was fine, but mentally it was tough. The 18 mile LSR will be twice the length of tonight . I think I will go to phoenix park for that, I am getting a bit sick of the laps of Tymon park.

LambDave

Congrats on the 5 mile time...Great progress there!

You're well on the road for that sub 4!

menoscemo

Thanks Dave,
Gym tonight, decided to get in my last 'short' run of the week, a 5 miler on the dreadmill. Mentally I can't stand that machine, in the end I gave up at 4 miles and it wasn't even fast....it fatigues my brain rather than my body...not to worry I will have a day or twos rest now until my LSR-18 miles I'm dreading that, undecided of yet as to do it on friday night or saturday morning.

osnola ibax

Lsr's become increasingly daunting, I find anyway

menoscemo

Delighted to have completed my scheduled run tonight.
18.01 miles in 2"45"24 Pace 9"11, Av HR 146, was going at 9 min pace but slacked off in the last third.

The last 4 miles were killer, not in the lungs or the HR (it was steady round 145) but in the legs- they just get so tired and sore. They felt like lead again but I pushed on regardless and delighted to have done so. This is definately my last logged run for 4 weeks. I am off to Estonia on sunday night and not back until the 22nd of August. There will be no running tomorrow, can't wait for the lie in. Including the 5 miler last saturday I have done 40 miles this week, which is massive for me.

P.S. Phoenix park is the king of places to run in, so many runners and lots of things to keep the brain distracted

osnola ibax

It's the legs, it's all about the legs. I could feel the lactic acid on my 12 miler yesterday.

That's a huge run today meno, and really it's at pmp for a sub 4 marathon, methinks you'll be revising that goal soon, regardless of the fact you're heading away for four weeks. You should try to get some good runs in over there just to keep you ticking over. You're hr today looks to be extremely efficient aswell. You are flying now, sub 3:45??

menoscemo

osnola ivax wrote: »

It's the legs, it's all about the legs. I could feel the lactic acid on my 12 miler yesterday.

That's a huge run today meno, and really it's at pmp for a sub 4 marathon, methinks you'll be revising that goal soon, regardless of the fact you're heading away for four weeks. You should try to get some good runs in over there just to keep you ticking over. You're hr today looks to be extremely efficient aswell. You are flying now, sub 3:45??

If i can stay sober for a few days, I will try to get a few runs in ......R.E. marathon pace, I dunno, I may go 20 miles at 3"45 pace but my worry is, will I be able to keep moving for the last 6 miles? I think I will make the 18 miler a 20 miler when I repeat this training week (sept 21), and maybe extend the last long LSR (20 mile) by a few miles too. As you say it is all about the legs and I need to get them used to running long distances before worrying about finishing times.

osnola ibax

See where macmillan has us in as 3:40 marathoners based on our 5 mile times. I know we have hinted at 3:45 before but my fears are the very same as yours. How can you maintain that pace for 26.2 of the buggers. I think your plan is good, mine is to get two 20 milers in but they are a bit off yet.

Are you taking gels on your long runs?? Do they help, psychologically even??

menoscemo

I saw what mcmillan said alright, but to be honest I don't want to get ahead of/kill myself. I said at the start I would be happy a) to finish b) to get under 4 hours, so that is still the plan.

R.E. gels- no I am a jelly baby man!! I had about 40 in my pocket tonight and was eaing them 3 at a time in the last few miles. I actually went 13 miles with just half a litre of tap water on my belt. I had a bottle of lucozade sport in the car, so picked that up on the run for the last 5 miles and was dying of thirst. I don't know how you have been running with no liquids to be honest...

I definately think the sweets and sports drink help, if only to keep your mind of the pain for a few fleeting seconds.

osnola ibax

menoscemo wrote: »

R.E. gels- no I am a jelly baby man!! I had about 40 in my pocket tonight and was eaing them 3 at a time in the last few miles. I actually went 13 miles with just half a litre of tap water on my belt. I had a bottle of lucozade sport in the car, so picked that up on the run for the last 5 miles and was dying of thirst. I don't know how you have been running with no liquids to be honest......

yeah, well now that I'll soon be receiving my drinks belt, I won't be doing that again. Bought some high5 gels today, these particular ones don't need to be mixed with water so I'm looking forward to trying them. It also means that I can just put water / energy drink in the bottles. I really hope it's not a farce of a yoke.

menoscemo

So I am back from my 4 week break. I was doing voluntary work in Estonia for most of the time. I wasn't concentrating on a training plan but got about 4 runs in in the first 2 weeks (2 runs of 45 minutes a 1 hour run and a 10 miler in about 1.5 hours). Was pleased with this because I felt I kept my form despite drinking most days, the work was quite physical and I did 3 or 4 long treks as well as the runs (the longest being nearly 20 miles).
10 days ago however I was playing table tennis when the table collapsed and fell on my foot (was wearing sandals). Basically my big toenail took all of the weight and the nail was uprooted and went up through the skin, It was not a pleasant sight and still isn't. The pain has subsided but I haven't run or did much for 2 weeks since as well as drinking and eating unhealthily. I feel like I have gone back severely. I am going to give training a go again starting tomorrow and am unsure if my toe is going to be a problem. I start with a 3 miler tomorrow and I guess if it gives me any pain I will go to see a chiropodist.

Anyway I am dropping back to week 10 and hopefully will have recovered form by the half marathon in 4 weeks
This weeks plan is 3-7-4-15 fingers crossed all goes well.

menoscemo

3.22 miles this evening in 27"35. Pace 8"34, Avg HR 154.
No pain from the toe but I felt at first I was subconsciously leaning on the right foot more to avoid the damaged left. I concentrated then on putting more weight on the left and had no repurcussions. I suppose the HR was a little high for what should have been a relatively comfortable pace, but I guess that is to be expected after drinking every day for 4 weeks straight :P
Anyway overall delighted to be back to it and looking forward to 7 miles tomorrow.

menoscemo

7.02 miles in 1"02:18 pace 8:53 avg HR 151
Felt comfortable. no problems for the toe at all. Quite happy that I seem to be back. I am just looking over my garmin records for comparable runs: 2 months ago I did 7 miles in 9:23 pace with HR 153, so I am still better than that now. However, just before heading off I did 9 miles at 8:48 pace with Av HR 149. I would like to be in this form in a few weeks.

menoscemo

4 miles on the dreadmill tonight in 35 minutes, no suffering like my normal gym efforts, brought my earphones and watched the one show. Weights after.

Undecided as to whether to do the 15 mile LSR tomorrow evening or sat morning. Would prefer tomorrow but 4 days in a row might be a bit much at this stage...mmmm decisions.

menoscemo

Reluctantly went out for my 15 mile LSR this evening. I say reluctantly because my legs were stiff and I had been 3 nights in a row running, so after the 2 week layoff I thought it might be a bit much... however as always when I am not feeling great, I had one of my best runs.

Started out slow for the first 3 but the miles seemed to get quicker and quicker once I was inside the park. I felt strong even at the end and there didn't seem to be a lactate build up in my legs as I normally get in my LSR's, so I was able to maintain pace even at the end. I brought a water belt with half a litre of water and carried a bottle of lucozade sport in hand the first 2.5 miles until I made tymon park, where i positioned it under a bush for later. After 3 laps I decided it was time for a sip, but discovered it had been swiped in the meantime :mad:, luckily it was not hot and I survived on the water I had and a pocketful of jellies...
Anyway overall 15.02 miles in 2:10:44. Pace 8:42 AvHR 153. Some crazy miles in there eg. mile 4-8:15 HR 153 Mile 11- 8:20 HR 152.

I really feel like I'm back and have shaken the rustiness already, maybe the break even did me good. I ran 15 mile 3 weeks before going away and did it in 5 minutes more than tonight (and seem to remember being happy with the run) so I must have improved

Might even do a small recovery run in the morning to make it 5 days on the trot (normally I do 4 sessions a week).

menoscemo

Legs quite stiff this morning, especially right ankle, so went out for a short recovery jog/walk (slowed down to a walk to stretch a few times). No watch, no Garmin but very slow....3.5 miles
Maybe would be better doing this in the evening?

menoscemo

Have been quite worried the last few days, the ankle really has been playing up. I was hardly able to run at all on saturday and had to break into a walk twice on a slow 3.5 miler!! still felt sore on sunday and yesterday. There is no swelling or bruising, the ankle just has felt stiff. Anyway put on a strapping this morning and bought some deep heat and went out for a 4 mile with 2 miles LT as instructed by amadeus.
1st mile handy 8:57 (145) 2nd mile put down the foot, halfway through was really wrecked, thought I couldn't last. Was thinking I was really out of shape and felt like I was fading at the end. Mile was slightly uphill, was surpirsed when the garmin bleeped to reveal a 7:04 mile (172). had to take a quick leak (nearby bush) at this stage, but turned around and ran the same mile backwards (slightly downhill). Again, I thought I was going to die, felt I was going slower than the last mile was breathing really heavy and had to grit it out. Again I was really shocked when the garmin bleeped to reveal a 6:39 mile (173). Slowed down to crawl back to the car, calfs felt stiff and I began to feel my ankle a little again (had completely forgotten about it!!) came back with a 9:17 mile (156).
Overall 4.03 miles in 32:14 Av HR 161 splits 8:57(145) 7:04 (172) 6:39 (173) 9:17 (156) Mcmillan says those middle 2 miles put me at 36:54 for 5 miles which would easliy be a PB, so got to be happy with that!

menoscemo

Ankle quite sore again today, a combination of that and the wetaher has put me off the planned 8 miles today. I will do it tomorrow for sure. But I will probably miss one of the 4 mile sessions then do the LSR on saturday (all being ok).
The ankle is getting worrying. Funny thing is it is not swollen or bruised, just constantly stiff and a dull pain. When I'm warmed up and running I don't feel it, but when walking or slow joggin I do. If it is sore during tomorrows 8 miles, I will go see a physio on friday I suppose.

menoscemo

Ankle feeling much better today (it is actually more the heel than the ankle), so I headed out for 8 miles tonight. After tuesdays LT run, I decided to get another quality session in, instead of my normal 'one paced-ness' (especially since I will be missing a session this week). The plan was a warm up then 4 miles at planned 1/2 marathon pace (8 minutes miles) then a warm down. I planned a 2 mile warm up , but my second mile was quicker than I thought so I kept it going for the next 3 and used the last 3 miles as warm down.

Overall 8.4 miles at 8:23 pace (1hr 10min) with AvHR 159.
Splits were:
1. 8:38 (147) uphill
2. 7:57 (159) downhill
3. 7:39 (169) uphill
4. 7:47 (168) downhill
5. 7:48 (171) uphill
6. 8:55 (161)
7. 9:12 (156)
8. 8:54 (152)
the last .4 mile was at 8:54 pace and 147 HR.
Happy with this session. Nice to do something different. Felt I could have plodded on at 9 minute mile pace for quite a bit longer. I reckon I should be aiming for a 165-170 Hr for the half, that should be in and around 8 minute pace. Hopefully I can hold hat for all 13.1 miles.

With the injury I am now not sure if I will run the pearl izumi 10k next week. I think I will make a last minute decision either way, I don't want to run a race with any niggles so close to the half and certainly don't want to miss any LSR's with the marathon only 6 weeks away.

osnola ibax

Good session, 4 really quick miles there, it will be interesting to see if you can hold 8 min miles for 13.1. Here's hoping. Glad to hear injury is feeling better.

menoscemo

So I have done nothing since that 8 mile. Ankle has been playing up. Cros post from DCM Novice thread:

menoscemo wrote: »

After what I felt was a great week last week, I have been brought down to earth with a Bang. My ankle/foot has been niggling away at me all week. I Can run but it kills me the next day. Only got two sessions done this week 12 miles in total. After thursdays 8 miles, My foot was sore again on friday, So I made an appointment with a physio and cancelled the LSR yesterday. I am seeing the physio tomorrow, so fingers crossed I get the all clear. If so I will replace this weeks 12 mile LSR with the 16 I missed and maybe replace the 8 mile midweek run with a 12. If i get bad news, I will not know what to do. I really can't afford to miss another week after just coming back from another injury.

So I am just back from the physio basically I have damaged my Posterior Tbialis Muscle. Basically it is a muscle which runs from the foot, up through the inner ankle and up to the calf. That makes a lot of sense as the pain has been all over that area. I got a big massage done and was giving some stretching excercises to do. I am going back on thursday for another session...It was probably caused by overdoing it after a period of inactivity (amadeus, if you are reading this, you were right). The physio looked at my shoes and they are certainly not the problem. Luckily the damage is not serious, after thursday I will be doing some strengthening excercises and I should be back running by next week. It is crap to miss another week but I am glad now that I trained up to week 13 before going away- the extra long runs will hopefully stand me in good stead. I will try to get to the gym 3 times this week and get lots of cardio done on the rower and bikes to keep my fitness up. This weekends race is definately out but hopefully I am back in good form for the half marathon on the 26th September.

Lessons learned: If you have an injury don't run on it the next day, and if it persists get it seen to immediately.

menoscemo

Injury update: after 2 physio session, lots of stretching and now some strengthening excercises, I have got the go ahead to start running again from saturday. I have to start light and build it up, but all going well I should get a decent LSR in next weekend before the half marathon the following weekend. I was hoping for 1hr45 in that, but given how spordaic my training has been of late, I suppose 1hr 50 would be good.

Anyway I have learned a few lessons from this: don't try to do 5 straight days running after 2 weeks inactivity. And if you have an injury, a recovery run won't work it will just make it worse!!! Fingers crossed I can get a good weeks training in next week.

BTW I have been to the gym 3 times in the last 3 days, but have come to realise I now hate cycling, x-training and rowing (all the things I used to do before running). I can't wait to get out on saturday again. Watching all the runners in the sun in the last few days has made me jealous!

menoscemo

So finally got out today for a jog.
4.2 miles in 46 minutes. 8:38 pace AV HR 155. Didn't wear an ankle support because i Felt it was too tight and not helping the injury. NO pain now aftewards. I have a series of strecthes and excercises to do post-runs to hopefully prevent the injury flaring up again...fingers crossed. I am going to take it easy over the next week. I could still feel the injury a little and my foot seemed stiff went turning clockwise. Hopefully I can build up to an LSR next weekend.

My HR was ridiculousl high for such an easy run. Hit 170 on the last mile (which was 8:30) on a relatively flat (ok slightly uphill but still) stretch. Hope it was just a combo of the heat and lack of food. I need to shake off the cobwebs big time.

osnola ibax

Good news menoscemo, positive run

menoscemo

4.11 miles in 35:30 8:41 pace. Av HR 150
Basically the same run as saturday in terms of distance and pace, but the HR has come down 5 bpm. Happy with that. My calves felt a bit stiff and legs a bit heavy at first but they got into it.

I have bought Gels for the first time and also some compression socks. My physio told me my lower legs were really stiff and unflexible. I have found that on LSR's I lose all feeling in my lower legs so I hope the compression socks will help with that and maybe prevent further injuries.
Anyway I will try out the gels and socks in the longer runs this week.
I am thinking of having a sports massage as well.

osnola ibax

Hey meno, what is your plan for the half marathon. I have a half pb of 1:54:58. I think I'll try and beat that by 5 minutes, get in under 1:50, that's 8:30 min miles.

I'm not that bothered with the half anymore and I'm glad because I feel focused on the real thing now, whereas before I was getting distracted by races. So just gonna treat it as a quickish run and score a pb.

As my log title suggests I would like a sub 140 half but I'm thinking 2010 for that. Any ideas?

menoscemo

osnola ivax wrote: »

Hey meno, what is your plan for the half marathon. I have a half pb of 1:54:58. I think I'll try and beat that by 5 minutes, get in under 1:50, that's 8:30 min miles.

I'm not that bothered with the half anymore and I'm glad because I feel focused on the real thing now, whereas before I was getting distracted by races. So just gonna treat it as a quickish run and score a pb.

As my log title suggests I would like a sub 140 half but I'm thinking 2010 for that. Any ideas?

I am going to see how the LSR goes at the weekend and then decide. When I did my 15 mile LSR a couple of weeks ago I went through the half distance in exactly 1hr 54min and that was going handy (150 ish HR) so I reckon I can easily beat that. Most likely I have lost a bit of form but I will see on saturday. In all probability I reckon I will stick to the original plan and head out for 8 minute miles and see how long I can hold it for. If I have to slow down so what, I'll have given it a whirl. I reckon I can get at least the first 8 miles at 8 minutes, after that it will probably be a lot of mental suffereing.

By the way the LSR is 18 miles this weekend. I reckon I will go out to the park and do the half course and add on a 5 mile loop afterwards, I'll post up a report afterwards.

BTW x 2 I will probably be wearing my Paula Radcliffe style Knee-high compression socks for the half !!

menoscemo

5 miles tonight in 43 minutes 8:36 miles HR 150 av.

Really pleased with the run, legs and lungs felt great. Didn't fancy going to the park in the dark so I hit the streets for the first time in ages. I must wear my contacts in future, could hardly see the undulations and at times the kerbs. I could do myself an injury :pac:)