From zero to ???

hot to trot

Finally after 7 months of zero exercise, I am ok to go .

Tuesday 24.01.2012 Walk 3 mins: slow run 2 mins.+W/U and C/D
4 miles. About an hour. About 9 reps. All well.

Thursday 26.01.2012 Walk:run 3:2 etc did 10 reps 4.5 miles. All well.

Plan:
Going to stick with this for another week and then go 3:3 before dropping to 2:3.

Hope to be ready to do a 5k Parkrun on March 10th even if I have to take walk breaks.
Back for good and it feels :D:D

RacoonQueen

Great to see you back at it missus. You'll be back to your normal madness in no time.

Bally8

Delighted to see you back. Onwards and upwards:)

hot to trot

Seeing as I am starting from scratch again , its as good a time as any to make the conversion to kms. Felt fab at one stage during todays run when I saw 4.5 and I felt great.... until I remembered it wasnt miles :rolleyes:

All in 1:03 about 7.4kms

hot to trot

Fab snorkel this morning for about 50 minutes. Front of ankles and hips were punished from lack of sea legs.

Might have a little jog later. Still being very conservative as I couldnt face a stop again .

hot to trot

Fronts of shins recovering from sea thankfully.

7K walk:run 3:2 . Was with another beginner. Will go 2:3 next outing on Thursday.
Would love to go everyday or at least a few more days in the week. 3 out of 7 seems a bit daft given how much it has recovered already and am way past risk of rupture.
Given that im being ultra conservative and havent had even a twinge, It seems a bit OTT to hold back sooooo much.? Even the Operation Transformation big people are doing an hour a day.

hot to trot

7km 2:3 walk, run. Through the woods so felt a bit tougher towards the end of the run parts. about 55 mins

I did a lot of stretching after Tuesdays run and the muscles I stretched have been sore , the ones I forgot are fine.

Really enjoying running again. Wish I could go out again later today . Can hardly wait until Saturday.

hot to trot

7.3km 54 mins.
warm up , 2:3 walk run. and walked last bit to cool down. First sign of minor twinge at end .( had a few small hills on the way) 2 days rest now and will stick with this ratio until it gets easier.


Wore HRM for first time in months and was shocked at how my cardio fitness has disappeared.
Previously my 9.30minute miles would have heart rate at comfy 150 with all out intervals speed or hills at a stomach churning 180+ but NOW:eek:
Im over 150 on the walk and am closer to 175-180 on about a 10/11 minute miles jog.
The 2 minute walk interval gets it back to 150 so I will stick with this until it improves.
Definitley need to get more cardio training without putting more pressure on the leg.

littlebug

Good to see you getting back into it H2T

ultraman1

hot to trot wrote: »

, its as good a time as any to make the conversion to kms.

its never a good time,,,welcome bcak h2t,see u soon.

hot to trot

New route. Bit anxious since twingy last run.

Did 8km accidently as we got lost. Stuck religiously with walk 2: run 3 and leg felt great. Heart rate back to a better number as well.
one hour and one minute incl w/up.

Got a bit sore stretching after, so think I will postpone stretching it until its a bit stronger. Did hams to compensate.

8km 1 hour

hot to trot

Was smothered with cold and couldnt get out til today.

7km about 51 mins.

stuck to 2:3 walk run as i missed Thursday. Going for snorkel tomorrow. Will stick with this for one more week and then go for 1 walk and 4 run. Can hardly wait. HR back closer to normal today.

hot to trot

Good snorkel this am. Legs and shins much better and stronger.

Run later 9km 1:09 Felt fine. Will stick with this for another week. Decided against pool session this evening. Rest day tomorrow and then run Tuesday.
Diet starts tomorrow, gulp. MIght try to do some of the operation transformation exercises , maybe:o. Badly need a routine and some discipline.

hot to trot

20 lengths in pool. Cant wait to run tomorrow.

hot to trot

8k, in about an hour. Strong wind into the face on the way back.
Definitely not ready to drop the walk portion yet.

hot to trot

20 lengths pool again .

Aimman

Fair Play, you're getting there. Wont be long before you are back on the Ultra training.

hot to trot

One continuous mile seems like Ultra training right now
Still . left foot , right foot , repeat ...:)

hot to trot

running alone for a change. Decided to try a bit more so
4X 1 mile continuous running with one minute walk break.
Managed fine with no stiffness or soreness.
But am afraid to chance that as my regular run yet. Am I being too cautious?

Friday
22 lengths swim

hot to trot

Gym session.
treadmill... run 5 minutes walk: one minute for best part of half hour. 4Km
Niggle in inner thigh made me stop. Got this when I over stretched after run on tuesday. Did lots of hip strengthening and core work .

Not sure whether to stick with 3;2, 4:1, 5:1 or a mile:1

All guidance welcome.
So far no pains or aches or even stiff or tired muscles


Monday 22 lengths of swim

hot to trot

How come every time I do any kind of stretching it always causes problems for me . I know all the techniques and I know how to go about it but goddam if its not one part its another. Have woeful sciatica since doing hamstring and calf work at the weekend. It puts me right off doing any kind of stretching and yet i know its my lack of flexibility that is a large part of my tendency to wear things out prematurely.
Think I will just stick with roller and massage for a while.

Cant wait to run again tonight

hot to trot

9.2Km 59Mins

Run 5' : walk 1' NO problems.

I put a question up on marathon club members question area. I would be grateful for an opinion.
Thanks

hot to trot

Bummer, I forget the details.
It was only about half an hour or a bit more ?. Daughter wanted to take up running for lent so we did 3:1 run/walk . did about 4.5km. Was awfully tired today.Sleepy , dehydrated and Detox for lent and no stimulants

Friday 26 lengths of pool.

ADVICE NEEDED

Currently doing 3-4 days a week running. Now at 5:1 run/walk ( mostly) covering about 9km or an hour. NO problem , no stiff muscles yet or any soreness . Achilles has longstanding chronic degeneration but no risk of rupture ( MRI) . have also done 4x one mile run with no issues at all .

So with a view to getting to marathon distance safely asap, Do I ...


Stick with 5:1 and gradually increase the distance for all runs , say add 1km each run , until I am managing greater distances comfortably before dropping the distances and walking less.


Stick with 5:1 and stay with weekday runs of 9km and increase the weekend run by a mile a week for 3 out of 4 weeks( drop back week)


Increase the 5:1 to 7:1 and stick with hour time , until running 10:1


Final option stick with 5:1 doing 9km during the week and at the weekend run as many intervals comfortably as I can to see what my actual base level is and work out a schedule from there.

hot to trot

26 lengths of pool am

9km in 1:07 Did 3:2 because was with other beginners.

hot to trot

Fin connection broke as I was about to get into the sea , So had to borrow fins that didnt fit properly. Had hard hard fin and all muscles working max.Did a lot of self massage on calves and achilles after.

Feel so down and have no little psychological pick me ups or running to keep me in form with lent and restricted running.Bah.

diddleyland

fair play to you for keeping going, you motivated me to get thru portumna marathon last yea:Dr after cramp at 11miles:mad:, i made it to the finish, but you encouraged me for so much of it!!! you are a running goddess DO NOT FORGET THAT:D:D:D:D:D

hot to trot

Thanks for that D.
Will have to check the photos to identify you . I don't remember that at all.:o
That was the breaking point for my poor Achilles I think. It only felt stiff and tight rather than pain , so I didn't recognize the symptoms at the time. Previously anything before that either hurt or niggled.

hot to trot

7km 45 mins. Run /walk 5:1

Have decided to keep weekday runs short and gradually ramp up weekend run, following Jeff Galloway style plan. Should get me to marathon distance ( all going well) by late summer/Autumn

hot to trot

28 lengths of pool.

hot to trot

7km :49 Did 5:1 run/walk.

Wednesday 28 lengths

Thursday 10k 1:08 Did first 5k with daughter going 3:2. then did an extra bit doing mostly 5:1 but put a few spurts on for a few of the 5 minute bits. Felt grand.
Jut wondering if it would be total folly to do the limerick marathon given that they are allowing walkers to do it .

Friday swim 28 lengths

Aimman

hot to trot wrote: »

Jut wondering if it would be total folly to do the limerick marathon given that they are allowing walkers to do it .

Are you planning on walking or running the UL Bridge?

How comfortable do you think you'll be doing the full 26M if you have to do some walking?

hot to trot

Will see how training goes up to then. I will be doing walking for most of the year I reckon , just to be sure that I can get fit and stay injury free. As the year goes on , I expect to drop some of the walking.

I might not make it as far as the bridge but have been really working hard on my phobia and did managed to get ( dragged ) across it last year:D This actually was the main reason I would think about not going there. But Belfast doesn't stay open as long and I wouldnt have enough running to get within cut off time. Might have to stick to 10k race that weekend.

Realistically I wont make it by then, but feck it I need to have something to think about :rolleyes:

hot to trot

Dont have garmin with me but did about 11km. Did 5:1 again. Went well.

Sunday Went on my holidays

When I finally got settled into my accommodation I put the old runners on and went for a shuffle along the seafront. Passed a few runners heading the other direction but didnt get much reaction from my little wave and nod. I plan to do a parkrun here on Saturday , so perhaps I might see some of them again. There arent a lot of runners around , that I have seen so far.
When I turned around the wind nearly sliced layers off my face. The wind chill is breathtaking. Should have worn my buff. Did 10.6km


Monday, lent continues So i made my way to the local outdoor pool at 7.30am . Naturally heated with geothermal energy it was awesome to be under the sky in warm water plugging away. I managed 52 lengths this time and when I finished i soaked in one of four smaller pools of varying temperatures. 36-38 degrees , 38-40 x2 and 42-44 being the hottest . Then sitting outside with the snow falling and the sun coming up to cool down and then back into the hot pool again. Stayed there until I became a total prune and hot to my core.
The swimming instructors were dressed like yetis , standing on the pool side as if they were preparing to climb Everest. While the little kids were running around in their togs.
There were steam rooms as well but havent gone into that area yet.

So, walked about a thousand miles later that day . Or at least it felt like it . Temperatures werent so bad 2-4 degrees but the wind made it feel colder. Everyone dressed appropriately for the weather - even the teens so there wasnt anyone freezing in hoodies but had lovely warm weather trendy gear. Wish it was like that at home.

Tuesday, Back to the pool again at 7.30am This time the ould wans , not a day under 70 were doing an aerobics class pool side and doing stretching and stuff while I plodded out another 28 laps. The tour I planned on doing today has been postponed so have had a day off unexpectedly. I should run , and want to , but the snow has just started to come down heavily into lovely big clumps. Last few days the snow was more like rain. this is now like Irish snow. Big fat fluffy clumps of it . I used to love running around in it last year with my mouth wide open catching them. I must have looked like a total spastic running down the road, with my head back zig zagging like an escapee from a detention centre.:eek:
Wont get to run til Saturday? So perhaps I should man up and get changed and go out in it now . Am away for next 2 days and then I will be diving on Friday , so no running after diving.

Feet are tired after walking around in hiking boots for another 3 hours today but want to keep consistency up. Might just do a 5k or something ..
Right ...better get doing it so .:D

hot to trot

Ok. havent been logging but have been jogging

Still doing run/walk for longer runs and can do continuous running for shorter distances 3-5 miles.
Doing 4:1 or 5:1 for longer runs. Did 19 miles this morning. Got lost , so ended up going farther than expected. Legs fine though . tired at end but after feed and rest , as good as new. Much more confident that I will make it back .

Big feed post lent. Yum:D

menoscemo

Great stuff F.
Have you pencilled in a marathon re-debut yet?

hot to trot

Dont know when to chance it . Would love to try Limerick as its open to walkers so generous cut off time , so I could take it nice and easy. Also, have day to recover before back to work. The university bridge would be a bit of a turn off though.
Have lots of patients doing Belfast but would be under more pressure.

Part of me says to be patient and leave it until End of May or June. Dont really know what to do .:(
Will check marathon club website to see if there is a small one I could try first.
What do you think?

menoscemo

hot to trot wrote: »

Part of me says to be patient and leave it until End of May or June. Dont really know what to do .:(
Will check marathon club website to see if there is a small one I could try first.
What do you think?

I'm sure taking it slowly would be the ideal approach so maybe limerick would not be sensible. Besides Aimman told me about your experience with that bridge last year
What about Cork? Gives you an extra month to get ready.

hot to trot

Daughter starts Junior cert 2 days after Cork. Its a long way away from Mayo to drive back after the marathon . Newry day before is more do-able and I know i know there are no surprises on the route:o

hot to trot

Not great at logging these days.
Did 10k in Titanic quarter with daughter. It was her first race. I got her over the line in a strategic 1 hour and 1 minute. So now she is desperate to go back and have another go to get rid of the minute . Smart me.

Next day did 11.5 km in an hour with no walks.

Few more runs in between and another 19 miles yesterday at 5:1 run /walk..Took about 3 :10hours Hams a bit tight today but no soreness anywhere .
Going to try to be patient and hang on as long as I can for marathon rebirth. Outside wait is Portumna mid June. WIll try to have walk breaks down to every 10 minutes by then. So kind of new goal.
Started cross training today . Have decided on long term goal too so that will help keep me focussed.

hot to trot

More runs including a hilly 21k last weekend. Then three days ago I Had a friend bring me around the Keenagh loop - a 12 k hillwalk . First time off road so now that I know it , I can put on my trail shoes and practice doing a few sections of it on a run.


Did Ballina Half marathon yesterday. Was sooo unbelievably nervous. More than any race ever ( except from very first race). But like an angel Dave Brady appeared out of the small crowd at the start and settled me right down.
Couldnt decide whether to just jog it out the back or see how leg/fitness was getting on . Hadnt had any leg issues for weeks so reckoned I wasnt risking anything here.

Went out faster than expected but stuck with plan of 1 minute walk every mile. Had difficutly holding back and by mile 5 my heart rate ( found the strap this week ) was up to late 170's and early 180's. My total max is about 192ish.
Thought I would crash and burn but the one minute walk breaks helped the recovery well. Im sure people must have been wondering what the hell I was doing as I passed them and they passed me .If it wasnt for having to stop 3 times near the end to get stone out of my shoe, I woulndnt have been passed much at the end. Pace was pretty good for run portions, so this was like a training session with 13x 1 miles tempo intervals

Overall time was 1:56 I think. Heart rate was at max for last few minutes and puked coming over finish line. Am not used to bottles and drinking at set intervals. Definitely will go back to old system of carrying my own on a belt and sipping as I want.

Funnily enough I think this might be my second fastest half. Perhaps I might start doing speedwork now again.

And why did I take walk breaks when I could have run the whole lot continuously?,,,,, not sure I am up to that much continuous running yet. Will get a few run/walk marathons out of the way before i try it .

Whooohoooo its great to be back.:p

woody1

hi hottotrot
see you ran the keenagh loop, is it well marked / runnable.. its close enough to me and im looking for a reasonable off road loop
good going in ballina, at 1.56 if you were walking bits i probably passed you.. and then you passed me.. etc

hot to trot

Hi Woody,
Delighted to make contact with another runner down here . If you know any other runs that might help me on my "mission possible" feel free to contact me . Just trying to dip toes into off road stuff to prepare for some off road races. still slow, but am keen

hot to trot

Well after knackering my quads early in the week with too many lunges and squats and only doing a few short runs I headed to Donegal for this inaugural event. As usual my reports are marathon in length as well . But take it or leave it , this is my latest offering....

Rockin and Rollin Extreme Marathon, Donegal May 20th 2012


Well, my first marathon after being off for a year came about this weekend. I restarted in February after zero activity since last June and gradually worked my way back to running with the run/walk/run strategy and swimming 3 times a week.
Though many scoff at the walk breaks , they got me nicely through a few 19 milers very comfortably with no difficulty or muscle soreness and I was keen to start covering the marathon distance again. I wasnt worried about rushing it as on these long runs my ratio or run:walk is quite conservative at about 5:1 so its cushy enough. The Plan is to get a few of these in and gradually bring it to 10:1 and then phase it out as required. So far its working a treat. I havent done any hill or speed work yet . I decided to wait until I can cover the distance comfortably first.

I couldnt wait for the Portumna race with all the gang so I decided to try one beforehand to test it out. This date suited me perfectly. And so off with me to Donegal. I did wonder about the gradient but it looked hilly at the start and pretty harmless after that. Plan was to take it handy and just do my 5:1. Not worry about anyone else and just cover the miles.
I had been injury free apart from the occasional tearing sensation in my right calf where my achilles went nasty on me , and recovering quads after too many lunges earlier in the week in an attempt to strengthen the legs a bit faster. Neither of which forced me to stop or alter training. I was ready.
Anyway....

The evening before, I drove the route. Not sure if that was a mistake or not. It certainly put the fear of God in me and I wondered if I was going to be able to manage it. I changed the plan to ...walk the hills and then just start running the rest of the race as you would normally do a training lsr.

We gathered at the top of Kinnego hill in the cold wind. This was the end of the first third for the ultra marathonners and they would have been well tired after a long hard trawl up the hill to this point.
Clock started and we all started off at a very slow jog , mindful of the steep downhill ahead. It is long known that I struggle bigtime with downhills. I just take off and have no control and run in fear hoping I dont fall and break all my bodyparts, as my legs try to keep up with the fall and my arms wave and flail about like a drowning victim. I have tried all the techniques suggested and still have no joy trying to manage it .

And so it went this time as well. I was chatting to Paddy “ Jesus” Cunningham ( eventual marathon winner ) who was easing along beautifuly when gravity grabbed me and threw me down the hill. Im sure the others must have wondered what the hell I was doing as I careered headfirst down the steep twisty road about .7 miles to the bottom. On cold legs travelling at a pace never encountered before ... average 5:35mm for a 10mm runner !! and according to my garmin stats – a fastest pace of 2:10mm , although probably only for a few metres. By the time I was spit out the bottom of the incline my quads were killing me. Felt all crampy and tight. Tried to stretch them but no joy so thought they would loosed out as I went on.
Then the uphill on the other side of the valley. Ah Gawd this was steep too and I couldnt even get my heels down as I slowly walked up. By the time I got half way up my calf on the dodgy side has this awful tight/ tearing sensation again , so I tried to walk a bit sideways , backways and all kinds of ways to ease the strain. Everyone eased passed me up the hill. Then another downhill and another upill to take us to 3.5 miles approx. By this time I was totally trashed. Quads were minced and calf muscles were burning and cramping.

After this it was reasonably flat. I think almost everyone had tootled past effortlessly by now including brave Tanya who was doing her first marathon. Holy God !On this course. Everything else will be PB for her.
So , was it wise to continue? I decided to wait a bit longer to see if the legs would ease out. I knew they were good for at least 20 miles so thought things might improve. And I was only going for a finish. I started my Comrades survival strategy. Run 60 steps /walk 30 and so I got going again . My mantra became... Getting fitter / getting stronger/ rocking and rolling / all day long.!!! Repeated about a million times.
Graeme Colhoun breezed passed me and asked me to run with him for a while. Er sorry Graeme but I was struggling to run 10mm and was taking breaks every 2-3 minutes. He looked so comfortable with legs kicking high behind him as he swallowed up the distance and disappeared on ahead to become the eventual winner by a good stretch. Was lovely to meet him again after our initial encounter in the inaugural 24 hour race in Belfast 2 years ago.

And so began the long survival trudge to the finish. Every mile marker was a triumph. The legs did not get one whit easier although the calves didnt feel as tight and the walking helped them. Joy at reaching mile 6. Only 20 to go . I recovered enough to run 4 : walk 1 but apart from managing a 7 minute stretch when passed by the runner up ultra man , Mc Kinney outside Malin, I again fell behind.

The course was beautiful and I had more time to appreciate it than anyone else .LOL Stunning scenery and for the most part very quiet roads, part of the Inishowen 100 route. The main roads were awfully quiet too for a Sunday in May. The roads were well marshalled and marked throughout with water tables every 3 miles I think.
At about mile 15 a woman on a bicycle pulled up beside me .I nodded and waved back. “hows it going?,how are you feeling where are you from , do you like Donegal , How do you find it here...????.” , I thought she would not stop interviewing me! It was funny though. There was a bicycle race coming the other way also and the cyclist were great for encouraging me to keep going; united in our slog for a healthier fitter lifestyle haha.

Eventually at mile 20 on another shorter downhill when I legged it down again , very painfully, I passed a lovely young Dublin girl in a white tshirt aned blue shorts. She had passed me on about mile 3-5? and I had almost caught up with her numerous times only to fall back on walk breaks. I was determined to stay in front of her. I dug deeper and although I did a fair bit of walking I eventually got to the final stretch with a truly beautiful coastline to ease the pain . I was passed by the third ultra runner with cyclist accompanying who directed me to the beach for the final leg. 1.5 miles or so along the beach. Would love to have run it all but had to keep walking and running until i finally made it across the line.

I never even noticed the finishing timing clock and my garmin had died about mile 24 so dont know what my finishing time was. I was so thrilled to finish. A great achievement for me as it was pure mental strength that got me to the finish. I have run many marathon and ultras where I did not feel anything as bad at the finish as I felt at mile 3! But I managed to endure! It has to stand to me in the future. I know that I can keep going when the body is resisting. In fairness to the old body , if I thought for one minute that I had reinjured the leg I would have stopped and got a lift back but I knew it didnt feel any more damaged than usual apart from the deep fatigue and general sickening pain of microdamage and lactate insult.

Into the sea for a quick icing of the calf muscles. Too big a wave to get quads in . Then up to the hotel for a shower in the spa and a buffet of sandwiches, sausages and sausage rolls and eventual prizegiving.
We got a lift back to Moville from Ballyliffin and then the long drive home. I could hardly press the clutch the quads were so shot!

I highly recommend this race. It is scenic, challenging and a fabulous alternative or companion to Connemara. I could see many doing Connnemara as warm up race for this event. Somehow I will do it again .
IF I could change one thing it would be to stay in Ballyliffin the previous night so my car would be handy for the home journey after the event .Then take a bus/lift to Moville in the morning for the start.
Now if only I could figure out how to get downhill...

hot to trot

No running yet but progress is being made. Came down stairs facing forwards today. Hope to be able to do it tomorrow without holding on to bannisters.
Not buckling as much on walking either.

If things go as well as this tomorrow might break out and try a 3 miler

ultraman1

well done h2t, must be good to get a sneaki mara under ur belt..

hot to trot

Defintootly Ultraman. Walking less like a competition walker today
Just regular stiffness now so will definitley go for jog later. Can hardly wait. When are you off ?

ultraman1

hot to trot wrote: »

Defintootly Ultraman. Walking less like a competition walker today
Just regular stiffness now so will definitley go for jog later. Can hardly wait. When are you off ?

whistle goes at 4 o clock today two weeks:eek:

hot to trot

Will follow and support you as best we can from here .

hot to trot

24th May 6km :41. very slow recovery jog. Legs didnt buckle:D

26th May 16km 1:41 slow run/walk. one minute for every mile. Calf/achilles still not settled down. HOpe I havent done damage to it again.

Not fit to run in heat today.

hot to trot

Sneaks back to log

Well I kept at it and am progressing well.
Since May I managed ....

An accidental 98k at 12 hour in Bangor
Dervock Marathon
Killeigh Marathon
Salthill Marathon ran 30k with no walk breaks. First time this year.
Longford marathon 4:34?
Donegal Quadrathon 4:41, 4:31, 4:44 and 4:13 ( PB this year)

The 4 marathons one after the other made a huge difference to Achilles/Calf. Its like it melted/broke down scar tissue and repaired/stretched feeling much more like the other leg than it has for nearly 18 months.
Confidence that it isnt going to rupture any time soon is also high . IF it didnt come a cropper after all those huge hills in Donegal, its much stronger than it has been.Especially as it has been almost painfree since the day after the last marathon.

So , down to the business of trying to get faster again . Sigh, wasnt I here two years ago in this exact place



Sunday ran Sligo Half marathon route. Did 14 M 2:22

Tuesday did 8 or 9 miles( getting forgetful !!) with 7 at 8.13mm which is the fastest I have been able to run in yonks. Felt comfortably stressed. 5 of them were at 85% WHR/HRR. Last mile 9.40 ish

Have been running metric since summer but had to change garmin back to imperial to get used to it for pacing Sligo half marathon.

I have also started some gym/personal training. Have nearly torn the muscles off my shoulder trying to improve my flexibility and legs are like lead but will keep at it

woody1

fair play on the 4 marathons in donegal, i was in with you the week before you were doing them and was wondering how you got on,
how did you find the hill on the sligo half route, you were checking it out to see how itd affect your pacing