To Hell In A Handcart

MKDTH

Please skip unless very very bored (the first bit is for those who are not aware of my history from the Novice thread).

My Running history

Just to fill in the blanks, I only started running in May and had trained well until August when my Knees started playing up leading to pretty much no training throughout August and September, followed by three weeks of training with a three day gap between each run.This was to keep my knees from being over used.

Motivation

My main motivation to start running was to keep to a normal level of weight so that I could enjoy food without looking like a Whale. I succeeded in doing this by starting off at 193lb and finishing on 181lb on the day of the Marathon.
I also feel that my mind has improved due to the exercise regime.

It was also a bet placed with a work friend that I would beat him in the Marathon. Although some 11 years younger than me, I figured he would not go through with it, but if he did, it would give me someone unfit to gauge my progress against. Sadly he never really started his training, however with the encouragement of fellow work friends and decent runners Yaboya and Calvin Johnson and the introduction of this forum, I kept my training going. My brother had also ran a few Marathons with dodgy knees leading me to believe that my previous knee injuries could be overcome.

Racing History

Malahide Park run after four weeks small training
27:49

Clontarf 5 miler after 7 weeks training
47:35 (run it with injured shoulder)

Swords 10k after 10 weeks training
57:25 (my only run that I was happy with and fully fit)

PP 10Mile after 14 weeks training although had hardly run in three weeks leading up to this
1:41

PP Half Marathon after 18 weeks training although no real training done in the previous 7 weeks leading up to this
2:23


Injuries
In my 20's I had suffered from painful knees from playing on hard pitches in the spring time in most years of playing Football. I had also suffered with very restrictive and tight calves again on spring time Football pitches when the ground was hard. This was always my main fear that would cause me to not make it past a few miles worth of training in my new running career.

These old injuries held firm until I over did training by doing five days running in a row to catch up for a lost two days. This at first just annoyed my calf, but then after a few days rest, my next run had the pain coming from my left knee more so than my Calf.

From then on, rehabilitation and Ultrasound from the Physio had been the main time consumer with 1 and a half hours stretching and strengthening exercises to be done each day to help the diagnosed patellar tendonitis. No running was aloud besides running to two lamposts, walk to lamposts for a maximum of a few miles each day and maybe build it up as the days went by. This was soul destroying, however, the bright light was that the Physio was still happy for me to run the Marathon!!!!!!

The ten mile race dented my confidence as although managing to get around without stopping, my knee locked afterwards and I was walking around like a disabled person for days afterwards.

Nothing changed in the next month and the Half Marathon race was similar with the only difference being that my fitness had gone much to my disgust!

I visited the first aid tent after the race to see if they could give me anything for the once again locked left knee giving me a straight leg that would not bend! One of the on duty Doctors took a look at my knee and diagnosed a small tear in my cartilage which sent me off for visit to the doctor a few days later, followed by a MRI scan which showed up that I did indeed have the tear.
I was lead to believe that a minor operation would need to be done before the marathon thus meaning for about the fourth time since May i was out of the Dublin Marathon!
However when I visited the consultant, he was happy for me to run the marathon as long as I had a knee brace, and gave me a later date for the minor op.


And finally onto the Race!!!!!!!

Dublin Marathon 2014

Weekend Build up

I had managed to somehow get myself to the race weekend, all be it well short of anything like full marathon fitness. I collected my number on the Saturday Morning and then had a full days work until 10pm that night.
I was told that Saturday night was the key nights sleep ahead of the Marathon as you can never sleep the night before due to nerves.
Sunday was long and dull just waiting for the day to pass and sure enough I only managed a few hours sleep despite going to bed at 9pm!

Next morning I was up at 5.40am, had two buttered toast along with two bananas giving me plenty of time to go through my now usual pre race toilet routine.
My Taxi was booked for 7.40 which gave me 20 mins to fly through the empty Bank Holiday Monday streets to near the start where I was due to meet Yaboya and Calvin Johnson for a pre race get together to wish each other luck on what were very different goals.
I managed to text the boys to let them know of my cab issues and wished them luck ahead of some meaty targets ahead of them, they didn't need the extra stress of waiting around for me even if I was eventually their by 8.20.

7.40 came and went as did more precious mins until I ended up hailing a cab down at 8.05 with stress levels increasing all of the time - just what you need before a race! My cab finally showed up a full 50 mins late at 8.30 and called asking where I was, thank goodness I managed to get another cab!

I was well wrapped up in my race gear with gloves, frank duffy hat, jogging bottoms and hoody unaware that it was a warm morning in my own zone just trying to keep everything warm.
Hat and gloves came off and were left with my change of clothes at the baggage area.
As others have mentioned the lady at the baggage area mugged us right off saying loads of toilets were awaiting at the start area, I ended up going behind a van, luckily only needing a number one!

The Plan

I had been toying with many ideas of how to set off, maybe just setting off at the back as I did in the last two races and seeing how I felt as the race progressed.
I also had a crackpot idea that my exercises in the past two months had meant my hamstrings gave me a much longer running stride now so should set off with longer strides meaning I may find myself with the 4:40 pacers until my fitness showed its ugly head!
In the end I decided to go with the 5:00 pacers as this would give me more protection against the wind. I had a 5:00 pacing band to assist should I lose sight of them at any stage

The Race

I found my way to next to one of the five hour pacers before the start and had a chat and established that he was not on the boards, for small chat I also asked about pacing up and down hills and was assured it would be a even pace. Not ever followed a pacer before, I was intrigued to see how this would go.


Mile 1-7
The Race began at last with me deciding to line up to the right side of the road as that seemed to be the shortest route over the first few miles. We set off, with the pacers on the opposite side of the road before our run turned to a walk as we made the first turn. We soon got going into a nice steady pace again. Worrying I broke sweat within the first mile, maybe it was the sight of me being level with the 4:50 pacers already?
At the 3 mile mark I looked at my wrist band and noticed that I was already two mins ahead of the 5:00 pace and had a crafty look over my shoulder as we went over the liffey with the 4:50 and 5:00 groups behind me.
Having read Tungaska's write up of the Course and also discussing my plan on the Novice thread, i had it in my head to walk up the hills so once in PP decided to walk up the steepest part and have a gel which would give the pacers a chance to catch up and hopefully give me a chance to cover up against the wind.
I got going again, and about half way up PP, the 4:50 pace group finally went past which made me happy as it meant the 5 hour group were getting closer. I decided to let them go rather than use them as cover as I really wanted to with the five hour group. On the way past me, two ladies from the group made comment of my boards name on the lower back of my shirt, it sounded like they were boards members, but failed to say hi. Maybe not my biggest fans!
10k marker 01:09:27

Mile 7-16
I was still hoping the 5 hour group would catch so again walked up the hill after Castleknock, then took my second gel coming up the hill again walking coming back into PP.
I then again started running and finally after about 8 miles was in the 5:00 group. My legs were not how expected so after staying with them until the tunnel I backed off again and walk up the hill.
I was then a few hundred meters behind for a few miles before another hill had my mind telling me to walk once more. I met Ciarenmac somewhere around this point but sadly after a brief chat told him I was stopping again to walk up another bloody hill. I was then aware that he must be suffering in some way as over the next few miles I kept seeing him in the distance and not really pulling away. Took another gel near crumlin road, felt like a pussy walking this but my legs though we had finished by now as they were not used to all of this walking crap!
02:31:31 Half way

Mile 16-26
Most people around me were employing walk/run tactics now. I think that mentally this made it easier for me to give in and do the same. I said a quick hello to a fellow Englishman wearing a Newquay shirt which cheered me up as I ran past him. He then grumbled at me for stopping a few hundred meters later as he was using me as a target.

I saw the 15 bus around the 17 mile marker and the soft part of me would of loved to jump on it as it goes right by my place! I was now in a daze with no real injuries thankfully, but my usual drive and determination was no where to be seen. I was in a daze, just walking up the slightest incline and even some flat parts at this stage while gobbling up any sweets the kind crowds were giving out. I found that I was running the parts with crowds in and loved the encouragement of them shouting out my name, but then I would stop and walk again on the quieter stretches.
30k marker 03:51:06

By this stage the bits that I was walking went on and on during long stretches of tiny hills, my walking was so slow that fast walkers were keeping up with me even though I was jogging some and then walking some!
I finally got some energy once wandering up 'The wall' but was now sensing that large parts of the earlier crowds were diminished which was not helping my mood. I knew that after 'the wall' it was supposed to be all downhill started running again before it slightly ramped up a tiny bit up to a junction giving me the chance to stop again.
We were then over the bridge and i started again with the plan of getting to water station which a spectator said was a few meters around the corner. When I turned the corner I could not see any water signs and promptly downed tools again despite this now being downhill. I got to the water station and once again started running a few hundred meters and walking a few hundred meters. Every first aid tent had people wrapped up in blankets and on stretchers which was worrying, but I kept going and was almost feeling like I could run to the finish just past where I collected my number. I then turned the corner to collide with a stupid Women embracing a man and just running back to the curb. I was so angry, shouted some abuse and she apologised. I was maybe a little harsh, but I had got a bit of precious momentum again, and that brought me to a standstill and worse still caused my calf to scream!!!!
After 50 meters I got going again and when I turned to go up the hill by the pub called beggers bush? I noticed people holding flags ready to run the last bit to the finish so volunteered my help if I could hold the English one which they let me to my joy. I then realised we were just standing their whilst the clock was still ticking so close to the finish, so i gave the flag back and run on only to see the flag wavers with many still up ahead of me start to run into to the finish! Why could i of just waited another few seconds and I would of got to parade my precious St Georges cross over the finish line???
Once over the canal i lengthened my stride and started overtaking people who were mainly the flag wavers before trying to kick for the line and finishing in a whopping five hours forty five!!!!!
I then caught my breath back bent over with my hands on my knees only to notice my fellow Englishman next to me in the same manner gasping for air!
Official Chip time 05:45:28

Thoughts after the Race

I was very emotional after as this meant a hell of a lot to me, all be it in an awful time! I nearly even shed a tear!
I know a lot advised me not to run, but I'm glad I did it. If I got run over by a bus tomorrow, I can at least say I did the Marathon!
However I am bitterly disappointed at my mental state during the race. I failed to show any drive or determination. I honestly don't see why I can't of done that in at least twenty mins quicker at the very least!
The journey this year has helped me stay fit and keep the weight off. I have learned know a large amount of useful information which can only help me improve.

The Future

I have a minor operation to look forward to on Monday on a small tear in my knee. Hopefully the recuperation goes to plan and gives the rest of my body a chance to heel in order to put me bang on to be fitter and stronger when I return to running in the New year. This has not put me off one bit and besides the 10k, I have very soft PB'S to beat. MK Half and Full Marathons await and then some unfinished business to deal with at DCM 2015!!!!!! Oh and I never ever will stop up a bloody hill ever again!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you to anyone taking time out to read such a huge amount of drivel

Pacing Mule

Will be following with interest.

Calvin Johnson

Good luck!

MKDTH

Well my legs are feeling better and I even ventured upstairs on a bus today.....was too scared to go upstairs before for fear of my jelly legs stopping working halfway down the stairs!
I'm very happy with the way my body has heeled after the Marathon with less pain than after most training runs over the past few months!

As a big fan of National Hunt Horse Racing, this is the perfect time of year for me to ease back from any running related things which gives me time to concentrate on trying to find some winners! (I need all the help I can get at finding them ).

I've started putting some thought into next year and some all important race dates as long as my injuries heel.

So far I've pencilled in the following

Raheny 5 Road Race
Sunday, January 25th, 2015 at 3pm.

Milton Keynes Half Marathon
Sunday, March 8th, 2015 at 10:45.

Milton Keynes Marathon
Monday, May 4th, 2015 at 10am.

Milton Keynes is my home town so is my number two pick with only the London Marathon being more important. I think I may have to wait a good few years to either run quick enough to qualify for it, or even get into it via ballot!

I will also get in a Park Run in Malahide or St Annes in January or February.

Maybe a 10 mile race in April if anywhere in Dublin has one? Yaboya tells me that Munster seems to host many more 10mile races than Leinster???
I'm not really keen on travelling to race in other parts of Ireland as I can jump on a flight to somewhere easy enough and race abroad for only a few more extra quid than if I was using Irish public transport!

No idea on which training plan to follow yet, but may look at tracking my heartrate.

One thing that won't change, is my diet! The whole point of running for me is still to keep myself looking trim and to eat as much crap food as I want besides each week leading up to a race when I tend to rein this in.

Feel free to post any thoughts below, and I don't mean thoughts with regards to my appalling spelling and grammar

MKDTH

Well, I had my Knee Operation and lived to tell the tale! I had never been put out before so I was a little apprehensive wondering if I would wake up on Monday morning afterwards, which thankfully I did

Back to work today as the recovery continues with me limping around everywhere. Three weeks of icing the knee and doing strengthening exercises are ahead of me now before I go back to the consultant to hopefully get the okay to return to running around Christmas time.

Another possibility is a similar operation on my right knee once my left leg is fully operational again. I've had the MRI scan but am still awaiting results. Lets hope that this is not necessary!

MKDTH

Injury update

I visited the Surgeon who carried out my minor knee surgery on my cartilage on Monday. I was told that my knee is still a little ginger but at a stage now where I can look at swimming and/or Cycling as a way of building up the knee again. So as someone who hates swimming I've signed up to the Dublin Bike Scheme and will bike into work each day.

I must say that considering it was a walk in, walk out type of operation, I've been a little disgruntled at the pace of the heeling process, so much so that I used an umbrella to lean on when walking in the first week. However things are improving, so much so that I have ventured upstairs on the bus last week after a few weeks of sitting downstairs with the grannies!
I've been doing daily exercises to help strengthen in and around the knee which appears to be helping.

The bad news of my trip to the surgeon is that the results were not as hoped on my right knee as my MRI scan which was done one week before DCM has revealed that I also have a small cartilage tear on this knee!
So due to this knee giving me hardly any trouble besides what felt like tendonitis, I have agreed with the surgeon to hopefully start running again in mid December and Marathon training a few weeks later. If I get any pain from the right knee, I will make contact and have to go under the knife again.

Apparently both tears are similarly placed in an unusual area of my cartilage, almost underneath rather than to the side of the cartilage like a more common tear.

During my month off from running, I have had the time to decide on a plan for my first half the year training which will be the boards 2014 plan. The idea behind this is to not go for a plan too hard on my body considering that I missed so much of training for DCM 2014. In effect, due to missing so much training for DCM 2014 I'm pretty much going into the new phase of Marathon training with my body still being at a novice standard fitnesswise.

I've also set out some targets for 2015 based around going under 4 hours during what will hopefully be two separate Marathon spells of training. I've used 3:59:59 as a Marathon target on the McMillan Calculator and then noted what times are needed over shorter distances to be on target over the longer distance.

PB's P/Mile 3:59:59 Marathon Mac Pace P/Mile

5k 28:54 9:18 24:38 7:56

5Mile 47:35 9:31 40:50 8:10

10k 57:25 9:14 51:09 8:14

10Mile 1:41:58 10:12 1:25:30 8:33

Half Marathon 2:23 10:58 1:54:02 8:42

Full Marathon 5:45 13:11 3:59:59 9:10


I'm planning on going out and buying a decent Running Watch soon and also using a heart rate monitor as suggested on the graduates thread.

So that's the New Years Resolutions all sorted.

Looks easy on paper, if I can stay injury free, hopefully it will prove to be

hillsiderunner

Good luck with the training; I'll be keeping an eye on it because I'm also heading for a spring marathon (April 12th for me) ... in my case I didn't even get to the start of DCM 14, but my injury is only minor, no surgery required. Hope it's the last of the operations for you, and that you can get on with building up a few miles.

MKDTH

hillsiderunner wrote: »

Good luck with the training; I'll be keeping an eye on it because I'm also heading for a spring marathon (April 12th for me) ... in my case I didn't even get to the start of DCM 14, but my injury is only minor, no surgery required. Hope it's the last of the operations for you, and that you can get on with building up a few miles.

Fingers crossed for you then. Whereabouts is your Marathon? (Just checked, not many hills in Paris, should be a breeze compared to Edinburgh!)

hillsiderunner

In fact the Edinburgh marathon goes out along the coast and is flat/slightly-downhill. But it is on at the end of May and it tends to be a hot day (not like the rest of the year when we are wrapping ourselves up in layers of wool, and getting blown over crossing the road...) So Paris it is :-)

MKDTH

Well this time next week, I should be able to run for the first time since DCM if all goes to plan!
It dawned on me today that I should probably go and get my gait checked as my stride maybe different after the operation! Beforehand, my left foot kind of pushed out to the left on each stride. Now that I had the tear removed from my cartilage, I assume I may not due this anymore which may deem my current trainers unsuitable?
I've still not managed to get out cycling or swimming so maybe another week before running will give my knee more time to strengthen up, although its feeling fine now thankfully.
During my exercises for my cartilage and tendinitis, I've worked out which exercise was previously causing my right hip to hurt in the summer so have erased that from my usual routine.
Hopefully before Christmas I shall run again!

MKDTH

Elverys had great deals on running stuff today of buy one, get one half price so I decided to get my gait checked again just to check there was no change after the operation.
No change, so i'm all set to start running again on Monday morning with a new outfit being very bright green/ yellow looking.

I weighed myself for the first time since dcm.... 7 weeks on and found that I've put on 10lb!!!! That'll be the non exercise and crap eating then

Ososlo

Best of luck getting back into it!

MKDTH

Wednesday 24th

2.5 miles at 11 min pace.

I'm finally running again!!!!!!
I got out in the early morning darkness of Christmas Eve with slightly cooler conditions than my last run (DCM). I had planned on going for a run a week earlier but decided to build up my knee a little more with some cycling.

This was the first time I got to try out my new watch although struggled to upload it onto Garmin so may see if Yaboya can assist when I see him at work on Saturday.

My thighs are feeling rather second hand since the run, but my knee is feeling fine now. I had a small ache during the run coming from the knee so i'll build up my runs slowly and foam roll later and also get on the exercise bike to continue helping the knee.

If all goes well, i will go for my next run on Saturday evening and may start the new training plan late as its due to start on Tuesday for the MK Marathon on May the 3rd.

All in all a great Christmas present

MKDTH

Well it was almost like Jack frost did not want me getting in any miles before my plan started on Tuesday! I figured the last thing i wanted to do was slip and injure myself after waiting so many weeks to run again so I kept things ticking over by Cycling for three of the days.
My knee had no pain or any other issues after the first run, however my thighs took three days to stop feeling so sore which was not what I expected.

Tuesday

I managed to get out just after dark hoping that most of the frost would of melted. This turned out to be wishful thinking as at least half of the run was done without any rhythm due to me tip toeing around the icy paths. The important thing was that this time my knee did not give my any issues throughout this run, and that I completed the first run of the plan on schedule. I am still very much in my early learning stages with my watch and had the pleasure of it beeping at me every 30 seconds throughout the run!

3 miles 35:43
Ave Pace 11:48

11:38
11:46
12:02

Wednesday

After Tuesday's run, I thought this may come too soon and was ready to miss this session. Feeling a little worse for wear after a heavy night on the drink, I decided that I really fancied going for a run to help with my hangover.
My legs were feeling fine this time and the plan called for 4 miles followed by 5 x 100 meter strides, however I decided this may be to much to soon so gave the strides a miss. Can anyone explain how to do them???? Do I stride out for 100 meters and then jog 100 meters before carrying on in a similar cycle?
During my drinking exploits the previously night I was around smokers and was really feeling my asthma on Wednesday but felt the run actually helped improve this.
I was playing about with my watch on this one so messed up the splits.

4 Miles 42:51
Ave pace 10:43

Thursday

I had to get out for a run today, I rarely go out on New Years Eve due to not liking the queues, people who can't handle their drink and the fuss of it all. (Happy New Year to those who do enjoy it though .

I therefore find that I have to start the New Year by being sober which feels fantastic when the majority are hungover! So I did some exercises based around my knee and then headed out late morning once the rain had gone.
This run felt much harder, and it was a real struggle keeping myself going against the wind and against my legs which were feeling the effects of the last two days.
The plan called for 3 miles, but I took a short cut home and only did 2.66 miles which earlier this week i thought I would of missed anyway.

2.66 Miles 30:38
Ave Pace 11:31

Splits
11:34
11:42
11:08 (Averaged as only 0.66 miles completed)

A rest day awaits on Friday or cross training, or 3 miles recovery. I think i'll do 15 mins on the exercise bike and a few miles walking.
Can anyone clarify how long cross training on a bike should be???

Saturday has 8 miles long slow run in store for me and the devil in me is eyeing up possible Park Run at Malahide as its quite rare for me to get a Saturday off for me to do one!
Its about two and a half miles to it from my place so would be perfect as that would pretty much be bang on eight miles including the 5k.
I'm also eyeing up a Park Run in two weeks when i'm back in England so may just wait for that.

Ososlo

MKDTH wrote: »

My legs were feeling fine this time and the plan called for 4 miles followed by 5 x 100 meter strides, however I decided this may be to much to soon so gave the strides a miss. Can anyone explain how to do them???? Do I stride out for 100 meters and then jog 100 meters before carrying on in a similar cycle?

Good explanations in this thread about strides and how to approach them.
Loads of other threads on the forum about them if you just search 'strides' on the AR forum.
I'd take longer than 100 meters to recover from them. I'd basically jog until I had my breath back fully before starting the next one.

MKDTH

Ososlo wrote: »

Good explanations in this thread about strides and how to approach them.
Loads of other threads on the forum about them if you just search 'strides' on the AR forum.
I'd take longer than 100 meters to recover from them. I'd basically jog until I had my breath back fully before starting the next one.

Cheers Ososlo, as reliable as ever

It sounds as though some do them before a race or before a session, while others do them at the end. Being lazy, I like the idea of doing them as part of the actual mileage for that session although i'm sure that that would be cheating.
I've just had a look at the plan, and after missing the 5 x 100 meters part of Wednesdays session, I am not due a similar one until four weeks time!
I think I will therefore replace this coming Wednesdays 1m W/U, 3M Pace, 1m W/D with 4m with 5 x 100 meter strides as I'm sure the speed part of things will come in handy at this stage with a 5k and 5m both coming up.

I've also decided not to do the Park Run on Saturday morning and instead do the 8 mile LSR as the plan advises.

MKDTH

Friday 2nd January 2014

The plan had this day down as a rest day, 3m recovery or cross training, so I opted for my exercise bike on the easiest level which is just like spinning.

Cycling 30mins.

Ososlo

Great to see that the knee isn't complaining lately. Hopefully the injury woes of 2014 are behind you!!!

MKDTH

Saturday

7 Miles Long slow Run

12:21
12:08
12:48
11:59
12:17
12:55
12:33

The plan called for eight miles, but there's nothing to be gained from pushing to hard after injury at this stage meaning i let myself off the last mile.

Sunday

2 Miles Recovery

14:00
14:15

Two miles as per plan when very hungover after drinking until 4 am. This would of been very easy to stay in bed as my sore throat I mentioned earlier this week has turned into a cold with a chesty cough. I don't recall ever having splits this slow without walking, pretty much jogging up and down on the same spot!

Week 1

18.66 Miles done for the first week of the plan, only 1.34 miles under the planned amount which i'm very pleased with when you take into account that I was unsure if I could start the plan or not on Tuesday!

hillsiderunner

Great you were able to do the 7miles!

Impressively slow on Sunday, but I guess in the hungover state it was truly a recovery run

MKDTH

Sunday Evening

30 mins foam rolling
45 mins knee exercises


Monday AM

10 MINS Cycling

Monday PM

10 Mins Cycling

Tuesday

I weighed myself today and have lost a small amount and now weigh in at 193lb, down from 195lb a week ago.

3 Miles easy today

11:08
11:24
11:19

This felt hard enough until the last half a mile when I started to feel strong which is a positive going forward!

Wednesday will see me tackle strides for the first time. I assume I do 4 miles easy and then 5 x 100 meters strides so will take Ososlo's advice and do a 200 meter jog in between each 100 meter stride.

Calvin Johnson

I think you would benefit far more from the faster run/session than doing strides at this stage.

MKDTH

Calvin Johnson wrote: »

I think you would benefit far more from the faster run/session than doing strides at this stage.

Cheers for the reply Calvin, I done the strides already by the time I noticed this.
I was planning on putting my Wednesday sessions back a week so will do the 1mile warm up, 3 mile pace, 1 mile cool down next Wednesday.

Calvin Johnson

Okay but don't try and catch up - if you miss a session, so be it. Just continue with the plan.

Are you entered for Raheny yet?

MKDTH

Wednesday

4 Miles Easy

11:50
12:01
12:15
11:55

Strides

5 x 100 meters, plus recovery in between

1 mile
11:14

5 miles in total averaging 11:52

I stayed at home through the morning awaiting for the rain to go away. I got away with staying dry for the first mile and felt great besides my rain jacket making me feel hot. That all changed in mile two when the heavens opened sideways with strong wind which made this fun!
By the 4th mile my legs started to feel really strong again as I sploshed my way through the puddles.
This was my first attempt at strides and really enjoyed them.

MKDTH

Calvin Johnson wrote: »

Okay but don't try and catch up - if you miss a session, so be it. Just continue with the plan.

Are you entered for Raheny yet?

I'm not really trying to catch up as such, i'm just putting it back a week. I will find a Wednesday session that I can drop soon enough that will enable me to catch up.

No not yet, I'll leave it as late as possible to enter to make sure that I am happy with my fitness etc.
I'm doing a park run in England the week before so will make sure that goes well first.

yaboya1

Are you sure the 2lbs you've lost isn't from your wallet after paying way over the odds for that Spurs ticket? :P

MKDTH

yaboya1 wrote: »

Are you sure the 2lbs you've lost isn't from your wallet after paying way over the odds for that Spurs ticket? :P

Hey its been three years since I last saw them so decided it was worth it, even if it is about twenty ott.
Its against Sunderland who have been known for a fair few clean sheets since Southampton spanked them so it could easily finish 0-0! :eek:

MKDTH

Thursday

3 Miles Recovery

12:41
12:13
12:15

I got caught in the rain again

Friday

Rest day/ Cross Training

I was going to use a Dublin Bike to cycle in, but was not keen on the wet seat, so gave this a miss meaning today is my first rest day without any running or cycling since Tuesday the 30th, unless it stops raining and the seats are dry when I finish work this evening.

Looking forward to my 10 mile long slow run on Saturday when I get to run home from work in the dark along Clontarf promenade. Normally this is a great run looking out to sea, hopefully the street lighting will make everything look fantastic from a far.

MKDTH

Saturday

10 Miles Long slow run

12:13
12:27
12:07
13:00
12:08
12:35
12:49
12:03
12:34
13:08

A strange run with the wind putting me off running the full length of Clontarf to Sutton along the sea meaning i got halfway along Clontarf and turned up a hill to Raheny. I then realised I was going to be home two and a half miles early meaning I had to start running towards Coolock once I got to Killester.
I also had to stop and pee at mile 3 and also mile 8 for some reason. I tried my first gel of this marathon cycle sampling the cola flavour for the first time which tasted nice........hopefully i'm not allergic to this like actual Coke Cola! I was soooo cold when running into the wind despite wearing running gloves I thought lumping around my rucksack would help keep me warmer but obviously not.


Sunday

1.45 Miles Recovery

This was supposed to be 2 miles recovery, but my legs felt stiff including my knee so I stopped early.

Week 2

22.5 miles run for week two, just half a mile less the plan specified.

A big week awaits in week 3 as I finally get to do a bit faster work with a marathon pace session planned for Wednesday and a 5k park run planned back home in Milton Keynes on Saturday. The MK course has a habit of flooding so i'm hoping for clear skies as less rain than appears to be forecast.

Pacing Mule

Are you a Yid ?

MKDTH

Pacing Mule wrote: »

Are you a Yid ?

Yes bud, Was a Spurs season ticket holder for 5 years in my early twenties. Very mixed up as I'm also MK Dons!!! Username Sussed out!

Pacing Mule

MKDTH wrote: »

Yes bud, Was a Spurs season ticket holder for 5 years in my early twenties. Very mixed up as I'm also MK Dons!!! Username Sussed out!

Good man !!! There's not many around here. Username explained but needs to be changed to THMKD

Do you know there is a Spurs supporters forum here ?

MKDTH

Pacing Mule wrote: »

Good man !!! There's not many around here. Username explained but needs to be changed to THMKD

Do you know there is a Spurs supporters forum here ?

Cheers, I'll follow it and may dip my toe in but will try not to as I tend to be quite opinionated on Football

MKDTH

I was just taking a look at how much mileage I would of done in comparison to the last time I did a 5k race.

Last time I had done 39.19 miles before the Malahide Park Run over four and a half weeks. Average 8.70 miles per week.

This time I would of done 53.16 miles before the MK Park Run in two and a half weeks. Average 21.26 miles per week.

So I would hope that I am in a better condition going into this race than last May and am looking to beat what should be a easy time of 28:54 although I have no idea what kind of pace I have in my legs as I've mainly been doing slow miles.

MKDTH

Sunday Evening

Knee exercises took about 30 mins

Monday AM

Cross Training - Dublin Bike Cycling 15 min

PM

Foam rolling 20 mins

Tuesday

3 Miles Easy

11:02
11:38
11:19
9:05 0.1 Miles to turn this into a 5k

34:58

I weighed myself as is my Tuesday morning ritual now and to my horror, i'm back to 195lb!
My portions have been getting very big and I have been giving myself a few to many treats so diet sensible eating starts on Monday,
I'm worried this extra weight may impact my race pace and effect my PB attempt on Saturday as i'm about 5lb heavier than I was when I did my last 5k, although I have more training miles under my belt this time around.

Pacing Mule

If you fancy a bit of company on a run some day let me know. Would be happy to chat Spurs and what worked for me weight loss wise.

MKDTH

Pacing Mule wrote: »

If you fancy a bit of company on a run some day let me know. Would be happy to chat Spurs and what worked for me weight loss wise.

Sounds good, I'll PM you to see when would be suitable.

MKDTH

Wednesday

5 Miles, 1 mile w/u, 3 Miles Marathon Pace, 1 Mile c/d.

10:56
9:31
9:52
9:50
12:03

Well this was fun to finally go a little quicker than training has so far allowed.

I had the virtual pacer setting on my watch for this with the plan being to be under 10:15 pace each mile which would be 4 hours 30 Marathon Pace, which at this point is the loose aim for the May MK Marathon.
The watch had the 5k measured at 30.30 on my watch which is encouraging ahead of Saturday's 5k with only 1 min 39 needed to beat my PB.

Luckily Clongriffin missed the most of the snow giving me the chance to run down to the park and do 0.90 mile laps of the Clongriffin park which allowed me to keep running without any roads to cross. In hindsight, I should of run this the other way around as I had the wind in my face for half of each lap, followed by a quarter of the lap in trees covering me when the wind should of been at my back meaning I only got the wind at my back for a quarter of each lap.

Hopefully the wind dies down soon for everyone.

MKDTH

Thursday

The plan called for 3 miles recovery, but I decided against doing this due to waking up with cramp in my left calf. As I recall, I got cramp last summer and then went out for a planned run and started feeling a niggle in my calf which get worse over the next few days, until oddly that niggle went away and was replaced by my knee flaring up. So the 3 mile recovery would of carried much more risk than reward imo.
I had had 12 alcohol free days so was not expecting to be awoken by cramp, which I normally only suffer from after a night out drinking!

So instead I did 20 mins on the exercise bike just on spinning setting so not to put to much pressure on.

So not the greatest preparation ahead of my first race after injury, especially when you consider that I was out drinking last night going to see Tommy Tiernan, only getting six hours drunk sleep which is never as good as sober sleep, then working all day today before flying to England late this evening and maybe only getting about 6 hours sleep tonight, but hey ho, I'll see how I feel in the morning before making a decision on if I run, snow is forecast in MK in the morning which could make it even more daunting.

MKDTH

Saturday

Milton Keynes Park Run

I was up at 7, 2 hours before the race started, had two white toast and a banana along with a isotonic lucozade.
I had a brief warm up of about a mile which I did partly without garmin as it struggled with a different country.

Warm up 0.6 miles 6:50

We found the start area with 5 mins to spare, so I had a quick pee to hopefully my stomach which was feeling very bloated.

It snowed an hour before the race, leaving a gentle sprinkle of it, plus a hard frost was down and half the race had to be run on grass.

29:55

Splits
9.34
9.31
9.57
0.52
Measured 3.13 miles

My calf was niggling most of the way so I doubt I'll be ready for raheny now.

MKDTH

So in future I need to eat earlier and run faster!

Ososlo

hope the calf is nothing more than a niggle. Good racing considering a lot was on grass.
Great workout even if you're not over the moon with the time.
I always avoid bananas now before races as I find it takes a long time to digest them. I stick to white carbs which are easily digested and leave 3 hours between eating and racing and it works well for me.

hillsiderunner

Start stretching the calf gently, MK, I think. Maybe a bit of foam rolling. I'll save you from reading paragraphs about calf injuries and stretches and exercises ;-)

You have a week for it to calm down, it might be fine ....

Pacing Mule

MKDTH wrote: »

So in future I need to eat earlier and run faster!

What time were you hoping for ? Did you just run to feel or run to a target pace ?

Echo the thoughts on the calf. Too early to be giving up Raheny yet !

MKDTH

Ososlo wrote: »

hope the calf is nothing more than a niggle. Good racing considering a lot was on grass.
Great workout even if you're not over the moon with the time.
I always avoid bananas now before races as I find it takes a long time to digest them. I stick to white carbs which are easily digested and leave 3 hours between eating and racing and it works well for me.

I've noticed similar issues to yourself with stitches after eating after about an hour and a half.
You learn something new every day and I learnt a few things which is what it's all about. Atleast I'm running again:)

hillsiderunner wrote: »

Start stretching the calf gently, MK, I think. Maybe a bit of foam rolling. I'll save you from reading paragraphs about calf injuries and stretches and exercises ;-)

You have a week for it to calm down, it might be fine ....

I've been foam rolling every Sunday or Monday so will continue with that, my marathon training and from last years experience know long slow runs are the key. I was hoping to do 12 miles when I fly home in the morning so will see how I feel.

Pacing Mule wrote: »

What time were you hoping for ? Did you just run to feel or run to a target pace ?

Echo the thoughts on the calf. Too early to be giving up Raheny yet !

I was thinking my only other 5k of 28:52 would of been beatable and was hoping for under 26. I run it by feel rather than flogging my guts with difficult conditions under foot, in my stomach and calf so lots of reasons to know I can still do that, however my legs should of felt stronger as I trained more than before my previous 5k.
By the way, went to the spurs game this afternoon which was a great one

MKDTH

MK Park Run After Thoughts

I'm back in Dublin after a great flight this morning with hardly anyone on it and no security queues for a change!

I seem to be worse than Jump Racing trainer Paul Nicholls when coming up with excuses for a poor performance, but here are a few others that may of affected my performance.............

From Tuesday onwards i've had to take 7 Prednisolone tablets each day for a non running medical issue. This has some strange side affects such as bloating and a possible moon face!
Although on Wikipedia I found the following information about it, which I thought may give me a better performance.

'Banned status in athletics
As a glucocorticosteroid, unauthorized or ad-hoc use of prednisolone during competition via oral, intravenous, intramuscular or rectal routes is banned under WADA anti-doping rules.[14] The drug may be used in competition with a TUE (Therapeutic Use Exemption), in compliance with WADA regulations. Local or topical use of prednisolone during competition as well as any use out of competition is not regulated.'

I also stayed at the family home the night before the run which can cause my allergies to become bad due to two cats and a dogs hair having a negative effect on my asthma.

So Raheny could be a good way of seeing if my two new possible excuses may of been the cause of the mediocre run. If my performance does improve, I may need to change my schedule so that I do a half marathon in Ireland, and stay in a Hotel the night before the MK Marathon to protect me from animal allergies.
I am off the above mentioned medication now so fingers crossed this also helps.


Sunday

Due to the frosty ground and the previous niggle to my calf, I decided against doing my long slow run today, instead foam rolling which felt great. I also did 25 mins on the exercise bike on level 5 to continue to build up me knee which is still showing no signs of any injury flare ups (touch wood).

I'm still keen on getting the LSR done but would need to get it done by 9:30 am in the morning and the weather forecast looks like jack frost may stop this once again so may get a chance to run home on Tuesday evening from 6pm.

MKDTH

Decision made, I am not going to do the Raheny 5mile or Enniscorthy 10k.

The reasons for this is that I ran the 5 mile and 10k races later on in my plan last year meaning that I would of been really up against it in trying to beat those times.

Instead, this will give me the chance to do a stable plan for the next few weeks without worrying about shuffling everything around in order to fit races in. I may look to do a few Park Runs over the next month to put last Saturdays race to bed.

Calvin Johnson

That makes no sense at all, why are you allowing one bad run to dictate things?

You need to practice running faster and a race is the perfect place to do so.

Pacing Mule

Calvin Johnson wrote: »

That makes no sense at all, why are you allowing one bad run to dictate things?

You need to practice running faster and a race is the perfect place to do so.

Have to agree. I know the schedule was getting messed around a bit with the races but at the same time the races are valuable practice too. It seems to me that you ran the last race without a clear strategy. Would you consider doing the races now as practice runs for race day pacing, fueling etc even if it's not PB attempting ? You're coming back from surgery. Treat it as post surgery PB running. There's still plenty to be gained running them.

menoscemo

Surely MKDTH needs more training less racing?
Only coming back from injury/surgery I wouldn't be looking to get any racing done at all, especially when not race fit. Training is needed to build a base to allow racing as part of the schedule further down the road.