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Monday: pilates
Evening plans changed so I was able to go to the Monday session after all. Skipped the sideline work because had been warned about similar by the physio, and did my sets of lunge dips instead alongside the class. Did the side bends with them and either that or something else upset the glute a bit, as I could feel the shin a bit more on the walk home. Left the strengthening for the next day.
Tuesday: 1000m freestyle (10x50m, 5x100m), scaled-down strengthening
The plan had the swim and the aquajogging both in for the morning, but had a full-day workshop at work and was worried I'd be falling asleep if I overdid things. So had decided I'd do the swim in the morning, and the aquajogging after work, since I wouldn't be going to pilates today after all.
swim: The lanes were getting swapped over when I arrived at the pool, and the lifeguard came over to tell me not to get into the medium lane I was aiming for (after directing me there) when he spotted there was still one of the club swimmers in there ... one who "has already qualified for Rio". So into the other medium lane. Felt things more difficult today and ended up doing 10 individual lengths on a 1:45 clock before I felt able to go for some 100ms, those on a 3:30 clock. Overall today's effort was harder than usual for my average pace, it felt a bit like intervals. Had been looking at the "Swimming for Tri beginners" thread at the weekend so I paid some attention to the swim-time for a couple of my 100ms for once - they were around 2:45 which is slower than any of the tri-people on the first few pages of that thread :rolleyes: ....
Full day of sitting in talks and listening to various visions for the future, and chitchat at the coffee breaks. No actual work done but by afternoon I was yawning my head off. Went home straight from work and pushed the aquajogging forward to tomorrow.
strengthening: did yesterday's stuff (such as it is in this scaled-down setting), plus of course the exercises for my back/glute etc. The left shin was quite nervy on the straight-leg stair drops... and slightly uncomfortable on the bent-leg version. Did them anyway, but not sure how good an idea it was. Will have to mention it to the physio as he had said the stair drops would be fine to do.
Wednesday: 1000m freestyle (4x50, 4x100, 2x200m), 60mins aquajogging
Was planning on swim-morning, aquajog-evening but when I got to the pool in the morning discovered the pool was going to shut for staff-training in half an hour. Happens every Wednesday from 9am-10am and I've been caught by this once before but had forgotten. So everything got left to the evening.
swim: Know I need to start moving up to continuous freestyle without taking breaks. So on the way to the pool this evening planned out my 1000m as 6x100m and 2x200m. Would have to start out conservative to get this to work. When I got there I wasn't conservative enough, and ended up with 4 individual lengths before getting going. After that, no problem with the 4 100ms. Was a bit worried whether I'd get the 200m in one go, but really wasn't that difficult at all, using proper pacing
. Would say I'm not far away from the continuous freestyle now and then I'll be able to cruise up and down the pool like the confident swimmers and even add the tumble-turns in (and I'll be able to time my 400m and compare it to the Tri-beginners unfortunately!).
aquajog: went to my locker and took out the belt and kind-of did the following session: 10mins w/u, then 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 mins "hard" with 1min easy in between each, then 10x(30sec sprint, 30secs easy), 6mins c/d. Ok, that has the modification that the middle 5mins gets done at "tempo" not "hard" but I haven't a clue what the difference between aquajog-hard and aquajog-tempo might be, except that I wad probably doing them all closer to tempo. Was working a bit, and did feel the difference from easy ... but it's very easy to be distracted by the lapping of the water and I had to jolt myself out of tranquility and remind myself to pick-it-up-again a few times. I've got the hang of the "sprint" pace now and definitely there's a difference in effort to hard/tempo.
Still, after 60mins of this, didn't feel tired at all. Walking home from the pool, a bit of shin stuff
. Always warms up after a certain amount of walking, and isn't even that sore, but I'd like this niggle to be gone ...
strengthening: not doing it, don't want to bother the shin again. Will do the hamstring stretch and the stuff for the SIJ/glute before bed.
| am | pm | actual
Mon 11th | - | scaled-down strengthening | pilates
Tue 12th | 1000m swim, 60mins aquajog | pilates| 1000m swim, scaled-down strengthening
Wed 13th | 1000m swim | scaled-down strengthening | 1000m swim, 60mins aquajog
Thu 14th | - | swim class and 60mins aquajog |
Fri 15th | 60mins aquajog | 40mins run? |
Sat 16th | - | strengthening |
Sun 17th | 65mins run? | - |
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Thursday: 1000m swim including swim class
Early to the pool before class and had time to do 2x50m, 3x100m freestyle before class. Had an eye on the clock again and noticed the first 100m came in a bit faster than Tuesday so used 3:15 as my clock for those with the actual swims coming in around 2:30 this time. Then swim class with lots of talking, "the physics of swimming" with Newton and Bernoulli, and around 400m of swimming. Pointed out another error of bringing my freestyle arms too close to the midline, so something to fix. 2x50m after class to bring the total up above 1000m.
Planned aquajogging not done (had been halfway into work this morning before I noticed I'd forgotten the aquajogging belt).
Friday: 16mins walk (5mins walk, 2x(1min run, 1min walk), 5mins walk)
Visit to the physio after work. Didn't feel that I was fixed at all, or even particularly better than the previous visit. Bum and peroneal nerve still giving a bit of trouble, though the soreness doing hip rolls had decreased. But despite that my responses to the physio tests were a lot better this time, so ... allowed to try running again. Walk-with-minor-running for tonight, and then nearly 30mins allowed Sunday, and then I can go for 40mins, 45mins, etc, but only every second day to start.
Did the first "session" late at night, followed by the sij/bum exercises (no didn't bother with the usual stretches for 3mins running .. (searches for rolleyes icon ...))
Saturday: 60mins aquajogging
Same aquajogging session as Wednesday's before the pool closed to public swimmers, just got it done with 5mins to spare. Still having a bit of trouble filtering-out the lapping water and focusing on keeping the effort sections hard enough :unsure:. No feedback from the shin or the glute but the odd twinge from the lower back of the other side. Those occasional twinges have been there for a couple of years on and off (and I think the cause of the glute stuff). Had meant to ask the physio if he's sure it's sij and not a slipped disc and forgot but will check at the final appt (will write it down).
Sunday: 31min run (2x(14mins run, 1min walk)) - 2.9miles @10:41 pace
Brilliant morning in front of the TV watching the London marathon and tracking international and local athletes.
Glute and peroneal nerve the best ever on the hip rolls today, nearly got through the whole set without putting the legs down. So no damage from the aquajogging yesterday.
Did my second "session" this evening. A bit too fast for a test run, but no pain except a couple of mild low-back twinges. 31mins instead of 30 because I was enjoying the first walk-minute and didn't notice it had crept up towards 2mins.
stretch: 2holds each side for most (everything that can't hurt the glute/sij).
strength: lunge dips, dynamic hamstring stretch.
| am | pm | actual
Mon 18th | - | scaled-down strengthening | pilates
Tue 19th | 1000m swim, 60mins aquajog | pilates| 1000m swim, scaled-down strengthening
Wed 20th | 1000m swim | scaled-down strengthening | 1000m swim, 60mins aquajog
Thu 21st | - | swim class and 60mins aquajog | 1000m including swim class
Fri 22nd | 60mins aquajog | 40mins run? | 16mins walk incl 3 1-min runs
Sat 23rd | - | strengthening | 60mins aquajog
Sun 24th | 65mins run? | - | 31mins run (2x(14mins run, 1min walk))
weekly total: 2.9miles
Plan for next week has no strengthening written in. Am going to see how Pilates feels and make decisions about what to introduce strengthening-wise based on that. Would not be doing two classes except Wednesday is a special "Pilates for runners" class booked a while ago. Have the next/last physio appt in two weeks and will run through the strengthening with him then to make sure.
| am | pm | actual
Mon 25th | 1000m swim, 60mins aquajog | pilates |
Tues 26th | 40mins easy | 1000m swim |
Wed 27th | | pilates
Thur 28th | 45mins easy | 1000m incl swim class |
Fri 29th | - | 60mins aquajog |
Sat 29th | 50mins easy | 1000m swim |
Sun 30th | 60mins aquajog | |
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Pilates of runners? sounds good! The tables didn't resolve...and you've just reminded me to book my Pilates class, thanks
"Pilates for runners" it says on my view. But that's probably auto-correct on your phone ...
Even the tables I did in the past don't look right any more (they don't have boundaries any more). But last night there was a while it was inserting a whole extra table (the two-week one from a couple of weeks back) into my post even though it wasn't in the source text
. That got sorted after a few re-submits. Am going to have to check out other logs to see if anyone has good tables in new-boards, and nick their format. 0 -
hillsiderunner wrote: »"Pilates for runners" it says on my view. But that's probably auto-correct on your phone ...
Even the tables I did in the past don't look right any more (they don't have boundaries any more). But last night there was a while it was inserting a whole extra table (the two-week one from a couple of weeks back) into my post even though it wasn't in the source text. That got sorted after a few re-submits. Am going to have to check out other logs to see if anyone has good tables in new-boards, and nick their format.
What is this new boards you speak of :pac: I'm never moving over to new boards! Yep that was a typo (:eek:) in my post, I've fixed it less the typo police (tang1 and aero2k) spot it.
Anyway, hopefully the Pilates for runners is as good as it sounds, let us know.0 -
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The tables didn't resolve...
Ah, now I realise what you (didn't) see! Switched back to "legacy" there ... tables now sorted, but will still be without the boundaries in new-boards I suspect.
PS Out-of-Ireland log-ins are getting shown the new site early it seems. You can view it yourself if you select "Responsive site" at the bottom of the page. I have sent them details of the bugs now. 0 -
Monday: 60mins aquajogging, pilates
May need to re-think my habit of writing-in pool sessions on Monday mornings, always seem to be more tired than any other day of the week
. Think this is the 4th week in a row I've promised and not delivered ....
Anyway, went after work instead. Not enough time for both swim + aquajog. So the same 60min aquajog session that I've been doing in past weeks. Think I got the pacing of the hard sessions a bit better today, had to get a drink of water partway through the pyramid section. Had realised I didn't need to swap to prescription goggles when I'm only aquajogging, so had the experience of clear vision around the pool without googles steaming up and digging into the skin. A lovely experience. And no need to shampoo the hair after. Will have an impact on my weekly planning I think.
Pilates: From pool to pilates, with a little shower of hail on the way. Bit of complaining from the left glute/shin in the side bends (and walking home after), not serious.
In Glasgow for work Tuesday and Wednesday, so less flexible schedule, and an early commute (will not type details to have regular commuters roll their eyes ....). Biggest achievement of the two days was finding empty rooms to do the sij exercises throughout the working day. Was not caught once.
Tuesday: 1000m swim
Not enough time to do the 40mins run before going to catch the train ... swim got done as planned in the evening though: 4x50m, 4x100m, 2x200m all freestyle. Went home via the chip shop and turned the heating on the minute I got in. It was 10pm and it was cooooold outside. No 40mins. Pathetic.
Wednesday: rest
Did go to the "Pilates for runners" event but it was a real disappointment unfortunately. Was expecting a "Pilates for *runners*" workshop but what I got was "Introduction to pilates" with a few sentences about running thrown in. Would have been good for someone new to pilates, but I've been going for years and knew it all and more. We were only doing quick examples of each exercise, so didn't even get a workout done. I guess I did find out one thing, that it still hurts to raise the left leg from bridge... Back home with a wintry shower on the way. Serious reluctance to do yesterday's 40mins. Started planning to maybe use a treadmill the day after (since the bad weather has a couple more days to run), and hit a new low when I realised I could have just stayed in the Sports Centre after the pilates and done the 40mins there .....
Thursday: 40mins run (4.08miles @9:48 pace), 1200m swim incl swim class
run: Done mostly on grass in the late-afternoon in cloudy 5C. Came out of the office in and shivered and considered going back inside. Lovely run once I got started with no trouble from sij/glute/shin. Was running at slightly faster than "easy" pace, but still comfortable ... so was delighted to see the miles come in near 10mins and then quicker. That's the first sub-10min-pace run in many months apart from a couple of with-tempo runs. If that's the effect that aquajogging has I think I'll be keeping it up (but think it's not possible to have had an effect over 2 weeks???)
swim: No time to warm up before class. We did about 500m including some freestyle, sculling, then drills for "freestyle-legs-with-turning", for "almost-catch-up", and for "zip-up". And we were told to *practice*.
After class went into the big pool and made a start on the drills by doing 2x50m of each of the three. Hate the legs-one (writes the runner), my kick is my weakest point and the breathing is tough. Other two are nice. After that gave myself a treat of doing 200m free to bring the total up to 1000m. But it only came out at 100m before I took a rest. Then I started again, and got the pacing right and did 300m free without stopping. Could have continued on too.
| am | pm | actual
Mon 25th | 1000m swim, 60mins aquajog | pilates | 60mins aquajog, pilates
Tues 26th | 40mins easy | 1000m swim | 1000m swim
Wed 27th | | pilates | nothing
Thur 28th | 45mins easy | 1000m incl swim class | 40 mins run, 1200m swim
Fri 29th | - | 60mins aquajog |
Sat 29th | 30mins easy | 1000m swim |
Sun 30th | 50mins easy| |
Have changed the plan to reflect the knock-on effect of delaying Tuesday's run...
My sister announced a last-minute visit to Dublin (from the US) a few days ago, so my plans have changed to include a short jaunt at the weekend. Will do my best to get the runs in.0 -
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Friday: 45mins aquajog
Not the full 60mins, but done against the odds in between work and getting ready to take train -> plane etc. Got the hard bits in and added in a long sprint from the swimming pool to hop on a bus (lovely driver waited, big smile on his face when I arrived). Then managed to hop between office, flat and was at the train station with time to buy a coffee and cake and walk-not-sprint to my train. So turned out got it just right with the cutback to 45mins.
Was feeling wrecked after the session in fact ... so maybe it is responsible for a bit of stimulus after all.
| am | pm | actual
Mon 25th | 1000m swim, 60mins aquajog | pilates | 60mins aquajog, pilates
Tues 26th | 40mins easy | 1000m swim | 1000m swim
Wed 27th | | pilates | nothing
Thur 28th | 45mins easy | 1000m incl swim class | 40 mins run, 1200m swim
Fri 29th | - | 60mins aquajog | 45mins aquajog
Sat 29th | 30mins easy | 1000m swim |
Sun 30th | 50mins easy| |Enjoy your trip to Dublin, HSR!
"30 minutes easy" on Saturday, sounds pretty much like "Cabinteely Parkrun" to me!Well now theres a smashing idea M, nop & I will both be there
Oh ... it sounds lovely ... not sure though as am waiting in Newcastle for my plane and will only arrive to Harolds Cross after midnight. Had been planning a lie in! But we'll see, will not rule it out entirely (will Google some buses now), maybe ...0 -
hillsiderunner wrote: »Oh ... it sounds lovely ... not sure though as am waiting in Newcastle for my plane and will only arrive to Harolds Cross after midnight. Had been planning a lie in! But we'll see, will not rule it out entirely (will Google some buses now), maybe ...
145, 84, 46a or if you can get yourself on a luas arriving at carrickmines about 8.50/8.55 I can pick you up
actually, you could jog from there, its all downhill probably not more than a mile!0 -
145, 84, 46a or if you can get yourself on a luas arriving at carrickmines about 8.50/8.55 I can pick you up
actually, you could jog from there, its all downhill probably not more than a mile!
Only allowed 30mins strict.
It's 18 => 145 for me.... only thing is that Dublin bus don't have the timings for connecting between the two.
We'll *see* ... should probably check my departure gate now!0 -
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Travels into Dublin and Harold's Cross on Friday leaked into Saturday morning, with a bit of extra chaos added in, so had to cancel the Cabinteely plans. Next time I hope (though I noticed from the reports it's maybe not the fastest route in Dublin
...). No swim but managed to get the two little weekend runs on the plan done round Harold's Cross in between family schedules (child's pose stretch *not* helped by having a toddler squirming over your back).
Saturday: 32mins (3.1miles @10:19 avg)
Stretch: 2 holds each side for most stretches
Sunday: 50mins (4.85miles @10:19 avg pace)
What lovely soft weather:). Garmin was being erratic all through the first mile, lost at least .3 of a mile, but definitely I will have done 4.85.
stretch: 2holds each side for most stretches
| am | pm | actual
Mon 25th | 1000m swim, 60mins aquajog | pilates | 60mins aquajog, pilates
Tues 26th | 40mins easy | 1000m swim | 1000m swim
Wed 27th | | pilates | nothing
Thur 28th | 45mins easy | 1000m incl swim class | 40 mins run, 1200m swim
Fri 29th | - | 60mins aquajog | 45mins aquajog
Sat 29th | 30mins easy | 1000m swim | 32mins run
Sun 30th | 50mins easy| | 50mins run
weekly total: 12miles, 2aquajogging sessions, 2swims (2200m)
Will not go through the charade of writing the monthly mileage....
Early flight tomorrow morning then into the plan, maybe slightly over-ambitious but want to have myself in good shape for proper running (crosses all limbs) the following week.
| am | pm | actual
Mon 2nd | | 60mins aquajog |
Tues 3rd |1000m swim | 45mins easy |
Wed 4th |1000m swim, 60mins aquajog | pilates |
Thur 5th | 50mins easy | 1000m incl swim class |
Fri 29th | - | 60mins aquajog |
Sat 29th | 45mins easy | 1000m swim |
Sun 30th | 55mins easy| |
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Had been avoiding posting till I'd sorted my bum out, but by now it looks like it's not going to happen too soon (gasps of shock from anyone reading). And I'm still in the office with a little stack of work to do so what better time to type it up really ....
2nd - 8th May: 1 run (2.9 miles), 1 aquajog (60mins), 1.5 swims(1500m)
Arrived back to Edinburgh on the Monday morning and soon after noticed the bum&peroneal a bit sore again. Took Monday and Tuesday off, and called the physio to push-out our Friday appointment till the following weekend when things would have settled properly .... Bit of swimming and aquajogging for the rest of the week, with niggling still going on (in particular both bum and shin are getting bothered by the kick-drills at swimming).
Good swimming class on the Thursday with the teacher encouraging us to excel and practice our drills and get in the swims each week. Also a discussion about 50m freestyle repeats and to be told that the right "clock" is to add just 15sec to your moderate-swim time ... and that the point is to be tight-for-time by the end of your 8 repeats (and, it would seem, *not* to be making sure you've had a good rest before the next one :ermm:). So my 1:45 clock needs to come right down.
Had been starting a cold for a couple of days and by Friday I was into the sneeze phase, so no more swimming this week. Did 2.9miles round the pavements on the Saturday and there was not a peep out of the leg or bum .. but took the Sunday off anyway to watch the cold and to be sensible :angel:.
9th-15th May: 3 runs (11.31miles), pilates, 1 aquajog (50mins)
Started the week in a good mood with hope in sight. Short runs on the Monday and Wednesday with an aquajogging session in between on Tuesday (had been coughing between intervals so bailed on swimming and infecting people). Glute and leg a bit sore again on Wednesday but better for the run in the evening; then a bit sore again on Thursday and I skipped swim class because of that and the lack of swim practice (and the drastic slide from being class swot who had 4 swims in the second week of term). Friday off as well because of bits of soreness and trying to make a tiny bit of improvement for the physio appointment. Was worked on a bit, and taped-up a bit, and sent off not to run till Saturday earliest. Had a friend coming for the weekend on Saturday and spent the morning tidying the house, so in fact the mini-run got left till Sunday in the end - but no harm, right (so sensible and careful I am ...)
16th-22nd May: 2runs (3.6miles, 3.3miles, both ~10:40 pace), 1swim (1000m), 2aquajogging sessions (60mins, 45mins)
60mins aquajogging on Monday and a short run on Tuesday, and then on Wednesday ... (fill in the dots)..... So skipped the Wednesday aquajog and just went to an easier Pilates class (have discussed the issues with the teacher and have been kicked-down a level ... but she is great and also she adapted some extra stuff for me). Took the Thursday off again because of the mild re-aggravation (and also too embarrassed to show my face at swim class).
Bad day Thursday morale-wise. Looking like this one is going to run and run and run .... bye bye running forever maybe. Not sure that the "value" of 400miles is worth the numerous physio-visits and stretching and internet-diagnosis that's been put in over the past 12 months.
Friday things were better. The worst thing about this injury is the pain down in the peroneal nerve, it's a pain in the neck shin. Today that seemed to be dying down. Went for a swim in the evening, skipped the drills and stuck to freestyle. Mixture of 50s and 100s and 150s and the only thing to report is that I went all-out for one of the 50s and brought it in under 60-secs.
Short little run on the Saturday, and aquajogging with about 5miles of walking on Sunday. Walking to the pool the peroneal was quiet. Out of the pool after 45mins to catch the victory parade of the local football team who just won the Scottish cup (with 2 goals scored by Anthony Stokes) and ended up following along behind them for some of the parade ... music playing and sun shining as we matched towards Leith after the team bus. But the reason I was feeling happy because the peroneal (and the bum) was *quiet*. Bit of new soreness on that side of the bum later than evening but still thrilled (the peroneal was quiet). Had a quiet confidence that the dreaded future of brisk walking and gentle pilates was fading from my horizon.
23rd May -> : The peroneal was still quiet on Monday morning even though the bum was sore. Hallelujah! But of course as the day wore on ... yes of course the peroneal soreness is back and also my backside is sorer than it has been in a couple of weeks. Soreness seems to have moved around a bit too and is not in the exact same area. So nothing these two days.
Had been thinking over what's the cause and it seems to be just doing a few days in a row - whether run, swim or aquajog. Had been thinking that was it but it's even more clear after typing everything up now. It's been hard to see it because I don't get trouble during the activity (except the swimming) or even too soon afterwards, seems to be a cumulative thing. I haven't even been breaking the physio rules. So looks like I have a few weeks of a lighter load ahead and maybe a few extra days off before I start anything this week ... a bit torn on that because in one sense it might be good to have something to "show" the physio - a couple of times he's caught the injury on a good day, and the next appointment is Friday.
Have to check with him if he is definite about the cause; it has the sciatica features, but could be piriformis, disc or sij and I'm beginning to suspect the first but in another sense I don't have a clue. It's been 6 weeks since the first appointment and I don't really feel there's much improvement at all, whenever I start to re-introduce it comes back ....
Apologies for blackening the log with this stuff, but will be quiet for a while after this I suspect. But hoping I will not be moving the log over to the sensible ladies brisk walking threads.0 -
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Don't go anywhere! its frustrating as hell I know but if logging whatever your doing here helps then stick with it, it's nice to feel part of something (at least that's how I view it) and with luck and some more work hopefully you'll be back on track very soon.
Ah thank you FD. Problem is that I feel there might not be a lot in the log for the time being as even the low-impact activities are upsetting it ... have the feeling this one is not going to go quietly. Giive me a stress fracture any time, just a couple of months and you are done (and you can swim and cycle without problems).
Agree the log is great for keeping motivated, that's why I do it ... though it did cross my mind that in my years of sporadic-running I would have just done nothing for a week or two, and that might have headed it off.
Am not quite so far gone to be settling for the sofa just yet, don't worry 0 -
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So finally there is a bit of progress I think. Time to give an update and I'm hoping that posting this is not immediately going to jinx the recovery.
23rd May - 24th June (5 weeks): nothing
Well - one chi-running taster (swooning at the video of brother Colm and the Kenyans, then getting called-out because of limping during the mini-runs) ... and one parkrun-volunteering with FD and nop at Cabinteely. Also one pilates class a week, skipping anything that would trigger sciatica.
But no running, no swimming, no aquajogging ... everything postponed to get the sciatica to go away. After the re-injury I had stopped all the activities myself but after going to the physio he was also in agreement about this. At this stage started failing some of his tests at last, and the diagnosis changed to most likely being a disc issue. After another meet we decided to do an MRI, not because it would change anything with regard to treatment, but more to rule things out ... to be honest, I wanted to do it mainly because the 3 massage therapists I've gone to over the past couple of years have each asked if I've had a scan of my back.
Saturday, 25th June: 50mins with 15mins @tempo (???) pace (4.72miles)
Yes really. The physio had asked me to do either a hard pilates class or a run the day before the MRI. Then for about a week leading up to the MRI date I could feel the sciatica improving more and more, so knew I would have to do a decent bit of running to challenge it. Played it by ear and ended up doing 50 mins with 15 "faster" minutes in the middle to give it a proper workout. No trouble during the run, or after ... though my right calf and some other parts of my body were pretty tight the next day after the shock return to running.
Was doing the MRI done as a private referral (would be laughed out of my GPs if I went in looking for attention when I'm still able to walk and the sciatica is even improving. Not complaining though, would agree my running is not a public health concern). Anyway without having private insurance the easiest/cheapest option is to take the train well out of Edinburgh to the Forth Valley hospital on a Sunday evening, when they have a 2hour window for private referrals. Off I went. Got off the train and after finding my way into the village eventually found some signs directing me through a rural estate and some woods at the back of the hospital. Very cute little diagram with some trails drawn in, and I would get to follow a couple of these trails round the side of a lake to get up to the hospital. Lovely outdoors anemity for the hospital in-patients I thought.
After walking part of the way through this estate I had to take a turn off the path to head onto a trail, and then things started to look less ideal. For sure I was going the right way as there was an arrow pointing this way, but the trail was not so great. But too late to retrace my steps and find a different route so I continued. Then as I approached the lake the trail got thinner and thinner and after that the route round the side of the lake was essentially hacking my way through waist-length grass .... wet grass. Would have been great fun if I was out for a trail run but ended up at the radiography dept of the hospital with my jeans wet most of the way up my legs :rolleyes:. Usual white coat nerves but was able to stay still enough for them to do the scan, and I left with a disc of images.
Mon, 27th June - Sun, 3rd July: (2 easy runs: 25mins, 36mins; 1 swim; 1 pilates)
Just 25mins on the Thursday to start the running again (since now I'm trying *not* to upset the injury). Then the physio the next day, and I mentioned I would do another 25mins on Saturday ... "No. You ran 50mins without problems" (this physio is a runner himself). Yippee!!
Sciatica symptoms much improved but not 100% gone. We looked through the disc of images and could see the likely cause of the issue (big bulge at the L5/S1 disc), and also some other disturbing stuff I'd noticed when examining them myself. But decided to wait for the report.
Mon, 4th - Sun, 10th July: (4 runs - 210mins total, 18.3 miles; 1 short cycle)
On holiday near Faro for most of this week and then Dublin for the weekend. So no excuse not to get the running in. The Ria Formosa nature reserve was quite near the resort so I was able to run down towards the reserve/beach and then do a bit of trail running before turning back. Four runs of 50mins, 50mins, 50mins and 60mins, all easy and between 11:15-11:40 avg pace. Also escaped on the bike to Faro one day for a 2x8miles cycle trip. Got to see birds and nature on these excursions and reported back to the others so we all did a mini-nature walk on our last day looking at crabs and little fish and black-winged stilts and spotting a Hoopoe .. have never seen these birds before. Nice place to visit and I was shocked how few tourists were using the reserve or even the beach. Fish not just nice to look at, also tasted great .
Mon, 11th - Sun, 17th July: 4 runs - 221mins total, 19miles
Back in Edinburgh and kept the same pattern as the previous week, with 3 runs of 50-51mins, and today's run of 70mins. Even slower than last week, with two of the runs slightly over 12min average pace .... but am ok with it, and am embracing the spirit of not caring about the watch (though I am still wearing it I must admit). Good bit of grass and trail this week, which possibly has slowed things down a bit. Highlight of the week was today's hilly run though Holyrood Park and surrounds, which was 70mins but only covered 5.82miles... but nice to be back on my regular routes and to see what has changed. Had taken a friend out for her inaugural Couch-to-5k session this morning so I must have covered .18miles in the 8 individual 1-min sections ... so I'm calling it 6miles to bring the weekly total up to a whopping 19miles!! Hoping this will continue.
There was another physio visit this week and this time the radiologist's report was back. As expected, there is protrusion of the L5/S1 disc which is compressing the root of the L5 nerve (admittedly, not compressing it much these days). Also there is leftwards scolosis of the lumbar spine which I already knew about ... and also the disc between L2 and L3 is more-or-less gone (the report says "no disc") with some fusion of the L2 and L3 vertebrae. And a non-spine feature which needs to be checked out via the nhs (*sigh*, *rolleyes*) but I'm fully expecting will be insignificant.
The sciatic symptoms are almost entirely gone now, expect for a very light gentle pinch in the bum and occasional very light tingling of the left foot. There's been a couple of days over the past fortnight where the annoying shin-pain came back a tiny bit. But that is usually absent. The "pinch in bum" is really useful for gauging the effect of runs/activity and knowing when to back off.
Plans for next week are similar to the past two expect I'm hoping to get a swim and aquajog in there too. Will be in the West of Ireland at the weekend and had originally been planning a parkrun, but it's not the time for doing that yet, will wait till there's a chance of getting it done at 9min pace!
(***hopes hopes hopes** I haven't jinxed myself)0 -
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Welcome back!!! delighted to see you running, fingers crossed you're on your back completely now
??? ... on my *way* back I hope!
Thanks.+1! Was wondering how you were a few days ago so delighted to see the update this morning! All looking very positive! I also have fingers crossed for you now. Onwards HSR!!!
Thanks Ososlo, fingers crossed indeed!
(race DCM, race DCM, race DCM)0 -
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This Fat Girl Runs wrote: »Really glad to see an update from you! I have vertebrae problems myself so can sympathize! I hope it does all get sorted for the better and you can be back to your old running self in no time.
Thanks TFGR. The vertebra issue is longstanding as it turns out I was born with it (a hemi-vertebra which fused to the vertebra above and caused a bit of scolosis). Anyway the view is not to worry at all. The sciatica was coming from a disk a few vertebrae below the weird stuff ... but that is also behaving fairly well now.
Have my fingers crossed, I have races and distances to aim for as we come towards 2017.
Hope you are saving for that new laptop, can get fairly decent ones for reasonable prices these days ... 0 -
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Monday, 18th July: nothing
Had been having a slight "shinny" feeling in the left leg around the peroneal (this has happened a few times over the recent week or two) and decided I'd give the legs a rest instead of doing a swim. The niggle is only a 1-out-of-10 dull feeling, much nicer than the sciatica which was always *annoying*, so not too worried,
Tuesday, 19th July: 50mins easy (4.25miles @11:45 avg pace)
Went out in the afternoon sunshine for a lovely very relaxed run on the trails round the meadows. Was quite warm but I was very comfortable at this pace as you might expect.
Wednesday, 20th July: 1000m freestyle (9x50m, 4x100m, 1x150m), pilates
Kicked myself out of bed to go to the pool before work for my second swim in two months. Didn't bother timing these, seems a bit soon for that.
Pilates has started again so I did that in the evening, and was able to do almost everything. Have discussed the issues with my teacher and was given health-warnings for a couple of exercises going forward.
Thursday, 21st July: 60mins easy run rebel progression run (6miles at 10:00 avg pace)
Another one done on the meadows on an afternoon break from work. Mostly trails with about 1/3 hard surfaces. This was planned as an easy run. But had been looking at my watch half-way through the first mile and saw it was coming in faster than recent "easy" and decided to keep the pace there for a couple of miles. That first mile was around 10:30 and after doing that I had the idea I'd see how many miles I could do at that pace. Second mile came in faster and before I knew it I was stuck into a progression run, taking 15-20secs off each mile, until the 5th mile came in at 9:20. Bad hillsiderunner. Possibly dangerous at this stage, I just couldn't resist
.... Ran the final mile back to base @10:40 or so to cool down (and also because I don't think I could have run another fast one). Btw, anyone suspicious of the exact 6miles, it was really 5.99 ....
Came back to the office and stretched and showered, and then went out and bought one of those Mooju drinks for recovery (the strawberry one). Have never had one before but it wasn't too bad. Two hours later I was feeling a bit sick and I'm not sure if it was the drink or the hard-run but I'd say probably the effort was responsible. It was quite a few miles at what's currently "fast" for me.
Friday, 22nd July: 45mins easy "errands" run (4miles @11:15 avg pace)
Back in Dublin and would be heading to the West this evening so decided the better plan would be to get Saturday's short run this morning. Was organised for once and arranged it as 3miles to Rathmines to finish buying birthday presents for niece&nephew, then ran the extra 10mins back to Harolds Cross. Worked perfectly, nice and easy, though I finished a bit away from the house and stopped the watch and walked back home. Got passed by a runner in a Donadea 50k T-shirt as I walked up by Harolds Cross park, he was running a really strong fast pace.
Was away from Friday lunchtime till Sunday night in Galway and Roscommon. Did a walk in Lough Key forest on the Sunday morning, wow! Lucky people who get to do their running there.
There had been slight bits of niggle over the week, once or twice a hip twinge on a run (for about 30secs), also the pinch in bum is still there (light but a bit stronger on Thursday's bold run). I would only be doing Sunday's run when I got back from the West that night, so I was giving the body more than 48hours rest. But despite that I got a couple of shin-twinges on Saturday night when I moved the wrong way. Only 1 on the 10 scale but now there was a tone of *annoyingness* there :mad:.
Sunday, 24th July: not-a-75mins easy run (47mins run - 4.23miles @11:07 pace)
Was back in Dublin and despite being unsure about the niggles decided to do the LSR anyway. taking it nice and easy. At around the 30min mark I got one of the shin twinges mid-run and decided to take the shortest route back to the house instead of finishing the run, so it ended up being just 47mins. Another couple of mild twinges on the way back so was the right decision to bail I think. It's a pain being such a hypochondriac about this and the twinges weren't bad at all, but the effect of overdoing it is always well delayed with this disc-stuff so better to cut it short. Don't want to end up having to do a full-scale backoff again.
The paths of Harolds Cross are seeing quite a bit of running talent these days; I had passed a couple doing a great pace on Harolds Cross road earlier on Sunday evening.
weekly total: 203mins as 4 runs (18.5 miles), 1 swim (1000m), 1 pilates
Slipped a bit from last week but better be careful ... I have today off and will see how bum&leg feel tomorrow before doing my 50mins tomorrow, and take it from there. I had registered for a HM in mid-October back there in May before I re-injured the disc. And in the past couple of weeks with things going well, I'd started thinking I could maybe still do it as a small goal, just to build up the distance. There are 12 weeks to go at this stage. Unfortunately it might be that I'm not able to increase the LSR/week-mileage as quick as I want, might have to let that one go.0
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