Back to the Future

RedRunner

I've decided to put my old thread behind me:http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056795328 and move on with fresh outlook and new priorities. A bit of a play on words with the Log title but I think it sums up my wish to conquer by back problem and get back to achieving my potential in the future.

To those who haven't read my log previously, I've been suffering from a long term issue with my back and now that I have a root cause (Pars Defects) I'm on the road to recovery. It's been a rocky road over the last four months with some ups and downs but I'm going into 2015 with a positive mindset determined to overcome the problem and get back running regulary. I'm setting no goals at this stage except to get back running regularly with the aim to run DCM in October.

For the record though here are my current PBs and who knows one or two or them may be broken if things go well this year:

5K - 20:30 (2014)
5mile - 35:30 (2014)
10k - 43:50 (2014)
10 mile : 1:28:XX (2012)
HM : 1:39:43 (2014)
Marathon : 3:52:32

So this log is all about tracking the progress of my recovery, getting back into the swing of things and setting new goals as and when I get back to running regularly.

laura_ac3

Best of luck with it redrunner.

RedRunner

laura_ac3 wrote: »

Best of luck with it redrunner.

Thanks Laura. Don't forget to give me a shout if you want to head down to the club some time !

Murph_D

Good to have you "back". :pac:

Best of luck with the recovery and the new log.

tang1

Best of luck with the new log RR, do you have to do DCM this year? Would a year of not training for a marathon & the stresses that causes the body not be better to you in the long run?

yaboya1

Hope this log is as good as the movies
Best of luck RR

RedRunner

tang1 wrote: »

Best of luck with the new log RR, do you have to do DCM this year? Would a year of not training for a marathon & the stresses that causes the body not be better to you in the long run?

Thanks Tang. That's a point to be considered for sure and I'm young enough to have plenty more marathon oportunities. I just put it up there as a taget as I missed out on the last two and would dearly love to do it. Having said that, my progres in the first six months of the year will truly dictate where I go with that.

It's a good point though so thanks for that.

SamforMayo

Delighted your on the road to recovery! Best of luck, be sensible and enjoy everyday you run and all will be well!

RedRunner

At my lightest last year I weighed in at 14st 6lbs or approx 91.6kg. After Christmas I decided to weigh myself after 9 weeks of no running and basically a bad diet I was expecting the worst and wasn't disappointed.....15st 9lbs or approx 98Kgs:eek::eek::eek:

This spurned me to decide to do a little running even though I haven't officially got the all clear yet from physio.

1/1 : 2.18mi @ 9:37

4/1 : 1.55mi @ 9:07 ( dragged along by the dog. Never again!)

5/1 : 3.45mi @ 9:23


No pain in back while running at all but as explained in preious log it seems to be at its worst when I'm not active and particularly sitting.

Bumped into FBOT01 along the way last night. Felt great to be back doing something again. felt a bit of a niggle in left hamstring and right groin but that's just due to rustiness and lack of stretching in last while. will incorporate more stretching now into the strengthening routine also. Will take it very slowly and only run short distances maybe every other day but will discuss this with physio next time I see him just to make sure I'm not just being stupid.

Continuing with plethora of strengthening exercises and am confident that when I get back properly i will feel the real benefit of that work. I've a six pack here just waiting to burst out!;) (No, not the one in the fridge!:))

yaboya1

RedRunner wrote: »

Bumped into FBOT01 along the way last night.

This is the reason for hi-viz clothing :P

RedRunner

yaboya1 wrote: »

This is the reason for hi-viz clothing :P

ha ha..smartass! Actually he was well hi-vizzed up. Flew by me in a orange streak!

HelenAnne

RedRunner wrote: »

I've decided to put my old thread behind me:http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056795328 and move on with fresh outlook and new priorities. A bit of a play on words with the Log title but I think it sums up my wish to conquer by back problem and get back to achieving my potential in the future..

And also 2015 is the year Doc & Marty travel to in 'Back to the Future 2'!

Welcome back.

yaboya1

HelenAnne wrote: »

And also 2015 is the year Doc & Marty travel to in 'Back to the Future 2'!

True, but us runners do need roads :cool:

RedRunner

HelenAnne wrote: »

And also 2015 is the year Doc & Marty travel to in 'Back to the Future 2'!

Welcome back.

Ha ha. Brilliant. It must be fate Helen! And you know what the tagline for that movie was?........"Getting back was only the beginning";)

martyboy48

Just watch out for Biff

RedRunner

Been just trying to continue the strength work and some short runs every two/three days. Doing bike work also in between.

7/1 : 2.81mi @ 9:23

Easy run in the wind in rain .Good to see what that feels like again.

10/1: 4.17 @9:06

Felt good to go a bit longer in distance and aerobically felt ok, certainly a lot better than on first run of the year. Must be careful though and resist the temptation of doing too much too soon.

Got confirmation of another appointment with the physio on Tuesday for a review of where I am and to come up with a new plan for making further progress. Looking forward to that.

The back has been pretty good this week. Still the same old problem of pain when sitting and still find driving difficult if any longer than 30 mins in the driver seat.

Grand total of 10+ miles for the week.

Runchick

Fantastic to see you back at it RR. I feel like I have a come-back buddy now Best of luck!

RedRunner

Runchick wrote: »

Fantastic to see you back at it RR. I feel like I have a come-back buddy now Best of luck!

I still have a bit to catch you up but yes, likewise.

RedRunner

Thought I'd post a weekly weight check just to keep me honest.

Starting weight jan 1st: 15st9.6lbs/ 99.8kg

Today : 15st7lbs/ 98.6kg

No big changes except cut down on sugar and have done a few runs in addition to core stuff and bike. Zero alcohol this week too.

RedRunner

12/1 -Easy lunchtime run . Felt a tougher aerobically than last run but I'd say this was due a lot to windy conditions and undulating route.

3.11 miles @8:59


13/1- Back to physio today. Overall he was pleased with progress. He is confident the disc problem has settled and that all the pain I'm currently having is muscular. He also noticed that my muscle mass in glutes has increased. I was glad to hear that because it proved all my hard work recently has had a positive effect.

So my focus for next few weeks will be on working the muscle in lower back. I have to be very focussed on my posture. If you can picture it, there are three positions, A,B and C where A is where your back is slightly arched inwards, C is where you are pretty much in a slouched position and B is the best position. So I'll be practising the B position every waking minute trying to train myself to do it naturally. Will attempt to incorporate this into the exercises I'm doing too. This is very much a DIY recovery with some expert guidance once in a while and a weekly email exchange so have to continue the discipline.

I can continue the running which is great and eventually hopefully I can improve the running posture also as well as doing it during exercise routines and daily living. This is the plan anyway! So I'll continue with easy shortish runs every other day for next couple of weeks.

Ososlo

That's very positive R!
Great to see you back!

RedRunner

14/1- 25mins on the bike and loads of strengthening work for back and core work. This stuff takes more out of you than a run -#exhausted

15/1- Set out at lunchtime to get a short run in. No pace in mind as such just to take it handy enough and not kill myself. Turned into a bit of a progression run in very windy conditions which made it a bit tougher. This proved to me that the fitness wasn't too bad and leg strength is pretty good at the moment. Most satisfactory run in a long time but I guess that wouldn't be hard given the amount of running I've done over the last 5 months.

3.4miles @8:38 (9:04, 8:46. 8:32, (7:36))

In other news.... I had to change the wrist strap on my Garmin FR410 as it split.Have switched over to one of the spare fabric straps you get with it when you purchase it.

I'll also name my first race of the year as the St Patrick's Festival 5k on Sunday 15th March. I'm not expecting to be at my best but hopefully fit enough to give it a decent go. I run the athletics club in my job and we are using the race as a big fundraising event for four selected charities. I'm on the org committee for this and hope to get 200 staff to participate so will be busy pushing that for next few weeks.

SamforMayo

Delighted to see all going well. Stick with the core work, I know it's a dose but has to be done!

RedRunner

Contemplating a park run in the morning. Amazing what 4 pints of Bulmers can do for your confidence!;)

Murph_D

Hope you didn't head to St. Anne's for that Parkrun. No event this week!

RedRunner

Murph_D wrote: »

Hope you didn't head to St. Anne's for that Parkrun. No event this week!

Doh!

Yes, unfortunately I did. There were quite a few though that made the same mistake. Thought that it might have been cancelled because of the frost/ice but see now on the website it was because of Op Transformation walk event.

Ah well, got up and got my run in so all good.

Nice warm up 2 miles @9:16

Then just did a bit of a tempo single lap of park run course plus short jog back to car in the red stable car park.

1.6miles @7:50. Was doing 6:40 ish down the avenue to finish off and garmin has me doing 5:58 as best pace. All fine with the back so happy days. Onwards and upwards.

RedRunner

18/1 - Just core, bike and strength work

19/1 - 3.31miles @8:18 Did this at lunchtime today. Pretty cold out but not too windy. Same loop as last time. Felt pretty good throughout. Beginning to feel the love for running again. Will try increase the mileage in a sensible way this week.

Followed up with core and strength work in the evening.

Operation Transformation Weight Watch time:

Starting weight Jan 1st: 15st9.6lbs/ 99.8kg

Last Week : 15st7lbs/ 98.6kg

Today : 15st 6.2lbs/98.3kg

Disappointing this week but in fairness diet probably not as disciplined this week and the pints on Friday probably didn't help although not sure how long it takes between consumption to actually adding the weight on? Might depend on rate of metabolism.Anybody know the answer to that?

Back pain still lurking when sitting etc but think it is improving ever so slightly.

RedRunner

20/1 - Lots of core work .Noticed my calf was very tender and on examination there was a bit of a knot alright. Some very painful foam rolling ensued and nearly passed out with the pain. Tried using the knuckles as well to rub it out. Bloody painful so left it.

21/1- Original plan was to get a run in today and even though the calf had improved slightly, decide to give it another day. Why risk making it worse now at this stage, right? Did some good core work and 20 minutes on the bike.

22/1 - Got out tonight when I got home from work. Calf was feeling a lot better so reckoned it would be fine. Plan was to keep it easy and try go a bit longer than 4 miles.Scared the bejaysus out of some poor woman along the way who was walking her dog. As I passed her out she let out a yelp. Felt like I had to turn around and apologise but she recognised that I was not about to mug her! Met a couple of clubmates down at the causeway at Raheny. Nice to say hello as I haven't been involved in any club runs for such a long time now.

Enjoyable run.Just long enough and pace was enough to make it a good aerobic workout without being too hard on myself.

5.8miles @8:54

blockic

Trying to catch up in these parts recent and only spotted this now. Nice to see ya back at it! Will be following. Easy does it!

RedRunner

23/1- A few circuits of core work including ab crunches, pelvic tilts with leg lifts, bridges using swiss ball, front planks and more.

24/1 - St Annes Park Run 23:06

Arrived about 9.15 and made my way over to start area to do a bit of a warm up before. Met Digger and CL and had a quick chat with Digger while CL went off on her warm up. Good to catch up. I was in about four minds about how to approach this one. I'm convinced I suffer from some kind of runners version of multiple personality disorder. The conditions were quite slippy so thought I'd just take it handy. Then I was thinking , it would be good to do 8 min miles and do a low 24 ish time. I didn't really make my mind up until about half way through the first lap.

Anyway finished my short warmup and met a couple of friends and we chatted before heading over to the start line, I purposely stayed towards the back so as not to get carried away. I headed off at a comfortable enough pace. The surface was slippy in a couple of places but overall it wasn't actually that bad so didn't have to worry about that aspect. I think I looked at my watch once during the whole of this run which is really unusual. At some point during the first lap I decided to use this outing as a kind of benchmark on which to judge my future improvements so I tried to keep it hard but steady at a pace I thought I could maintain until the end.
Met FBOT01 along the way as he was pacing 25mins and after exchanging a few words I kicked on trying to find a good rhythm.

I was happy going into second lap that I still had plenty to give and was nice to hear the dulcet tones of the one and only Marthastew on the stopwatch giving out the lap times. That gave me a little boost. Thanks MS;) . Was keeping it nice and steady and I think only one person overtook me from there until the end. Pushed hard on the long run into the finish and thought I went a bit too early so had to reign it in a bit and then push again about 100m out to finish in 52nd spot. My garmin has me at 23:01 but official time is 23:06. Either way I was delighted with that considering the amount of running I've done lately and zero speed work. I still have a long way to go but I took a lot of positives out of that run today.

Met Wubble Wubble from Boards at the finish, a former opponent on the football field, good to say hello J. I did a nice warm down after that and headed home. Some stretching, a second breakfast and then off out again to help with the goody bag packing for the Raheny5 tomorrow. I never want to see another plaque again!

0.64miles warmup @11:24
3.09 miles @7:28 (7:42,7:31,7:15,(6:32))
1.14 miles @9:17

Total of 4.87miles

Runchick

Brilliant pacing RR, well done :cool:

pistol_75

Good to see you back at it RR just be careful your not doing too much too soon.

yaboya1

Nice to see you back racing RR.
Only catching up on most of the logs now.
Internet down most of the weekend .

RedRunner

25/1- Rest. Busy day with kids football match in the morning, followed by marshalling for Raheny 5 race followed by post race nosh back at friends house locally. Didn't get any core work done either. Enjoyable day. Great to meet so many Boardsies again especially Mr Stew who looked a picture of health! Well done to all who raced yesterday.

26/1- Ran home from work today. Longest run in months. Nice and easy. Felt fine after it. Could easily have done 10 miles if I wanted.

7.14miles @9:20

Operation Transformation Weight Watch time:

Starting weight Jan 1st: 15st9.6lbs/ 99.8kg

Last Week : 15st6.2lbs/ 98.3kg

Today : 15st 4.8lbs/97.6kg

No huge losses here but its slow, steady and going in the right direction at least.

HelenAnne

Thanks for the cheering, Robbie! much needed and appreciated!

Murph_D

Nice work at the weekend, R. Hope you're being super careful with all that stretching and core stuff.

RedRunner

Murph_D wrote: »

Nice work at the weekend, R. Hope you're being super careful with all that stretching and core stuff.

Thanks D. Yes being careful alright. In touch with the physio on a weekly basis for guidance too so as not to overdo it. When I'm back fully fit I intend to stay that way this time!

FBOT01

Just catching up on this now.......It was good to see you back at parkrun on Saturday. Good luck with the new log and the next chapter in your running life. Take it handy.

RedRunner

27/1- 30 mins on the static bike (17.3km) plus plenty of core

28/1 - Decided to make a return to the club and run with a group. Glutes and backs of legs were a bit sore from work done last night.Their plan was to do 10 miles. Set out not intending to do anywhere near 10. I was thinking maybe 6 in my head beforehand. Ended up somewhere in between. I was a bit annoyed with myself that I didn't cut it shorter sooner than I did. back was a little achy after, I'm guessing just some muscle fatigue.

8.65miles @9:11.

The effort felt faster than 9:11 avg. About 3 miles of this were with a tailwind with pace averaging about 8:50. 3 were into the wind on way home so that made the end of the run a bit of a test. Overall it felt like a great workout but probably a tad too much at this stage in my recovery. Note to self to relax, there will be time for more miles later.

29/1- Still a bit of DOMS from last nights run but no back issues over and above the current expected discomfort. Tonight was just all about doing a bit of core and allowing the body some recovery time. Tomorrow will be a rest day as will be heading out for a few pints.

RedRunner

30/1 - Beer

31/1 - Beer consequences!:rolleyes:

1/2 - Back to business. Kids football match meant I dint get out until the afternoon. Conditions were very pleasant if a bit on the cold side. Easy run planned in region of 7 miles with some hills. Headed off in the direction of Howth and took in the "corkscrew" a local favourite among our club members. Kept the effort easy throughout though the hills definitely got the heart rate up for sure. On the way home I picked it up for a bit towards the end and finished off with a jog home to cool down.

Splits: 8:44,9:01,8:55,9:29,8:58,9:00,7:50,(9:45)

7.64 miles @8:55avg

RedRunner

2/2- 30 mins on static bike and about 45 mins worth of core stuff

Operation Transformation Weight Watch time:

Starting weight Jan 1st: 15st9.6lbs/ 99.8kg

Last Week : 15st4.8lbs/ 97.6kg

Today : 15st 3.4lbs/97kg

RedRunner

3/2 - Easy run home from work. 7.3miles @9:12 A bit of a niggle in the left knee. Fairly certain this is due to some tightness in left quad and hamstring. Stopped for a few seconds to stretch out the hamstring as I could feel it tightening up around mile 6. That did the trick and I did some more stretching and foam rolling when I got home. Quads were sore enough on the foam roller. Probably could do with a good rub down. Will sort one in next few weeks I think. In meantime, need to foam roll a bit more.

Physio advised me to try and run tall and keep good posture so that will be my focus this week as well as continuing the core work and rolling the bejaysus out of the quads.

tang1

Your coming along nicely RR, long may it continue.

RedRunner

tang1 wrote: »

Your coming along nicely RR, long may it continue.

Thanks Tang. It's very early days yet and I'm a million miles from where I'd like to be. But hey, I'm running, my fitness levels don't seem to be too bad and I'm on the right track. A long way to go yet though and just taking each week as it comes right now.

tang1

Know how you feel, same boat myself. Was out for 40 mins Sunday and went on a usual 7 mile loop i'd use, was feeling good and had thoughts of doing the full loop till i copped onto myself, easy does it for the time being as you say.

RedRunner

4/2 - 5.36 miles @8:09avg

There was a 3 mile race at club tonight so most were running in that but went up anyway in case anyone around for some non-race work. Didn't seem to be anyone around so headed off myself with no real plan. Was thinking maybe 6 easy but as I started off, I changed my mind and went for shorter and faster.

Was kind of making it up as I went along. Did 1 mile tempo, 1 mile hard, 1 mile tempo, 1mile hard and easy back to club. The last hard mile was more of a fartlek section using the lamposts along the coast road heading in howth direction pushing hard for each section of about 100m at a time.

Summary for January: 16 runs, 54 miles, biggest mileage week 23miles, fastest run was park run at 23:06.

RedRunner

5/2- 3.37 miles @8:40

Easy lunchtime run with some work colleagues. Surprised to see the pace was that fast as it felt easier. A product perhaps of running in company. Calf was a bit stiff from last nights efforts but plenty of stretching sorted that later.

Tonight I did 20 mins very easy on the bike followed by some core and strengthening work. Plan for tomorrow is rest.

We now have 70+ runners committed to MSB 5k from work. It's hard to get people up for it but if I can get 100+ I'll be delighted.

Calvin Johnson

Good stuff

RedRunner

6/2 - Rest

7/2 - Had been toying with the idea of doing a park run this morning but decided in the end that I'd be best served by getting some more easy miles in the legs. Hoping to get into double figures for first time in a long time and managed to do it so delighted with that.

10.53 miles @ 8:58 avg

9:02,8:56,8:45,8:55,8:57,9:19,9:11,9:05,9:10,8:56,(8:08)

Felt really good throughout. Perfect conditions for running, breathing was relaxed throughout and felt pretty strong at the end.

Met laura_ac3 from here along the way too on the coast road. Good to see you are still getting out there L!

laura_ac3

Nice times there - you looked very fresh when I saw you!!!

RedRunner

8/2- Short & Brisk 4.24miles@8:00

Short and snappy progression run. Didnt really look at the watch but kept it comfortably testing. Call it a free run if you like. Enjoyed it a lot and wasn't too spent after it.

8:35,8:25,7:34,7:22,(8:45)

30.8 miles for the week (up from 23 previous week) Slowly but surely getting to where I want to be.