Don't get injured and go from there

tipping

Busy week last week. No running but our lovely new baby decided to come out. All doing really well and setting in nicely so managed to get out today.

Tuesday 1st
4.25 mile easy at 8ish pace. Only interesting thing was a crazy guy in a van coming towards me drove at me forcing me to stop and head for the ditch. Very deliberate, broad daylight, he saw me from a long way off and headed straight for me. Veered off and around me with maybe 10 yards away, with me scrambling away. Got a look at him but no reg from the van.
Reported it to the cops who were very interested and said if I spot him again anywhere to call straight away and they'd pull him in.

Notwork Error

Congrats man!

Dubgal72

How lovely! Congratulations Nice to see you wet the baby's head with a run!


And what a nutter....

tipping

Thursday 3rd
5 mile east turned into progression run squeezed into swimming lessons. 8:13, 8:03, 7:21, 7:06, 6:42 and felt great by the end of it. Had a 45 minute window and just found myself speeding up as I went along.

No other runs for the week between baby visitors, kids stuff etc so grand total of 9 miles for the week.

Monday 7th
8 miles easy at 8:11 pace.
Felt pretty crap for a lot of this. About 3 miles in had decided to just stop fighting and go home but once i relaxed and dropped the pace a bit on the way home felt fine and carried on. Felt OK by the end. One of those listen to your body days I suppose.
8:22, 8:19, 8:09, 8:23, 8:17, 8:00, 7:58, 7:58

Plan is to get out 3-4 days this week and hit 20 miles or so, but we'll see how the week goes.

tipping

Tuesday 8th
5.25 miles easy at 8:18. Still feeling a bit leggy.

Friday 11th
2 mile warmup, 8:22,8:03,
3 mile tempo, 6:59, 6:47,6:48
1.5 mile cool down 8:02, 8:29

First attempt at a tempo in a long time. Went OK, happy enough with the paces but was very tired by the end. Legs very heavy on the cool down. Wet,windy and miserable day which may have contributed a bit to the feelings of misery on the cool down, leggings and everything were stuck to me.
Don't know if this was a good run or not given all that and don't know how tired I should be at the end of a tempo, but all part of the learning curve.

tipping

Sunday 13th
10.25 miles in 1:25 for 8:17 pace
Early morning run but again feeling a bit heavy, 1st 6 miles were all 20-30s slower than normal for sane effort. Eventually sped up when soaked in a shower for a quicker return.

Right hip a little tight again so need to work on this. New kayanos on the way which might help and will get a bit better at s&c on the area.

Good weekly total of 30 miles considering a 2 week old baby but generally feeling a little harder than usual.. Was thinking of doing Charleville next week but next week will have to go better first.

tipping

Monday 14th
4 Miles recovery on a treadmill at about 9:00m pace.
Slowly warmed into it and felt better by the end

Wednesday 16th
4 Miles Easy, with no idea of pace.
Got the new Kayanos today and went to break them in. After the last week or so of crappy runs left the watch at home so no stress regarding pace etc. But felt much better on this run. Whether it is all in the head or not had a bit of bounce in my legs today for the first time in a while and a nice quick cadence. Had to deliberately slow a few times. Much better.

If wife and kids are all good on Sunday morning Charleville is back on the agenda

tipping

Friday 18th
5 miles easy at 8 ish pace. Legs definitely coming back to life.

Sunday 20th
Was an excellent husband all day yesterday so got the day pass for Charleville.

Finished in 1:33:30 and really enjoyed it. Started with the 1:35 pacers and eventually spotted DG who was just slightly ahead so trotted up to say hello briefly and promptly returned to the pacers.

Plan was to stick with the pacers until 10 miles and see from there and stuck to the shoulder at 7:11 pace going very easy all the time. Didn't even feel the miles ticking away really. About mile 7 the pacer politely told me that I was looking too comfortable so just stretched on a little around mile 7.5.
Had company here from a lad and we worked really well together for about 4 miles picking off plenty people starting to suffer. Heavy rain and wind didn't help and I was looking for a group to join and get some shelter but as we caught people we just went straight past really. About mile 11 I let my company go, breathing etc was fine but legs were getting tired so just tipped away at my own pace. Still passing people and caught DG at mile 12, gave her a quick shout and kept going. Nice drag on the last mile as I tired but kept it going and a mini sprint to pick up a last place in the last 100m.

Overall delighted, beat the A goal. Negative split, and not passed from about half way. Ran a little conservatively but wanted the improve on my first and only previous attempt where I stopped and walked a lot and really suffered to something around 1:5x. Still a little short on endurance and have never ran the HM distance before in training and it told a little in the last few miles.

Great event, well organised and will do it again

Skipped the cooldown, I'd changed into dry gear and didn't fancy getting wet ahead out the drive home so hopefully won't pay too much for that.

Dubgal72

Great tactical race and strategy! Lovely to meet you too! Congrats

tipping

Monday 21st
Rest. Had the gear all ready to go in work but left calf was just too tight so thought the better off it. Putting that down to lack of cooldown on Sunday.

Tuesday 22nd
Ploughing all day followed by 4 miles delayed recovery at 8:50ish pace. Feeling better, still slight twinge in the calf but OK.

Dubgal72

tipping wrote: »

Plan was to stick with the pacers until 10 miles and see from there and stuck to the shoulder at 7:11 pace going very easy all the time. Didn't even feel the miles ticking away really. About mile 7 the pacer politely told me that I was looking too comfortable to stop yakking so just stretched on a little around mile 7.5.

FYP

But on a serious note, I'd love to see what you do here with some 'over distance' training. Great result especially considering the distance of your long runs!

Hope the calf behaves :eek:

tipping

Dubgal72 wrote: »

FYP

But on a serious note, I'd love to see what you do here with some 'over distance' training. Great result especially considering the distance of your long runs!

Hope the calf behaves :eek:

Calf is fine, just tight and will need another day or 2 to be perfect again.

Thanks and take your point completely. My training has been very loose this year as I focused on just running injury free and learning as much as I can. I haven't really done plans and training cycles, Charleville only came on the agenda as I wanted to run one half this year and our new baby is an amazing dream baby.. Was very much under prepared.

In general I lack endurance currently and will be working on this over the next few months. Planning more longer runs, longer long runs and some tempos and might get mileage up to 40ish. So hopefully you'll see the progress on the log in a fairly sensible manner.
Next target race is Ballycotton 10 in March, this March 80:30, next year 66-67 maybe which will take a lot of improving from where I am today.

tipping

Wedneday 23rd
Day 2 of ploughing and at least got to go home early and skip day 3. Tis a long day on a trade stand. Arrived home pretty tired to phonecalls from the ploughing and narrowly avoided driving back up that night, eventually resolved over the phone. Eventually finished work around 10pm, unsurprisingly no running as a result.

Thursday 24th
5 miles easy, usual lunchtime run. Watch is on the blink so no idea of pace.
Left calf tightened around mile 4

Friday 24th
5 miles easy, as above except without the tight calf..

Dubgal72

tipping wrote: »

hSo hopefully you'll see the progress on the log in a fairly sensible manner.
Next target race is Ballycotton 10 in March, this March 80:30, next year 66-67 maybe which will take a lot of improving from where I am today.

Can't see why not, you're being very consistent. I'll see you at Ballycotton so, a rematch you say?!

tipping

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Can't see why not, you're being very consistent. I'll see you at Ballycotton so, a rematch you say?!

Challenge accepted. Making you early favourite though;)

I probably will do Dungarvan also as a primer, most of the club here do it and entries open next week. Haven't done it before but they say it's a nice target between now and Ballycotton to keep the focus over the winter..

And at last there's a new parkrun close to me in Cork City so might do an odd one of those too.

tipping

No lsr at the weekend. If I'm not out the door by 7am it's hard to find another slot so must get (much) better at this.

Monday 28th
Made it back to the club session,
7,6,5,5,4 mins at 5 mile pace off 2 minutes recovery. Didn't push it too hard and no watch but all came in around 6:2x-6:3x pace which is about right.
About 6 miles total.

tipping

My Garmin is now officially dead after its drenching in Charleville, happily under warranty and after a bit of arguing with Amazon a brand new replacement is on the way..:D. That said getting used to and do enjoy running without it sometimes so will be dropping it entirely for at least 1-2 runs a week.

Wednesday 30th
5.5 miles easy in the evening. Started out feeling pretty awful. Very tight in upper body around shoulders and felt like I have a stich in both sides after 1/2 mile. Loosenend out after about 2 and felt grand thereafter.

Neck and upper body has been stiff for the last few days, think related to the new baby and associated slings,bad sitting positions etc so need to be more careful with all this.

Thursday 1st
5 miles easy lunchtime run. Again sore upper body at the start but eased into after.

tipping

Friday 2nd
1 hour progression run I think. No watch so lasted the duration of Gaa training. On the pitches and started nice and slow with no plan but ended up fairly tipping along. Guess at 7.5 miles or so..

Saturday 3rd
14 mile lsr at 8:14 pace.
Out the door just after 7am and took a while to warm into it. Legs nicely tired by the end. Took a new route which facilitates a pit stop so dug out OHs Garmin, hence having the pace again.

Great week at 38 miles (Highest ever). Might even try to sneak in a recovery tomorrow and break 40..

tipping

Monday 5th
Club session. 7 miles.

Option for 6,5,5,4 or 6,5,5,5,4 off 2 minutes recovery. Quick look around said i'd be either going too quick or doing it on my own, so went with the 6,5,5,4 with the quicker group.

2.5 mile warmup
6 at 6:09,
5 at 6:13,
5 at 6:18 (getting tired),
2 at 6:30 (felt a twinge in right calf and pulled up).
Bit of stretching and cool down for 7 miles total and it loosened or a good bit. Twinge possibly caused by going a bit too hard with the faster group or maybe the greasy underfoot conditions but I think I pulled up quick enough for no harm done.

tipping

Tuesday 6th
4 miles recovery at 8:43 pace. All felt fine even the calf that was twingy the night before off.

Thursday 8th
8.5 mile progression.
No real plan as usual, but legs felt good so went with it as the body allowed. Had the watch but covered it up and ran by feel for it. Mile from home dropped the pace back for cool down. Enjoyable run.

8:53,8:26,8:13,8:03,7:50,7:36,7:22,7:35,8:15

Dubgal72

Hi T, what sling are you using, a buckle or wrap one? I used slings with both mine. Started off with a buckle one but found a wrap one much better for posture and positioning (mam and baba ) I also broke all the *rules* and co-slept with both mine (probably still do most nights :rolleyes:) which has resulted in a lot of pricey chiro visits :eek: Just saying, cos your money is faaaaar better off saved for the physio emergency fund

Hope the calf isn't going to cause you to draw on that fund?! All well, behaving?

tipping

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Hi T, what sling are you using, a buckle or wrap one? I used slings with both mine. Started off with a buckle one but found a wrap one much better for posture and positioning (mam and baba ) I also broke all the *rules* and co-slept with both mine (probably still do most nights :rolleyes:) which has resulted in a lot of pricey chiro visits :eek: Just saying, cos your money is faaaaar better off saved for the physio emergency fund

Hope the calf isn't going to cause you to draw on that fund?! All well, behaving?

Using a stretchy wrap one. The wife is the expert when it comes to these kind of things (and has several wraps to choose from) and I think it was more me than the wrap really. Invested in a new arm chair last weekend for a better support and sitting position with her and generally more concious of posture with her in the wrap. Also I think that I had it too narrow across my shoulders so was creating a bit of point pressure rather than spreading it out across the shoulders. But this running stuff is good for getting you in tune with your body, so listened to it pretty quickly made the few changes and got it mostly resolved.

Calves are fine I think, I just got a warning and heeded it rather than ignoring it. Good reminder to get back on the foam roller for a few minutes every evening. But a good sports massage is probably long overdue haven't been near a physio or anybody since March, so €30 might be a good investment at this point.

tipping

Friday 9th
6.5 miles easy ish at 7:58 on grass. Possibly the last few miles were a little quick.

Sunday 11th
12 miles lsr at 8:35 pace. Out the door at 7:30 with a slice of toast. Started very slow and sluggish and only really felt better from about half way. 2nd half was better though.

38 miles for the week.

tipping

Monday 12th
5.5 miles fast run at 7ish pace
Wasnt going to make the club session so said I'd get out something harder (session like) at lunch. Was kinda supposed to be tempo but paces and efforts were a bit all over the place. Mile 2 and 3 were harder effort wise than miles 4 and 5.. Never checked the watch for pace throughout and had no clue of pace so need a bit more practice..

7:39,7:20,7:01,6:30,6:30,8:04(0.5 cool down)

Tuesday 13th
6 miles (easy) at 7:43
8:00,7:41,7:39,7:36,7:40,7:45
Legs felt good but a little tired. Was at the upper end of easy in terms of effort but well in control.

tipping

Thursday 15th
8 miles easy at 8:01.

Friday 16th
2 miles warmup with strides
5x1k off 2 minute recovery on the GAA pitches. All felt good, was going to do a 6th but ran out of daylight and time..

3:47,
3:39,
3:46,
3:44,
3:44

Cool down for 7.5 mile total.

Half thinking of doing a local 10k in about 3 weeks time. Want to have a crack at sub 40 and with nothing else on till february why not??

tipping

Sunday 18th
13 mile lsr at 8:25 pace. Out of bed, slice of toast and out the door. Asleep for the first 5 miles, then a quick pit stop and felt better from there. Nicely tired by the end.

Nice round 40 miles for the week.

tipping

Monday 19th

7 ish miles very easy (8:50 -> 8:20) pace. Legs felt a big hungover from the lsr on Sunday, but warmed up into it. Felt a nice tweak at the back of my knee about a half a mile from home. Initially top of calf was a bit sore but it's more bottom of the hamstring now.

First proper niggle so to speak since March so disappointing and sore all day today also. Reckon I did it coming down off a kerb where I just landed a bit arkward and felt something. I remmbered a bit of a jarring feeling and the twinge started pretty soon after. No way could I run on it today but I'll give it a few days and if not better off to the physio with me:(

Notwork Error

Tough break tipping. To quote DG "a rest in time saves nine", look after yourself and hopefully you'll be back on the road quickly.

tipping

Notwork Error wrote: »

Tough break tipping. To quote DG "a rest in time saves nine", look after yourself and hopefully you'll be back on the road quickly.

Cheers man. Hopefully not much in it but I was hoping it would be feeling better today. Nothing of note coming up anyway so a few days of a break might do no harm.

tipping

Spent the rest of the week working the the niggle. Was fairly despondent Tuesday as it felt pretty bad, whole leg was tight and a little sore to walk on even. But knee and hamstring loosened out on Wednesday so was left with just the left calf giving trouble. Could have ran thursday but thought the better off it.

Friday 23rd
3 miles very easy tester on calf @ 9:30ish pace. Felt a little tight at first but loosened up OK.

Sunday 25th
7.5 miles easy. All felt good back to normal next week if no flare up this evening but will keep it easy all week regardless.

17 miles for the week.

Reading back through the log it's always my calves that pop up as tight/sore etc so will be doing daily S&C on them for the foreseeable future and see if I can make some improvements there.