Shotgun 2020

OOnegative

How’s the niggles M, cleared or still there?

shotgunmcos

OOnegative wrote: »

How’s the niggles M, cleared or still there?

Fine yesterday but legs in a jock today so cant tell. Left Hip/quad worse than right but maybe just left glute worked harder yesterday...

OOnegative

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Fine yesterday but legs in a jock today so cant tell. Left Hip/quad worse than right but maybe just left glute worked harder yesterday...

Obviously going around, my foot appears to be cleared completely(fingers crossed) but last two days my quads are in bits & that’s a first for me ever to be complaining about them.

shotgunmcos

Sunday 14 July
Plan: 16m Long Run
Actual: 30min Swim, 62min Easy Run

The swim was a mile easy in the lovely Atlantic. Away for the day with the family in the sunny weather. Very enjoyable

The run was a horrible 7.37m@8:29. Late sun setting by the time I got out. No way was a long run on the cards. Lazy 163 cadence felt like I was dragging my feet behind me. At 3m I stopped and considered taking a turn home. I was tired and hungry but worse, my hips, quads and glutes were in a jock. I thought it was the niggle back until I realised everything hurt. Undoubtedly the builds and glute, quad and hip focused S&C afterwards yesterday. Plugged on to the next option to turn home at 5m but took it this time. Last 2m were a plod.

38m for the week plus 5.5 hours on the mat.
5th week in a row not hitting the plan.
Next week more of same on the mat but more consistent running.

Swashbuckler

I've written three posts at this stage in response and deleted them all coz I don't want to sound like an opinionate boll*x but some of your updates over the past month worry me

shotgunmcos

Swashbuckler wrote: »

I've written three posts at this stage in response and deleted them all coz I don't want to sound like an opinionate boll*x but some of your updates over the past month worry me

Ah thanks SW. Don't worry, I've been in worse states. career_move and sconhome can attest to it. I'm stubborn. What has changed though since the crazy days (paddling for hours with broken ribs, a speed wobble at 75kmph down botharín for a KOM) is less of the A Type drive. I can at least back off and focus on "now" and the journey. This is just running.

I felt great on Saturday. Yesterday was a long but lovely day. It was DOMS from the S&C. It felt better once I warmed up and loosened out. The left glute was worse being the site of focus lately but it felt good to stretch it this morning. I'll continue with the mat work and the resistant band will come back in to the routine soon. I won't run through pain, but will run off stiffness.

Swashbuckler

And that's part of the reason I pulled back. You seem to have a fair idea of what you're doing, definitely more knowledge than me when it comes to S&C and muscle groups etc. What worried me is that your body seems to be screaming out to you and you're pushing through it. But you seem to know what you're doing ie pushing through stiffness as opposed to injury.

I was speaking to someone about my training recently and it was mentioned that a good question to ask yourself is "can I sustain this for 6 months" and if the answer is no, then scale it back a bit.

Anyway take care of yourself and dont let one of your main strengths (drive and commitment) become your downfall. I think I've seen the words "in a jock" mentioned at least ten times in the last five pages of your log. Haha.

shotgunmcos

Monday 15 July
Plan: 10m Easy
Actual: 10.6m @8:27, hr 141

Just under 90mins running in 24 degrees of cloud and sunny breaks with 75%+ humidity. Muggy is hardly the word. Everything ached to start but felt a good deal better by 30mins. Next 30 mins almost enjoyable. Last 30mins thirsty and cardiac drift. 60 miles done in the Adidas Solar Glide. They are ok but despite a wider toebox than Nike a couple of blisters. They feel best at steady effort. The cushioning feels squashy at slow and the midsole is much too soft for speed. I'll keep them for easy miles but I find I'm missing my New Balance 880s for the easy miles. They are the same weight as the Solar Glides so might pick some up again. I find I'm looking forward to running in the NB 1500v5 again and the Jury is out on the Boston 7s. Just haven't been doing tempos to use them much yet.

Ah the rain has started...

shotgunmcos

Tuesday 16 July
Plan: 6x800m Reps
Actual: Yoga, S&C

This morning on the mat was
18min S&C day 9 very glute focused
26min Yoga day 9 also hit the glutes

Felt good after it and had energy to run but no time.
Fast forward to the evening and I feel mentally and physically drained. Think sleep is catching up with me.

Thursday plan is a progression run which I may do tomorrow to see how the glutes feel. Then if all ok move the speed reps to Friday. The plan is so far not going to plan but I'm not worried. Plenty of time.

shotgunmcos

Thursday 18 July
Plan: 6m Progression, total 12m
Actual: 3m Easy, 6m Progression, 3m Easy, total 12.62m

After 2 days no running (I didn't chase the speed reps session) the glutes were still a little heavy, left especially. The Progression run would be a little less risk that the speed reps. I wore the Boston 7s for this and it was warm as usual. The glute slowly got better as I warmed up over 3 miles but I planned to stop a few times to walk a few steps. Mainly because I was pushing through weeks ago and would be sore afterwards, or if I stopped, the first few steps would be sore and I'd block it and get on with it. If it felt worse I'd back off.

The work progression felt good. The first 2 miles I stopped to walk a bit a feel the hip out. No issues so I pressed on. It was a bit windy and lumpy and I finished stronger than planned. The plan was essentially starting form 7:30 pace and cutting down by 10secs every mile ending up at MP (which is a WIP)

Plan: 7:30, 7:20, 7:10, 7:00, 6:50, 6:40
Actual: 7:28, 7:05, 7:02, 6:57, 6:39, 6:08

First mile grand and felt very comfortable. Mile 2 I pushed on too much my running under trees meant the GPS wasn't helping. Walked a few steps after mile 4, still ok so I pushed on again finishing with a fast last mile. Overall felt great. I bit achy 3 miles later running easy but that was more the legs generally giving out that I'm not running consistently enough!

Not doing the S&C today to give the glutes, hips and quads a break but if all feels good I'll pick back up tomorrow.

healy1835

The plan was essentially starting form 7:30 pace and cutting down by 10secs every mile ending up at MP (which is a WIP)

WIP?

shotgunmcos

healy1835 wrote: »

The plan was essentially starting form 7:30 pace and cutting down by 10secs every mile ending up at MP (which is a WIP)

WIP?

Work in progress
Clearly the last mile was way over. Tentatively 6:40. If I can get some consistency going I'll train at that pace as a benchmark. Whether is realistic or not remains to be seen. I'll benchmark vs heart rate occasionally

healy1835

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Work in progress
Clearly the last mile was way over. Tentatively 6:40. If I can get some consistency going I'll train at that pace as a benchmark. Whether is realistic or not remains to be seen. I'll benchmark vs heart rate occasionally

Just the acronym I was puzzled about 6:40 is certainly on the cards after Limerick I would say....

shotgunmcos

Friday 19 July
Plan: Easy 8m
Actual: 8.54m @8:10, hr 132, time 1:09:40

It was due to start raining at 7am so I set the alarm for 6 and was out the door for 6:20. First mile was horrible, everything ached and my legs felt like 2 creaky planks of wood. By mile 3 I had loosened out, felt a little better and happy that maybe I'd escape the rain. A mile later it started and within minutes it was torrential and I was sloshing down a country road soaked. A breeze pushed it into my face too making it a little stingy. I got wet and cold so quickly that I couldn't tell how the legs felt. To make matters worse the final 2 miles were positively butt clenching and highly uncomfortable. After the first slow, awkward mile the miles beeped in a rhythm, 8:00, 8:00, 8:10, 8:00, 8:00, 8:10, 8:10...

Onto the mat later for 17 mins hip focused S&C and 25 mins of sweaty Yoga - Day 10 of the challenge/journey.

shotgunmcos

Sunday 21 July
Plan: Easy 10m
Actual: 12.43m @8:31, hr 140, time 1:45:52

The original plan was 10m easy yesterday and a long run today but giving my glutes a chance to recover this week. My mate Sean arrived down after hiking in Durrow with career_move and a spin around the Ballyhoura mountain bike trails. Lots of tea and catching up. The new plan was to get out in the morning before the kids arose. I was up with the alarm but he slept in. Got caught then when the kids woke him and had to do jigsaws lol

After a long Sunday breakfast and more chatting and checking out my shoes (handy to have feedback on my wear patterns from a real shoe specialist) we headed out before the rain. Took in my chasing steeples route around the city nice and easy chatting and often laughing out loud, not something you do often on a long run. A bit longer than planned but enough to call it a long run. Legs felt good, no complaints and we got back before the rain.

Also today
29mins Yoga dedicate journey day 11, while Sean did jigsaws with the kids
19mins S&C kinetic challenge day 11
6x15 split squat
3x15 hip thrusters
6x15 single leg dead lifts
2x30 mountain climbers
The glutes and quads felt this after the run.

Overall for the week
44.18m Running
1hr20 Yoga
54mins S&C
Missed 2 runs and missed target again (yet to hit a weekly target) but ended the week feeling good and motivated to run. The challenge switches back to mobility and flexibility in a couple of days so the glutes will catch a break. Also need to clean up my diet, eating far too much rubbish and weight is 80kg+

Next week
Mon: Easy
Tue: Speed
Wed: Easy
Thu: Tempo
Fri: Easy (Work night out, will be a late one)
Sat: Easy with strides if not too hungover or a hike
Sun: LR
Yoga: 1hr+
S&C: 1hr+

shotgunmcos

14 Weeks to DCM - One to forget about and move on..

Day|Plan|Actual|Comments
Monday 22/7|Easy w/strides|Nothing|Spent the day with my little girl after her gymnastics camp
Tuesday 23/7|Speed Reps|Steady 8.42m @7:22 inc/8x100m strides|Very warm and humid, felt ok but outside of upper right calf pretty tight for a finish
Wednesday 24/7|Recovery|Yoga 20mins, S&C 19mins|Day 12/30
Thursday 25/7|Tempo|Easy 5.23m @8:37, 44min Yoga, S&C (Day 13)|Calf was still tight so canned the plan for the week.
Friday 26/7|Easy|Easy/Steady 10m @7:42, 51min Yoga, S&C (Day 14)| First run in the NB Fresh Foam Beacon v2. Very nice shoe for easy to steady miles. Prefer it to the Adidas Solar Glide and at 240g (Size 10.5, wide fit) its even lighter than my speed shoes! The S&C includes 5x20sec jumps and 5x10sec hops this week and the calf was still not happy.
Saturday 27/7|Easy|Nothing|My Work Leaving Party last night and a hangover from the depth of hell. Mercifully Caz took the kids away to a party to allow me suffer alone with the toilet bowl. Couldn't eat let alone run!
Sunday 28/7|Long Run| Nothing|Hangover still there but I was functional. Spent the day with the kids after my absence yesterday
Summary|70m|23.65m plus 3hrs of Yoga, S&C|:mad: Disaster of a week. The calf is just a knot and I've been rolling it out but the hangover was vicious. I rarely drink but this was the worst I've had in a long long time. I start a new job tomorrow and welcome the routine again. 13 weeks to DCM. 1 week to get back on track or bust...

shotgunmcos

13 Weeks to DCM - The Plan is gone

Day|Plan|Actual|Comments
Monday 22/7|Easy w/strides|Easy/Steady 8.54m @7:43 plus 17min Yoga, 24min S&C|Last 2m steady instead of strides, minding the calf|
Tuesday 23/7|Speed Reps target|10.04m inc. Intervals 6x800m on grass w/400m recovery. Reps: 2:58, 2:53, 2:53, 2:54, 2:56, 2:50|Avg pace 5:51 vs target 5:52 but it was a big effort. Calf was tight on the grass but as soon as I hit the pavement again to cool down it was sore.
Wednesday 31/7|Recovery|7m V Easy and no S&C either as jumps and hops were affecting the calf|Made a decision on this one to take the rest of the week off and not to push anything until I'm 100%
Thursday 1/8|Tempo|Nothing|
Friday 2/8|Easy|Nothing|
Saturday 3/8|Easy|Nothing|
Sunday 4/8|Long Run| Nothing|
Summary|70m|25.58m plus 51 minutes of S&C| 8 weeks in a row I haven't hit a target. Back to the drawing board.


Reality Check!
8 Weeks into the GLR plan: 377m, 47m avg, 6x speed, 6x Tempo, 3x LRs
8 Weeks into the DCM plan: 320m, 40m avg, 2x speed, 2x Tempo, 3X LRs

Not worried about the missed speed sessions but that is a lot of Tempo (MP) miles missed. More importantly by this time in GLR I had momentum, right now I have none. Its 12 weeks to DCM and I think best case scenario is getting back into shape to run another sub3. Assuming all goes to a re-plan from here :rolleyes: Charleville will will be nowhere near a PB effort but will at least tell me what shape I am in and what a realistic DCM target pace might be. Its been a heavy week starting a new job too so hopefully I can grab a hold of some consistency this week...

Kellygirl

Good luck with the new job and hope you start getting some consistency going soon.

OOnegative

Any running M?

shotgunmcos

OOnegative wrote: »

Any running M?

Sorry just noticing this now. No running unfortunately. Appreciate I haven't been around Boards the last while. Been managing a health issue. Mad how I was so motivated by the sub 3 in May to dropping out of Charleville, DCM. No excuses or complaints.

I'll be back logging soon, promise

shotgunmcos

Aha found it. I meant to log yesterday but used my 60min chrome limit (digital wellbeing) reading other logs and never made it to page 6!

Life has been busy. I gained 9kg. That's that.

Said I'd wait until I put a full week of something together to log again but actually logging stuff will likely increase the probability of that.

The week..
6m easy Monday, Tuesday and today.
1 yoga session
10 epic hours of IKEA assembly

I entered DCM 2020 unintentionally really. Got that email with a code and paid 93 yoyos on impulse. Ideally I'll get fit again over the winter and enter some events next year. I'm thinking about a spring marathon, maybe Barcelona. It depends on getting consistently running and starting now. Oh and I'll also nail my colours to the mast. I entered 2:56 as my goal time on the DCM form...

Swashbuckler

Welcome back. Probably time for me to start updating a bit again too.

shotgunmcos

Monday 4 Nov
6.44m @8:12, hr 143

Cool, calm, crisp evening. Lovely for running. Kicking through fresh fallen autumn leaves, quiet roads and some miles lost in thought. However, the legs felt heavy and lazy. The core felt soft and even wobbly. My shoulders seemed to rock and my breathing was unsteady. I didn't look at the watch so it was just miles. Ok for half an hour but then laboured home in a plod. Its Monday, its a start or restart I guess. If I can get sort of fit by the end of November I'll create a plan.

Swashbuckler

Those first few weeks can feel like a right slog. Keep with it. You'll turn a corner

KSU

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Monday 4 Nov
6.44m @8:12, hr 143

Cool, calm, crisp evening. Lovely for running. Kicking through fresh fallen autumn leaves, quiet roads and some miles lost in thought. However, the legs felt heavy and lazy. The core felt soft and even wobbly. My shoulders seemed to rock and my breathing was unsteady. I didn't look at the watch so it was just miles. Ok for half an hour but then laboured home in a plod. Its Monday, its a start or restart I guess. If I can get sort of fit by the end of November I'll create a plan.

Sounds like we are in very similar positions. I always takes a week or two just to remember the mechanics of how to run maybe it is just the fitness side of things that we are so focused on in early stages but tend to feel like bambi on ice.

shotgunmcos

Wednesday 6th Nov
6.06m @8:10, hr higher than intended

I wanted to run yesterday but prioritised time with family ahead of work travel. Overnight journey to Tel Aviv and I had a few hours to kill before work. I needed sleep but knew also it was my only window to run. The earlier the better too as it gets hot quickly here. It was 21C heading out and 27C when I got back. I meandered around the marina and long dock for a few miles, then took my shoes off to run barefoot on hard wet sand on the edge of the gently lapping med. 2 miles of the feet feeling free and refreshed as the temps rose. Its not enough that I'm not fit and carrying weight but add heat onto that and I was fairly red faced for a finish. I saw lots of runners out as I was getting organised initially, obviously running at dawn to avoid the heat :rolleyes:

OOnegative

If you’re not fit M why the quickish pace? Noticed it in Strava on most of your runs since you started back.

shotgunmcos

OOnegative wrote: »

If you’re not fit M why the quickish pace? Noticed it in Strava on most of your runs since you started back.

I'm just running as I feel. It feels like a plod (161 Cadence). The pace was actually 8:30-8:40. First mile was off. I'll give it 2 weeks to "as KSU put it" find my feet and then break it out to slow/fast.

career move

Tel Aviv eh! Nice for some.

I'm sure the heat was an incredible inconvenience :rolleyes:

shotgunmcos

Ha ha Kate.. it was terrible alright. There were even little shells and stones on the beach so I had to run barefoot through the edge of the waves... :pac:

Thursday 7th Nov
7.1m @8:42 inc 8x 20sec strides

Out before the sun peaked over the hilltops this morning. Lots of folk out. Ran a gentle 9min pace over the Marina and Dock and then onto another beach for 3 miles on the sand some hard some soft. I'm going to stop complaining about the body while here. I shouldn't be taking this for granted. A bit of running in nice weather ahead of the many dark winter wet weeks. The strides were actually good since I focuses on form instead of simply pushing the pace for 20 secs. Still got t heart rate into the red zone as I only took 20 secs between strides.