The Early Years Edu-racer

racersedge

So it’s been a month since I last posted, as I reviewed and assessed the Dublin effort. Funny thing is, if you had told me then Dublin would be my last run in the past four weeks, I’d of said you would be joking!

Initial plan as discussed with the coach was to take one to two weeks off. A proper break and it was needed. What I noticed after the first week was this groin/abductor issue that had plagued me in the weeks leading to Dublin wasn’t improving. I was literally about to put myself down for a Christmas 5K when I said ‘maybe I’ll touch base with the physio’. Saw him, wha, about ten days after Dublin and boy jaysus did he set off things when assessing the tender areas. Suffice to say, any plans f running anytime soon went out the window.

So for the past month, I’ve been in rehab mode. Blessing in disguise I picked up the spin bike and rower, as it’s allowed me to stay active. I’ve also been hit my a pretty nasty chest infection (the joys of my work environment) so even if I was fit to run, I would have gotten bugger all in. I’d argue I’m still getting over that.

As for this injury (can call it that now, as opposed to lying to myself and calling it a niggle/discomfort), is of my own doing really. I didn’t rest and recover properly after Manchester. I naively thought a few easy runs would get me over it. It was then hardly helped by that 10K race where I set a big PB on a tough course at Emo not even two weeks after Manchester. I think that’s where the alarm should have gone off and I do recall some discomfort after it. But after that I was into one target after another leading to Dublin. What also has played a part is the overal volume. Smashrun has been useful with the graphs and such to show the stats. Since I started running after Christmas ‘14, I’ve ran just shy of 12,000K. However, just over 5,000K of that has been the past two years - just short of half my overall mileage ever. Over 3,000K of that is this year. So a quarter of my overall mileage has been this year. So while I think the lack of recovery post-Manchester played a significant role, I’ve also seriously upped my game in the past two years - and no doubt this has also had an affect.

So I’ve been off for the month. Which has felt okay. I’m at peace with it because I need this rest to recover. I was tempted to get out this week and said ‘no, wait for the green light’. A check in is due with the physio now on Monday to see where we stand and what progression exercises are need. I’ll see if I get any kind of timeframe for getting out on the road. For the most part I’ve avoided going mad signing up for races. Common sense saw me take up the Dublin option (after all the grandstanding on the last few paragraphs about looking elsewhere) and I just signed up for Bohermeen half as my early year target race (providing of course I have myself back in the right frame for it).

The good news is, I’ve got lots of new shiny shoes for when I’m back! ‘Cause I might as well spend money on the, than races, it seems!

racersedge

An update, and perhaps the final chapter for the Early Years Edu-racer given everything going on (I'll touch on that later). Reading back and seeing it was late November since I last posted and the real since of optimism I had at that point that I would be back running by the end of the year.

Clearly didn't work out like that!

So, to give a re-cap on the last few months. Rehab continued grand into December. Coming up to Christmas, my ego got the better of me. I looked at the length of time out and decided I'd have a sneaky 5K, thinking everything would be okay and I'd be able to accelerate the rehab program. Boy, was I wrong. Knew about half way around things were still pretty far away. Suffice to say, didn't tell the physio what I did. But I have to say, it led to some pretty down-and-out thoughts of mine. When I first spoke to the physio, he outlined it could be up to three months before I was back running. I accepted that, but I didn't actually believe that would be the case. Well, turns out that it was the case and I gave my groin abductors and proper bloody going over. Rehab continued into the new year and it was only heading into the end of January where I got the go-ahead to begin the run/walk programme. Should a little common sense on my part and actually pushed that one week (learning my lesson from before, maybe) and after two weeks of that - I was back into consistent running - steadily increasing the time on my feet over three weeks.

So I basically ended the formal rehab programme about... two weeks ago now? Things are going... okay, grand. As well as can be expected. The groin and pelvis are still pretty tender in the morning after post-run, and I'm maintaining two days of maintenance rehab on things. Mileage is increasingly steady and this week I got a half a session of speedwork in. The good news, while my fitness took a considerable blow, it's coming back. Even over the past five weeks I can feel things are better and the slow run time is feeling more comfortable. Long runs feel like I've done double the distance, by the end of them. So a steady increase is going on there to build up - up to about 17.5K on Thursday which was nice.

Short term aim is to keep plugging away. Bohermeen, which I had signed up for, went off the table. Found a home of my number to take any temptation of going up there (where while I would say 'sure, it could be a long run' and it would have turned into a race for me. Going to just assess things as I rebuild fitness and strength in the groin area until I'm running tender feeling free at this point. Had a positive chat with the coach today for the first time in ages to just put out a rough framework and I've decided I'm going to give the 5K in Portloaise a crack tomorrow to see where I am at.

Anyway, in other big news - I'm changing jobs. Actually, I'm changing careers altogether. Hence the other reason for maybe closing off this blog and starting again. I am now leaving the early years sector for something completely different. Exciting times, and while there is some extra travel involved now and an immediate step-back in the wages I'm on, there is greater scope to move forward; work less hours overall and once comfortable, and opportunity to work from home. So a lot of positive for the family. And apparently, the place has showers (can I say that was a massive plus? Imagine avoiding the early morning rush-hour by getting to work absurdly early, getting my run and not having to do it at home)!

So in many ways, between returning from injury and the new career start, it really is a fresh chapter for me in 2023. Hopefully a case that both paths are positive as we go forward.

Unknownability

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120367139#Comment_120367139

Glad to hear the injury is healing and best of luck with the new role.

When you mention a run / walk plan was it a specific one that you used or just off feel?

Coming (hopefully, had a very positive session with PT today) back after 5 mths myself and not sure how to approach it.

racersedge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120367436#Comment_120367436

I followed what the physio prescribed. So it ended up been about two weeks of run/walk before progressing into time on feet runs. Basically, it looked like this:

Week One:

Session 1: 5 minute run/1 minute walk (20mins)

Session 2: 5 minute run/1 minute walk (20mins)

Session 3: 5 minute run/1 minute walk (30 mins)

Week 2:

Session 1: 10 minute run/1 minute walk (20mins)

Session 2: 10 minute run/1 minute walk (20mins)

Session 3: 15 minute run/1 minute walk (45 mins)

The next three weeks them built the consistent run sessions from 30 to 40, finally 50 minutes (although I’d be the first to admit I started to extend out the third run on each of them based off how I was feeling!). Big key was to be slow and run the pace by feel. I was super conscious of the pace and to keep far away from my pre-injury easy pace. I actually settled for keeping more of an eye on my heart rate to judge it as that helped keep me in check for those first weeks back.