Man! I feel like a runner

Dull enough update here, especially compared to some epic long run sessions and TTs on other logs. Did the rehab exercises every day.

Monday evening was the physio session, as mentioned.
On Tuesday I headed out for a short slow run. Hamstring was a little tender from the physio but that’s to be expected.
I found myself thinking about the whole S&C conversation that was on here, and came to the conclusion that I still find it valuable.
1. I can’t take away the feeling of strength / power in my legs I had at the end of a couple of TTs last year.
2. My left leg has been weaker for a long time and I haven’t really dedicated any time trying to bring it up to where my right leg is. That doesn’t mean the S&C I’ve been doing has been pointless; I just need to refocus some of it.
3. And this point is important. I actually really enjoy it!

So on Wednesday and Saturday, out with my home S&C stuff, and included the rehab exercises.
As it happened then on Friday night, the club had organised a zoom webinar with Peter Matthews, an excellent runner, and works as a physio / S&C coach. He went through all the arguments for S&C and what are advisable for runners etc. Nothing that would surprise any of us, but it was nice to have it enforced in my head all the same Great timing!

Otherwise just some easy runs on Thurs, Sat and Sun to get a huge weekly total of 19 miles! Nothing exciting and just made sure to keep it easy. It was great to get out on a nice day like today. I’ll probably do a bit more next week but not anything beyond easy pace. The hamstring is nowhere near as sore as it was at the start of the week, but it isn’t 100% either. Yet

Mon 22nd Feb
Out for an easy few miles at lunchtime, weather was too nice to resist. 3.4 miles @ 9.43/m.

Tues 23rd
45 mins S&C
Another few easy miles in the evening. 4.1 miles @ 9.39/m. Wore the HRM, 142 avg.

Weds 24th
Just a nice evening walk.

Thurs 25th
5.4 miles @ 9.20/m. Legs were feeling quite sprightly.

Fri 26th
45 mins S&C
I’d had it in my head to walk the Feb challenge to at least have some points for the month, but by the time Friday evening came I decided to start it jogging and slowly and switch to walking when it felt necessary. Jogged the mile to where I wanted to do it and stretched out the calves and hamstring a bit before starting. In the end, I jogged the whole 44 mins up and down that blasted hill and really enjoyed. My hamstring felt ok, and in fact the glutes were burning which I took as good thing as they are exactly what I need to get working?! Jogged home kinda delighted with myself but wondered what the effects might be afterwards. Certain amount of guilt when the physio text me right as I was uploading to Strava confirming Mondays follow up appointment
Approx 7 miles for the evening.

Sat 27th
Lazy start to the day, but my legs felt quite good - in fact I’m wondering if slow hills are what I needed
Then I absolutely lost the run of myself. The club 5k TT was this weekend, and I had said I’d just do the distance to get our team the points for completing it as I wouldn’t be going near my PB / predicted time. I set off a tad too fast (I was going to do it at a moderate pace if the leg let me), and then a faster second mile and then I just seemed to keep picking up the pace and did it in 23.54... leg wasn’t entirely happy with me but after some stretching it quietened down. Look, there is very little excitement these days, and I found this week a bit meh despite the weather, so I’m not going to hate myself for doing that. Plus, I’m taking the positive that the effort for that pace felt way less than I would have expected.
4ish miles total.
As an aside, some of amount sandbaggers in my club. Serious chunks taken off their predicted times

Sun 26th
20 mins yoga for hamstrings thanks to Adriene (and inspired by some guilt I suppose).
Didn’t run today, cycled into town to meet my bro and his wife for a stroll. Much needed. The first time on my bike in months though and it sure felt like it!

24.6 miles for the week.
Back with the physio tomorrow, hamstring is definitely a good bit improved and I had been doing the rehab exercises throughout the week so we’ll see. I focused on a lot of single leg work in the S&C sessions too which hopefully will help the glute wake up more. I’d like to get the mileage up more again now, even if its all easy.

API wrote: »

I have to stay to away from that Zalando site. I bought a 'Diane Von Furstenberg'' suit that I only ever wore once. So much gorgeous stuff on that site.

I feel your pain with the pedestrians - 3, 4 abreast. Parents with kids, who don't even bother pulling across beside them when they clearly see someone approaching them. Its just easier to run on the side of the road.

When you see how little is invested in Irish Athletics, its easy to see why people don't bother with Field sports. Unless an athlete has a deep love for it, is it worth their while investing so much time and effort into a field sport. They'd probably have to travel abroad to facilitate anyway.

I'm sure it's a lovely suit though

Yeah that's a good point re the field sports, as little as is invested in track it must be far less for the field events. I know my club do have some field athletes but they train away from absolutely everybody so there's no visibility on that part of the club even. Maybe that's the case in a lot of clubs around the country too and not exactly breeding interest then.

Swashbuckler wrote:

As for the infinity reacts you're the second person now who wasn't impressed with them. I'm officially not recommending them anymore.

I've had runners before that took a few runs to get broken in so I won't make a final decision just yet

shotgunmcos wrote: »

I had literally the same reaction to the Infinity Reacts. I compared them to my existing max cushion shoe, NB 1080v10 and they were wider in the outsole :eek:

When I first tried them on I too felt that lump in the midfoot under my arch. The heel counter was not locking me in and they looked like clown shoes when I glance down at my feet they way the profile fans out. They also felt "hard" like they needed to be broken in.

I've since put in 120k on them.

I have a tendency to to occasionally scuff my ankle bone with the inside of the outer edge of the opposite shoe. My feet just roll out when I lift. Anyway I did a long run in the Infinity Reacts today and that monster outsole drew blood :eek:

Having said that I feel they have loosened up a bit and a definitely a bit more comfortable. They are ok for easy paces only IMO. The react foam just absorbs impact and gives nothing back. I tried pushing cadence for steady effort and forget about it. Its like running on sand. Its a shame that they are not versatile as I can't bring them out for an easy run with strides. I'll wear these out and happily take them out of rotation. Not impressed with them at all

Yeah interesting. I really wanted them to be like the Vomeros that were comfy from day one, but let’s see how the breaking in goes. One positive is they definitely make me taller anyway! I’ll always take that :pac:

Dubh Geannain wrote: »

I was quite aware of the lesser freedom women enjoy(or don't enjoy). My OH hasn't been in the habit of walking after dark for a few years now. Well not on her own anyway. I think social media reinforces that fear with the way news feeds are personalised based on previous stories viewed. But I'm certainly not going to argue about how she feels because it's not a fear over nothing.

Then the issue got more real with the discovery that a registered offender moved in a few doors up just before Christmas. I don't go running after dark now either. Things are in motion on that front though at least and they likely won't be there for too long.

Christ that's horrible. No wonder you've had to change running habits.

22nd - 28th March

Slightly less boring running this week..

Mon 22nd
Short easy run in the evening, 3.4 miles @ 9.20/m.

Tues 23rd
45 mins S&C
Easy evening run again but this time with 6 x 20 second hills thrown in about half way. No focus on speed, just on form with lifting the legs well and keeping the back straight. Nothing very intense and maybe it was in my head, but it felt like the couple miles home afterwards were smoother. 5.2 miles.

Weds 24th
Felt generally tired and decided to just go for a walk after dinner as the evening was nice enough.

Thurs 25th
Second (and final) attempt at the March challenge. With the lap splits set to km on the watch this time, it went much better and I managed to keep it overall quite sensible pace-wise. It was pretty enjoyable too, even with my wardrobe malfunction! 6.2 miles @ 9.01/m avg.

Fri 26th
45 mins S&C
Another easy run with 20 second hills thrown in, this time I did 8 reps. Again just focused on form, although once I did catch myself trying to run faster as there was another runner nearby - dope that I am :pac: 5.4 miles total.

Sat 27th
The clubs 10k TT was on, and I just wanted to get the distance done but aimed for about 55 minutes. Ended up a little fast, and with the wind that even felt harder than it probably should have! I didn’t really fuel up properly either to be honest. Lazy. 6.2 miles @ 8.39/m avg.

Sun 28th
After a lovely morning zoom for my goddaughters 1st birthday I eventually headed out in the afternoon. I’d had 10 miles in my head but the wind was quite frankly a massive pain in the you know where so just ended up doing 7. Not too bothered. 9.05/m avg.

33.5 miles for the week.
I did plenty of work on the glutes and hamstring outside the S&C too. My hamstring is feeling good again, but I’m going to take a softly, softly approach. There’s something in my running form that my left leg doesn’t like and I’m hopeful working on glute strength and the short hills for the next little while will change that even a small bit. I was reading the chapter on running efficient in Magness’ Science of Running that crisco loaned me, and it enforces that idea really.

Murph_D wrote:

Bookshelf sorting? Haven’t heard that excuse before. Colour, genre or alphabetical order.

Genre, then alphabetical within each genre, and a separate section for the as-yet-unread.. The running section has grown nicely these past few years I have to say