Spiral out - keep going

healy1835 wrote: »

Best of luck tomorrow morning pal. It's a nice bit of a free hit for you. Put that fitness of yours to the test and take whatever the morning brings you.
Route is fair, but needs to be negotiated. Miles 6-10 is a bit of drag, nothing major but just be careful not to overdo it there. Once you turn left at 15k and have the Curragh on your right, you'll have a nice last 5k or so back into Kildare town. Wind will be in your favour too, so it's set up for a fast finish. I'll be at the 10 mile marker with some water so I'll keep an eye out for you.

Thanks J, you'll hear the slap of the Alphaflys before you see me. I'll be in the Eagle black & yellow top

healy1835 wrote: »

How's the body after Sunday?

Funny you should ask that, things went a bit downhill with my back after the race on Sunday. Guess I better do a quick update while I'm here to explain in more detail.

Thoroughbred HM
So the week before the race had me doing an easy 15x1' on/off session on Sunday and then all easy running for the week, with the mileage reducing as the race came closer. Felt in good nick, legs did feel a bit sluggish but remember them being like that before a TT. I was having the usual mental battle with myself all week, was really nervous about the race and was no doubt not nice to be around (my lucky family!)

Race was on at 10am. 2 hour trip from Cork so got up at 5.30am. Quick bite to eat, bit of stretching, numerous toilet visits and I was on my way. Arrived in plenty of time and drank my Maurten 320 drink - it is soooo much sweeter than the 160 version. Did a 2 mile warmup out and back to the car. Forecast was meant to be cool and a bit of rain but could feel the heat during the warmup. Got changed into my race gear and headed up to check in for the start.

The main street was full of runners. I had thought they were limited to 100 runners but looked like they were able to field more due to the staggered start times. It was a great sight to see. Went to the designated meeting point for our group, easy to find - just follow the NEXT% and Alphaflys shoes. The group were walked down to the starting point, felt like I was back in school going on a school tour.

Had studied the course during the week and had healy's advice about miles 6-10 in my head. The plan was to head out at 6min pace till halfway and see how I was then. If I was in a group and going a bit slower at the start, that was fine too. We started and I settled into a nice pace early on - had a few runners around me so things looked good. Trouble was the pace settled at 6.10 which was a bit too slow. I picked it up a bit

After going through the stud farm, pace was around the 6.05 mark and had a nice group around me - good to be in a race. I will say that I never felt comfortable even at that point but that how my training runs feel as well. Understandably, the roads were not closed for this race so spent a lot of time running on the edge of country roads and had to watch for uneven surfaces and potholes constantly.

Onto mile 4 and next 2 miles were on a straight road that was quite favourable. Was able to up the pace here a bit and the group were starting to motor. Things were fine but I think it was around this time my back sent me a sharp shock to my brain. I thought nothing of it at the time except where did that come from, and carried on. We turned the corner and met the oncoming wind. I knew these miles were lumpy so knew this is where I needed to put the work in. I knew mile times would suffer but felt I could make it back towards the end of the race.

The group started to stretch out and I did find myself drifting towards the back of it. I knew at this point I was in a spot of bother and started to drift off the back. Not sure what was causing it but I had nothing in the legs to push on and keep up. I was trying my best to maintain the pace but saw that the avg pace was dropping at this point. I was questioning everything - was it the heat, the wind, the hills, did I leave my race in my training, taper not easy enough, promised that I would never do a HM again & added another 10 mins to my marathon goal - the usual self talking when suffering.

I kept saying get to the top turn and things might be different then. I got to the top and things were different but not for the better. I could only go one pace, certainty not faster, and didn't want to go any slower and prolong the suffering. I entered a calm state of agony in trying to get the race over and done with. I passed jhealy around this point, I was well into the pain cave at this point but was at ease with it. The thing is my breathing was fine, was now thanking all the people cheering me on, it was just my legs wouldn't allow me to go any faster.

The last couple of miles felt like an eternity and there was one point that my legs nearly gave way - it was the only point where I thought I might have to stop. Thankfully I finished it out, no sign of a sprint at the end - was really disappointed with the result (1.22.56). Collected my goody bag and walked to the check out area. Talked with others from the group and thankfully they seemed to struggle too. It must've been how hot and humid it was. I got back to the car knowing I had to cool down - it was then when my lower back started to seize up. Attempted to do a cool down but couldn't even start it - I knew it wasn't going to happen.

Had to do a pitstop on the drive back to Cork and could barely get out of the car. It was sore the rest of that day, but it really hit me yesterday. I was like a 90 year man for the whole day, unable to stand up at times, crawling around the house like a baby Today it is a small bit better but I'm booked in to see a physio tomorrow. There be no running for me (thankfully) for a few days, or rest of week. I'm not in a hurry to get back anyway.

So thinking back to the race
- yes the heat and humidity didn't help
- yes I wouldn't have hit the target time in those conditions anyway
- Hopefully the back issue caused the slowdown in pace in the second part of the race. That the body was protecting itself by reducing my mobility. I would definitely prefer that than knowing it wasn't in the legs and I wasn't able to put up a fight
- yes I hate hiding behind excuses. I think it was an important race for me to have. Every runner has bad races, so I need to learn from this one
- Finally, yes I will need to do some S&C work to prevent this from happening again (NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!). Doesn't help when I work from home sitting at a desk all day. My posture wouldn't be great anyway

Time I suppose to update this log, even though the new format is annoying me big time. Christ - 19 days to update 😲

July 2nd - 7m easy

July 3rd - 7m easy (grass)

July 4th - 14m@6.40, 2m wu/cd

On the plan, the coach had it down as 8-12 miles at 6.40. Back and legs were feeling good so I said I would see how it goes and do the 14 with the group if everything was ok. Had even programmed 14 miles on the watch - shows how confident I was. Having the group to run with was a big help and things were fine for the majority of the run. Only struggled for the last 2 miles, which happens on nearly every run! Averaged 6.35 for the 14.

July 6th - 7m easy on grass

July 7th - Supposed to be 20' tempo, 5min rec, 10' tempo

Ended up running just a 2 mile tempo. The target pace was 10 mile effort, which would be about the 5.55-6min mark. I remember during the warmup that my right calf was quite stiff but thought it would loosen up during the tempo. It did to a degree, but I wasn't moving as free as I could. The first fast mile was 5.54 but I was really feeling it in the legs. Was nearing the end of the 2nd mile and decided to call it quits after the 20' tempo. 2nd mile came in at 6.07 and that made me stop there and then. Not that I was fixated with the time, I knew the pace was only going downhill from there so made the call early to prevent me from damaging myself any further

July 8th - 7m easy on grass.

Trip to the physio for a deep tissue massage. It certainty ironed out the tightness in my calves, was not a pleasant experience but it worked

July 9th - 7m easy on grass

July 10th - 7m easy on grass

Legs were definitely feeling very fatigued and weary on these two easy runs. It's like they were still suffering a trauma from the back injury and were taking their time to get back to normal. Either that or there was after effects from the massage (don't think it was though)

July 11th - 90' easy

This was a planned easy run weekend so took advantage of it and ran at my easy pace. Was feeling leggy at the start but got into some sort of rhythm and felt a lot better after it

July 13th - 20' tempo, 5min rec, 10' tempo, 20' WU/CD

Confidence going into this was a bit shot and moving this session to the Tuesday had me worried. Was heading to Tayto Park at the weekend so all runs had to be done before we left on Saturday. Weather was super warm so my aim for this was just to complete the session and not worry about the pace. Started out the 20' tempo first mile in about 6min pace but it slowed over the course of that part to a 6.07 at the finish. Was happy with that, even though I stopped last week doing the same pace. The 10' tempo came in at the same time, with me struggling towards the end. I was actually delighted that I was able to complete it

July 14th - 7m easy on grass

July 15th - 7m easy on grass

As the week went on, the legs seemed to be getting back to normality

July 16th - 14m@6.40, 2m wu/cd

Same session as two weeks ago but two changes. First, was running it by myself on a Friday. Secondly, it was absolutely scorching, Strava said 18C but it was at least a million degrees hot. Good thing about running by myself was being able to do a slow warmup in the Invincibles and then change into the NEXT%. Picked a route that was basically running from Centre Park road in the city center, out to Passage and back again. With the weather the way it was, I didn't mind if the pace drifted out to 6.50 but wanted to keep the effort consistent if I could. Overall, I managed a 6.43 average for the 14 and pleasingly the Heart rate seem to stay constant during the run. It's strange running the session on a Friday, you don't get that "look at me i'm doing a session vibe" 😂

I was absolutely baked at the end of the run. Was sick of the sun already and it was only the start of the heatwave.

July 17th - 5m recovery on grass

I could detail the activities in Tayto park for the weekend but will banish them to the back of my head for good. Walked for about 9 hours in the sun, a good long slow walk. We did visit the National Stud on the way up, just a few weeks after me running through it during the Thoroughbred HM. Highly recommend it to anyone to go visit, even if you don't have an interest in horses (which I don't).

I would imagine there is something amiss further up the body that might be elevating the recent issues. Something I need to investigate further with an osteopath. However, I've been so lucky with injuries since I start running without doing any sort of stretching, strengthening or additional work. It's more than likely that the intensity of the training finally caught up with me. Need to strengthen those muscles in order to get the training levels back to the same intensity.

Nice steady improvements in the running since the last update. It even managed to see through a week in Killarney, and all the extra family activities that that entails.

Thurs 12th - 5m easy (grass), 8:37avg

Increased the run to 5 miles, including the last mile barefoot - felt good but still had the pinch there

Fri 13th - 6m easy (grass), 8:16avg

Another mile increase, with another mile barefoot - increased average pace shows the improvement in the achilles

Sat 14th - 6m easy (grass), 8:14avg

Carbon copy of the previous day run. Did think of increasing it to 7 miles but achilles felt a bit tired (not as sore though). Drove down to Killarney with the family straight afterwards, back on the Friday.

Sun 15th - 7m moderate, 7:33avg

Don't think I updated the log with me having my first bit of alcohol in nearly a year at the end of July. Again, I never felt I was off the drink, just didn't have the opportunity! Anyway, I had quite a number of Killarney IPAs the previous evening - starting with the Liverpool Norwich game at 5.30pm. Was feeling a bit rough for this run but the achilles felt ok when I started the run. First time running properly in the Killarney National Park but was able to find a flattish route. I did plan on keeping the pace around 8 min/mile but thought to myself I could up the pace some bit and give the achilles a bit of a tester. I had a rest day the following day so felt it could recover then. Did a 6:56 and 7:06 before a slower cool down mile of 7:41 to finish the run off, was happy with it

Tues 17th - 7m easy, 8:22avg

Achilles was in good shape after the rest day, still that same pinching soreness but was easing off more during the run. Trying to get back to the full compliment of 4 easy runs at 7 miles

Wed 18th - 3m wu, 20' Tempo, 3m cd

Didn't plan on doing any sort of session this week but with the fast(ish) miles I ran on Sunday it was a natural progression to see how 20' would go. Planned to go between 6:30 and 6:40 for the tempo. As I didn't plan on the session, I didn't have my usual NEXT%s - had to make do with those crumby hill sprint shoes - VFs (😉 SwashBuckler). Started my usual too fast (at least injury hasn't stopped this habit) but it felt ok (ish). First mile was a 6:19, was definitely feeling the faster pace in the lungs but at least the achilles was ok. 2nd mile was more reasonable at 6:29 but the body was defo not used to it. Last mile & a bit came in around 6:40 which was a combination of struggling towards the end and making some uturns in the park after taking the wrong path. All in all, it was a successful session.

Thurs 19th - rest

After the session, my achilles was fine - just the usual tiredness. We had planned to bring the girls pony trekking that afternoon so thought I would get some relaxing time while they were doing that. Unfortunately, given the lack of guides at the pony trekking place, myself and OH had to lead our girls' ponies through the rocky, hilly parts of Killarney National Park for the best part of an hour (and pay for that privilege as well). I knew my achilles would be in bits afterwards and my limp returned straight afterwards. At least my kids enjoyed the experience.

So I decided to skip the run today and had a relaxing day instead (which worked a treat)

Fri 20th - 7m easy, 8:45avg

Was a quick recovery from that setback, which was unexpected and very welcomed. Did a 2 mile warmup with the OH, left her doing laps of a nearby GAA pitch and then met her on the way back. Legs felt quite good afterwards. And that was after packing up the car for the journey home too

Sat 21st - 7m easy (grass), 8:38

Ah the Farm, how I missed you. Did my normal 7 miles here but did 3 laps of the back field barefoot (about 1.8m). I know the coach doesn't like barefoot running (sorry Stazza 👋) but it does feel like it strengthens my feet when I do it and irons out any niggles with them as well

Sun 22nd - 3m wu, 20' tempo (5min rec), 10' tempo, 2m cd

Adding another 10' to the midweek session seems like nothing on paper but in my mind it was like an extra 10 miles! Again the plan was to go at 6:30 pace but as much as anything, I was going to go by feel. Never do that again! First mile was too fast, came in at 6:06 - needed to slow it down given the extra 10'. Second mile at 6:15 so still going faster than prescribed but felt it was a good effort. 3rd mile and I finally got the pace right, 6:28. Averaged about 6.18 for the 20'. Took a 2min from the 5 recovery as a walking recovery, to get my breath back - lungs definitely out of practice.

For the 10' tempo, It averaged at about 6.20 and felt great to complete a proper session. I could definitely feel that the achilles was getting more fatigued as it went on and I wasn't running as freely as I used to. Still though, it felt ok and was at a decent effort as well. Again, having a rest day on the Monday it should be good to go again.

Things are progressing well, this week I will do 2x20' at around the same pace as a midweek session and then will increase to a 40' tempo at the weekend (albeit at a slower pace). Have decided not to run the Manchester marathon at all, even at a slower pace. Like AMK, I will return to the 10k-10m base training and see if I can get to my pre Thoroughbred HM form. Will look to do some form of a race in Oct/Nov, before switching to a few 5k races in December. Will then begin a hopefully normal racing and injury free 2022

Since the last update, it's been a week and a half of the same old runs and routines, which is fantastic news. Easy runs were all done on grass, with 1.8m barefoot. Seems to be really strengthening the feet. Midweek sessions and weekend long runs are similar, but with the paces and/or times increasing.

Thurs 2nd - 7m easy, 8:15avg (grass) 1.8m barefoot

Fri 3rd - 7m easy, 8:36avg (grass) 1.8m barefoot

Sat 4th - 7m easy, 8:30avg (grass) 1.8m barefoot

Sun 5th - 50'@6.25, 30' wu/cd

An extra ten minutes from last week and 10 second increase in pace. After the midweek 6.05 pace, I was confident going into this one. Unfortunately didn't have anyone to run with so it ended up being tougher. After the first four miles into the wind, was maintaining a 6.29 average so knew I had to make some time up on the way back. Wasn't able to push on that much and the achilles was more noticeable than usual. Didn't have the same strength as last week. Still managed to reel it into a 6.26avg and took a suffering decision to run over a steep footbridge in the last minute - so it must not have been too bad

Tues 7th - 7m easy, 8:24avg (grass) 1.8m barefoot

Wed 8th - 2x20'@6.05, 5min rec, 20' wu/cd

Same session as last week but an extra 5 minutes tagged on. Picked the same route. It was really humid, was sweating loads during the warmup. Said to myself that 6.15 should be goal given the conditions. First tempo and first mile comes in at 6.02 into the wind - go figure. Anyway, was feeling ok so kept it to the 6.05 for that tempo. Legs were feeling that effort during the 5 minute recovery. Struggled to get going again and when I did the pace was around the 6.17 mark. Was determine to get through no matter what the pace was going to be. The effort levels were high as I managed to complete it in 6.18. Was happy with the session

Thur 9th - 7m easy, 8:24avg (grass) 1.8m barefoot

Fri 10th - 7m easy, 8:32avg (grass) 1.8m barefoot

Sat 11th - 7m easy, 8:25avg (grass) 1.8m barefoot Was circling around the farm in the middle of Leevale doing a bit of a speed session. Made me increase my speed subconsciously as they passed me

Sun 12th - 60'@6.20, 2m wu/40' cd

Plan was originally 60'@6.25 but a few of my running mates were down to do 6.20 mile sessions. Decided it'd be a good idea to go with them and give the fitness a bit of a test. Ended up being three of us running together (well for a mile anyway). After a 2 mile warmup, off we went on the tempo miles. After a comfortable first mile, the 2nd mile felt tough and I drifted off the back of the two lads already. Didn't panic as I was going faster than prescribed, around the 6.15 mark. The next couple of miles were me off the back but the gap remained constant. Next mile and I started to pull them back a bit and was feeling quite good. Breathing was relaxed and no ill effects from the achilles. With a few of miles to go though, my legs were feeling quite fatigued - the nice horrible feeling when you know you're putting in a good effort. The run was starting to catch up on them and the pace slowed a notch. Still I was able to grind them out to finish with a 6.19 average - job done. With a shorter warmup, I decided to do a 40' even though I was wrecked. Needed to run away from the car as far as possible so I wouldn't cut it short. It was torture but got it done.

56 miles for the week.

So running those 10 miles at 6.20 will now make that the target pace for Charleville Hm in 2 weeks. Hopefully the taper, improving fitness and race adrenaline will get me through the last 3 miles.

Bit of a reality check this week after the high of that 5k time in Newmarket. Maybe it was the hectic festive period, loads of junk eaten or just general tiredness after a full weeks training, but the Sunday session was a lot tougher than I expected. Still got a good week's training in

By taking Christmas day as a rest day, I ended up switching my normal rest day from Monday to Thursday - like most people, I didn't know what day of the week it was between Christmas day and New years. Monday and Tuesday were a normal easy 7m between 8.15 & 8.30 pace. Wednesday's session went quite well

8x2' on/off, 8x1' on/off - Normally this would 10x reps but was given 8x just to ease myself back in. Have no idea what target paces should be so went with feel somewhat and started off conservatively. Started off around the 6min/mile pace for the first couple of 2 mins and ended up around 5.50 for the rest. Wind was a small bit of a factor for the 1 min reps but I was more focussed on effort than pace. By the end of the session, I felt I had a few more reps in me so I guess I judged everything nicely. 12 miles in total

Easy days are increasing from 7m to 65' so will be around the 8m mark instead. Didn't want to do 65' for all easy days this week, will gradually increase them. It's amazing how mentally tough it is to increase these runs by just 1 mile, seems like a lot more effort than it actually is. Will get used to it I guess, was the same when I went from 6m to 7m. So rest day on Thursday, following by 8 miles easy on Friday and back to 7 miles on Saturdays. Sunday was the normal session day

30' tempo, (5min rec), 8x45" (75" rec), 25-30' wu/cd - So as I said above, struggled a lot more on this than I should have. Legs were feeling tired during the warmup but they would normally snap out of it during the session itself. Target for the 30' was meant to be a progression run, starting at 6.30 pace and going to 6.10 maybe, but the wind prevented this from happening. First mile into the wind and it felt grand - going out too fast but settled into a 6.25 pace eventually - going to be a piece of cake I said to myself. Second mile had the wind and ended with another 6.25 mile, but probably faster due to the poor gps in that section. Third mile is where the legs started to fill with lactate, it was not nice to experience that feeling again! Most people hate the puke/metal burn of a 5k run. For me, the lactate fill/burn of the legs when you've another 5 miles to complete is a lot worse. The third mile was 6.09, which may have explained the lactate filling, but it was with the wind on a fast straight section of the walkway. Fourth mile was a lot more painful, legs had the lead feeling again and was against the wind for most of it. Managed to keep it to a 6.23 so not too shabby. Last 5 mins into the wind was damage limitation - was on the same sort of pace but had to stop to talk to a buddy that I hadn't seen in ages (I was delighted to be able to stop early!). Once I stopped chatting, finished out the last minute or so pain free 😀

The 8x45" were again done to feel, on tired creaky legs but happy how they went. Finished out the cooldown quite tired and glad it was over. Over 13 miles in total

Looking back, did a full week's training, with 2 sessions of higher than recent mileage, it's normal that the legs were feeling fatigued. Next week's training will see another gradual increase in mileage and intensity so I'm moving in the right direction. Also have the FCE scan on Wednesday, very interested to see what comes back. Not sure if I want them to find something or not!