Running away

Annie get your Run · 08-01-2022 1:51pm

Really enjoyed reading that year in review, well done again those fantastic achievements on the 10 mile TT and that epic marathon result.

Would the kids do parkrun with you? Give them something to focus on while their sports are cancelled - the whole school thing is mental but to then cancel outdoor sports seems off the charts altogether. I know we are all heartily sick of this damn virus!! Best of luck with the 2022 targets.

ariana` · 08-01-2022 4:12pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438706#Comment_118438706

I really should drag them along shouldn't I although I feel the youngest is still too young to be running 5k - he's 6!The oldest (12) has done it but not for a few years now, wouldn't be a bad idea. A girl from his class there does it in 20mins so I could see him getting quite competitive and I'm not sure I could handle him getting competitive about another sport, he does so much already 😅

Thank you AGYR! It was a good year and I'm very grateful to have had the opportunity to be consistent for a few years now. I hope it lasts. You've had a good year too, with a variety of stuff, cross fit, cycling & running coming back to the fore now too! It's great to see it and I hope you get to build on it in 2022. You've inspired me with the variety, I've recently taken up yoga again, not sure I mentioned that in my log but I did 6 * 1-1 sessions and now I've joined a small group class (only 6 per class), I love it, I really look forward to the class every week (despite it the 5:30am alarm) and do a bit every day myself.

ariana` · 11-01-2022 12:48pm

Week Jan 3rd - 9th

Monday: 6.8m @ 10:32min/m, avg HR 138bpm

Tuesday: 6.25m @ 9:47, avg Hr 138bpm - starting to feel a bit more 'normal' again today, signs of RHR returning to normal.

Wed: Session 2 * (5', 4', 3', 2', 1') off 90secs recovery, 3mins between sets

5' @ 7:41, 7:23

4' @ 7:37, 7:26

3' @ 7:32, 7:21,

2' @ 7:17, 7:27

1' @ 6:57, 7:07

Thurs: Off

Friday: 7m easy with strides

Sat: 12.3miles LR, ended up including parkrun here, small bit of tempo 24:55 for parkrun.

Sun: Off

40 ish miles for the week and definitely signs of returning to normal by the end of the week.

Happy enough with this week. I've decided to stick with shorter stuff for a while, go after a 5/10k PB. No specific race goals but I'm going to take it a few weeks at a time and see what I'm enjoying/not enjoying and keep an eye out for races or include some parkrun efforts in the absence of races.

ReeReeG · 11-01-2022 1:20pm

Craughwell 10k (and 10 mile) are back this year, March 20th. Might be further out than you were planning though.

ariana` · 11-01-2022 1:39pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118454866#Comment_118454866

Good to know V. thanks for the heads up. I was only thinking about this recently and wondering would it come back. Kinvara is back on March 5th too so it's good to see these key events (in the West) back on the calendar. I will do one or other for sure.

Annie get your Run · 11-01-2022 2:36pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118439328#Comment_118439328

Oops I had a drafted a reply to this and forgot to hit post comment! Glad to hear you're enjoying the yoga, it really is beneficial in so many ways, stretching, strength, breathing, head space! Hopefully the kids sport will be back soon but enjoy parkrun in the meantime.

ariana` · 10-03-2022 10:55am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118455268#Comment_118455268

Just realised i never acknowledged this. My yoga is curtailed a bit these days. I still go along to a class once a week but I have a shoulder injury which is preventing/limiting my ability to do what seems like a lot of the class. It's a nice small class though, max 6 but usually only 4, so the teacher is very attentive and modifies things for me or gives me something else to do. My hamstrings are still as tight as ever but I see a lot of improvement especially in the area of balance & core strength. I look forward to that hour in the week. It takes so much concentration it is probably the only hour of the week that my mind switches off from everything else. It is also the night of the week that I sleep the best and sleep has really suffered in the past few months.

Running wise, I'm still ticking over. I've had a sore shoulder since last October which has been getting progressively worse and now i have near constant pain which extends down the outside of my arm to the tips of my fingers. I eventually went to my GP over the Christmas. Blood tests ruled out rheumatoid arthritis which was the initial concern (family history). I did an MRI 2 weeks ago which showed up a significant tear, all the tendons around the joint inflamed and nerve impingement. I've been referred on to an orthopaedic surgeon who specialises in shoulders. In the meantime I'm still running as it is no more painful to run than to do anything else, I'm not pushing it and not doing very long runs, they are capped at about 1:45. I'm just hoping to keep my fitness and sanity for another while. Struggling with social anxiety also, the return to work is not going well for me, since restrictions lifted I'm having mild panic attacks at the thought of going anywhere busy including work - thankfully no pressure on me (yet).

I don't feel it's worth logging at the moment. Every week is a repeat of the previous. I still check in and love following the logs - I won't name anyone because I will forget one no doubt. Fair play to everyone who continues to share their journey with running (and some life stuff thrown in) week after week. It takes time and commitment. It can seem thankless but there is always someone learning from your log or feeling uplifted or less alone by something they read 😊

Swashbuckler · 10-03-2022 7:39pm

And no mention of a massive HM pb............or no sign of a race report..........

Murph_D · 10-03-2022 9:30pm

Sorry to hear this, Elaine. Sounds tough to deal with. Congrats on the PB - which I notice matches your maximum running time. Is that a coincidence? 😁

Hopefully your orthopaedic guy can sort it out. Hang in there!

Laineyfrecks · 10-03-2022 10:14pm

Hope you get it sorted soon Elaine & fair play to be still out running.

Well done on your PB 🤗

Swashbuckler · 10-03-2022 10:27pm

Yes my bad...I skipped commenting on the other stuff. Hope the shoulder gets sorted. As for the social anxiety, you're not alone there. I'd say that's all too common. One of the side effects of essentially being locked away for two years. Don't hesitate to get counselling to help with it. No shame in that whatsoever. Counselling really helped me in the past.

dixierip · 11-03-2022 7:28pm

I happened upon this log a couple of months ago and have read from start to finish. Really interesting seeing your progress to date and learned alot from it. Just saying as the logs help and inform many of trying to figure out this running malarchy.

Annie get your Run · 11-03-2022 8:19pm

Best of luck with the recovery Elaine. interestingly a former colleague just had shoulder surgery, similar issue to yourself. Sounds like a success albeit she's still in recovery.

I love that you're still going to yoga & the teacher is adjusting for your injury - I do miss that kind of support from a great yoga teacher.

Congratulations on the PB and + 1 to SBs musings on the social anxiety, it's very strange getting back to 'normal ', plenty of online counselling available too. Keep us up to speed on the shoulder & a race report would be great!

ariana` · 14-03-2022 1:11pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118764967#Comment_118764967

A happy coincidence D ☺️

Well there seems to be an appetite for a bit of a report. My limited history with the half has mostly revolved around the watch and getting under milestone times.

Oct 2016 - 2:09:25 (goal sub 2:10)

June 2018 - 1:56 (goal sub 2:00, this race was deferred from March so the extra months got me a good bit under the goal)

Sept 2018 - 1:52 (no goal, part of marathon build up ahead of DCM)

Sept 2019 - 1:48:42 (goal sub 1:50, it took not 1 but 1 pacers to get me this time, huge effort on the day)

This time was a bit different. Not feeling the best of late the decision was made not to target this race as a big race effort but the entry was there none the less and it's an event I enjoy going along too so a hard effort was what was on the cards. I won't lie though I did realise that even with a hard effort there was a possibility of walking away with a PB. It's been 2.5 years since the last race and I am (very fortunately) still making decent gains just with consistency month in, month out. I had no goal but I figured anywhere between 1:47 & 1:51 was a likely outcome but I was determined not to be driven by the watch.

The day dawned a beautiful bright clear sunny day. I couldn't believe it. The first time i signed up for this event in 2018 it was cancelled due to snow and was rescheduled for the June Bank Holiday week and that was the only and last time i saw sun & blue skies in Kinvara. The years since have been wet & wild. I didn't have too much time after parking up and spent a few minutes chatting to a group I knew and in the end didn't get a warm up but as I wasn't racing per se I knew I could just ease into it and my first 1-2miles would be a warm up. I started just behind the 1:50 pace group as I figured that is where I'd be about right and we were off. This race starts at the bottom of a hill so it was nice to scale that first hill and get going properly. The first 2 miles were crowded and fairly quickly found myself dying to move past the pace group which I did and that set the theme for the rest really. I have never run past so many people in my life, I was just moving along, closing gaps and moving past again. Not intentionally, I felt I was running at a fairly consistent effort and I was breathing very comfortably (I became more and more aware of this as I came alongside individuals who were not breathing comfortably) but I had obviously started too far back and/or a lot of people had started too far forward. I wasn't looking at the watch very often but I did glance down at about 10m and I remember thinking was running about 1:46-1:47 pace, very happy thought indeed. It got a bit harder at about 11m, the hills seemed to keep coming but I wasn't afraid to back off on them, it was nice not to have the pressure of the watch and a big goal hanging over me, I definitely appreciated it in the latter couple of miles. And during these last 2 miles the odd person passed me back so I definitely slowed a bit although I continued to pass people right up to the finish line. Round the last bend there is only 50m to go and I saw 1:45 on the clock in front of me, I couldn't quite believe it but I put a spurt on to cross it in 1:45:39 and a PB of 3:03. I momentarily berated myself for not targeting the event more specifically and racing it as in hindsight sub 1:45 was there for the taking but I put that out of my head quick enough. I had a super, enjoyable run, a big pb, a big confidence booster and I've laid the foundations for the next one.

March 2022 - 1:45:39 (no goal, a hard effort)

So that's it. Hopefully I will get the shoulder sorted in the Summer and maybe target a half around Sept/Oct time. There definitely won't be a marathon this year. Maybe some 5-10ks as well at some stage but a HM seems the most obvious big target if/when things come good 🤞

Thanks for reading and thanks for all the lovely supportive comments above, this is some community 😊

ariana` · 14-03-2022 1:12pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118769698#Comment_118769698

Thank you so much😊 It's lovely to know that someone has benefitted from my log as I have benefitted from so many others over the years.

Swashbuckler · 14-03-2022 2:56pm

Great run and nice to see a race report on this log again. Funny thing about targeting these races is you'll often come out with a different result once you start putting pressure on yourself. Nice to run a no pressure PB!

Seems like Charleville would be a really good option for you considering the timing....You will probably struggle to find a faster half that time of year.

ariana` · 14-03-2022 3:15pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118783468#Comment_118783468

It definitely opened my eyes to a different way of doing things. I've always been a slave to the watch and kind of proud of running even splits but that comes as part of being a slave to the watch and a slave to the goal. It was nice to run off effort and without the pressure, and something I will try to incorporate. Yes I have Charleville in mind and another one closer to home in October as well if that doesn't work out, nice to have a couple of options.

ariana` · 12-04-2022 12:32pm

A month gone by... in fairness there hasn't been much running to write about 😕

I ended up doing an unplanned 10 mile road race on Sunday March 20th @ 7:57min/m (Chip time 1:19:55 - a race PB but 3 mins slower than a TT on the same date last year).

The following day my better half got the dreaded + on an antigen test after a couple of days of a sore throat. And 3 days later I went for a PCR (antigens were negative but I had all the symptoms) which came back + the following evening. And that really is that. We both had mostly head cold type symptoms though I had a heaviness in my chest which he didn't have. I felt like there was a weight sitting on it especially doing any kind of exertion e.g. walking up the stairs🙄

April

Recovered reasonably well after about 7-10days in time for April's arrival. I got in a couple of "easy" (felt anything but easy) 5ks followed by a fabulous 4 days in London, no running but walked the legs of ourselves doing all the sights. I realised on Saturday morning that the hotel was right beside a parkrun so was sorry I didn't have a pair of runners in the bag but so be it, next time.

April 11-17th

Monday: 5m @ 9:47

Tuesday: 5m @ 9:51

These both felt awful and HR confirmed effort was way to high for "easy" runs, dropped 3 VO2 Max pts on the Garmin fwiw. I assume (hope) this is just a temporary drop in fitness after 3 weeks with little-no running and not any lingering effects from Covid. This is the longest lay off I've had since I started running and my first experience of Covid so I don't really know what to expect but I will continue with a gentle return to normal running levels over the next couple of weeks and hope that things come good again. There are no races in the pipeline at the moment so that's good, I have time, it's just a horrible feeling that is all 😏

ariana` · 09-05-2022 2:32pm

And another month on...

I didn't think covid hit me hard at the time, symptom wise, but the recovery has been slow enough. 6-7 weeks on now and my HR has returned to normal tg but some days i still feel awful fatigue, really really heavy & uncooperative legs, the only thing i can relate it to is the feeling during marathon training of running on really tired legs, like the day after a 20 miler or at the end of a really big couple of weeks. Mileage is well down but I am still running reasonably regularly. I got to 10 miles yesterday, my longest run in 2 months and it felt like a huge achievement. I feel things are on the way back up now.

In other news I'm going into hospital next week to get my shoulder sorted. I'm nervous about it, it will be my first general anaesthetic but, after 6-7 months of living with it, I am also very relieved to have an 'end' in sight, fingers and toes crossed 🤞

I have a loose plan of doing some Summer races for fun (5, 8 or 10k) and then targeting an Autumn HM as a goal race but right now it's hard to think too much beyond this week. Hope to re-introduce some strides & tempo pace again soon.

Swashbuckler · 09-05-2022 3:09pm

All the best for the operation. General anaesthetic seems scarier than it is. In all honestly its like dropping off to a nice peaceful sleep. You'll be fine.

I like the way you put fun in italics. I'll never convince some of ye that the shorter stuff is infact easier than the marathon 😅.

Looks like me and you have similar goals - although probably a December half marathon for me.

ariana` · 09-05-2022 3:22pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119036852#Comment_119036852

Thank you for the reassurance P. I have an irrational fear that I won't wake up 🙈 To add to it my 8 yr old had an anaphylactic reaction to a GA last year and it was the most frightening experience of my life... but I'm sure it will be just fine.

To clarify by fun I meant I won't be chasing times in these races as such... of course if the times come (and of course i secretly hope they do 😂) then that would be a wonderful bonus but right now I feel anything but fit or fast so it's hard to imagine running good times. Fun may have been the wrong word and rather some pressure free races to get a feel for it and get the buzz again, kick start the old mojo! Looking back my last 5k was Jun '19, last 8k Aug '19 and 10k in March '20 (at a pace that is more recently my HM pace) so it will be very interesting. Just hope some local races go ahead now. My old annual 5k series has already been cancelled 😌

Have you a HM in mind for Dec? I know of a couple around Sept/Oct and that's why I said Autumn, but realistically a bit later will probably suit better, to give me a decent block.

Swashbuckler · 09-05-2022 4:07pm

Nothing irrational about the fear - it's normal. The mind and body doesnt like to be artifically put to sleep so it's a self protection mechanism - the fear is created to try and make you stop it from going ahead (I'm big into this psychological stuff) 🤣. Similar to racing - the mind knows whats coming, it doesnt like it, so it does what it can to make it not happen.

I think once you shake the after effects of Covid then hopefully things start to feel easier again. Its the right call just to take the pressure off. I know it's different for different folks but in those situations (post injury or illness) the last thing I need or want is the pressure of any sort of target race. It can quickly become disheartening. For me, I just want a mental break from what was an intense 18 weeks of focus.

HM - most likely Border Half or possibly Waterford AC. I'd love an earlier one, in particular Charleville, but that aint gonna happen with it likely being the day of my daughters 1st birthday party. And similar to yourself I dont really want to start focussed training for it until maybe September which gives me a good three months at least.

ariana` · 16-05-2022 2:02pm

Thanks P. I'd love to do Charleville but I won't be ready. That Border HM sounds like better timing so I will definitely keep that one in mind. I'd like to give myself a decent block to close out the year.

This was another mediocre week. Got 28miles in and my first tempo in a while, managed 3m @ 8:20. About 40secs off my pre-covid tempo pace but the effort felt about right and I thought it was better to under-cook than over-cook and by the last mile I has no concerns about under-cooking it! It got hard, I was dripping sweat and possibly over-cooked 😏

Gave parkrun a lash and finished 1st female for the 1st time ever - I've no idea where all the women were gone off too, I obviously was the only one not invited 😅 Finished in a paltry 24:25 with HR trace very similar to when I ran 23:06 a few short months ago. I was in 4th position overall for most of the park run and in the last few measly metres I let someone pass me, hands up I had no fight and was spent. I'd be lying if I didn't admit to feeling a bit disheartened initially when I saw my finishing time...

Later on Saturday I delivered some baby equipment & toys to a Ukrainian lady and her 9 month old baby. It was quite humbling. With the risk of sounding sanctimonious I feel very privileged in life and being able to lace up & run at any pace is enough for me right now.

Off to hospital on Wed to get my shoulder fixed. I'll get back to proper weekly updates after that.

Swashbuckler · 16-05-2022 4:37pm

Best of luck on Wednesday - you'll be fine 😊

You finished first lady - dont play it down. You can only beat what's in front of you on the day. I'm sure Mo Farah isn't looking at his London 5k Gold metal wondering what might have been if peak Haile Gebrselassie had been around that day 😂

Congrats - mark that down as your first category win at parkrun. More and better to come no doubt. Just need to build that aerobic engine back up again and it will come back - no doubt. Stick with it.

Laineyfrecks · 16-05-2022 5:18pm

I can totally relate to you feeling disheartened with your parkrun, I felt that way a few weeks ago with my progression PR, use it now as your benchmark. Give yourself time to build it back up & it will come to you. I already feel so much stronger both physically and mentally since that PR & you will too.

Very best of luck Wednesday😊

Sunny Dayz · 16-05-2022 5:37pm

Well done on finishing first female in parkrun. Good luck on Weds.

ReeReeG · 17-05-2022 11:23am

1st place is 1st place! Well done😊 I don't think you should be too disheartened, that's still a good run considering you've only been really doing easy miles for a while now and were sick before that. Best of luck tomorrow, hope it goes ok.

ariana` · 23-05-2022 10:14am

Thanks for all the well wishes. All went fine and I have a noticeable improvement after the procedure though not as much as I hoped so there will be a lot of physio for the next while but that's ok, at least I am on the road to recovery 🙂

Plan to get back to more regular logging from this week.

ariana` · 07-06-2022 3:16pm

Going to try to revive this to give me some mojo.

I had a shoulder procedure on May 18th which went fine but not the immediate relief I had hoped for. I've been working away at the Physio exercise and it is improving slowly. Must make a follow up Physio appointment soon. Heart rate is getting closer to normal on easy runs a little bit every week. Also need to get my legs rubbed out soon. Haven't had a rub down in 9 months and I have a slight soreness at the outside of my right calf, it started when I wore heels to a First Communion about 3 weeks ago but has been coming and going ever since then.

Week of May 23-29th

33miles. 0 sessions, 1 "long" (if you could call it that) run of 9.25miles.

Long run was on a hillier route than I am used to and I had to walk near the top of one hill - a hill I used to use for hill repeats. I genuinely could not get up it, I was dry retching and feeling light headed. I had to let my friend go ahead and I caught up with her again on the flat. Now, hills aren't my strong point but this was very demoralising, went home feeling very unfit and totally fed up to be honest.

Week of May 30th-June 5th

A week that included my baby's 7th birthday (however that happened I don't know) and a birthday party that included one split lip and one set of broken electric gates (two separate incidents), who knew 6-7 years could cause so much damage, maybe Covid and the lack of parties wasn't a bad thing 😱

31miles, 1 session and 1 long run of 10miles.

Session was 5 * 2min hard (6:56 avg.) + 5 * 1min hard (6:39 avg.). Similar paces & HR for these efforts to Jan/Feb which is definitely reassuring, however I am well aware that it is a lot easier (for me) to knock out this type of session that it is to run less intense but sustained efforts.

On the flat for the long run this week and cruised along for 10miles very comfortably on my own, the most comfortable I've been in a long time for runs beyond the 1 hr mark. A nice little confidence boost to finish the week out, completely flat but I'll take it as a win none the less.

I'm doing a race next weekend! Woohoo, an a real live race! An 8k, I'm not expecting to produce anything special but I want to set a benchmark to see where I am over the shorter distance stuff. I'm not even sure how to approach it. The plan then is to run another one in roughly 8 weeks time and hopefully improve on it. There will be lots of distractions with school holidays and holidays away but hopefully I can improve my time after an 8 week block.

Thanks for reading.

Mr. Guappa · 07-06-2022 5:18pm

Best of luck at the weekend E, it's exciting having a race to look forward to when it's been a while. I'm reading your previous posts detailing how you intend for these summer races to be fun, so don't lose sight of that intention either. Good to hear things are on an upward trajectory again for you.

Running away

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