Brownian Motion

Krusty_Clown · 14-10-2011 05:24PM

Sounds like a solid strategy. You could do a few recovery miles (8:00+/mile) with some strides on Tuesday just to get a bit of circulation going in the legs, the day before your harder session (15 w/ 10@PMP). But if you don't feel that these generally help you, give 'em a miss. Hope things work out..

Pronator · 14-10-2011 06:28PM

Hi Brownian,

Have been following your log for a while now. Hopefully you can get back out running soon.

For DCM last yr I had problems with my hamstrings and did very little in the 3 weeks before. I was a little blunt but very fresh come race day.

I'm not sure if its a good idea to run as much as 15 miles in one session next week including 10 at PMP. I'd just get back running and maybe do 3/4 miles at MP within a max of 8 mile session.

Running is all about opinions but I'd certain be taking a more caution approach to ensure you make the start line;)

brownian wrote: »

Right, by Sunday I'll decide for sure whether or not to go for DCM. Will stay off the legs (and sinuses) until then. Florence is a possible backup, as is Clon, or even leaving it all till the springtime, though that'd cost a lot of motivation, TBH.

Here's a sketchplan if Sunday goes well (PMP is 6:40/mile)
- Sunday 10 miles; target pace 7-7.15 (PMP+30 seconds)
- Wednesday 15 miles with 10 at PMP (last long run)
- Friday 21st 8 miles @ PMP+15-20 seconds

- Sunday 23rd 10 miles with last six @ PMP
- Tuesday 25th 6 miles with last four @PMP
- Thursday 27th 5 miles easy (7:30 to 8:00)
- Saturday 29th as per Thursday 27th
- Sunday 30th 3 miles easy
- Monday 31st 26.2 miles @ PMP or better!

Comments or suggestions are welcome.

cwgatling · 14-10-2011 06:36PM

Hope it works out for you man.

The last week looks pretty hectic. I would screw the PMP on Sunday, just do 8-10 easy maybe. Just a thought. Making it to the start line healthy is half the battle.

brownian · 17-10-2011 11:02AM

Garmin picked this run to go on the blink again. Time for a new one.

Anyway, this was meant to be a "make or break" run for me, to see if the legs were healed up enough to run anyway properly, and to assess if the antibiotics had shifted the cold sufficiently. Overall I found the run tough, with high levels of effort for the pace achieved. There was the odd break into PMP, but mainly on the downhills. I was very aware of uphill and downhill, as I consciously rested on the downhills.

This isn't the picture of a marathon-ready athlete - I'll see how I feel tomorrow/Wednesday, but DCM isn't looking likely. Dragging myself to the start line isn't a recipe for triumphant PB activity. Some more (!!) rest and waiting for the cold to clear seems to be on the cards; hopefully there'll be time thereafter to get back to full fitness for Florence or Clonakilty.

brownian · 19-10-2011 03:36PM

Resting today, when my plan was to run - the cold is still lingering, and I've still got some pain in both calves. I don't see a PB performance in ten days, no matter how I look at it.

So, I'm pulling out of Dublin, much to my disappointment. But I'm going to enter the Florence Marathon on 27 November - that magically gives me an extra two weeks of training and then a proper taper, plus a few days now to really put this cold to bed. Once the cold is done with, I'll go back to 2x10+1x15-20 for the couple of weeks, and hopefully regain the edge I had two or three weeks ago.

I'm sorry to be missing the DCM experience, and sharing it with the other boardsies - I guess I may be the only one of us in Florence.

BeepBeep67 · 19-10-2011 03:41PM

Sorry to hear that - maybe don't waste your DCM entry and use it as a MP run with a car waiting at Bushy Pk or somewhere close.

brownian · 19-10-2011 03:46PM

Thanks , Dom. Will probably avoid entirely, as would be pretty teed off, TBH, to see everyone else running and me not.

ddel · 19-10-2011 04:13PM

Been following your log - really sorry man. You are in great shape. Once you shake the cold/injury you'll be back to great shape in a few short weeks.

theboyblunder · 19-10-2011 04:57PM

hard luck brownian. good luck in florence!

Krusty_Clown · 19-10-2011 07:11PM

Unlucky Brownian. We've all gone through similar scenarios, and quite often, you'll find that you come out the other side stronger, fitter and more motivated. Two weeks isn't a huge window, but you'll be in a far better place than you would have, had you persisted with the plan to run DCM.

Now, set your sights on Florence or <insert marathon here> with great gusto!

donothoponpop · 19-10-2011 07:21PM

That's bad luck Ciaran, sorry to hear you'll miss Dublin. You're doing the right thing though, calf pain needs to be respected. Being a "brave little soldier" and running through the pain can leave you on the sidelines for 6 months or more- get it rested, sorted, and you'll be fighting fit in no time.

shazkea · 19-10-2011 08:06PM

Ah that's crap but hopefully you'll be back out training for Florence soon. I look forward to reading the report on that one as I haven't heard alot about it.

brownian · 19-10-2011 08:09PM

Thanks, folks!

I do feel better for having made up my mind, at least.

ELFOYZER · 19-10-2011 08:24PM

Jeez Brownian, just catching up on your log. Sorry to hear you're pulling out of Dublin. Best of luck in Florence, you'll bomb it.

liamo123 · 19-10-2011 08:29PM

brownian wrote: »

Thanks, folks!

I do feel better for having made up my mind, at least.

Hard luck Brownian.... Tough call but ur right move on , get them niggles sorted and focus on the next one... Look on the bright side.. as least u wont have to contend with wind, rain or possibly snow :pac:....

BTW Im glad SJ came in with Florence as a suggestion ( i was going to suggest Las Vegas

)

ELFOYZER · 19-10-2011 08:31PM

Jeez Brownian, just catching up on your log. Sorry to hear you're pulling out of Dublin. Best of luck in Florence, you'll bomb it.

drquirky · 19-10-2011 08:36PM

Really hard luck Brownian! Was looking forward to you kicking my ass in DCM- have to say Firenze is not the worst back up plan in the world....you'll fly it

brownian · 19-10-2011 08:36PM

liamo123 wrote: »

Hard luck Brownian.... Tough call but ur right move on , get them niggles sorted and focus on the next one... Look on the bright side.. as least u wont have to contend with wind, rain or possibly snow :pac:....

BTW Im glad SJ came in with Florence as a suggestion ( i was going to suggest Las Vegas )

Thanks, Liam. Not sure Florence is dry and still (photos on their site indicate wet roads and windjackets :eek:), but should have a better chance of decent weather than Dublin, it's true. Now just have to get my sh*t together and (a) recover fully and then (b) sharpen up.

Vegas - why didn't you suggest that before now:pac:

[cool - I hardly ever get to use eek! and pac]

Slogger Jogger · 19-10-2011 09:11PM

Tough break re Dublin, but good fortune in a month or so will hopefully follow. Best wishes with the new marathon goal.

brownian · 20-10-2011 09:08PM

Right, back to work. Another (agonising this time) session of manipulation and dry needling at the hands of Mr DK in Base2Race today. A new Garmin 405 arrived in the post, from a surprisingly cheap crowd called Vmaxx in Cork. I've booked my ticket to Florence, got a cert from my doctor (Italians love these; they always ask for something like this), entered the marathon (bib # 582) and await my confirmation letter.

Plan is to let the calves recover tomorrow and head for 10/12 next Saturday, aiming for a zero-pain experience if possible. Weather forecast is poor, but there you go. Will be in Connemara, so at least will be scenic rain!

brownian · 25-10-2011 12:51PM

Just a quick update

- ran 10 miles in Connemara on the Saturday morning, starting in the rain with a small tailwind, then reversing my steps as the weather dried out and the wind came face-on. 1:06, which I was content enough with, though the course was only undulating (Glen Inagh - lovely location), as compared to the steeper hills in Killiney that I'd be used to. Felt a bit tight in the chest, despite blue and brown puffers, but there's still a definite bug in the system.

- That afternoon, felt stiff and sore in both calves, plus a new source of pain up the right hamstring and into the buttock. But the following day it had settled down into the usual stiff calves in the morning feeling. Rested, as planned, on the Sunday.

- Yesterday was of course monsoon day, and with the bug and all I wasn't out running. No regrets really, but getting teed off with the endless dragging cold, even though I'd now done a full set of antibiotics, plus endless sprays and puffers.

- so back into the Doc today - he reckons I've a touch of pneumonia, and sent me off for a chest Xray. Needless to say, no running for a week :eek:

That'll give me time to work on my tight calves, I guess. But overall I'm a bit of a train wreck...even the extra month up to Florence is starting to look like it might be touch and go:(. If I can't get the injuries to settle, and the lungs back to normal, I'm going to just fold up my tent until the New Year - there's just too much ongoing crap, and the running's less a source of joy than a pain in the neck over the last few weeks.

doctorchick · 25-10-2011 02:27PM

brownian wrote: »

But overall I'm a bit of a train wreck...

So this weeks understatement of the week goes to ...... Brownian.

Have let you know my opinion on this before, but seriously I think that tent should be packed and a hasty retreat to lick wounds should be on the cards. You don't arse about with pneumonia, and it seems that your other niggles are not going away. I know what you are trying to achieve, but I would rather you were still breathing to bask in the glory. Sort yourself out, shoot for the spring, and bring that PB back home.

DC

brownian · 25-10-2011 02:42PM

Funny, my own response to this stuff was - surely I can get a few easier runs in, without irritating the chest too much...

With drugs the way they are, pneumonia's not what it was in the good old days.

Still, will wait to see what the lung xray shows, before doing anything too foolish. Foolishly, I've just finished reading Mukherjee's "Emperor of all maladies" (well worth a read), so my hypochondria is pumped to the max. Glad I never smoked

drquirky · 29-10-2011 09:56AM

Any progress on the pneumonia Brownian? Hope you aren't feeling too crap!

claralara · 29-10-2011 11:38AM

Sorry to hear you're not 100% Brownian. The trials and tribulations of a runner's life eh? Hope it all clears up properly this time.

I've found some great sources of hypochondriac-pumping, self diagnosis material over the last few weeks. Low haemoglobin levels can lead to digital amputation in some extremes... :-/

Krusty_Clown · 29-10-2011 11:39AM

drquirky wrote: »

Any progress on the pneumonia Brownian? Hope you aren't feeling too crap!

+1. Wazzup?

brownian · 02-11-2011 11:45PM

Really enjoyed reading the DCM reports. Sounds like a tough day, though less people mentioned the weather than I expected.
- Krusty, another fine job of pacing. I only wonder what you would have raced!
- SJ's report really struck a chord. All that training, a savage level of fitness, and the day just goes pearshaped. I feel really bad for you, Mick, but know you've got the depth of experience and willpower to keep battering down that wall. It's mad, really...3:00 should be a walk in the park when you reach that level of commitment.
- Aibhinn delivers another savage performance. Scary. Nice one, Joe.
- DrQuirky's cheerful confidence got a real smackdown on the day - I was astonished, as we had a couple of pretty good runs together in the Park. Hopefully we will again, when we're both chasing springtime glory.
- ClaraLara's success helped to lift things - great stuff altogether. There's a runner who I expect to be chasing 3:30 by this time next year, given a little more focus on long fast runs, rather than long slow ones. Great comeback from a few bad experience, O!
- and many more.
I was of course sorry not to be running, but went to work and didn't think about it too much.

My own running hasn't been quite so interesting. Lots of nothing, TBH.

Went to the physio today. She was full of cheer
- at your age, you won't heal like you used to. I'm only 43, FFS.
- you might need an operation on that groin strain. Happy days.
- you don't have much calf muscle - better build that up. Seems to get me round, but it injures easy, it's true.
- your immune system will be shot after that pneumonia, and you'll be vulnerable to injury, so better not run for a while.
- go to the gym for a while, build some leg strength (gack - that's what running's for)

Sadly, this is more or less what I'm starting to believe myself. The health still not great, despite week of ABs on top of earlier week of ABs. Back to doc tomorrow to discuss. Both calves still niggly, as is new hamstring niggle and the "Gilmore's Groin" injury that the fizzio suspects.

So...Florence Marathon not looking likely. Fair enough. I don't know why, but I seem to have crashed from pretty fit to pretty crap more or less overnight (the night in question being the day of my 20-miler from Glendalough to Sally gap, where I got the calf and groin injuries), and I've just not come back from it. I've basically had the bones of a month off running now (just two ten-milers in the last three weeks), but the rest isn't fixing me. Done the dry needling thing, done the physio thing, done the stretching thing; there's some improvement, but the injuries are lingering.

It looks like my body needs a rest. So I'll cut back on the running for another couple of weeks, until I'm feeling 100% myself again, and then I'll start back at the old 45-min 10ks in the linear park. If things go really well, I'll look at a spring marathon, and/or the Conn Ultra. Last year I started a decent training cycle for Conn26.2 around Christmas, and that's only 2 months away....

At times, I do think I should just put the shorts on and get out running, and see if I can run through the ill-health and the injuries - neither is particularly savage, and I'd probably get a reasonable ten miles done. But I suspect that there'd be repercussions.

So, folks, no happy news happening here. But it's a calm before a new storm. Watch this space.

Woddle · 03-11-2011 09:52AM

brownian wrote: »

At times, I do think I should just put the shorts on and get out running, and see if I can run through the ill-health and the injuries - neither is particularly savage, and I'd probably get a reasonable ten miles done. But I suspect that there'd be repercussions.
.

Sorry to read about your spot of bad luck, it must be a right bummer after getting into great shape but enjoy the break, make the best of your time off and come back even hungrier if tha't possible.
Start a bout of core work or sth, hope it gets sorted soon.

drquirky · 03-11-2011 01:20PM

Brownian- that sucks! Sound like you need a major break....I'm gonna take a month off myself- lets meet up for a run in December and talk spring marathon !!

brownian · 15-11-2011 11:04PM

Some glimmers of progress to report...

went to see the sports doc that my GP had recommended. I wonder if he's easy to recognise, or if all of them are the same. Ex-athlete, brusque to (and beyond) the point of rudeness, no "bedside manner" much at all (though he does warn you when he's going to go digging into your groin!), but then quite prepared to explain and discuss his diagnosis and suggestions. Seemed happy enough to get me off his hands. Oh yes, he reckons it's oste-itis (sp?) pubis, or "dodgy pubic bone syndrome"...basically inflammation between the pubic bones. It should go away, and if it doesn't you can get injections but a scan'd be good first, just to check. So I'll leave it a few days and think about it.

Anyway, between himself and the fizzio, they seemed happy enough for me to get a couple of miles in and see what happens. So duly hit the park on Saturday, with a certain amount of trepidation. Took my new Garmin 405 so long to get the satellite ("quick find technology" my ar$e) that I was nearly as long waiting to run as running. Plan was 5km at 6:00, but found it impossible to go that slow, and ran them in 4:20 or so. While it's gratifying that the body is keen to go that fast after weeks of slobbing, I know that I'll need to work harder on pace control or I'll hurt myself.

Considered joining the club for a spin around Djouce on Sunday morning. Knew the pace would be sensible, but thought it'd be taking the mick, and pushing my luck. Enough of that. So went to IKEA instead with the wife. Gosh, but it's big!

Anyway, been MANIC in work last couple of days, but hopefully will get out tomorrow lunchtime for another 5-6 km. All going well, it's back to 10km by early next week (kayaking at the weekend).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oRLXQJqXdM