'For whom the bell tolls-

RayCun · 25-09-2011 02:11PM

gerard65 wrote: »

dodge around the usual mypod wearers.

The guy on the PA at the end was funny - he was calling the runners in as usual, but then he'd see that he was talking about people who couldn't hear him because they were wearing earphones and get very cross :pac:

gerard65 · 26-09-2011 09:29PM

Mon 26th Sept

10.25mls in 79:42. Avg 7:46.
Straight out through Goatstown, down the Stillorgan road and back home through Milltown. Pissing along tonight, hit a couple of 7:20 min/mls down the Stillorgan road. Another aerobic run tomorrow night but I need to slow down. Don't want to blow this good form.

gerard65 · 27-09-2011 08:48PM

Tues 27th Sept

6.1mls in 52mins. Avg 8:34.
Tired today. The warm, humid weather just does'nt agree with me. So just an easy run around my Knocklyon route this evening.

Brianderunner · 28-09-2011 07:18AM

Good running on Sunday Ger. Be careful in Maynooth for the 5k, it's nothing but distracting tree's and leaves out there

gerard65 · 28-09-2011 08:53PM

Wed 28th Sept.

6.59mls in 55:44. Avg 8:27
Spent the afternoon surveying a park in the heat so I was wrecked when I got home, I hate that kind of heat, always leaves me very tired. Decided to drop my planned Rep session and go for a handy loop around Ballinteer. Still very warm even after 7:30, warmer than its been during the summer afternoons this year - weird weather.

gerard65 · 29-09-2011 08:51PM

Thurs 29th Sept

3 x 1 mile reps. 6:29, 6:18, 6:21. Full recovery.
Total 6:53mls in 53mins.
The weather still has me tired and I nearly cried off these tonight, but decided I needed one quality session this week. Happy enough with the time, the last 300m finishes on a hill which tends to make these hurt a little more than necessary. A slight twing in my foot towards the end.

gerard65 · 30-09-2011 08:18PM

Fri 30th Sept.

Injured again. That slight twing turned into a full blown achilles problem overnight. Very sore all day, a repeat of a couple of weeks ago. Been icing this evening and will continue over the weekend. I'll have to get to the bottom of this. I know my left calf is very inflexable from an injury a few years ago so this may be causing problems in the achilles.

gerard65 · 03-10-2011 08:39PM

Mon 3rd Oct.

3 mile tempo @ 6:58 pace. Total 5.79mls in 44:37.
A fitness test tonight with an eye to Saturdays XC race. After stretching, rolling and icing the calf/achilles over the weekend, it was feeling OK today so decided to find out how it really is. So far so good, but I'll see how it is in the morning.
Happy with tonights run, that pace felt handy enough, could'nt have said that this time last year.

gerard65 · 04-10-2011 08:18PM

Tues 4th Oct.

One step forward, two steps back. Achilles very sore this morning, eased slightly throughout the day but not enough to run on. Getting very p1ssed off now. Iced and rolled the calf tonight but that lump in my calf is not getting any better (assuming thats the problem). I really don't want to miss the XC opener on Saturday so I'll take it day by day and if I can run I'll stick to easy for a while.

gerard65 · 09-10-2011 12:33PM

Sun 9th Oct

No running since Monday. The achilles will need more time, at least another week. Been using the foam roller on the calfs with plenty of stretching. Missed the first XC race yesterday, I hope I'll make the racepix 5k in two weeks, even just to jog around.

gerard65 · 18-10-2011 08:33PM

Mon 17th Oct.
3.26mls in 29:38. Avg 9:06.

Tues 18th Oct.
5mls in 42:30. Avg 8:26.
Two weeks off with a sore achilles. So far, so good. Unsure about the 5k on Sat. I'll decide later on in the week.

gerard65 · 20-10-2011 08:42PM

Wed 19th Oct.
6.8mls in 61:57. Avg 9:07.

Thurs 20th Oct.
6.36mls in 52:58. Avg 8:20.

Bloody quads are sore after the two weeks off but achilles seems OK so its a 'go' for Saturday. I'll be happy with 20mins.

gerard65 · 22-10-2011 02:59PM

Sat 22nd Oct
RacePix 5k Maynooth.
19:50. Avg 6:25min/ml, 3:59min/k.
In hindsight I should'nt have run this. I knew the achilles was not 100%, but I thought if I stuck to a 20min target I'd be OK:rolleyes:
I was going to suggest I'd pace shels but he decided not to run and to stand around in a hi-vis jacket pretending to be important.
Despite some goading from menopause before the race I was going to stick to my plan of 4min/ks, I actually did'nt think I could have run any faster anyway with time off with injury and alot of junk food and a few smokes over the last few weeks.
First 4 k felt good, was enjoying the race running just below 100% effort and keeping to the plan. Then the achilles starting to pain, if it had have happened earlier I'd have pulled out, but managed to get to the finish as I watch the pace drop to over 4min/k but could'nt increase my stride.
K splits - 3:56, 3:57, 3:59, 4:00, 4:04.
Getting p'd off with the achilles problem, unfortunely its an issue of degeneration of the fibers so there's not alot of treatment available. Flares up when I run fast, the dreadful spectur of not been able to run fast again and having to become a boring marathon or ultra runner is a nightmare. Actually quitting and becoming a 16 stone, 20 a day smoker, 10 pint a night slob again is more appealing :cool:

gerard65 · 11-12-2011 01:56PM

5-Dec - 11-Dec

My first week back after a couple of months off with Achilles Tendinopathy. A crappy, nasty condition which developed into a grade 4,the most severe type. Much of the advice I sought was useless but I eventually worked out a course of treatment. I believe there was a couple of things which caused the problem. For years my left calf has very poor flexibility due the a couple of injuries but I was getting away with it. What pushed it over the edge was a twisted ankle in a XC race last March. Nothing serious but it was after that I noticed my achilles would get sore now and again. I ignored it - big mistake, and over the summer it slowly got worse until I just could'nt run anymore. I'd tipped over the point where my body could no longer keep up with the repairs.
The treatment has involved lots of stretching, heat treatment and slowly building up on walking. This week consisted of 2 mile jogs around the block, next week I hope to push it to 3 mile jogs - but I'll decide on a day to day basis as its first thing in the morning when it gives me feedback.
This may take months to recover fully (if ever, which is still a possibility) so I've written off the XC season and its unlikely I'll make the track or road next summer, but thats a long way down the road and at the moment I'm just happy to be jogging without pain.
Lession learned - don't take achilles pain or stiffness for granted.

Nules10 · 11-12-2011 08:22PM

Tough couple of months Gerard but good to see you are back out running. Hope it goes well.

Bally8 · 11-12-2011 08:59PM

God gerard that's a harsh blow. Hope you can be strong and have great patience. This time next year you could be back stronger than ever.

RacoonQueen · 11-12-2011 09:15PM

gerard65 wrote: »

A crappy, nasty condition which developed into a grade 4,the most severe type..

:eek:

Didn't realise it was that bad. Good to see you get back out there, you seem to have always had calf problems alright. Hopefully you've got it sorted now, don't know how you have the patience to keep fighting back from injury like that.

gerard65 · 31-12-2011 09:00PM

Another year over. A mixture of good, bad and ugly. The year started off bad with a calf injury picked up running in the snow. The good came during the summer with a couple of second placings and a couple of age PB's. Put in some good milage during the summer. The year has finished off with the ugly in the form of achilles tendinopathy. My training is now down to 20mins jogging. I'll start building the milage very slowly too see how the achilles gets on, but I won't be racing for a long time as the tendon is still failing the pinch test. I've been told this could go on for months, but at least I can still jog which I'm actually grateful for.
Milage for the year - 1284.
Happy new year.

gerard65 · 08-01-2012 09:26PM

Mon 2nd Jan - Sun 8th Jan
Out every day this week for about 25mins each day.
I was going to close this log, as I've explained on another thread, my racing/training days are over. The title of this log is apt:cool:. But I've decided to keep updating for a while and see how it goes.
My name is gerard65 and I'm a jogger:D

gerard65 · 15-01-2012 06:55PM

Mon 9th Jan - Sun 15th Jan
Ah, the peace and quite of the logs:D
About 30mins each day this week and pushed it out to 37mins today. Foot still 100% but its not any worse:pac:. I'll keep slowly pushing out the runs and see how far I get.

gerard65 · 22-01-2012 06:31PM

Mon 16th Jan - Sun 22nd Jan

Runs of 3-5mls this week. Got carried away with the pace on Thursday and paid for it. I now know that any pace faster than 8min/ml is a no-no for my foot.
Week 29mls.

gerard65 · 29-01-2012 05:57PM

Mon 23rd Jan - Sun 29th Jan

Mon - 4mls
Tue - 5.3mls
Wed - 4.1mls
Thr - 5mls
Fri - 3.3mls
Sat - 6.1mls
Sun - 3.6mls
Tot - 31.5mls
Went out to the park to meet the group yesterday but thought we were meeting a 9:30 not 10 - dumbass. Did 6mls on my own. Find the park a bit boring on my own. A wet 3mls today to finish of Marathontalk's Jantastic.
Last four weeks milage have gone - 19.5, 24.5, 28.7, 31.5, so going in the right direction. Still getting the odd twing from the achilles but the rest of my foot seems fine - touch wood.

gerard65 · 05-02-2012 05:45PM

Mon 30th Jan - Sun 5th Feb
Mon - 4.3mls
Tue - 6.4mls
Wed - 4.2mls
Thr - 6.1mls
Fri - 3.5mls
Sat - 8.2mls
Sun - 3.5mls
Total - 36mls
Over did the pace on a couple of runs this week and the achilles let me know, so back to plodding next week:(
Running streak up to 36 days.

AJCOT · 06-02-2012 08:31PM

Fiercely impressive week, delighted to see you can still get out & do some distance. You & the bales were missed in Swords last Saturday!

RacoonQueen · 06-02-2012 08:41PM

You looked comfortable enough when I saw you on Sat.

Easy does it.

gerard65 · 06-02-2012 09:59PM

AJCOT wrote: »

Fiercely impressive week, delighted to see you can still get out & do some distance. You & the bales were missed in Swords last Saturday!

Its killing me missing the XC and I doubt if I'll make the track or road races in the summer:(. Been looking at marathon programs, something to keep me motivated.

gerard65 · 06-02-2012 10:01PM

RacoonQueen wrote: »

You looked comfortable enough when I saw you on Sat.

Easy does it.

I was fairly fcuked at that stage. I hate the cold so I tend to overdress, Ok for the first few miles but gets very uncomfortable after that.

gerard65 · 12-02-2012 06:55PM

Mon 6th Feb - Sun 12th Feb

Mon - 5.1mls
Tue - 6.1mls
Wed - 5.4mls
Thr - 6.2mls
Fri - 3.5mls
Sat - 10.1mls
Sun - 4.2mls.
Tot - 40.5mls

No a bad week, got my longest run of the year so far yesterday with the group in the park, felt good. Running streak is now 43 days and to be honest I would'nt mind a day off but I'll see if I can get to 50.:cool:
I'm off next week so looking forward to getting a few runs in the daylight, top up on vit D:pac:

gerard65 · 19-02-2012 05:40PM

Mon 13th Feb - Sun 19th Feb

Mon - 6mls
Tue - 6.3mls
Wed - 5.2mls
Thr - 6.3
Fri - 3.5mls
Sat - 12.1mls
Sun - 4.3mls
Total - 43.7mls

The week was going well until halfway into yesterdays run when I felt a twing in my calf. Still a bit sore today so only a slow jog to bring my streak to 50 days, but that may be it if the calf does'nt improve for tomorrow.

gerard65 · 26-02-2012 04:41PM

Mon 20th Feb - Sun 26th Feb

Mon - 6.2mls
Tue - 6.1mls
Wed - 6.4mls
Thr - 6.2mls
Fri - 3mls
Sat - 12.3mls
Sun - 5mls
Total - 45.3mls
Year to Date - 272.3mls
Running Streak - 57 days

Achilles acting up again this week, running too fast on it causes it to flare up. Woke with a sore throut yesterday but decided to join the group run. Never felt good and faded from the group after 10 miles. Struggled to complete the last 2 miles. Was sweating alot but feeling very cold. Just a bit of a cold so took it very easy today.

'For whom the bell tolls-

Comments