"Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them"

After watching the euphoria of the runners yesterday as they ran along o'connell street yesterday morning as they set out on their own private challenge,I'm more determined than ever to get over my own injury issues and press on with training for London 2014.

I'm due a visit to the physio this evening so I decided to take a short run in this morning so that I'd have something to report to him, good bad or indifferent.

Ran through St Annes park in Raheny over a mix of grass, trail and tarmac. For most of it the knee was fine .There were a few occasions where I felt some pain under the knee cap but not as bad as this time last week. What I did notice was that the pain was more likely to occur while running on the uneven surface of grass rather than on the tarmac.

Took it very slow at the start and gradually built up the speed to a steady pace and enjoyed the run overall.

My back has been niggling me the last few days too so will see what the physio recommends for trying to keep that problem at bay also.

3.76mi @ 8:45avg

WTD|3.76
MTD|97.05
YTD|979.79

career_move wrote: »

Steady pace is supposed to be halfway between marathon pace and easy pace/20 - 30 secs slower than marathon pace. If you started off slowly today then you must have nearly been running at least at tempo pace to average 8:45. Sorry for being a nag but I really think you need to slow down especially now that you're just back from injury or you're never going to make it to the start line of a marathon

Ok...I'm feeling suitably scolded now . Ok "steady" was probably a wrong choice of words. Probably should have said upped the tempo a bit. It felt steady in the sense that I was running steadily at a decent pace...if that makes sense rather than the accepted term of "steady" in running parlance.

Looking back at it it was more of a progression run and it was just a test to myself that I could still run that pace. Remember , my legs are relatively fresh after the break.

Fwiw splits were
9:44
8:57
8:07
(8:02)

Advice from your good self and Meno and others to slow down is definitely not lost on me, let me assure you of that. I certainly don't intend running most of my runs like I did today. I needed to see how the knee was after a week of no running and how the lungs were. It was nothing more than that.

Permission granted to keep me in check over the coming months though!

God I miss running!:(

Run in the Dark Race Run Report Wednesday 13th November

I had a large group of people from work doing this which is why I wanted to do it. Physio was happy for me to do it as long as I took it easy . So that was the plan.

There was a huge crowd for this and to be honest it was just too congested. I would never choose this race as a PB attempt anyway but there is a generally a good atmosphere and is more of a fun run than most I think. The long wait at the start was a bit of pain..almost 30 mins delay i'd say so was absolutely freezing as we set off.

The congestion suited me down to the ground as it meant I couldnt really go fast even if I wanted to. Trying to side step walkers four abreast was painful though. The first 5k was pretty tight so kept a reasonably good easy effort going. Conditions were reasonable, the cold went away when running, but the wind was in your face for some stretches which was difficult if you were not in a group.

Had felt a couple of twinges in the knee but nothing serious and it was more when I hit a dip in the road or had to do a lateral movement like sidestep a runner while passing but I wathced my stride , tried to keep proper form and it felt ok more or less right through the race.

Felt some niggle in the ITB but had felt that earlier in the week but it didnt cause me any real issues on the night. During the run itself effort felt easyish. Aerobically I felt good. OF course the little Red Devil appeared on my shoulder from time to ime saying "go on race it ...you know you want to" but I tried not to listen to him.

In the end this turned into a bit of a progression run as the race devil made me speed up a bit in the second half of race but not to such a level that I was at max effort. I just tried to push it comfortably if that makes sense. Was really happy that I kept good form, good foot strikes and breathing was good throughout.

Knee felt a little "tired" at the end but no pain really so it was a successful run from that point of view. No reaction after either on the walk from the race to the pub;) Will be interesting to see how it feels tomorrow. Im back with physio on Friday morning and will see what he thinks too. Overall I think the srengthening exercises are working and a I'll keep doing these regardless. Wore a knee strap tonight too just to give the knee cap a bit of support.Dont know if it made any difference but it couldnt hurt.

So to pace details:

My current PB for 10k is 46:42

Tonight per my Garmin I ran 51:52 so a bit faster than planned but quite happy with how it went.
edit: official chip time 51:41

6.21mi@8:22

HRM was giving crazy readings so wont bother putting them down here as they dont make sense when compared to effort levels.

Splits were: 9:31,8:52,8:21,8:03,8:00,7:40,(6:55)

WTD|6.21
MTD|6.21
YTD|986

Edging towards that 1000miles for the year!

Back with physio this morning.

Can start back running every other day starting at 5k and gradually increasing distance. Review again in a week's time.:D

Didnt get out all week due to work travel, and then had to travel to Galway on Friday for a funeral.

My watch died during this run but I was going nicely at around 9min miles. It felt good to get out again. Knee is still not 100 %. It felt ok during run but the odd twinge reminded me that I need to watch it. I'd say I'm 99% there but will build up slowly over next few weeks. Knee seems to click (not painful) when I bend it so must ask physio about that when I go back to him on Wdnesday. Core classes again tomorrow. Need to get serious about my diet too.Up a few pounds :mad:


4.31mi@approx 9:05

WTD|4.31
MTD|13.63
YTD|993.42

Tuesday 26th

20 mins on the bike , some stretching and strengthening exercises.

Wednesday 27th

Winter league races started tonight. Was in two minds about trying it but was eager to get back into swing of things with club so decide to give it a go and treat it a bit like a session as opposed to going hammer and tongs at it.
It was a 3 mile race tonight so decided I would take it out a reasonably comfortable pace for lap 1 and then try to gradually increase the pace.

Hung at the back of the pack at the start and got into a nice rhythm picking people off one by one. Felt very comfortable after lap 1. Started to pick it up a bit for lap 2 and was picking my targets ahead of me to try and catch within the next lap and that kept me going at a good pace. Legs felt good, no issues with knee and breathing was ok. Lap 3 came and legs still feeling ok , tried to pick it up a bit and then breathing was getting more difficult , legs still felt ok though. Coming into finishing straight, had plenty in the tank so pushed it the last 200m or so and felt strong in the legs at end.

Finished at 21:54 by my watch. Really pleased with that workout. Considering my current 5k pb is 22:15 looks like that will come down when I get back fully in the swing of things. I'll rest tomorrow again and work on core instead and get an easy one in on Friday.

Nice tea and biscuits afterwards...bonus!

2.12mi w/up @9:18

3.03mi @ 7:14 (7:27,7:13,7:05 (4:59))

1mi@ slow c/d

Total tonight: 6.15mi

1000miles Woohoo!:D

WTD|12.27
MTD|25.90
YTD|1005.69

murphd77 wrote: »

Nice one, R - looks like you're on the way back.

I had actually planned to do that race myself having spoken to someone down at the club - but had to cry off at the last minute with a sore back. Hope to make the next one next week.

Nice run!

Thanks D. Pity you couldnt make it down, it was a great turnout actually. Hope the back issue is not too serious for you.

I'm pleased with my progress but not going to get carried away with myself. Lots of work still to do.

Had interesting conversation on marathon running with a veteran of 300+ marathons last night. Amazing stuff that man is made of! A very different perspective than most on here would have on approach to marathon running.

Thursday 28th

1 hour strenghtening and core work with some bike work thrown in.

Friday 29th

Easy Run

5.74mi@9:44

WTD|18.01
MTD|31.64
YTD|1011.43

Monday 2nd December

Core Class- Tough going but enjoyable and noticed an improvement since first week

Tuesday 3rd December

Easy run home from work. Hamstring a bit tight/sore probably from the session on Sunday. Think I just overstretched the muscle. Nothing serious and it was fine on the run home this evening but think I will keep all the runs easy for the rest of the week just as a precaution.

6.73mi@9:42

WTD|6.73
MTD|10.79
YTD|1022.22

Thursday 5th December

Easy run .Nothing to report especially. More miles under the belt.

Now for some core work...

4.25mi@ 9:04

WTD|14.48
MTD|18.54
YTD|1029.97


Oh and I'm officially registered now for Fat Turkey 10k Run on Dec 28th , Raheny 5 and the Meath (Bohermeen)Spring HM

Tuesday 10th December

Easy run at lunchtime. Ran from City Centre up to Phoenix Park along the quays and up chesterfield to first turn on left and did a little loop back down along the quays again. Lunchtime runs are cool but I hate traffic lights and trying to negotiate your way around people. It'd be great if I could just transport myself to the park like they do in Star Trek so I could avoid all that stuff. Enjoyed it and nice to get it out of the way early in the day. Doing some strengthening work now tonight.

4.58mi@9:18

Avg HR:131
Max HR:151


WTD|11.14
MTD|36.83
YTD|1048.26