Confessions of a never has been.....

AuldManKing wrote: »

Whats the story behind the coffee consumption?

Thought Swash would ask that one :pac:

I don't actually drink a lot of coffee...but I drink it strong and black.

2 reasons;

1 - I don't think it agrees with my stomach, it plays havoc with the aul digestive system and I've had more than one emergency dash to the jacks out on long runs over the past few months.

2 - It has me wired at times, hard to explain but I'm a pretty chilled out fella, except when I'm going through a phase of drinking lots of coffee. Then I'm a bit more highly strung than usual.

I think I'm just one of those oddballs that coffee doesn't agree with


Of course I could be wrong but it's day 4 or 5 and already I feel the better for it.

Sooo....fast forward 15 months and it turns out training wasn't really going as well as I thought.

Turns out I had an L2\L3 compression in my back which was manifesting itself as hamstring pulls, spasms during sessions and general discomfort around the lower back\hip\ and is probably what caused the spasming that nearly floored me in the closing stages of Seville.

In truth, something had felt "off" for quite a while, I had gotten myself pretty aerobically fit but my body didn't seem to hold up too well during harder sessions (especially longer sessions). During the xc season of 2018\2019, I felt fitter and more confident than ever when it came to training and competing in races.
But, thinking back now, I can recognise the warning signs that were becoming more and more frequent.

I had a routine of a long, hard session on a Saturday, easy Sunday then a long easy run each Monday in the lead up to Seville. Tuesdays were easy then Wednesdays were on the track with the work crew. Thursday and Friday were easy again to get ready for the tough session on the Saturday morning.

The reality is that the I was pushing the body too hard by squeezing in the "must have" long run on the Monday ( after work too), there were evenings when the rain was coming at me sideways and I'd have done 17\18 miles as part of a tough session on the Saturday, out I'd go for 20 odd miles "easy" - and have to lie on the ground for 10\15 minutes at the end to let my back ease out.

The track session was also one of those "must haves", I just never skipped it.

Seville came and went and while I got through it in the end, it was touch and go for the last few miles. I took my time rebuilding and eventually got back to a stage where I was stringing weeks together fine, I just wasn't moving well. Nothing felt fluid, nothing felt comfortable and I started to lose confidence in my body, I just didn't trust it well enough to push it very hard.

October brought DCM, I knew deep down I hadn't put in the work to put in a good showing so was mentally prepared to switch to a plan B option pretty early on in the race if there were any warning signs. I probably should have skipped the race but I had arranged a big enough charity effort for the day and felt obliged to take part I suppose.

10k in and my back, glutes, hip flexors were starting to lock up. I spent the second half of the race high fiving kids and eating jelly babies ( which was actually a fantastic experience to be fair)

Shortly after DCM I sat down with my physio and went through the history of the last few months, he did some pretty standard tests, asked the usual questions. It was obvious enough to him that this was coming from my lower back and his advice was to lower my expectations for "quite a while" in order to let my body respond to the S+C\Rehab work that he was prescribing.

So, a daily diet of 20-30 minutes of core and strength work was on the menu, and has been for almost 12 months. It was tough at first, but then it progressed and as the weeks and months passed, I started to feel stronger. The flexibility tests showed the results ( I could barely tip the tops of my ankles when I first started)
In the same way that the problem started to show itself in small ways, the results of the rehab started to show - a long run with no pain at the end, a track session where I felt smooth for once, nothing major but definite signs.

With entries for both London and Chicago deferred this year, it gave me the chance to just focus on getting strong, healthy and learning to trust my body again.
For the most part, S+C came first - if I was against the clock and something had to give, the run would be scrapped, I'd do my S+C routine.

More physio visits, more tests, more positive results until June came along and I was told that I was more or less there in terms of the programme, I was good to start picking training up again....so long as I keep the S+C up too.


So what would training look like?

Simple enough to be honest, I don't have a coach right now and while I'm a little obsessed with coaching and various training methods, I'm always drawn back to the stuff that interests me and has worked for me in the past ...and that I enjoy.

Reasonably high mileage with easy being easy
Tempo stuff that is actually tempo (and not a time trial)
Reps that are tough but controlled
Hills


The plan for the next few months is to run a combo of the above, continue to build on the last 2 months and to maintain S+C sessions (3-4 per week). I'll run XC if it happens and look to rejoin a training group when I feel comfortable pushing the pace a little.


I'll also try to stick to this log more regularly, I'm not sure what I'll get from it but there are plenty of other 40somethings around that might take an idea or two from my rehab\training.


Right now, I'm enjoying training, running relatively pain free and moving well, if I can keep things moving that way, we'll see where I land in 2\3 months time.

Week of 07.09.2020


Monday

S+C session in the morning followed by some a steady run in St Anne's

I love steady runs and I feel confident enough to put one per week into the schedule now. It does put a little extra stress on the ageing body but the much maligned steady run is dynamite in my book, I run a lot of very easy miles and not a lot at that higher end aerobic level.

Anyway, out the door and onto the grass for a loop of st anne's, just locking in a steady effort really, working but still very much in the easy range. It took a few minutes for the legs to wake up but once they did, this went pretty well....apart from the humidity

40 minutes or so at 7.25 min\mile

Tipped home for the last mile or so very easy




PM - Headed out in the evening to flush the legs out a bit, 4 miles or so in St Anne's



Tuesday

more S+C in the morning

Then 50 minutes easy in St Anne's


PM - 35 minutes easy


Wednesday


Session day today

More fartlek on the cards

4 x 1 min on\off, 4 x 90 sec on\1 min off, 4 x 1 min on\off


Used a winding loop between fields for this, pretty windy out there but this one went pretty well. No spikes required though, sun was splitting the sky

Ran hard while really focusing on control for the ons....relaxed on the offs

I love fartlek sessions, I love using the loop that I use too - its just running hard then easy, hard then easy....so simple but if you string 6\7 weeks of this stuff together, it really does bring you on.

Anyway, finished very strong, working harder over the last few reps but always feeling there was more to give.


Lighter S+C today, just some core work\pressups.


Just shy of 8 miles for the lot today

14.09.2020


A pretty hectic few days on the work\family front, I knew I'd be up against it to keep the show on the road and was prepared to take a day or two off if needed.


Thursday


(had to check Strava for this one) - happened to be over in Marlay Park at lunchtime, had my sister for company for a few easy miles exploring the park, all nice and easy and yet somehow rushed too


4.1 miles

Friday




AM

Met a work buddy for a few miles in the PP, loved this run, good chats, pretty tired with reduced sleep the previous few nights but the company soaked the miles up nicely

6.2 miles

PM - S+C and then 3.6 easy miles with some strides.



Saturday


Woke up tired and groggy and thought about canning this run altogether, while I had initially planned 8x1k (controlled), I resigned to modifying the session to allow for a few mental days.

After a warmup that felt reasonably ok, I picked out 3 x 1k on the watch and said I'd see how the body felt after these.
To be honest, I made a mess of this. I was anxious to get a session done and as such, pushed too hard on the k reps.

They all came in at 3.35-3.37 which isn't super quick but it's faster than my current 10k fitness and left me pretty wrecked. 5 minutes jog and then into 2 x 1 mile @ around 6.10\6.15 ( all on the grass, I would usually allow 5-10 seconds "slippage" on these).

First mile was 6.14, 2 minutes easy then a much harder effort which had me floating around the 5.55\6 min pace mark.

Watch stopped about 200m short on the second mile for some reason.

All in, a silly session. I should have run something a lot easier or just gone easy altogether, body was wrecked today and had good reason to be.


Sunday - forced myself to take the day off, didn't want to, kept convincing myself that I was grand to go and run but I am trying to think and act long term these days.

Just over 50 miles for the week

21.09.2020


Thursday

AM - small S+C session then just under 6 miles on the grass trails in St Anne's. Legs a little heavy but everything else felt pretty good


Friday

Lunchtime trot around the Pheonix Park (working from Mammy D's which is not too far from there). Bumped into a clubmate who was just finishing off a session and ran a few miles with him. Lots of chatter about the demise of races this winter, not looking good for xc etc....while I felt a little selfish for moaning about the potential for no races etc, it really is a big part of so many people's lives in this country, that became more apparent while chatting to a club coach after the run, he was visibly upset at the thoughts of no club racing this winter.

6.3 miles


PM

3 miles easy, out the coast road and back, lovely evening for it



Saturday


Session on the cards today (grass, winding loop):

10 mins @ 6.10
3 mins easy
4 x 2 mins @ 5.50 (off 60 seconds)
3 mins easy
10 mins @ 6.10


The key for this session was really to control the two effort levels, the loop I use keeps this honest, it's slow in places but its quick in places too, plenty of sharp turns and tree cover too so it's ideal for effort focused sessions.

After a decent warmup + drills, I got straight into it.

Pretty "blowy" over the first 10 min section, felt a little stiff and heavy legged as is the norm in the AM these days. Recovered pretty quickly tough and stayed focused during the 2 min sections.

Into the second 10 min section and the body was moving much better, both hamstrings were a little tight but I had settled into this and controlling the effort much better.
Finished strong, feeling pleasantly tired - job done


10 min@ 6.13 min\mile
4x2 mins @ 5.53\5.50\5.55\5.50
10 mins @ 6.08


Very happy with this, despite the slower than planned first 10 min section, mental focus was good throughout.



Just shy of 10 miles for the lot




Sunday


Up and out the door by 9.30 this morning, down the coast, u turn at Fairview, back along the coast and then onto the trails on Bull Island.
I love these trails they really slow you down but they also provide a mental distraction from the long easy run, twisting and turning, bumps and dips....the surface is sand based obviously so its easy on the bones too.


Came out of the trails right at the end of Bull Island and took a minute or two to watch the seals flop around the place ( I counted 12), I was glad to have the wind at my back on the way home.

13 miles @ 8 min pace - a little quicker than I've been running these of late, I've consciously done that, really just to open the stride up a little more. While the HR does climb a little, it feels like a more natural stride pattern than the 8.30+ per mile stuff I've been doing for the last while. While I may well switch back to those at some stage, they've served a purpose for now


65+ miles for a very good week

23.09.2020

And the beat goes on...

Busy week this week with physio sessions to squeeze in between work\life\training. Feeling pretty good and starting to feel stronger on sessions, reading a lot at night too which always helps the sleep (reading up on Lydiard at the moment)


Monday

AM - S+C session, heavy enough one this time

6.5 easy miles around St Anne's


PM - Just over 4 miles nice and easy

All on the grass


Tuesday


Usually a double day for me but today it was a slight progression run, starting very easy and working down to steady effort, all on the grass. A very enjoyable run and one I'll look to more and more over the coming months. ( just under 8 miles, starting out at above 8 min pace and finishing down around 7.10 or so)

More S+C


Then a quite painful visit to the phsyio in the evening time. Did a lot more work than usual on both hamstrings and calves and I felt it

He's happy with everything though, all good on that front. Instructions were to take it easy for a day or two after, asked about a session tomorrow and his reply was more or less :rolleyes:


Wednesday


In all seriousness, physio had said to very simply listen to the body in terms of running a session, if things are tight, back off, if they're sore - jog.


Which is basically how it panned out

I had 1,2,3,4,3,2,1 down for today, off 50% recovery


In race times, I'd normally run these hard...but that isn't the aim at the moment, so the plan was to run them controlled and of course, back off if the legs were too tender.


Moving pretty well over the first couple of reps, got through the 3 minute one though and the "good" hammy was straining a little by the end. At the start of the 4th one, it was very tight, borderline sore so I just packed it in and jogged around the sunny park for a bit.


I actually enjoyed tipping around and not doing a full session on a Wednesday for once !

I'll come back to this session in a few weeks, maybe next week




Just over 6 miles for the lot today

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Welcome back D. Might have been covered already but are you planning your own training on the fly at the mo? Any plans to go back to coaching?

Thanks P - flying solo for now alright, keeping things simple. Trying one or two things out etc....

I'll definitely go back to getting coached at some stage alright but I'm happy to tip along for now and use myself as a guinea pig

healy1835 wrote: »

After my first outing in a pair of spikes today, I just cannot comprehend how you ran your 10k PB in a XC race!

ha ha ha - maybe it said more about how weak my road PB was ? It was a horrendous amount of hurt though, I'll never forget it

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Performance of the year 2018 (19?).

2018 - funnily enough, I felt I ran better at the nationals that year, I've never felt so out of my depth in my life, slower time but tougher course and I finished well ahead of a few lads that I would always try to get close to ..


Oh to be running like that right now!

05.10.2020


A few months back, when I started moving well and feeling good again, my physio was very clear with me in that this was something I would have to manage and from time to time, the back issue will manifest itself in ways that may not seem obvious.

A good example was in late May\June, I was running some really good grass tempo runs each weekend and pushing some speedwork midweek too. Over the course of 2\3 weeks I noticed a tightening of the hamstring (just behind my right knee, it felt different to the problems I had had over the previous year though, tight but not sore.
Of course, it was a warning sign which I ignored really and by mid June, I had to take 10 days or so off to let a hamstring strain settle.


Fast forward a few months and the same symptoms presented mid last week, except in my "good" leg this time.
Rather than be an idiot again ( although it is tempting, always tempting). I've eased back totally, taken a few days off and tested the leg out on a couple of 20-30 min runs.


I know the recovery path and time (it needs rest and a week usually does it) so I'm following that.



Monday

AM - 6.66 (:eek:) miles around St Anne's, a little slip slidey...might have contributed to the general tightness around the back\hamstring area

PM - Just over 4 very easy miles on the coast. Really enjoyed this

S+C session


Tuesday


Planned a lunchtime steady hour, but 3 miles in or so, the left hammy started to tug a little harder than the previous day, wound the pace down again and left it at 4 miles


Wednesday




3 miles very easy

Tight but nor sore


Thursday, Friday - off

Saturday - 25 mins easy, tight but less so

Sunday - 25 mins easy, no real reaction


Lots of S+C and stretching to take advantage of the tine saved by not running


I'll skip today and probably tomorrow before ramping back up again.


Lydiard based stuff awaits for the next while

OOnegative wrote: »

Mind the body till it’s right D, hopefully only a minor setback.

Thanks B - reasonably confident that its minor, I know the signs and am trying to get ahead of it slightly. It'll be something I'll be managing for a good while yet though

18.10.2020


A return to running this week, a good physio session, some good pilates and S+C and a realisation that I've lost some of that much craved aerobic fitness over the course of the 2 weeks or so.

Monday

Straight line running - 30 minutes or so. Tightness in the hammy but no worse at the end than it was at the start, good sign.

Pilates\S+C

Tuesday

More straight line running, 40 mins this time. As above except less tight and probably feeling a good deal better by the end

Into the physio in the evening who assures me that there is no actual issue with either of my hamstrings, this is all tied to the back issue that I have and unfortunately will flair up now and then. essentially the body gets to a state of hypersensitivity and something triggers it going into the equivalent of limp mode in a car.
The solution? S+C and physio on the trigger points that lock up sooner than I did this time around and I'm good to run (while being sensible)

Sore enough session around the back of the knee and the usual trigger points along the hamstring but felt a million dollars afterwards

Wednesday

Pilates\S+C

Then out in the evening for just under 6 miles, feeling a little blowy but so much smoother in the back and hamstring area.

Thursday


S+C\Core

Resisted to urge to go too long today and stuck to 4.5 miles in St Anne's, chancing the twistier route that I would usually use. All felt good


Friday

Met my sister for a few miles in the PP - just over 4 miles with a few strides at the end


Saturday


40 minutes steady effort today, in and around St Anne's. No real focus on the watch here, more about tuning into a steady effort and seeing how it felt.

Legs were fine but the lungs weren't - huffing and puffing a little too much by the end of this one.

40 mins @ 7.30 min\miles



Sunday


Long run day, something that I need to extend out a little as the weeks roll on into the winter. No need to do anything stupid today but I did want to take in some hills on the route so went up to Howth, not quite all the way up to the summit (maybe a mile short), turned around and came back home.

Again, feeling a little lack of endurance by the end but that will come back quickly enough with some consistency .

13 miles @ 7.50 pace




All in a very good week and sets me up well to start a new plan from tomorrow.

There'll be no real speedwork for the next couple of months, lots of easy\steady miles and some MP stuff for sessions, while turnover will come from strides and short hills.

26.10.2020


Monday AM

Out lunch for just over 5 miles all easy.
Usual tipping around the trails in St Anne's

Core\S+C then later in the day then met Murph for a couple of easy miles along the coast


Tuesday

Steady effort lunchtime run today at lunch.

Started off easy and just worked down the effort a little, nothing major really, just enough to bring it out of the recovery\easy and into stead, I'll build on this run over the next few months

7.5 all in


Wednesday

Lunch run - mostly on grass, nice and easy. About 5.5 miles

S+C\Pilates later


Then 3.2 miles in the evening time

A few very short hill sprints (10 seconds), not quite flat out but I will build to this in time


Thursday


5.7 miles very easy

More S+C


Friday - off

Legs felt fine but told myself to take the day off given that I'd done 9 days or so on the bounce.

Pilates in the evening


Saturday

Met a couple of the DNS lads for a few miles in St Anne's in advance of the virtual marathon the next day. I was on pacer duty for a few miles for C's sub 3 with an early start so today was as much about getting out of the nest early enough as anything else !

6.2 miles all easy


Sunday


Up bright and early to head down to my allocated starting point - which would be just over 17 miles into C's run, all going well this would be a good solid workout for me and hopefully a sub 3 run for C.

Wind was pretty strong and I was a little worried jogging down to The Baths on the coast. I shouldn't have worried though, C came down the road like a freight train and I struggled initially to get a hold on the pace.

But I did settle in well eventually and enjoyed most of this. The coast road was fine because we had the wind at our backs, turning up the Kilbarrack road was a different story though, uphill and wind coming at us, I tried to shield C as much as I could from the wind but sure I'm not exactly broad shouldered

By 40 minutes or so, I was aware that this was a good workout and while breathing well, my problem right side was starting to creak a little. I didn't want to let C down but didn't want to do anything stupid either. Down the Malahide road was fine though, really nice stretch and once we got back onto the coast road, I knew he was fine, he didn't need me there at all.

With 500m to go, PK drew along side us for a bit, C was moving well and I asked P if he was ok to finish off with him - I eased off the pace gradually and watched C head off to claim his Sub 3.

Just under an hour at 6.53 pace, not easy but still aerobic which is the main thing for me at the moment

Jogged back, spotted Murph coming to the closing stages of his run, with FBOT leading the way, barking out instructions. Joined in with a few more bodies for D's last stretch into the wind and really enjoyed seeing him realise how well he'd run afterwards.


Shared a quick beer with the two lads then jogged home for breakfast.

Hip flexor a little tight afterwards but nothing major, a great day for the lads.


Just under 13 for the day and a very good week

01.11.2020



Thursday

AM - Ditched the watch and took it easy around St Anne's for 50 minutes or so, guessing the pace but it was most likely around 8.20 or so

PM - Out later again for just over 3 miles, all easy but some strides over the last mile, 80m strides, very much focused on form\turnover.

6 strides in total, ensuring I was fully recovered between each

Pilates in between

Friday

AM - met FBOT and Ferris for a few miles around St Anne's, good chatter had the hour flying by. Enjoyed this, left the watch at home again but mapped this out to be around 7.5 miles, very easy (somewhere just south of 9 min miles)

PM - 3 miles with 8 x 10 sec hills sprints

Again, focused on form and turnover and full recovery between

S+C in between

Saturday



Continuing on with the Lydiard base building theme, today's session was all aerobic and floating between MP and Steady efforts.

Wind was blowing hard outside so I ditched the idea of heading out onto the coast, opting for a more sheltered but busier St Anne's. I also decided to use the chest strap to use as a guide to stop myself pushing too hard into the wind.

Session was 5 mins@MP\10 mins@steady x 3

I basically lapped the park 2\3 times for this session, trying to keep the HR around the 157\58 mark for the MP efforts and in the lower end of 150s for the steady efforts. I have the data from a lactate test I did late last year so I've a good idea of what HR constitutes marathon\steady etc...

Wind was awful at times, really bad and it just made the session messy in terms of pacing it. The HR keeps things honest though, I'd to ease off the gas to let the HR settle a few times, always into the wind - otherwise it's just not keeping the session honest

Good session though, felt strong throughout, despite a crap night's sleep the night before.


6.2 miles for the sesh, just over 10 for the day


Core work later on



Sunday


Awful wind, 2 hours easy, stayed in the park for most of this, mixing the route up between paths, trails and grass.

Little bit of tightness around the right glute towards the end.


Just shy of 15 miles for this which brings the week to around 67 miles

Good week down

12.11.2020


Week 3 of at least 8 weeks of aerobic base building and I'm starting to find a good routine now, the Wednesday steady run provides the focal point midweek while the strides and short hill strides break up the easier stuff ( of which there is lots).
last week was just under 10 hours of running, if I can stay around the 9.5-10.5 hour mark for the next few weeks I'll be pretty happy
All the while, S+C\Pilates has to stay on the menu, chatting to a coach in Raheny recently who has a similar issue as me, he views his S+C routine as his passport to allow him to run


Monday

Lunchtime run around St Anne's - mostly on the grass as always

6.35 miles

S+C after

PM - 4.6 miles with some strides over the last mile or so, all along the coast, sneaking onto the cycle lane a fair bit.


Tuesday

5.75 miles easy, St Anne's, grass destroyed so I used more tarmac than usual

Pilates after

PM - Met Ferris for a few miles, probably ran a couple more miles than I had planned but the chatter was good.

Just over 6 miles easy


Wednesday


75 minutes steady

Usual route, starting along the coast and heading up into Raheny using the drags, back down to the coast then back up the Kilbarrack road. The weather was pretty awful heading out but I started to enjoy this from a mile or so in.

Once again, the aim was to keep the HR no higher than 152\153

While the conditions meant this was never going to be as enjoyable as the previous week, it was pretty comfortable most of the way. The last 3 miles or so was into a good wind so I backed off the pace to keep the HR from creeping over the limit.

Core work after (10 mins)


Just under 10.5 miles @ 7.10 min\mile

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Interested to see what your S&C routine looks like Double D, not all flipping chin ups these days I hope

TbL

A sprinkling of chin ups alright TbL.....but more along the lines of:
Pilates
Squats (weights)
Lunges (weights)
Single leg squats
Calf raises
Pressups with one raised leg
Hip raises
Side planks with leg raise ( awful, hate, hate, hate them)
Planks with leg raises

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

You don’t find any issue with your back from planks?

Even though I’ve pretty good form I’m getting paranoid that planks are pinching my back

TbL

Not if form is good, if form is bad then yeah there is deffo additional strain on the back.

I find with planks though, its not enough to just hold the position, I have to actively squeeze the core so its taking the load. The leg raise almost forces this ( and makes the plank that bit tougher too)