A year on reflection

So with all this self-criticalness, I actually took some time today in my own little world on the beach at Watson's Bay to think about what I'd achieved in my first 'proper' year of running. Admittedly my training proper for the MDS started in October of 2007, but that was merely base training. I started training for the Canberra Marathon 'proper' in January of this year and it's been a year that in all honesty has surpassed where I thought I'd be.

For starters, I'm fitter than I thought I would be. My goal was really only to do one marathon at around 3hr 45min, and then head down and train for the rest of the year. After Canberra I became a little lost and just 'trained', but focused on getting fitter without really realising it. That culminated in a 3hr 32min marathon at the Hunter Valley, which in all honesty I didn't know where it came from. Onwards and upwards as they say and I got to know a few of the 'regulars' on the running circuit via the cool running website over here and before you know it I'm doing back to back marathons. The the big move up to 100kms at Glasshouse, which whilst I was pleased I completed, I was actually very disappointed with the time. I got it all wrong in some respects and learnt a big lesson that day in how to 'run' an ultra.

I then got talked into doing the 175km GNW, which on reflection was something I was not wholly focused on, and as a result, saw me 'finish' at the 103km mark, with a few extra for getting obscenely lost in the Basin. Having been so bitterly disappointed with that I drove to Canberra and did the Deep Space marathon in bitterly cold weather and was happy to just run on the cut off time, again another good character building run. And so here we are now injured, but I need to be positive.

In just over one year of running I've gone from not having more than 12 miles (just looked at my base training from Oct-Dec 2007) in my life to the following:

- 6 marathons in 8 months (with a PB 17 minutes above what I thought I'd do)
- 2 x 100kms races
- 4 x 45km plus training runs with a 75km night run

Not all that bad for someone that started the year a 'rugby-fit' second row at 105kgs, and not having run more than 12 miles in his life. For now it's swimming and cycling until and I can confidently run on this left leg of mine. Let's wish hard that it recovers by around mid January so I can do some good training into the lead in for the MDS. Having this hot weather at the moment is killing me because all I want to do is get out and train in it!

Another 30 laps

1.5kms in the pool... big deal :) Tried to run on soft sand today as well... did about 400m and the leg was still very weak. Bone scan asap... Looks like I can't get any decent insuracne either to cover injury. Options would be:

a.) Contact BoM and try and get a deferal until 2010 and try and swap with someone for that year

b.) Lose a shit load of money and not compete if I do have a stress fracture

c.) Recover hopefully be early Feb if I have a stress fracture, get what I can in before the end of March with some seriously long walks/gentle runs

d.) Speed walk the MDS

Bollocks!

This is not how Christmas was meant to be...

So after nearly two weeks of no running, I thought I'd try and sneak in a 7km around the bay last night following a good 30 laps of the pool. I took 5 steps and instantly knew the leg was not right still. I'm at a bit of a loss right now as to what is wrong and what to do. I guess the thing I need to do is go and get a bone scan and see if I have a stress fracture. That costs money, great. And then if I do, well we're looking at 1.5 to 2 months out. Great - mid-Feb recovery for a race that I've been preparing for for 2 years to start 1st week of April, which means I wont be 100% fit.

Should I defer for a year? That will be a pain in the arse with the organisers, Best of Morocco I'm sure. The draconian rules that Darbaboud and they impose already defy logic and I'm kind of getting to the stage where I'm resenting the MDS now. It's probably due to the fact that I need this injury like a hole in the head so close to the race itself. It's prime summer training here in Sydney and all I can do is head to the pool and do my laps - great.

We'll see - I'll go and get my scan and see what the beef is me thinks, I need to get this sorted. Having taken literally steps on it last night, the leg feels so weak. I can push on through, but I'll do more damage to it. Hmmmmmmmm - bloody great!

Feeling hot hot hot...

So on Christmas Eve it was the usual 20 laps of the pool, followed by a stuffing full of food for the last two days over Xmas. Normally I'd be running, not taking a break, but this leg thing just wont clear up. One day it feels better, then today it was really aching towards the end of the day. The bone feels less tender to touch now. I'm tempted to get out and go for a run again tomorrow as it will have been 10 days of straight rest. Although i did that last time and look where that got me. I said I'd leave it to Jan 1st, so I really should, but maybe a nice easy 7kms wouldn't hurt it? We'll see... I really want to do the Narrabeen 100km, but it's looking a bit unlikely now - depends how the next week goes really. I probably shouldn't do it given the rest I've had to undertake. We'll see, I may feel fine - I'll just go on how I feel. I'll know deep down if I shouldn't.

So plans for the next 2 months are as follows. Get back into it slowly first two weeks of Jan and build back up to 50 miles a week, and then hopefully, if all is well, get on with Super February which will see me do 4 big back to backs over the 4 weekends in February - all being well of course with my new shiny one man tent to kip in overnight. Just need a decent cooker now :)

Tired now, off to bed - family stuff is hard work :)

Sights and swimming

So with the family here I've been doing the usual Sydney thing, showing them the sights etc... plus the usual dose of swimming in the absence of being able to run. I'm just doing the usual 20 laps, or 1km of breaststroke, although I go at it fairly hard and don't piss about much - although I should be upping the number of laps now - I do find it quite dull though.

On the sights side of things, I did take the family up to the Blue Mountains and climbed down the giant staircase. I remember doing this about 8 months ago and it was a killer for me (although I had done a 45km route the day before!). However this time, my brother and I sailed up in about 15-20mins I reckon. It was pish! that'll be all the training I've done then in the last 8 months!

I guess because I'm doing family stuff, I'm not missing running that much at the moment. I'm certainly resting until Jan 1st. I want to give this thing two whole weeks to rest and then I'll slowly get back into it, build up again in January, before I attack super February which will see me out on the GNW with my new lightweight single man tent for some big back-to-back runs... can't wait!

Rest and swimming

I do fear the worst with the old leg, it's still very tender to touch on the bone and walking is not the best. So I've made the decision to not do any running until Jan 1st, and then take it very easy following that - building up slowly first two weeks for what I hope will be a final onslaught in February. So as a result, I'll be swimming pretty much daily from now on. At the moment I'm only doing about 1 to 1.5kms in the pool, but will increase that to get a good work out.

On another note, my family arrived in Sydney today, so the timing is good?!?!?! Not that I want to be injured, but c'est la vie, you can't get all angry about it, you have to deal with it. I have to be sensible now and only run when I know the leg is feeling like it can. Last time, after I rested for 9 days and then went back at it like a bat out of hell again, I knew it wasn't right but carried on thinking I could just train through it when really I should have rested.

I want to try and target the Narrabeen 100k/12hr ultra as quite a few people I know are doing it and I think it would be a great laugh to do. However I won't do it if it's not right - but the plan is to work towards that again. Oh well... plenty of Sydney tourist stuff to do with family Bleakman and many a lap at the Ian Thorpe pool for the next 10 days or so! I just hope I don't lose too much fitness. To be fair though, after I had 9 days off last time, I was running quicker than I had before, on average!

Bugger it! Too much too soon...

I am a bit of an idiot and despite knowing that I probably shouldn't have gone for a run yesterday, I did and smashed out 15kms sub 5min km pace and I do myself in again. We're not back to square one, but we're pretty darn close. we also talked about a possible stress fracture today, but there's not a lot to change in terms of the recovery even if I do go and get one - so what's the point? I just go along, have a scan and they say yey or ney. Recovery is still the same, as is the treatment.

So we'll just rest up for 4-5 days now and see how we go. I am stupid though, but hey, I'm a man and that's what we do - overdo it. It's frustrating as hell as this is peak training time, but I guess I just have to make sure that I'm fit for the MDS, I really have to keep telling myself that. Getting to the start line is the priority, even if it means a month off, then so be it. I need to rest and recover. So swimming it will be for the next week or so I think, along with lots of stretching and alike to get me going again. Then it's slowly and surely to build back up again, not bat out of hell! I'm such a knob sometimes...

Bugger it...

That's the attitude I have now. So up again at 5am for a jaunt around the Bay. It's much easier when I know I have to get up and drop melody down at Yoga - if I dont have a reason, I don't get up! So a couple of Hammer electrolytes later, and 2 Nurofen I was out on the Bay Run on a beautiful morning. It is a pleasure running when the weather is so good. The leg felt 'OK' as in there's still some issues, but I could run, albeit it not properly. This carried on pretty much most of the run apart from the last couple of kms where the pain started to get worse and I was noticeably limping on one side. This is not good. Although in the last km it felt OK again. It gets no worse though, it's the bone that's hurting me. I don't know what to think. The reality is that despite taking it at what I thought was a 'steady' pace, I was still doing sub 5min kms, going around in a shade under 73 mins for 15kms, so just over 4min 50secs kms. Is this the new 5min kilometre? Who knows...

Depending how I feel for the rest of the day, I'd like to try and get out for another 15kms tomorrow morning, which would see me just about on track for this week. The parents arrive on Saturday which will see training levels dip a little as I'll be with them and doing 'Sydney stuff'. But I'll keep maintenance.

There's also a 12hr/100km allnighter at Narrabean on 10th January and I'm very tempted by it. Bogong to Hotham is the next day and I had planned to do that, but given that Narrabean is only 30mins up the road, the latter is looking favourite at the moment. Plus it's an all nighter and I need some practice at running at night.

UPDATE-------------------
Hmmmm the leg is pretty darn sore now, or rather the bone is very tender. I'm really fearing the worst, and just hope that this is the warning sign I need to rest and not try and train through an injury. It's not really really bad, but it's very painful to touch and is noticeably worse from this monring now. Physio booked for tomorrow once again - I'll now rest it until at least Monday next week, however I fear a longer lay-off now. Must get the priorities right, even if I have to rest for 2 weeks then so be it - the MDS is what it's all about, not trying to pack in the miles now.

Still not right

Hmmmm, the leg is still not right, but it's not getting any worse. Even after I've run and stopped. I did a pretty tough session last night. Living on a pretty steep hill (200m long and 33m of ascent) the challenge is to do 10 reps up and down in 30 mins. I smashed it to be honest without even trying, knocking it off in 24mins and 39secs, so maybe a re-adjustment is required here. I say without even trying, all i did was even splits. Running up the hill consistently between 53 and 57 secs which was good, and then gently coming down. It's pretty tough work because it's quite a steep ascent, so by rep 7/8, you're feeling it. But a good session, which i wasn't even sure about doing in the first place. I went for a 3km warm-up and the leg was killing me, it was a real effort to even move, but once I got warmed up things went well.

Same again this morning - having dropped the missus off at Yoga around 5:50am I decided to go for an impromptu run around the Bay. How far was again in question, but I just decided to see how I felt. I was also a bit dehydrated to be honest, so wasn't 100% on what to do. This was always going to be a recovery style run having exerted myself last night, and again the first 5kms on the leg really hurt. So much so, that I've reverted back to the old running style. I simply can't run on the balls of my feet now - it has to be heel strike, which really helps to alleviate the pain, but some more on that later. I decided to to the extended Bay Run and did add a bit to make it an even 10kms, and despite starting at around 5:15km pace, the leg eased significantly in the last 4kms to knock off a 49min 10km, which I was quite surprised at given how tough the first 6kms were.

However I'm now questioning the move to change running styles around a year ago. Has it all caught up with me and injured my left leg? I'm not sure, all I know is that when I heel strike, the pain virtually goes. However will the shin splints come back as a result. Some more trials to be had I think, but we'll see.

Weekend update

So on Friday night I managed to get out after work for a run. The weather was appalling with horizon rain and 60km/ph winds around the Bay, but still I had to get out, I was going crazy. I took what I thought was a very steady pace and in the end decided only to do the 7kms. I didn't want to overdo it too much after having 9 days off, so halfway round I made my mind up only to do the one lap. Despite some serious head winds at times, I went round in 33mins 30secs, which is 4:45km pace. It felt too easy to be true, but hey who am I to complain.

However the real test was how I felt after the run, as the pain is not present when I run, only afterwards. Admittedly I did feel twinges whilst running, and I never felt 100% confident on the leg either with my style shifting and changing quite a bit throughout. Afterwards the leg didn't feel the greatest to be honest, and so I rested it on Saturday and still it felt pretty dodgy. So last night I went off for a swim and my usual 1km of breast stroke, and I came out the pool a different man!

So I got up this morning, and the leg felt pretty good, so I thought I'd go for a longer run today to see how things went. I wasn't quite sure how long that run would be, but it needed to be at least 18kms. In the end I did two laps of the extended Bay Run, which is 9.5km laps. I went round the first one in 46mins 30secs feeling pretty easy, and then turned around and did the second one in 45mins 30secs. However I did have to work pretty hard for the last 4kms, just to keep pace. The heart rate did creep up quite a bit. Maybe I shouldn't be too hard on myself, given the conditions (hot and windy), but still, it's 1hr 32mins for 19kms, which isn't all that bad following the injury. That works out around 4min 50sec kms, which to be honest is probably too quick again, but for some reason I can't seem to help myself! Still I'm sitting here 1 hour later and the leg is feeling OK. Fingers crossed that it's subsided now and properly on the mend. So after 2 frustrating weeks of low mileage, I'm hoping that we're back on track and time to get some bigger distances in.

Tonight's the night...

Well it's pissing down with rain and cold here in Sydney, but I'm like a kid in a sweetie shop for tonight I'm getting back out onto the track and running again. OK, so I still feel a little twinge in the leg, but I need to get out having not run for 9 days now. I've rested, and I want to get back onto it, so off we go tonight. The plan is to take it easy, which I will and we'll just see how far I run, it might be 7km, it might be 27km... we'll have to see how we go. Fingers crossed I dont feel any pain or it screws me up :)

This is boring now...

So I took yesterday as a 'rest day' and awoke at 5am for either some running or swimming. The reality is I got out of bed, put some weight on the leg and it still doesn't feel right yet - so frustrating! It's definitely feeling better, but it's still tender to touch and I just don't want to risk a thing at the moment only 3 months out from the MDS! Bloody typical isn't it! My longest time out with injury in over 18 months! Anyway... rest I must I don't want to do any kind of serious damage and would rather forsake two weeks than two months with something more serious.

On a positive note, I planned the rest of my training yesterday and it's all quite exciting to look at the run in to March. I've planned some pretty big back-to-back runs in February and every weekend will be taken up with heading up to the GNW track and running Saturday, camping overnight somewhere on the track before heading back the other way on the Sunday. It will be pretty brutal, but will be awesome to just spend the weekend running and camping. I'm also going to try and do a big-ish ultra distance of around 60-70kms on one Saturday, before doing a 40km the next day. Of course I'll be taking these distances pretty easy going and not smashing myself to bits, but it's all exciting stuff!

This is why I'm not so bothered about the rest at the moment - well I say bothered, I am, but it's probably a bit of a good thing. I've done shitloads of training in the last 14 months and clocked up almost 2,100 miles. The core is done, this is just now the icing on the cake to harden by body up to some serious back-to-backs at the weekend with some lighter speed and maintenance work during the week.

Anyone for swimming?

As I can't run at the moment I've taken to doing some swimming. So was down last night at the Olympic Pool over looking Sydney Harbour for a nice easy 24 laps, then another 20 this morning.It's quite nice doing something different and I'll definitely be going to the pool once a week from now on just as a bit of cross-training. Still frustrated be the leg though. It's freeing up somewhat, but the bone is still tender. Back to the physio again tomorrow to see how we're doing - but I want to try and get out and run on Wednesday. I'll have rested it for a week then, but something still doesn't feel quite right. It's so hard not being able to run. I know I'm not really losing any fitness, but mentally I feel I am, still - at least I can plan all of these routes that I want to do for the final 3 months of training. Quite luckily the missus is off back to the UK for most of February which is perfect for me. Pretty much every weekend I'm going to spend up either on the Great North Walk course or in the Blue Mountains, doing back to back days of 40-50kms. I'll buy a nice compact tent and just head out on the Saturday morning, do a nice hard day. Pitch up the tent, cook my food, and then head out the next day for some more punishment. I'll do that 3 weekends on the trot all being well, and that will be my final run-in for the MDS. For now, I'll keep the long runs going at the weekend, and the shorter stuff during the week to be the weekly mileage at around 100kms a week, and then the last 3 weekends will see some bigger stuff as a result of the back-to-backs. Let's just get rid of this darn injury!

Still not quite right

So another visit to the physio this morning, and still, we're not there yet. I decided against doing anything at all this weekend and instead spent it with the lady chilling out. Just looking back at my training, I haven't had a weekend off like that in as long as I can remember, probably nearly August (the last time I was injured), did I have both days off. It is probably down to overuse. I have to remember that I'm still very inexperienced when it comes to running and a relative newcomer, having only been running seriously for just over a year, and in that time I have done so much.

So the plan is to rest it some more until Wednesday, but I will be swimming everyday now until I get back into the trainers. The muscles around the fibula are still pretty inflamed, so it's a case of getting that sorted out, and they gradually are getting better. The walking is much more free now and in a few days I'm hoping it will be cleared completely. I just hope that running won't mean it gets inflamed again. Hmmmm, at least it's an enforced rest,. which was what I was talking about anyway. Just want to get it sorted and back on the road again.

Non running update

This non-running thing is very strange. I can't remember a weekend where I@ve not done anything for so long. Still the missus tells me that it's good to rest - I don't believe her! Still debating whether to go swimming on not this morning. Going for a swim at the North Sydney Pool on Wednesday was quality as it's right in front of the Harbour Bridge, so tempted to head down there now and do 20 lengths to keep things moving. In fact I think I will.

Then off to the physio again tomorrow at 8am for a check-up. I think I'm on the right track with this one now. The inflammation around the fibula seems to be dying down somewhat now, although there is still some pain. I know that I could go for a run, but it's best to rest as they say. And in the grand scheme of things, it's not going to seriously affect my training anyway. I've done so much in this past year that I'm in such a great place for the MDS I feel. I want to kill this race. Not just finish, but smash it to pieces after GNW and I need to be fit and strong for that. Big call to make, but that's the expectation I have now. It will be interesting to see how things go on the first day out there. It's normally a 30km day on Day one, and they may decide to thrown the sand dunes in early like they did last year. Bring it on I say, nothing can be as severe as the GNW or that route around Mount Solitary, sand or no sand. But we'll see how we go.

Sharp twinge update

OK, so thought I'd better get my behind down to the physio and see what latest issues are keeping me on my toes. Essentially I have a problem with my fibula bone on the outer side of my lower leg, and it's gradually got to the point whereby it's not gliding correctly when I walk/run, so in effect it's staying in an upright position, which is then causing the discomfort when I walk, but bizarrely is OK when I run.

So some massaging and some taping later and the pain eased, and I'm to keep the tape on in a bid to get it moving again in the right position. So no running this weekend, which I had kind of resigned myself to not doing, but c'est la vie once more...

However I've done some big distances in the last 4 weeks, including 70 odd miles in the GNW, then two very tough 47 milers over mountains and hard terrain. This combination of runs has in effect gradually worn me down somewhat. It's funny because I was saying to Beaver during the run the last week that I was knackered and needed a rest - so this enforced rest if probably good for me. I'm not going to lose anything, bar a big run, which I'd have done this weekend, so I should rest - but it's hard to!

Anyway, plan is to sort out wedding stuff this weekend, and get ready for the imminent arrival of the Bleakman clan to Sydney for Christmas.

Sharp 6kms, sharp twinge

That twinge from my left leg is getting worse and I cant help thinking about the dreaded words - 'stress fracture'. I can't quite pinpoint if the pain is on the muscle or the bone, but it feels like the latter. It feels like my shin splints used to, but only on the outer left leg in between the knee and the ankle. Still I went out tonight after work and it was a glorious 32 degrees, that made for hard going. As did the fact that I forgot some decent socks, my stopwatch and my heart rate monitor. I'm such an idiot. As such I thought I'd run to time, and take off 15% of my maximum time around the Bay Run, which equates to around 28 mins for 6kms. I set off way too quick and against a very strong headwind, and to be honest I was going too quick - proven by the fact that I did the 6kms in just over 27mins- so 4min 30sec kms, which is way too quick for this kind of run.

The pain is weird, I can feel it when I walk, and when I start running, but after about 200metres or so it disappears. Needless to say, having gone off too quick, having the wrong socks and worried about the leg, I only ended up doing half what I wanted to do. I really should get hold of all my equipment so I can do this thing properly. Anyway, I sorted out my 3 different types of heart rate for the three different runs and they are as follows:

RECOVERY: 136 - 143
MAINTAIN: 150 - 157
HOT LAP: 164 - 171

First of all though, I need to sort out the leg... I'm going to rest it tomorrow, mainly because that's enforced. Working in PR means you get to go to lots of Christmas parties! However I may get up early and go swimming at the Olympic Pool in Milsons Point, which over looks Sydney Harbour Bridge. There really is no other better pool in the world I think!

A gentle 17kms

So back on it tonight and its warming up here in Sydney. A nice 25 degrees odd when I got home from work, and the plan tonight was a good 17kms, but fairly steady and easy. I've been reading up on some training methods used by others for marathon running and there's some interesting stuff knocking about. I've decided to use some of it as part of my training as I think, certainly for my runs during the week it makes some sense to do.

So I've split my runs according to my heart rate, and I'll be running to heart rates rather than time. I had been doing this for a few months actually, but I'm just making this into a bit more of a formalised programme. So tonight was about keeping the heart rate up at about the 145 - 152 range and keep it there I did, rocking home in around 93 minutes for the 17kms. That works out at 5min 28sec kms, which for the first run back after the weekend's brutal 44kms, I was fairly happy with. Although I did find it a little bit slow. Typically the first half was fine and I actually found myself having to run a bit quicker than I was as the heart rate was too low. But in the second half I was finding myself slowing down somewhat to keep the heart rate within range. So doing nearly 5.30min kms was a little disappointing, but it's about keeping the heart rate within a certain range that's important, not the pace as I have to keep telling myself.

The good thing is that it hasn't killed me and I feel quite refreshed after it all. Normally I tend to push myself in each run I do. I imagine that my training has actually all been at around the 150-160 heart rate - well most of it anyway, and I need to stagger it a little.

Tomorrow is about pushing it higher up at the heart rate ranges of 158 - 165, and doing 14kms of that. Following that will be a lighter run where the heart rates will be between 138 and 145, roughly around 12kms. Then I'm maybe planning another 44kms at the weekend on the trails, before a 15km warm-down the week after. Things are hotting up now in the training stakes and I want to get fitter, but also stronger on the hills. So hill work will be a big part of the weekly sessions too.