That just 2 days ago, a simple 3 mile run caused me very painful shin splints and brought me to a standstill. Yet a good 16 miler, in 8 minute mile pace (I thought I was going very steady)... including 2 x 1.25 mile tempo runs included, and I felt great!
All very strange. Was very tired at the end of it I must admit. I was going to do 18 miles, but I ran out of fluid, and I did work hard on the two tempo runs in the middle of the run, so I thought it balanced out pretty well. So, what was going to be a dreadful week, has been brought back on track. I also think I'm probably trying to do too much as well. I read an interesting article from the www.themds.co.uk forum today and it suggested that marathon runners only really need to do 35 miles a week. Admittedly I'm running slightly more than that, but I feel that I should re-set the targets slightly me thinks, and aim for 45-50 miles a week, rather than trying to push 55 miles a week. I also think I should revert back to training 5 days a week, not 6. It is probably too much at this stage. Anyways... a nice 7 miler recovery planned for tomorrow. we'll see how that goes and if the shin splints stay away.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Update... maybe not so fresh
Decided to run home tonight after this morning. Only 3 miles, but had a bit of shin splint issues... hmmmm... not great and probably not very wise doing back-to-back sessions in one day, but hey... nevermind. So 11 miles today in total. Back on track for the week, but think I'll have a rest day tomorrow as I have a long run planned for the weekend.
Fresh as a daisy
Well almost. I listened to my body last night and didnt go for the planned 10 miler. I was just shattered, mainly through work, but the exertion of 5 days straight running, and generally needing a day without running. However I did getup at 6am this morning for my run and managed to kock off 8 miles in around 65 minutes, which from a speed perspectie is pretty nippy, and is a clear sign that my fitness has come on leaps and bounds from when I first started this little adventure.
Admittedly my shins did play up a little, and a I passed work at 3 miles (I do a city loop on top of the run into work), I did consider calling it a day there, but nope... I carried on. I decided to also pick up the pace somewhat too as for some reason, when I run quicker, the shins and legs generally hurt less. Probably because the feet are coming into contact with the ground less and the impact is not so great. In essence I thought to myself that Id rather ahve my lungs hurting than my shins or hip. The good thing is the TB problem didnt rear its ugly head either. So all in all, this morning's run was pretty good, and set against the backdrop of a beatiful Sydney morning, running around the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. I dont think it gets much better than that! Ideally I think I'll have another rest tomorrow, as I have a 30km (18 mile run) planned for Saturday, and this will be my first big run since the marathon.
Admittedly my shins did play up a little, and a I passed work at 3 miles (I do a city loop on top of the run into work), I did consider calling it a day there, but nope... I carried on. I decided to also pick up the pace somewhat too as for some reason, when I run quicker, the shins and legs generally hurt less. Probably because the feet are coming into contact with the ground less and the impact is not so great. In essence I thought to myself that Id rather ahve my lungs hurting than my shins or hip. The good thing is the TB problem didnt rear its ugly head either. So all in all, this morning's run was pretty good, and set against the backdrop of a beatiful Sydney morning, running around the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. I dont think it gets much better than that! Ideally I think I'll have another rest tomorrow, as I have a 30km (18 mile run) planned for Saturday, and this will be my first big run since the marathon.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Weary man
Well I think I may have slightly underestimated the Bondi Barefoot race a little. I thought, yeah a simple 10km, no problem. However my legs over the last few days have been very heavy, coupled with the fact that I'm doing 13/14 hour days at work has made training a little more arduous this week. I'm also wondering if training 6 days a week is a little too much too. I've incorporated more speedwork into my training now, so I'm wondering if I need to do my session on a Monday, and should indeed take that as a rest day? Or if not, just drop the intensity a little. Or maybe I;m just tired at the moment and being a bit of a lameass :)
The session on Monday night was OK actually, a brisk 4 miles as planned, but only on the treadmill. But last night has to rank as a real shocker. I knew I was tired, my legs felt tired, my whole body felt tired. However stubborn old me got his gear on and ran home from work, and was simply just shattered to be frank. I didnt warm up properly either before I left and as a result, the shin splints kicked in too, which made matters worse, suffice to say I was literally hobbling around my shortened 5 miles (from 7 miles) course last night. I got home, wasted... but after a good night's sleep last night I'm feeling much better. It's all a bit hectic at the moment, but hopefully things will settle down soon and training be fine. I remember before my marathon that I used to be shattered most nights, and I think because April was a weird month in that for the first two weeks I was tapering, and then the last two was building back up following the marathon, it was a strange month. So May is now my first full month back into it all again, so my body is probably trying to get use to it all again!
The session on Monday night was OK actually, a brisk 4 miles as planned, but only on the treadmill. But last night has to rank as a real shocker. I knew I was tired, my legs felt tired, my whole body felt tired. However stubborn old me got his gear on and ran home from work, and was simply just shattered to be frank. I didnt warm up properly either before I left and as a result, the shin splints kicked in too, which made matters worse, suffice to say I was literally hobbling around my shortened 5 miles (from 7 miles) course last night. I got home, wasted... but after a good night's sleep last night I'm feeling much better. It's all a bit hectic at the moment, but hopefully things will settle down soon and training be fine. I remember before my marathon that I used to be shattered most nights, and I think because April was a weird month in that for the first two weeks I was tapering, and then the last two was building back up following the marathon, it was a strange month. So May is now my first full month back into it all again, so my body is probably trying to get use to it all again!
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Bondi Barefoot 10km soft sand run
This was my first foray at soft sand running. I'd run on the beach before, but near the shoreline where the sand is harder. This was a proper soft sand Achilles killer as the organisers billed it. To make things harder for myself I ran a half-marathon yesterday too as i wanted to mimic as much as possible (at this stage), things as they would be out in the desert, but minus about 20 degrees of heat!
So after a very casual 1hr 50min half marathon yesterday, I must admit the thought of doing 10km on soft sand wasn't very appealing, and doubled by the fact that I'd never really done anything like this before, but hey what the heck, you have to have a go!
The first couple of kms were pretty tough actually, but once you get into a rhythm, it was actually OK. Also if you get in the footsteps of someone else, it makes it much easier :)
So into my rhythm, I was taking it pretty easy and felt very comfortable clocking in at around 5min 50 sec kms. The goal was to come in around an hour as I thought 6min kms was reasonable given you re running on soft sand. Then at around 7.5kms I pushed on, and found someone else to stay behind. However as I pushed for the finish I made a massive balls up, and thought I'd finished, but in fact had another 300 metres to go. So muggins here had stopped, and lost himself around 30secs before i realised, and then ran the final 300 metres to the finish in dead on 59 mins. So all in all, quite happy. The winner came in an unbelievable 42 mins, which is quite simply phenomenal, I can just about do that on the road!!!
I also learnt a lot about where possible hotspots are too on my feet. I did do it barefoot and because of the movement on the sand as you run, I got two smallish blisters on both feet on the toes next to the big toe. So something to note when I do the real thing next year with over-sized trainers. However a great race to do on a beautiful Sunday morning on Bondi Beach. There's also a half marathon on soft sand on Manly Beach in a few weeks, so think I'll do that too, but tape my feet up this time!
Pretty pleased though as I wanted to see how I would feel doing this on the back of doing a 21km run... and it felt pretty OK to be honest. I'd also recommend to my cyber buddies that you get yourself down to some soft sand and do some running on it. I learnt a lot from doing it, and will incorporate into my training much more regularly from now on.
So after a very casual 1hr 50min half marathon yesterday, I must admit the thought of doing 10km on soft sand wasn't very appealing, and doubled by the fact that I'd never really done anything like this before, but hey what the heck, you have to have a go!
The first couple of kms were pretty tough actually, but once you get into a rhythm, it was actually OK. Also if you get in the footsteps of someone else, it makes it much easier :)
So into my rhythm, I was taking it pretty easy and felt very comfortable clocking in at around 5min 50 sec kms. The goal was to come in around an hour as I thought 6min kms was reasonable given you re running on soft sand. Then at around 7.5kms I pushed on, and found someone else to stay behind. However as I pushed for the finish I made a massive balls up, and thought I'd finished, but in fact had another 300 metres to go. So muggins here had stopped, and lost himself around 30secs before i realised, and then ran the final 300 metres to the finish in dead on 59 mins. So all in all, quite happy. The winner came in an unbelievable 42 mins, which is quite simply phenomenal, I can just about do that on the road!!!
I also learnt a lot about where possible hotspots are too on my feet. I did do it barefoot and because of the movement on the sand as you run, I got two smallish blisters on both feet on the toes next to the big toe. So something to note when I do the real thing next year with over-sized trainers. However a great race to do on a beautiful Sunday morning on Bondi Beach. There's also a half marathon on soft sand on Manly Beach in a few weeks, so think I'll do that too, but tape my feet up this time!
Pretty pleased though as I wanted to see how I would feel doing this on the back of doing a 21km run... and it felt pretty OK to be honest. I'd also recommend to my cyber buddies that you get yourself down to some soft sand and do some running on it. I learnt a lot from doing it, and will incorporate into my training much more regularly from now on.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Beautiful sunshine...
So another couple of days and some more runs. Yesterday was another 'city run' taking in my 5 mile loop around Sydney CBD, the Botanical Gardens, around by the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. It's probably one of the most scenic routes you can think of doing in the world. Especially in lunchtime... however right by the Opera House and round Circular Quay for a mile or so are these dreadful brick floors which absolutely kill the calfs.., really not good for you at all.
Today saw my longest run yet since the marathon 3 weeks ago, a steady 13 miler in a steady 1hr 52 mins. Pretty much what I'd planned as I'm doing a 10km sand race tomorrow so didnt want to push it in anyway. However a little concerning was the ITB problem which reared it's head around 8 miles in, and continued to stay with me until the end... nothing serious or hurting, but not promising... oh well. I guess its my first 'full week' back so to speak since the marathon, and on the 13 miler today I could have easily carried on, but not really sensible when I have a race tomorrow! I say 'race'... i'm not actually going to go in there and try and win the damn thing, I'll be taking it fairly steady to be honest with you, using it as a training run. Well we'll see what tomorrow brings...
Today saw my longest run yet since the marathon 3 weeks ago, a steady 13 miler in a steady 1hr 52 mins. Pretty much what I'd planned as I'm doing a 10km sand race tomorrow so didnt want to push it in anyway. However a little concerning was the ITB problem which reared it's head around 8 miles in, and continued to stay with me until the end... nothing serious or hurting, but not promising... oh well. I guess its my first 'full week' back so to speak since the marathon, and on the 13 miler today I could have easily carried on, but not really sensible when I have a race tomorrow! I say 'race'... i'm not actually going to go in there and try and win the damn thing, I'll be taking it fairly steady to be honest with you, using it as a training run. Well we'll see what tomorrow brings...
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Back into it...
I can tell that my schedule is back into the hardcore stuff again as my body is knackered! But a nice knackered, the kind of satisfied knackered. So have done a couple more runs since the last post, again the first on the treadmill, and quite a hardcore session actually. It consisted of a 11.2km (7mile) run, with the first km as a warm-up, and then alternating between fast and slow kms, with the quick one at 14km/h and the "slow" km at 11km/h... initially I thought it was a bit too much, but I got through it OK. However on my run yesterday lunchtime I certainly felt the pace somewhat as my legs where very heavy running around Sydney at lunchtime. That said, despite it being by midweek 'easy' run, I still went round in roughly 55/56 minutes, so not too bad a pace, but more reflective I think of my overall fitness increasing in recent months.
This weekend I'm entered into the Bondi barefoot 10km challenge on the sand at Bondi Beach. I'm not racing this one as a.) I only did the marathon a few weeks ago and b.) This is the first full week of training again, so the Bondi barefoot is a bit of a recreational run for me. I'll be doing a 12/13 miler the day before as well... so taking it easy me thinks. The knee is still aching a little, but not a major concern.
This weekend I'm entered into the Bondi barefoot 10km challenge on the sand at Bondi Beach. I'm not racing this one as a.) I only did the marathon a few weeks ago and b.) This is the first full week of training again, so the Bondi barefoot is a bit of a recreational run for me. I'll be doing a 12/13 miler the day before as well... so taking it easy me thinks. The knee is still aching a little, but not a major concern.
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