So despite doubting if I should indeed go for a run tonight - I went for a very steady 10kms. And you know what, it was OK. The knee didnt hurt one bit as I went round. And whats more, the soleus felt 'OK' as well. It niggled a little, but didnt really start to pull like it did last night. So I dont know quite what to think. Did the taping do the job, and as a result take the stress off the soleus?
Either way, Ill be going for another tester run tomorrow night of around 10-15kms to see if things really are OK. It was slow tonight, but I'm ever so pleased that I got round with no niggles from either the knee of the soleus... things could yet be OK for Glasshouse.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Hmmm... injury
Every runner's worst scenario... not being able to run. Things haven't been quite right for about 2 months now. Little niggies here and there which it seems have esclated. I can trace this back to exactly the point where I got injured. July 3rd, Glasgow city centre. Paranoid about trying to get training runs in whilst on a stag do, I ventured out for a quick 30 minute job before heading out on the piss with the boys. In my rush I forgot to warm-up and went straight out. 20 minutes in I felt my calf go.
I was actually relatively sensible and rested up for a few days, just over a week before the Hunter Valley marathon. That came and went OK (well more than OK, I ran a PB!), and then Wagga came up and 17kms in, I felt it go again, but soldier on I did, and the week after, running the Mudgee marathon, but in a bit of pain, and then the knee started giving me jip. So here we are, two months later.
I rested all week last week, and went out again for a bit of a tester run last night. Not good - pulling short after 25 minutes. The knee is a strange one. It's not a sharp pain, more like a dull ache. As such I dont know how bad it is. Is it that bad? I ran a bloody marathon with it. However the calf, or rather soleus (muscle just below the calf) is annoying me now. It keeps on pulling and tugging at me whilst I run, threatening to fully go, but not quite going over the edge completely.
I'm off to the physio at lunchtime, but what do I do? I'm loathed to rest, although I know this is what I should do. I hate resting, I dont want to lose fitness. I did that for a month last year and was amazed how much fitness I lost, although I wasn't properly up and training then.
Have I overdone it on the races? Maybe 3 marathons in 5 weeks is going some, and racing them all quite hard apart from the last one. There's also been no real taper either, and coupled with this, I did some shorter sprint races in between, and no rest for those either.
It's concerning me as my training is getting thrown all over the place a little. The second stage of my training started well in May, with some solid high milage - avergaing 45 miles a week. June pretty good, but July was a mess. August was slightly better, with 3 solid races in 3 weeks and that kept me ticking over. However things have to ramp up big time post the Glasshouse race in 2 weeks time. I've set myself a goal of 5/6 months of really building up the miles, peaking in late Jan/early Feb at around 100 miles a week, before tapering.
However we'll have to see what the knee outcome is. If I must I'd be prepared to rest completely before the Glasshouse race (if anything I'll be totally refreshed!). This is a big test of where I'm at and what need to do. Strangely I'm not nervous about it at the moment, except for any potential injury. As I found out, running 42.195kms with a dodgy knee and calf was not pleasant!
It shouldn't all be negative. I'm actually in a pretty good position and if I'm honest, ahead of where I thought I'd be at come this stage of the training. However an enforced rest could bugger up a lot of this. We shall see how we go...
__________________________________________________________
Physio update!
Not really that much more conclusive to be honest. Might possibly go for an MRI, but we're trying one more thing. The lovely lady reckons that I my knee cap moves in a funnny position, so we've taped it up to limit it's movement to one side and going to give that a go. So with this, I'll try and run tonight and see what happens. Failing that, we're off for an MRI to see what's going on. Still doing the Glasshouse House though, I'll bloody walk it if I have to!
I was actually relatively sensible and rested up for a few days, just over a week before the Hunter Valley marathon. That came and went OK (well more than OK, I ran a PB!), and then Wagga came up and 17kms in, I felt it go again, but soldier on I did, and the week after, running the Mudgee marathon, but in a bit of pain, and then the knee started giving me jip. So here we are, two months later.
I rested all week last week, and went out again for a bit of a tester run last night. Not good - pulling short after 25 minutes. The knee is a strange one. It's not a sharp pain, more like a dull ache. As such I dont know how bad it is. Is it that bad? I ran a bloody marathon with it. However the calf, or rather soleus (muscle just below the calf) is annoying me now. It keeps on pulling and tugging at me whilst I run, threatening to fully go, but not quite going over the edge completely.
I'm off to the physio at lunchtime, but what do I do? I'm loathed to rest, although I know this is what I should do. I hate resting, I dont want to lose fitness. I did that for a month last year and was amazed how much fitness I lost, although I wasn't properly up and training then.
Have I overdone it on the races? Maybe 3 marathons in 5 weeks is going some, and racing them all quite hard apart from the last one. There's also been no real taper either, and coupled with this, I did some shorter sprint races in between, and no rest for those either.
It's concerning me as my training is getting thrown all over the place a little. The second stage of my training started well in May, with some solid high milage - avergaing 45 miles a week. June pretty good, but July was a mess. August was slightly better, with 3 solid races in 3 weeks and that kept me ticking over. However things have to ramp up big time post the Glasshouse race in 2 weeks time. I've set myself a goal of 5/6 months of really building up the miles, peaking in late Jan/early Feb at around 100 miles a week, before tapering.
However we'll have to see what the knee outcome is. If I must I'd be prepared to rest completely before the Glasshouse race (if anything I'll be totally refreshed!). This is a big test of where I'm at and what need to do. Strangely I'm not nervous about it at the moment, except for any potential injury. As I found out, running 42.195kms with a dodgy knee and calf was not pleasant!
It shouldn't all be negative. I'm actually in a pretty good position and if I'm honest, ahead of where I thought I'd be at come this stage of the training. However an enforced rest could bugger up a lot of this. We shall see how we go...
__________________________________________________________
Physio update!
Not really that much more conclusive to be honest. Might possibly go for an MRI, but we're trying one more thing. The lovely lady reckons that I my knee cap moves in a funnny position, so we've taped it up to limit it's movement to one side and going to give that a go. So with this, I'll try and run tonight and see what happens. Failing that, we're off for an MRI to see what's going on. Still doing the Glasshouse House though, I'll bloody walk it if I have to!
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Post marathon
So it's now been 3 full days of rest after Mudgee and a little time to reflect on it. My recovery (if you take out the injuries), has been remarkably quick. In fact on Monday I felt pretty good, and by Tuesday was walking very freely with no real aches or pains. I expected the quads to be a lot worse than they were, but I think this maybe down the the slower pace I took in the race.
So that bears positive now, and the fact that I can recover quickly is good. The other good news is that I think the knee is pretty much fine. A slight ligament strain as we thought, but the bad news is that the soleus is not great. I'm walking fine, but when I break into anything resembling a trot I can really feel it. I wanted to see if I could get out running again this weekend, but I think I might have to give it a miss and really have a full week off. It's really important that I'm 100% for Glasshouse, and if that means another couple of days then so be it. I also have to get all of my kit and food sorted too. I'm using this as a full on test of kit, food and bag and will be trying some new things. Namely full length leggings, OMM rucksack and other types of food which are TBC at this stage.
Post Mudgee I was also slightly disappointed with my run. However it also makes me realise that if I can run that slow and still post a 3hr 46min then things aren't that bad. My last 8kms were awful, taking 46mins. But the good thing was that I felt good up to 32kms, which is encouraging. If I'd felt bad anything before 30kms I'd have been worried, but I'm pleased with that aspect, so onwards and upwards. Glasshouse is the next biggie, then it's a focus on Melbourne to try and run a PB - looking for a 3hr 20something... not sure what yet, but something around mid twenties would be awesome. One thing at a time though!
So that bears positive now, and the fact that I can recover quickly is good. The other good news is that I think the knee is pretty much fine. A slight ligament strain as we thought, but the bad news is that the soleus is not great. I'm walking fine, but when I break into anything resembling a trot I can really feel it. I wanted to see if I could get out running again this weekend, but I think I might have to give it a miss and really have a full week off. It's really important that I'm 100% for Glasshouse, and if that means another couple of days then so be it. I also have to get all of my kit and food sorted too. I'm using this as a full on test of kit, food and bag and will be trying some new things. Namely full length leggings, OMM rucksack and other types of food which are TBC at this stage.
Post Mudgee I was also slightly disappointed with my run. However it also makes me realise that if I can run that slow and still post a 3hr 46min then things aren't that bad. My last 8kms were awful, taking 46mins. But the good thing was that I felt good up to 32kms, which is encouraging. If I'd felt bad anything before 30kms I'd have been worried, but I'm pleased with that aspect, so onwards and upwards. Glasshouse is the next biggie, then it's a focus on Melbourne to try and run a PB - looking for a 3hr 20something... not sure what yet, but something around mid twenties would be awesome. One thing at a time though!
Monday, August 25, 2008
550kms + 42.2 kms
That's how far I drove in 12 hours to go and run a marathon - albeit a very lovely marathon in Mudgee, about 3 hours northwest of Sydney. I have to question my own sanity sometimes. I got up at 2:30am on Sunday morning, drove 3 hours and was on the startline at Mudgee for 7am.
As you'll have read from previous posts, this was always one of those touch and go ones for me. I struggled in the second half of Wagga, straining my left knee ligament and also a strain on my left soleus muscle. However it cleared up well during the week and felt OK. However the reality was that it was still not better, as the first 2kms of the marathon told me.
In fact, the first 10kms were really quite tough, the reality of getting last week's marathon out of the legs. However from 10-32kms, things were actually OK, and I really started to enjoy it. I deliberately set out pretty slow as I have one eye on the Glasshouse 100km in 3 weeks. The plan was to do around 1hr 50min splits, coming in at around 3hr 40min. All went well for the first half and the pace was very comfortable, however at 32kms, the injury and the effects of last week really started to catch-up with me.
At 32kms the wheels came off again and mentally, the next 5kms were probably the toughest 5kms I've run. I was a little disappointed with myself as I felt that I lost the mental battle somewhat. I resigned myself to walking up some of the hills, when really I should have dug deep and run. I guess it's a fine balance though, given that I was running with an injury or two - but personally I feel like I let myself down a bit on this section. However at 37kms I had a word with myself and managed to polish the final 5kms off OK coming home in a personal worst 3hrs 46mins. OK, so in the grand scheme of things 6 minutes slower than I was going to run, but I know where those 6 minutes went, and I'll toughen up a bit more ahead of Glasshouse. I'll also hopefully have the injuries cleared as well.
Good to see some of the other guys from Wagga Wagga, and also to Anth who ran a PB, top work on the back of last week's very challenging run. Looking back I didn't realise it, but I've done a race every weekend for the last 5 weeks, 3 marathons and 2 shorter 'sprint' races of 7kms and 14kms. The body is somewhat tired now, so I'll be having a rest of 3-4 days, before some light running towards the end of the week and the weekend.
In terms of where I'm at for the MDS, things are looking pretty good. I wanted to get to a stage where I run back-to-back marathons, and I've achieved this and the body actually feels OK post run (just the niggles I mentioned). In the grand scheme of things, 6 minutes doesn't matter and I'm happier about the fact that I've done the back to back's and in respectable times too. So a bit of rest, a few lighter weeks of about 50kms and then Glasshouse House!
As you'll have read from previous posts, this was always one of those touch and go ones for me. I struggled in the second half of Wagga, straining my left knee ligament and also a strain on my left soleus muscle. However it cleared up well during the week and felt OK. However the reality was that it was still not better, as the first 2kms of the marathon told me.
In fact, the first 10kms were really quite tough, the reality of getting last week's marathon out of the legs. However from 10-32kms, things were actually OK, and I really started to enjoy it. I deliberately set out pretty slow as I have one eye on the Glasshouse 100km in 3 weeks. The plan was to do around 1hr 50min splits, coming in at around 3hr 40min. All went well for the first half and the pace was very comfortable, however at 32kms, the injury and the effects of last week really started to catch-up with me.
At 32kms the wheels came off again and mentally, the next 5kms were probably the toughest 5kms I've run. I was a little disappointed with myself as I felt that I lost the mental battle somewhat. I resigned myself to walking up some of the hills, when really I should have dug deep and run. I guess it's a fine balance though, given that I was running with an injury or two - but personally I feel like I let myself down a bit on this section. However at 37kms I had a word with myself and managed to polish the final 5kms off OK coming home in a personal worst 3hrs 46mins. OK, so in the grand scheme of things 6 minutes slower than I was going to run, but I know where those 6 minutes went, and I'll toughen up a bit more ahead of Glasshouse. I'll also hopefully have the injuries cleared as well.
Good to see some of the other guys from Wagga Wagga, and also to Anth who ran a PB, top work on the back of last week's very challenging run. Looking back I didn't realise it, but I've done a race every weekend for the last 5 weeks, 3 marathons and 2 shorter 'sprint' races of 7kms and 14kms. The body is somewhat tired now, so I'll be having a rest of 3-4 days, before some light running towards the end of the week and the weekend.
In terms of where I'm at for the MDS, things are looking pretty good. I wanted to get to a stage where I run back-to-back marathons, and I've achieved this and the body actually feels OK post run (just the niggles I mentioned). In the grand scheme of things, 6 minutes doesn't matter and I'm happier about the fact that I've done the back to back's and in respectable times too. So a bit of rest, a few lighter weeks of about 50kms and then Glasshouse House!
Friday, August 22, 2008
Mudgee Marathon
So, I went for a little jaunt on Wednesday evening and given that I'd only had two full days of rest, I felt OK. Admittedly this was just a nice easy 10kms, and was very slow (54 mins), but I didn't feel too shabby.
It's been a tough call as to whether or not I was going to enter Mudgee, but I know I'll regret it if I don't. I just hope I don't regret it for the wrong reasons come race day. The knee is OK. I can still feel a slight strain on the ligament, and the soleus is still tight, but I really will be taking this one nice and slow, around 3:40 pace I think. So rather than blasting out of the blocks again like last weekend, this weekend will be sure and steady from the start, then I'll see how I go for the second 21kms.
However it will be an early start for me. Rather than stay in a hotel the night before, I'm going to head off at 3am and get there for around 6:30am. Hopefully all will go OK, and this will be a great test of where I'm at ahead of the Glasshouse 100km race in 3 weeks time. It seems funny to see where I've come, but running back-to-back marathons like this would have been beyond me even 4 months ago. It still might be, who knows, but I have to have a go. It's going to hurt, but I'll just tell myself to keep it steady and just get through it ahead of Glasshouse with no major injuries. I already have two minor strains on the go, I don't want to make them any worse. Of course the sensible head on me would have passed this marathon, but I've been thinking about this for a few weeks now and really want to do 2 in 7 days. If I'm serious about running well in the MDS, then I have to do this - fingers crossed without doing myself some serious damage! As a result, training has been light this week (just the 10kms), but that's cool.
It's been a tough call as to whether or not I was going to enter Mudgee, but I know I'll regret it if I don't. I just hope I don't regret it for the wrong reasons come race day. The knee is OK. I can still feel a slight strain on the ligament, and the soleus is still tight, but I really will be taking this one nice and slow, around 3:40 pace I think. So rather than blasting out of the blocks again like last weekend, this weekend will be sure and steady from the start, then I'll see how I go for the second 21kms.
However it will be an early start for me. Rather than stay in a hotel the night before, I'm going to head off at 3am and get there for around 6:30am. Hopefully all will go OK, and this will be a great test of where I'm at ahead of the Glasshouse 100km race in 3 weeks time. It seems funny to see where I've come, but running back-to-back marathons like this would have been beyond me even 4 months ago. It still might be, who knows, but I have to have a go. It's going to hurt, but I'll just tell myself to keep it steady and just get through it ahead of Glasshouse with no major injuries. I already have two minor strains on the go, I don't want to make them any worse. Of course the sensible head on me would have passed this marathon, but I've been thinking about this for a few weeks now and really want to do 2 in 7 days. If I'm serious about running well in the MDS, then I have to do this - fingers crossed without doing myself some serious damage! As a result, training has been light this week (just the 10kms), but that's cool.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Marathon Man
So two days after the Wagga Wagga trail marathon, I'm raring to go for this weekend's Mudgee marathon. The only thing stopping me is the diagnosis from a trip to the physio yesterday. I have a slight strain in one of my ligaments on my left knee. Which has been around for a while in fact. It's not overly painful or indeed that bad, but it's making me reconsider trying to do another marathon this weekend. Additionally I have a strain on the soleus muscle in my left leg too. Once again, this has been around for a little while too.
So I'm left with a few decisions. I'm going to go for a run this evening, nothing too harsh or long, but just to see how I feel, and then take a call on it me thinks. I really want to get back-to-back marathons in the bag, and plus this one is a road marathon so shouldn't be too bad, but there are some vicious hills I hear! However I know I'll have to go slower than Sunday, and I'm wondering if that will annoy me at all? Plus, I don't want to do any additional damage as I have the Glasshouse 100km lined up for September also. I signed up for this earlier in the week, and can't wait, although I wont be saying that after the race I'm sure. This will be my first ultra and I'm kind of throwing myself in at the deep end a little, but hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Two and a half marathon... yikes! I need to get properly prepared for this one, really sort out my food and drinks - it should be a great experience!
So I'm left with a few decisions. I'm going to go for a run this evening, nothing too harsh or long, but just to see how I feel, and then take a call on it me thinks. I really want to get back-to-back marathons in the bag, and plus this one is a road marathon so shouldn't be too bad, but there are some vicious hills I hear! However I know I'll have to go slower than Sunday, and I'm wondering if that will annoy me at all? Plus, I don't want to do any additional damage as I have the Glasshouse 100km lined up for September also. I signed up for this earlier in the week, and can't wait, although I wont be saying that after the race I'm sure. This will be my first ultra and I'm kind of throwing myself in at the deep end a little, but hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Two and a half marathon... yikes! I need to get properly prepared for this one, really sort out my food and drinks - it should be a great experience!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Wagga Wagga trail marathon
So my first venture into trail marathon running. Even though Hunter Valley was mainly off road, this was a different kettle of fish, with some serious trails, gravel tracks, boulders at the finish, a tunnel o run through (well crouch and run through) and even some sand thrown in for good measure. At the dinner the night before, someone told me that it was a pretty flat course - thanks for that!
The first 10kms were nice and easy, along the banks of the river, and a few stiles thrown in for good measure too. However at kilometre 10, that all started to change as we slowly climbed uphill, through a golf course, and onto the serious trails and tracks in the forest. You know you're high when you're running past the town's radio mast! The first half was pretty good, but once again, like Hunter I went out way too quick, and my calf also pinged at around 17kms, which when you're doing a 42km race, does not make the race all that pleasant.
In a sense, this was a good character building race. I was very worried about my calf, and at one point I thought I'd be lucky to just get around, but it didn't seem to get any worse. It was just uncomfortable on the hills, so to that end, from 25kms onwards walked up the bigger hills. This was more out of necessity than out of love for my calf. I'd spent myself somewhat on the first half of the race, and the realty is that I'd only be going slightly quicker if I ran, but expend much more energy if I ran.
So at 25kms, the wheels well and truly came off, and for 10 very long kms, I was not happy at all. I also overdid it on the whole sodium front. Looking back I can see why. I had about a litre of water with Nuun tablets in first thing in the morning, which gets the sodium in the system. However I also had 4 salt tablets during the race, and this combined with the Nuun meant that I got stomach cramps around about the time the calf went. So with the calf trouble and the stomach cramps I really wasn't a happy boy at all. It's also when your mind plays tricks on you and tells you that your body doesn't like it. However this is where the heart rate monitor really comes into it's own. I kept a very consistent 150-160bpm all the way through, and even at the end, the last 7kms actually felt very comfortable all things considered with the above.
So I rocked in at 3hrs 37 mins, which I was fairly happy with, given the course and the issues I had. This was was a good learning curve, and it's these types of races I need to tell me what I like and how I cope with shit when it's thrown at you. It was also great to meet up with some other runners, Anth and Ray - although I'll blame Anth for the stupidly fast first half-marathon! Only joking, I just need to not run as fast for the first half next time.
So next week, and possibly Mudgee. I'm going to see how the calf holds up and make a call on it on Wednesday I think. Plus my left knee is quite tender. This has been an ongoing thing from Hunter Valley and its a little concerning. It's not overly painful, but it's just there, so a trip to the physio might be in order me thinks. Onwards and upwards!
The first 10kms were nice and easy, along the banks of the river, and a few stiles thrown in for good measure too. However at kilometre 10, that all started to change as we slowly climbed uphill, through a golf course, and onto the serious trails and tracks in the forest. You know you're high when you're running past the town's radio mast! The first half was pretty good, but once again, like Hunter I went out way too quick, and my calf also pinged at around 17kms, which when you're doing a 42km race, does not make the race all that pleasant.
In a sense, this was a good character building race. I was very worried about my calf, and at one point I thought I'd be lucky to just get around, but it didn't seem to get any worse. It was just uncomfortable on the hills, so to that end, from 25kms onwards walked up the bigger hills. This was more out of necessity than out of love for my calf. I'd spent myself somewhat on the first half of the race, and the realty is that I'd only be going slightly quicker if I ran, but expend much more energy if I ran.
So at 25kms, the wheels well and truly came off, and for 10 very long kms, I was not happy at all. I also overdid it on the whole sodium front. Looking back I can see why. I had about a litre of water with Nuun tablets in first thing in the morning, which gets the sodium in the system. However I also had 4 salt tablets during the race, and this combined with the Nuun meant that I got stomach cramps around about the time the calf went. So with the calf trouble and the stomach cramps I really wasn't a happy boy at all. It's also when your mind plays tricks on you and tells you that your body doesn't like it. However this is where the heart rate monitor really comes into it's own. I kept a very consistent 150-160bpm all the way through, and even at the end, the last 7kms actually felt very comfortable all things considered with the above.
So I rocked in at 3hrs 37 mins, which I was fairly happy with, given the course and the issues I had. This was was a good learning curve, and it's these types of races I need to tell me what I like and how I cope with shit when it's thrown at you. It was also great to meet up with some other runners, Anth and Ray - although I'll blame Anth for the stupidly fast first half-marathon! Only joking, I just need to not run as fast for the first half next time.
So next week, and possibly Mudgee. I'm going to see how the calf holds up and make a call on it on Wednesday I think. Plus my left knee is quite tender. This has been an ongoing thing from Hunter Valley and its a little concerning. It's not overly painful, but it's just there, so a trip to the physio might be in order me thinks. Onwards and upwards!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
