Second run of the long road to full recovery

Nice and easy around the Bay. Just a slight hint that things have not fully recovered but getting there.

It was weather wise, an angry looking morning around the Bay. Dark threatening clouds but no rain or wind. All the colors were subdued by tones of grey from the sky. It was near high tide with the water almost smooth.

Nice to run into JD and have a short catch up chat.

Back to the physio this afternoon for what should be the last visit. A nice massage to break up the last of the scarring and some more dry needles to stimulate the blood flow through the affected muscle.

Yeah!!! Back running

I had a physio visit on Tuesday and we both though it was not sufficiently recovered to run Wednesday but easy on Thursday should be okay but to stop if there was any twinge.

So in the pre dawn darkness I set off so pleased to be just out enjoying the morning. However I was some what distracted from the usual sights and sound with a very strong focus of feeling every muscle movement in every stride looking for a sign of a twinge.

It was slow and thank fully I got around the Bay and a bit without any issue. How nice to be out running again at any pace. It will be easing back into running so that there is no three steps forward two back situation.

Just over 3 weeks to Canberra marathon and I will be at start line - a few pacing groups back from where I had expected to be but at least running.

Yes an update

Only 26 days tot he Canberra marathon and the preparation has been stalled for 2 weeks just at the time the training should be reaching its peak. A missed opportunity for a good time it will all be about a steady run to be under 4.

That is positive as I believe will recover fully but with just enough time to get back into running injury free but with no marathon training. Ah the challenges we face running marathons.

Physio on Friday confirmed the small tear was well on the way to recovery but there was a lot of scar tissue to be broken up and flushed away. We thought there was probably some still from the same problem in late November. Some serious massage, exercises and dry needles on the day. No running and back on Tuesday which should see a repeat of the treatment and then back into some very short runs and very relaxed pace.

Whatever it will be a pleasure to be back moving again.

SMC 30k on Sunday. I will not be even thinking about covering that distance then, I will probably go out for the 10k. In the 10 years that I have been going out there I have never run anything less the the long run except a couple of times I did a 5k with my kids when they were 12/14 years old.

Hamstring Iissue

What started off with minor twinge continues. It has got worse and will just not recover enough to be able to run freely. I am doing some serious treatment with my physio. She knows me and will get me back running as soon as it is wise to do so. For the moment no running, cross training and fingers crossed.

It will now bereal battle now to be ready to run theCanberra Marathon in 30 days in a decent time. I will not bore you with recovery updates. I will post again when I am back running in some form that is worth blogging about. Hopefully that is sooner than later.

Update

I didn't run until Sunday. I did not go the the physio. It was not that serious I just need some rest and some icing etc. I was tentative on Sunday and run very slowly for 14k. The hammy gave out no twinge to a minor twinge at time but there was no gradual build up over the length of the run.

That leads me to conclude that the injury is on the mend but the scar tissue is causing the intermittent paid at various levels. No usually a massage or two is required to break up the scar tissue.

I ran this morning still slowly but faster than Sunday and completed 22k without the twinge getting worse as the run progressed but again it varied in intensity. I am on the mend but at least a week off being back where is was a week or so ago.

End of February update

Wow whatever happened to February and summer. It recall commenting on the 1st December about the start of summer and bang its over. I suppose with a lot of January spent traveling contributed and I didn't watch very much cricket. Who wants to watch a pathetic Australian cricket team play at times like the under 10's.

Anyway the humidity seems to have settled down and I hope for the next couple of months the early morning training runs around the Bay will be pleasant weather wise with the odd morning being crisp occurring with more frequency.
>Overall February was a very satisfying training month. I ended January a little over weight, determined to do a little cross training (regular sessions for core strength and weights), build a good base for the Canberra Marathon in April and generally for the year, resume the Wednesday Bay 'hot laps' with JD and dream of under 30 maybe close to the marathon in late March.

A lot of things to do. Reflecting back over the month they were all achieved. The weight is down enough so that I feel very comfortable but still a few k to go, the cross training so that I am doing about 3/4 sessions of an hour each week on each (that 3/4 core sessions and 3/4 weight sessions each week),the k's for the month were 507 with the last two weeks around 140 (only 215k for January - so a massive increase), missed only two days running in the month and managed sub 30 around the Bay a 4 weeks earlier than planned.

On the last day of the month a very slight niggle in the right hammy so I will have a few days off.

Looking forward to the same in March.

21.36k @ 5.14 in 1.51.55

This is my usual morning run however today I decided to post the the stat for the whole run. Previously I have left of the cool down run of of just over 2k run over both sides of the Iron Cove Bridge to get me home and have the run over 21k.

I flew (all relative) around the Bay in the 12k-19 k section in 5.01 pace. Nice to be able to pick it up at the end of a run. Good endurance training for the marathon and good at developing some mental toughness for the last 12k of the marathon.

Bay lap : 29.35!!!

Usual Wednesday with JD and Professor for the hot lap. Thanks to the lead of the Professor I managed under 30 for the first time since 21 April last year. Really after that run there was not many attempts.

I am pleased with the run as it was only 4 weeks ago that I returned from Hong Kong well out of shape and expecting that a sub 30 would not happen despite giving it a go. Our first Wednesday run was on 2 February with a 32.42, followed by 32.00 and 30.21. So a good progression and much sooner that I was planning and all off marathon base building.

I am at about the same condition I was for Canberra last year but only reached this stage 2 weeks from the marathon and this year I still have about 7 weeks to go. So maybe I can squeeze a bit more endurance in before then and challenge a sub 3.30.

Proff was about 15 seconds faster than me and JD is 50 meters off the sub 30.

I have enjoyed the challenge of the hot weekly lap and I doubt if I will try and get quicker but just maintain where I am at.

It's the only quick running I do all the rest is 5.15 pace or slower. Just got to love the Lydiard base building - train to run a 100 miles a week in training at a firm but comfortable pace and reach that base and then do some specific training after the base is built. That maybe a gross over simplification but it is what I try to follow at this time of the year.

An intersting statistics

Someone from CR is recording results in all Australian Marathons. He provided me with this list of marathons run by individual runners over the last 9 years:

http://www.coolrunning.com.au/forums/index.php?showtopic=30829&pid=640335&st=0&#entry640335

The attached file in post 2 is interesting.

If any one knows how I can put the PDF directly into my Blogg that would be nice information.

The Messengers : A book about 100+ marathon runners

This is a new book 'The Messengers' about runners who have run more that 100 marathons:

My link

Interesting fact:

By the end of the 2008 climbing season, there had been 4,102 ascents to the summit by about 2,700 individuals. Less people have run 100 marathons world wide. The 100 marathon Club is more exclusive that summitting Everest.

On the back cover photos Julia Thorn and I score a place

My link

Quite a few Australians get a mention. When you read the book you realise that in Australia running a dozen or so marathons a year is quite sane as there are some runners out there running marathons running 100+ a year

19.34K @ 5.24

The same course as 4 runs last week. Paces last week were between 5.15 - 5.31 - so about in the middle I seemed not focused in the first 12k which was very slow then managed a 5.07 paced Bay to pull the average down. Just no zip this morning. I guess just one of those ho hum sessions.Not good not too bad just focus on the hot lap tomorrow that I suspect will be slower than last week

No run after 13 days of running

SMC 25K : 2.11.06 @ 5.15

The combination of a very big week in k's, one of the hottest nights in Sydney and a very hot and humid morning did not provide confidence that the run would be anything other than ugly and painful. It was brutal conditions but apart from a few times during the run I coped okay.

The first 15k was at 5.06 pace much faster than planned and then I thought the melt down was not far off. On the course between 15 -20 k are a number of significant and energy sapping hills and that was run in 5.31 pace. I thought the last 5 would be slower but I held on for a strong finish in 5.14 pace.

Almost to the second what I ran in 2010 but I am not sure of the weather. I did then peak at what I ran in 2009 and was amazed to see it was 1.51 - how the hell did that happen. The weather must have been much kinder.

Last year with the 2.10 at SMC I managed 3.25 at Canberra. It would be nice to get under 3.30 again.

12.5k @ 5.11 to finish a 144k week

Just the usual loop with the best time to date. A nice way to finish a 144k week. Biggest week for a long long time. Maybe this time last year was when I even got close.

No doubt I will jinx myself but I am relatively injury free. I must confess for the last 4 weeks or so I have been doing about 4 sessions a week of core exercises of one hour each and about 4 sessions of weights again of about an hour each. They area bit of a burden to fit in as well as running but hopefully I can keep them up. Hopefully some leg strength and core stability will come from them.

Recovery: 21k @ 5.35

Both the distance and the pace were an effort. But I should expect that with the much greater than 10% increase in weekly k's from last week to this week. It will be more like a 25% increase but it was time to do it.

Same loop as Tuesday now 19k @ 5.15

That pace might not impress many but it is a good time for me for where I am at in the base building at the moment. Average pace 5 seconds per k quicker than Tuesday. Today was run on tired legs after the quick Bay lap yesterday and 109k in training since and including last Sunday. On the way to a high k week.

Usual Wednesday Hot lap of the Bay : 30.21

It was a very surprising hot lap this morning. Completely unplanned and unexpected.

With the increase in k's and no rest day for about 10 days I thought fatigue would be a factor in limiting the pace. JD was not present but the Professor was there. He set a good solid pace for the start and unbelievably I felt strong and fresh and just tagged along on his heels. I felt we were moving well but I decided not to look at the watch at anytime.

I stayed with him until about 2k from the end when he cruised off into the distance. Even if I had known sub 30 was close I don't think I could have made it. However getting close to under 30 4/5 weeks earlier than I expected is pleasing. I expected it would tale at least that amount of time before I was this close. We will see what next week brings.

19k @ 5.20

A very similar loop to yesterday. I thought it would be slower than the 5.31 pace yesterday but you just never know I felt much better than expected and so I just ran to the limit of how I felt. There was no holding back except on the basis that I wanted to maintain the same pace all the way.

It was finished with yest another lap of the Bay which by the way was near high tide, almost glass flat except for the ripples of the incoming tide and then rebounding off the very shallow shore. The sky was grey overcast and threatening with a cool freshness tot he air. Just perfect.

Any way the lap of the Bay was strong at 5.18 pace - so a good solid finish.

Monday recovery 21k @ 5.31

It was sooooo difficult to get up this morning. I was fatigued but knew I had to get out and run for a proper recovery. I decided to run how I felt which resulted in a much faster pace than I expected.

Once I felt okay and strong then I just pushed as hard as I could but wanting to maintain the pace as being even over the whole run.

I think good progress is being made towards a good base with good strength in the legs. No niggles at all. What a pleasure it is to run in those circumstances. Aiming to run each day and push the total k's out past last week. SMC 25k next Sunday but there will be no taper for that.

Sunday long at 27k @ 5.29

It's been a long time since I ran anywhere long on a Sunday. That is something over 21. Today I decided that I needed to start going long to consolidate the base building for the Canberra marathon. If not I would not have a very pleasant second half.

The weather was pleasant and I just ground out the run. It ended with 2 laps of the Bay. That is flat and I just wanted to see what pace I could maintain at the end hoping not to slow up too much on the last lap.

They ended up being 5.21 & 5.31 pace which was fine. Overall a very steady paced maintained over the whole run.