Friday & Sunday Training (Short lunchtime run / 10 miles at marathon pace)

Wey hey, it appears spring has finally hit the South East.

The plan this week was to run a short little run on Friday lunchtime, give myself Saturday to recover and then do my last run of any significance before Paris, 10 miles at marathon pace.

All went to plan...

Friday

Just a leisurely bimble. 3 and bit miles at easy pace and HR. Just to keep the legs ticking over with minimal effort involved. I'd dressed incorrectly by putting on a thermal coldgear base layer rather than going for warmgear and I was overheating and thus the HR was a little higher than it should have been as a result but it was a good session. No twinges in the knees or hamstrings. 

Sunday

Dressed appropriately, it was warm. Pretty much bang on marathon pace, HR exactly where it should have been, very happy with that. Absolutely no twinges in the knees or hamstrings although my achilles felt a little tight in the first couple of miles but nothing to worry about. No music, just my breathing for company and although I went out a little faster than I should, I was bang on pace after mile two.

Bring on Paris. Full of beans and full of confidence. I just need to avoid any last minute disasters and anyone looking as though they're carrying the manflu virus, especially on the trains.

A 4 day week in the office this week. We leave for Paris on Friday morning. A little 30 min tempo run tomorrow evening then a gentle easy 30 min run on Thursday then I'm done, barring the little stretch of the legs I'll have on Saturday morning in Paris. I'm getting excited now :)

Wednesday Training (Gym)

No usual Wednesday Night run with the Plums this week.  I thought after running Tuesday night, I would be asking for trouble running again on the road so soon after, so off to the Gym I went.

Warm Up

• Hamstring stretches as requested by Nelson the physio.  5 on each leg
• 2.5km treadmill.  11:57.  Av HR 152bpm, Av Pace 7:42 min/mile

TRX

• Crucifix (3sets x 10reps) 
• Shoulder Press (3sets x 10reps)
• One Armed Press Ups (6sets x 10reps)
• Bicep Curl (3sets x 10reps) 
• Tricep Curl (3sets x 10reps)

Abs

• 10 sets (20 SB sit ups + 20 SB sit twists with 6kg bar)

Leg Weights

• Leg Ext: 6 reps x 40/50/50/50/55kg

Cool Down

• 2.5km treadmill.  13:47.  Av HR 147bpm, Av Pace 8:49 min/mile
• Hamstring stretches again.

Interestingly, the initial warm up on the treadmill was the quickest I've ever run 2.5km in the Gym by some 17 seconds.  I do like ramping up the speed up every 0.5km.  I started at 12kmh, then to 12.5kmh, then got bored and dialed it up to 13.2kmh then just ramped it up and up and sprinted the last 0.2km at 17kmh.

It was a really good session.  The usual TRX routine is becoming second nature pretty much now.  Its good to know the upper body is still ticking along nicely along with my lower body and most importantly, my cardiovascular system.  Looking at myself in the mirror now, my body has changed shape now.  It certainly has a little more definition that it used to.  It will be good to get back on the weights soon to build some muscle but I dont want to build too much as I want to be a runner/cyclist rather than a body builder.

Thursday will be a rest day, which I'll gladly use to tidy my house up before Izzy comes back to me on Friday night.  The plan now is that I will run on Friday lunchtime.  Nothing quick, nothing too far, just to keep things ticking over.

Tuesday Training (1hr @ MP road run)

After seeing the Physio last night, I was keen to get out and try the knee out tonight.  So after a quick detour via Tesco on the way home, I got changed and headed out.

Some very gentle stretching on my calves and hamstrings before I left, nothing heavy.

Then I set off with the intention of running for 1hr at marathon pace, around 9:25-9:30 min/mile pace, so would be totalling around 6.3-6.5 miles or so. 

Done. Happy with that.

Pace, spot on.  HR, exactly where it should be.  Both knees felt reasonably good despite a couple of twinges here and there.  My right hamstring felt rather tight but the Physio said that would be the case until the regular stretching he showed me eventually kicks in.

Am feeling mightly more positive today after that showing.  Ok, I ran for an hour, nothing significant but that was enough to give me another kick up the backside and put a smile on my face.

No doubt taking it easy for the last week and a half has played a major part in the body recovering from all the miles and aches and pains are all part of the taper.  So lets see how the knees and hamstring react in the morning as thats when I'm likely to feel it more.

Ranscombe Challenge (potential first Ultra Marathon)

Today, I've signed up for the Ranscombe Challenge.  A trail run of a 3.8m lap, with an 8hr time timit, so you can basically run as far as you want.

Those running 7 laps classisfy as a Marathon, those running 8 get classed as an Ultra.

The thought of running 26.2 miles at the moment terrifies me as I've not yet passed that distance but the Ultra was the target for 2015.  I've just brought it forward by about a year.  Nothing like a challenge.

More information here.

The Physio Report

On Monday evening, I left work early to go and meet the Physiotherapist recommended to me by fellow Plums Les and Robin.  Nelson, a lovely retired Chinese man, lived just around the corner from me in Welling Way, so was only a 5 min walk away from home, if that.

Nelson took me into his living room and sat me down on the sofa and he proceeded to ask me the usual questions.  When did the pain start?  where do I feel it?  how long has it been going on for?  what aggravates it? etc etc.

Once the questionnaire was completed, he took me into his examination room.

He gave my legs a full and thorough examiniation.

No swelling.  To touch, the knees were of normal temperature, to prove no swelling.

After a few bends of the knee in the squat position and then kneeling on the floor, I got on to the examination couch.

As Nelson looked at me, he said that one thigh looked slightly bigger than the other.  He measured and marked my thigh from the knee cap upwards and true enough, when he measured the same spot on the different legs, there was a significant difference.  At the top of my thighs, my right thigh is 3cm thicker than my left.  He asked if I was significantly right footed when I used to play football and I confirmed.

With a few gentle twists and bends, he was able to confirm there was no damage to the meniscus, the cartilage and the ligaments.  (I didnt think there was but thank god!)

Once he'd checked all that, he was then able to give me a proper diagnosis.

I've got Runners Knee...

Runners Knee occurs when the outside quad muscle (Vastus Lateralis [VL]) is overpoweringly stronger than the inner quad (Vastus Medialis Obliquus [VMO]) and it pulls the Patella tendon slightly out of line, towards the outside of the knee, causing friction on the knee joint and behind the knee cap.  That friction has led to the Patella being sore, this why I've got the discomfort known as Tendonitis, which my all accounts, although I can still feel is not painful as such, just uncomfortable if that makes sense.

A stronger VMO will prevent the VL pulling the Patella out of line.

Nelson showed me two great exercises to do to strengthen the VMO.  Having looked on the web this morning, there's plenty of exercises here too.

The second exercise Nelson showed me is demonstrated in this You Tube clip...

However, this all sounds quite downbeat and negative.

The major positive is that Nelson has given me the all clear to continue running and the discomfort will reduce as the VMO gets stronger.  Nelson reassured me I can do no long term damage so I hope to be running again on Tuesday evening.  Lets see how I get on.

Nelson also said by hamstrings were really tight and asked me how I stretch them.  When I said I generally keep my legs straight and try and touch my toes, he tutted and said thats probably the worst thing you could do as the back would always compensate.

Like so:



I dont think my hamstrings have ever been stretched like that before.  Nelson recommended the stretching twice a day up until Paris and he said within a week or so, I should be able to fully extend my leg.  At the moment, I cant which goes to show how tight my hamstrings are.

Nelson was very good with me.  He told me I'd done all my long runs now so I should be taking it easy in the taper.  No runs longer than 10k.  He advised doing some swimming too and told me to phone him with an update at the end of the week after I'd run twice, done some exercises on the VMO and done some stretching and to reduce the Ibuprofen to two doses of 400mg a day as long as my stomach can cope.

So all in all, I feel so much more positive now.  My mind has certainly been put at rest and I know that although the knees may feel sore running, the fact that I'm not doing no longer term damage to them is reassuring.

I need to get back into Marathon mode :)

Sunday Race Day (The Sport Relief Mile at Danson Park)

I picked Izzy up from her School Disco on Friday at 8:45pm.  On our way back from Higham to Bexleyheath on the A2, she asked me if my knees were feeling better?  No, was the answer.  Friday was the sorest day I'd had for a while and explained I was off to see the Physio on Monday.

Other than the walk to and from work and the little bit of walking we had to do on Saturday, I had two days to recover for Izzy's big day.  The Sport Relief Mile.  I signed her up a few months ago as something for us to do together and as it was my belated birthday weekend, it would top if off brilliantly.

Saturday we went to the O2 to see the X Factor Live.  Not a bad concert, Izzy loved it, I was fairly meh to it but it was up with the last one we went to a couple of years ago.  Afterwards, we jumped on the bus back to Bexleyheath and we went for a chinese.  Lovely.  That was the carb loading taken care of ;)

Sunday morning came.  We was up pretty early, both of us had some breakfast and we changed into our kit.  Izzy just so wanted to get her Sport Relief T Shirt on but I told her she'd be better off wrapping up and keeping her jumper and coat on until the last minute to keep warm as it was a particularly cold March morning.

So off we went to Danson Park.  Just in time for the 9am marshall/staff briefing from Race Director Mary.  We told Mary that we'd help out after we'd done our run and she very nicely gave Izzy the job of handing out the medals to the finishers.

I cant begin to tell you how cold it was on Sunday morning.  Both Izzy and I were shivering big time, despite numerous layers.  We stripped off just before the race...

I think our faces were frozen in that pic.

Anyhow, we decided on a quick warm up.  Izzy was desperate to get running by that point, so we went off on a gentle jog around the start line area.  Only a couple of minutes, just to get the blood pumping and to generally warm up.

We all got called to the start line, the official photographer wanted to take some pics with the Mayor of Bexley at the start line then eventually, we were off.

Izzy ran brilliantly. Not sure what went on with the route but we ended up running 1.6 miles. Ha. Bring it on.  I ran at her pace, so every time she slowed, I did and we went down to just walking pace for a few seconds here and there but I really couldnt have been prouder of her.

I dont think I've ever seen her with redder cheeks.

We made it round in 17:54.  Pretty much 11:00 min/mile pace.  None of that matters, just getting over the finish line was an achievement.  To be honest, I dont think she would have made it to the finish had she been on her own as it took some gentle encouragement of "come on, there's only 200 meters to go!", when it was more like 4 times that but she wasnt to know.

So after she picked up her medal, we switched to staffing duties...

The Plums hosted the Sport Relief Mile at Danson Park, with some help from Bexley Athletics Club

I'm really proud of Izzy.  Got only did she complete the mile, she also got her 200m swimming badge last week.  Yeah, 200m.  Thats like 8 consecutive lengths of the pool without stopping.  Yes, without stopping.  Holy sh*t.  I'm only just capable of that now.  Absolutely brilliant.  Tell you what, chuck in her number one sport of Gymnastics, we've really got a cracking little Sportswoman on our hands here.  The world literally could be her Oyster.

Of course, the fact I ran leads on to the obvious question.  How are the knees?  Erm, if I'm honest, not too bad.  They're nowhere near 100% but I made it round the 1.6 mile course.  99% of it was on grass.  Whether I'm capable of running 26.2 miles on tarmac, cobbles and concrete in less than 2 weeks, thats another kettle of fish entirely.

A huge thanks to everyone at Plumstead Runners for hosting a great event.  Izzy and I loved it.  I think Izzy enjoyed handing out the medals more than she did the run itself but hey, what 8 year old in their right mind would enjoy running?

Thursday Training

On Thursday, I was a very naughty boy.

I ran to and from the Gym.  4 miles.  Plus 1km on the treadmill.  A grand total of 4.6 miles.  I could feel the knees...and the hamstrings.  Not good but bearable.  But could I run 26.2 miles with my legs feeling like this?  Thats another matter entirely.

Warm Up

• 2 mile road run.  Av HR 149bpm, Av Pace 9:35 min/mile (so slow)
• 1km treadmill.  5:00.  Av HR 148bpm, Av Pace 8:00 min/mile (quicker)

TRX

• Crucifix (3sets x 10reps) 
• Shoulder Press (3sets x 10reps)
• One Armed Press Ups (6sets x 10reps)
• Bicep Curl (3sets x 10reps) 
• Tricep Curl (3sets x 10reps)

Abs

• 10 sets (20 SB sit ups + 20 SB sit twists with 6kg bar)

Leg Weights

• Leg Press:  6 reps x 80/90/100/110/120/130/140/150kg
• Leg Ext: 6 reps x 40/50/50/50/55kg

Cool Down

• 2 mile road run.  Av HR 148bpm, Av Pace 9:24 min/mile (quicker than marathon pace)

It was a good workout but there's no doubt I could feel the legs.

I could definitely feel them on Friday morning.  So much so that I was back on the phone to the physio to tell him I could still feel the legs so I have now got an appointment with him on Monday evening at 5:30pm.  I should then hopefully have some answers.  Whether 12 days will be enough recovery time before Paris, who knows?

I managed only 15 miles and 6 miles in the last two weeks.  Not exactly in the training plan, beginning the taper two weeks early.