Approx 6.5 miles on a very cold dark night with the sleet coming down.
Ran to Ashton via Cemetery Road/Asda, then looped all the way back to Denton, added a little extra on to make it above 10k. Struggled in places but had just warmed up at the end, when it was time to get back indoors!
Set off at a brisk pace, felt ok, kept going and managed to finish 5k without feeling half dead on this occasion!
Been running but couldn’t be a*sed updating this blog for a while – too much going on! Might just do a short entry for each run from now on, unless I feel like writing more.
First run of the year, after a New Year’s Eve run with Sweatshop Hyde, where I seemed to run a bit faster than of late (was nice to be near the front instead of languishing at the rear).
In any case, set off tonight aiming to do over 5 miles, went via Dane Bank and Reddish out towards Stockport then turned back, at which point started to feel very energy depleted. Had to find a cash machine and grab a bottle of gatorade from a shop. When I got to 12k had visions of running 10 miles, but when I went up the motorway bridge near Sainsburys I had to just stop, my legs suddenly went to jelly. It was all I could do to keep going very slowly and was just feeling worse and worse, so stopped the clock at 13.22km, or 8.21 miles, and went to the nearest shop for a drink and a snack to replenish my failing reserves.
My niggly leg held up well – and this is the furthest I have run since my injury in September, so very positive despite imploding at the end!
10 days or so since I went to the sweatshop Hyde 5k group, leg flared on weightbearing somewhat after that so decided not to run.
Have opted into the Halloween run this Weds, as would like to have a bit of fun in fancy dress. The plan was to go swimming today but the school hols somewhat messed up that plan as the pool was closing in 10 minutes when I got there.
So decided to do a short run, and see how my leg was holding up – was aware of discomfort in the lower right leg as usual after the first step, and it was present all the way through the run, despite going at the meagre pace of 7 mins or slower per km. Felt fine fitness wise but really not sure what is wrong with leg now, it’s been 2 months since Salford 10k, have rested up for weeks at a time, but this problem isn’t going away – just hope it’s not another winter of no running as visits to the pool could be costly!!
Another 5k with mixed feelings, right leg never felt 100% but seemed to survive if I kept the pace really slow. Had been swimming earlier in the week, which is great, but at £2.80 a time can work out more expenseive than hitting the road!
I have a current theory about my injury, which goes back to the fall I had over the summer, cracking my back hard on a rock. I’m wondering if I compressed a nerve, as when I had 2 weeks off running, some other symptoms I had, such as a mild numbness in certain places, subsided, but seem to have returned along with starting running again, so am wondering if running is putting pressure on it and this is in fact what is causing the leg pain…
I will see what happens after this run. It may be that I need an extended break for the nerve to uncompress itself (funnily enough, after swimming, and stretching my body out, the symptoms greatly ease). Maybe I will even have to quit running altogether.
Good or bad news? Who knows! I’m thinking of the Zen story where a farmer’s son breaks his leg, but thus avoids being conscripted into the army and killed. Maybe my injury will help me avoid a rendezvous with a truck or maniac gunman…
A very gentle 5k run to test out my legs. Was ready to abort at any minute if I felt pain, must admit legs didn’t feel as solid and dependable as I would have liked… Wore my tracksuit bottoms for the first time with long sleeved top, felt quite chilly out there.
Set a very sedate pace of about 7 mins per k and soon warmed up. Lungs and heart seemed to respond well, and managed 5k without feeling any sort of discomfort or breathing hard, will now see how the leg reacts to this, before deciding what to do next.
A delayed report for this race, as I couldn’t really bring myself to write about it for a while. No drama, no great disaster, just a mystifying end to a season where I started running with a club for the first time, put in a lot of running, ran more consistent 20 miles ish a week mileage than ever before, and ended up running the same, if not slower, than at the start of the season!
Got up early, headed to the bus, then got the Met, and wondered, as the tram meandered through Salford Quays, whether I would be there in time to use the loo and get warmed up! Ended up jogging to the loos, did what I needed to do, and jogged back to the start line. My ankle had been a bit tender, but was Ok as soon as I started running. Also felt on twinge in my calf, but that was it.
Set off and it was the usual crowded start of a bigger race, had the Garmin pace alert etc off, and didn’t really look at it, just relaxed into running, and decided every time I felt good, to push harder, and just keep running to how I felt at a solid pace. Felt OK at 3k and went a bit quicker, when we hit the hill near Old Trafford I sprinted up it, and kept the pace going. It was pretty hot, but I’ve run season’s best times when it’s hot! The water station was welcome, and I tried to run and drink but it was hard, so I stopped briefly to chug some water.
On the long run out, before the roundabout, I was starting to feel it a bit, and paused to take a drink, when I heard one of the Sweat shop running community ladies shout out “go sweatshop” and promptly started running again. I was suffering a little, but knew I could keep going and Jenny’s encouragements would really help me in the latter stages.
I had no idea what pace I was running, but started overtaking people in the last few k. I was melting and gasping but still kept pushing. As we got to the bit where you see the finish line, only to have to turn and run about another km, Tony Hillier the coach at sweatshop yelled my name and I started to pick up speed, then fade, then pick up speed, then fade. I thought I might be in with a decent shout of a good time with all the running I’d done with the club and my increased mileage, and in the last 200 metres powered to a sprint finish despite feeling half dead. I crossed the line feeling quite ill and was sick, first time that’s ever happened, my body was really not happy with me!
I checked my stopped Garmin and swore under my breath at a time of 56:17 – a minute slower than the City of Manchester 10k, after a lot of training and hard work. It all suddenly seemed a bit of a swizz, and certainly not worth running to the point of being sick over. I gradually calmed down and got a drink, and then went off for my goody bag, feeling a bit bemused.
I caught up with the sweatshop runners and we hung around for an hour for Tony to get his prize, there was some kind of cockup with the timings, and most people had gone before the winners were announced. Tony was winner of the V65 I think, but they said they would post out the prizes so we had waited around for no real purpose! Jenny was kind enough to give me a lift home, and I felt pretty shattered for the rest of the day.
Looks like it’s back to the drawing board if I ever want to run close to 50 minutes for 10k again. I’ve suggested this might be my age, with some saying that’s nonsense, but I don’t know – for 2 years I was getting close to 50 minutes quite easily and often but for the last 2 that’s pretty much gone and even going sub 55 is becoming a challenge.
Watch this space!
With the City of Salford 10k less than 2 weeks away, my plan is to do a small taper, and cut back on mileage while still doing some speed workouts, so by the time I get to race day, the base miles will be doing me good but not still in my legs, and my body will be used to going out of the blocks quickly!
Had to have 3 days off as after the long run at the weekend I was still getting the intermittent sharp pains in my left leg. My theory is it might be some residual referred pain from my back from when I fell, and may have a bit of a pinched nerve back there, or it could be any number of things, but rest seemed to benefit it!
I set off gingerly at first, but there was no immediate reaction from my leg, and after a very short warmup of slowish running, I started to pick th pace up bit by bit, testing my legs out. There was a bit of a calf twinge before 1k was up, but nothing major and it didn’t recur. I clocked the first km in just over 6 minutes, and then I was hitting 5:15 pace and quicker for most of the rest of the run. I was breathing hard and noticed the Garmin going under 5 mins per km at times, even though I wasn’t going flat out (comfortably hard, but not race pace). I struggled a bit on the last km, and the last few 100 metres was uphill, which slowed me down but I managed 5:37 for the last km when I felt I had slowed to a crawl.
Am not sure on this evidence I could get near running 10 sub 5 minute kms, but you never know on race day, I will do a few more fast runs to keep my legs ticking over and see what happens! There was no recurrance of the sharp wobbly pain in my legs, my right ankle felt mildly niggly, but OK, so not sure what it was all about really!
Having run a bit less this week, I wanted to get a long run in, which will probably be the last run of substance length-wise before the City of Salford 10k, as I guess I will be in cutback mode for a little while now, especially having done a 22 and an 18 mile week back to back now.
Set off at a slow pace and felt fine, could feel my body adjusting to the jogging, but it wasn’t a painful process, more like, “Oh, this again, ok, can do…” However at about 3k I felt a weird pain in my right lower leg, and it felt like the leg would give out. I slowed, it was Ok, and then the same thing started happening with my left leg. I was ok when I slowed, then when I sped up a little to take advantage of a green man on a crossing (and I don’t mean molesting aliens, ha ha!), the pain intensified, my leg felt like it would give way, and I had to stop to give it a little massage.
I carried on, wondering whether I should turn back, and abort the planned 10 miles, but it seemed to be Ok if I kept to a pace just slightly quicker than walking. CV wise I felt great, barely broke into a sweat and wasn’t breathing much harder than if I had been sitting down.
I plodded on, and at some point the nagging pain disappeared and I felt myself speed up, instead of doing 7 mins per km I was doing 6:30 and going quite comfortably. The pains didn’t come back, but I could feel my toes blistering a little! I took the hill on the motorway bridge without a second thought, although by that point I could sense my glycogen stores were depleting, but I had managed the distance without a drink or any other sustenance, which is a first for me on anything over 10k!
Slowed towards the end and had been running for just short of 2 hours, but it didn’t really seem all that far, so my fitness must have really improved lately. Not sure what the niggles were but might have been to do with the time trial the other day, so I will probably give the reps at the running club a miss, as after 2 high mileage weeks I think I need some lower mileage and lower intensity, so that my body can reap the rewards of the last month or 2, and the last thing I want to do at this stage is risk an injury before one of the few races I have been able to enter this year!
Weather was looking bit cloudy so ideal conditions for a long slow run. Wasn’t sure how my legs would be as they had felt a bit achey after the recovery run on Tuesday – still, they’d had 2 days to recover from that!
Unlike my long runs in the past, where I felt good and upped the pace, and eventually ended up with injuries, I was determined to keep the pace nice and slow. For the first 3k felt very good, although there was a moment where I started to breathe hard and wondered if I would get anywhere near my target of 10 ish miles. The plan was to run just over 10 to take me into 20 miles for the week.
There was a bit of a breeze, and a little drizzle helped me keep cool although it was mainly dry and towards the end of the run there was a nice red sky. I ran out through Dane Bank, then Reddish, then all the way to the edge of Stockport until I came to a sort of dead end of dual carriageway, and turned back, opting for the route via Belle Vue and back to base through Gorton. Barely got out of breath although my knees were a bit sore at times, and I was sweating quite a lot – at about 12k I popped into a shop for some energy drink, which only lost me about a minute, but I needed to refuel, and it did me good. Kept plodding along at a nice steady pace, felt I could keep going all night really, and 10 miles ticked over while I was still a ways off the motorway bridge at Denton Rock.
Took it slow over the bridge, and started to calculate what I would end up running, figured I would easily make 11 miles and when that ticked over realised I only needed to run another 1.6km to make it 12. My pace was slowing and feet were a bit sore, but just kept going at an easy pace, and when I got to 19.4k I figure I couldn’t quite trust my own maths, so I thought to make it 19.8k and by then I just decided to jog another 200metres to make it a nice round 20km, or 12.43 miles. I could have carried on and made it a half marathon, but time was getting on, and I had already exceeded my planned distance, and was near my front door, so I petered to a stop, took a well deserved slug from what was left of the powerade, and got inside to cool off!
21.8 miles for the week, with a nice mix of runs, have a little time away now so will be having 4 days off running with some hiking instead, but I feel in really good shape. Probably my last really long run before the Salford 10k race in September, hopefully this time I have got the preparation right, and will be able to do myself justice.
Might try a 5k time trial next week, just to see where my pace is at!
