Posted on Mar 25, 2012 under 5k, Injuries, Jogs |
My other calf twanged while going up a step last night, so that was a cause for some concern, and before this run I stretched a little to discover some serious tightness in both calves 
With it being a lovely sunny day though, I really wanted to try a run, so I warmed up with some stretching and massaging of the calves, and set off quite tentatively, prepared for an immediate return to base… 100m and was fine, then made 1km, noticed I did it in well under 7 minutes this time so a bit of pace had imperceptibly come back, and I had to make sure not to get cocky and start going too fast. Slowed down a bit and monitored the calves, which were pain free, and the heat that was building up helped to keep me at a reasonable pace. Was hitting the kms in around 6:30 on average which wasn’t bad after the 7 minutes plus efforts of the last run.
Even managed a little uphill stretch, and had to force myself not to try sprinting the last 2 or 3 hundred yards, though I felt good, if sweaty. Hit the 5k mark in 32:42 so a big improvement on the last run without trying too hard, and no pain in the calves while running.
So far so good, just need to make sure I don’t get over confident and start doing intervals and sprints just yet, but if I can work up to a jogged 10k it will at least give me some confidence I can get round the Great Manchester Run, and as for a time, well as long as I can run, I will settle for around the hour mark I think!
Posted on Mar 23, 2012 under 5k, Injuries, Jogs |
Lovely sunny day. Had some pains in my calf at rest today, while meditating, so not sure what that was about. Was a bit scared of setting off running but managed 1k, stopped for a bit of a calf massage, then continued at a slow sedate pace. Saw another chap a couple of times and we had a laugh about our paths crossing.
Felt the occasional pain in the calf but it seemed more like the resting pain – possibly something to do with my varicose veins in that leg which may need looking at. No explosion though and the calf was pain free on stretching.
Resisted the tempation to speed up too much, bit did run the last km at sub 70 minute 10k pace, lol – now there’s a speedster in the making!
Posted on Mar 20, 2012 under 3k, Jogs |
Been feeling pretty tired for a couple of days, thought a run would blow the cobwebs away, realised it was getting late in the day but thought a very gentle jog wouldn’t be too hard on me, especially as I want to be very careful with the calf for a while yet.
Set off and seemed to take ages to get a signal on the Garmin, there were some youths around generally being a bit annoying so headed in a different direction, went very slowly and managed to run the first km all run in about 7 mins 30 – very slow! Did some walking and stretching of the calf to check it was ok, then set off again, and did another very slow km. At this point was starting to feel a bit lousy and felt I’d probably not eaten enough earlier in the day, though I had weetabix a couple of hours before the run. Took some walk breaks and just wanted to get up to 3k, but it was a struggle in the end, the time between 2.95k and 3k seemed to be an eternity and my body was screaming out for sugar or fuel of some kind.
Got in and gorged myself on breakfast biscuit things and then biscuits and then golden syrup on bread and finally started to feel back to normal. Probably not the best post run snacks but I was feeling really dizzy and needed quick sugar!
The good news is, there was no pain in the calf, and managed 3k mostly run, so that’s a good sign!
Posted on Mar 18, 2012 under Injuries, Jogs |
Just a very light comeback run, started off with some brisk walking then set the Garmin off and just ran in increments – 100m ran, 100m walked, then 200m, then 300m, gradually shortening the run/walk ratio so that I first ran 500m, then the last km all ran.
No pain in the calf, but didn’t want to push things too far too soon as we know where that leads, so was happy to do a run walked 2.5km and stop the run another day.
Think I will build back up very slowly and still include some weights and swimming, one thing I need to get back is the confidence as the sudden explosion of pain was still very much in my mind, and was half expecting it at every step, so will have to take it gently and build up slowly and let my confidence in my calf build up as well as my fitness, hopefully will not have lost much, my heart and lungs were very ready today and could have run a lot more!
Posted on Feb 26, 2012 under 5 miles, Health, Tempo Runs |
Just when it all starts coming together, my calf goes TWANG!
After the other day’s successful intervals session, and realising I wouldn’t be able to run much in the coming week due to some commitments, I decided a nice afternoon 5 miler would round off a good week of running. I didn’t set out to run it fast, or as a tempo run, but just wanted to get some miles under my belt which would take me just over 10 miles for the week – nothing over ambitious in that, really.
Set off at a slow pace and felt pretty good, first KM clicked over in 6:03 and thereafter I just seemed to start getting quicker without really trying. KM’s were ticking over nicely and though I was breathing hard I felt I could sustain it. At one point I was overtaken by a ten year old girl with her dad encouraging her on a bike, this may have been a bad omen and maybe I should have turned back then!
Kept going and with just 2.5k to go I was feeling great, running at some pace and feeling I would shatter the season’s best 5 mile time. There were some hills coming up, and I had thoughts of powering over them rather than dreading them, when suddenly my right foot landed and there was an explosion of heat and a tearing sensation in my calf. A few steps later I stopped, and had the presence of mind to stop the Garmin and realise that was it – RUN OVER. I massaged the calf but it hurt a bit to walk, and I needed to walk some distance to get to a bus stop, as I was quite a distance from my house and it was either walk about 2 miles or get the bus.
Eventually the bus came and I got home, but still quite a bit of pain in the calf, so took painkillers and put some ice on it. Checking the stats I had gone through 5k in 29:08 and had plenty left in the tank, so I seem to have finally got over the breathing and heart rate problems I had the other week, reached a point of feeling very fit and ready to go to the next level, when bang, or twang, something in my calf tears and now I have no idea how long I will be sidelined before I start the whole process of trying to get back to fitness YET AGAIN.
It feels like my body doesn’t want me to run sometimes. I guess I will have to hope this calf tear running injury is not too bad and that I can keep up the fitness I have worked hard to gain by doing some swimming.
Posted on Feb 24, 2012 under 5-10k, Intervals |
First intervals session in quite some time. Weather has been mild so put on shorts for first time this year, and light long sleeve running top. Was a bit cold at first but soon warmed up with a gentle 2k, and then launched into 5k of 1km intervals. I set myself a goal pace of 5:30 which would equate to a 27:30 5km and just attempted to run around that pace. Felt I was going too quick at first as the Garmin pace was showing 5:10 per km so I slowed a bit and ended up doing the first one in 5:31 – so far so good. Realised I had found a bit of a circuit so decided to keep going round it for consistency, and by the 3rd km, although I wasn’t running harder, my pace seemed to be going quicker and I had to slow down. Nonetheless, my pace for each km was getting quicker and I even put on some bursts of speed. By the last KM, the Garmin was reading 4:56 per km which was quite astonishing and the last km was the fastest of all, but I slowed towards the end as was feeling it by then.
All in all a fast flying intervals session where I felt good, and the combined time of the intervals was 26:33, so if I can put that sort of pace together consistently without 3 minute rest breaks, my 5k time should start coming down dramatically, and I can start looking forward to a half decent 10k race time over the summer!
Intervals Breakdown:
2k easy run warmup
5* 1k at goal pace of 5:30 with 3 minute rest breaks
5:31
5:18
5:19
5:12
5:11
1k gentle cool down.
Posted on Feb 22, 2012 under 5k, Tempo Runs |
After the last two “easy” runs have turned into monumental struggles I was feeling some trepidation about today’s run and was in two minds about running at all. It was pouring with rain and an afternoon with a book seemed like a good idea, but after meditating I decided I would just give running a go and see what happened, and decided to run 5k at a tempo pace, as whatever happened, it would be over quicker! I think there is some weird reverse running psychology going on with my easy runs, in that in expecting them to be somehow “easy”, I end up setting up a false expectation and then when the perceived effort goes up I am not really prepared mentally to put up with it as I expect it to be “easy” whereas running is never going to actually be as easy as a walk in the park (unless your Mo Farah going at my pace, which would be a walk in the park for him, ha ha!)
In any case, I slipped out into the rainy streets and the Garmin got a signal almost right away, just walked a bit to warm up then set off expecting to suffer. A lot. Went at quite a quick pace and the first km was under 6 minutes, then followed the major downhill part which helped me recover a little, and did the next 2k in 5:37 which was a consistent pace given the hills and wind.
The big hill at 3.5k took it out of me somewhat and result in a 6.22 km, then just had to hang on. Looking at the Garmin I was starting to back pedal as I thought my season’s best was sub 29 and realised I wasn’t going to make that, and by the end I was more or less spent, but did recover quite quickly and felt really good for having pushed the pace all the way through the run, and hanging on when it felt really tough.
Turns out that the 29:18 is actually one of my fastest times for 5k since last summer, and I haven’t gone under 29 minutes for some time, and given the way I felt on the last few runs, this was at least a sign that the runs are paying off and I am starting to build some speed endurance.
Sooner or later I won’t have to say that sub 29 is my next target, maybe a time trial on the flat could see me break that barrier. We shall see!
Posted on Feb 19, 2012 under 5 miles, 5-10k, Health, Trail Running |
Just planned to run very easy and maybe do 11k, headed down to the woods at a very sedate pace and it was nice to have some scenery around, and see people out walking dogs and even people out on their horses. Was all nice and muddy!
Deliberately kept the pace slow, and felt fine, thinking the 3 rest days since my last struggle would see me nice and refreshed. Alas, when I hit 4k I started to feel wobbly, even though I was running 6:37 per km, not fast at all, and the lead up had been downhill.
Just tried to keep going then in the middle of the woods knew I would need to get back and tried to figure out a way of avoiding the big uphill on the way back. Found a path out of the woods but was feeling a bit rubbish by this point so walked up the big long hill, then started to trot again but found myself having to stop every 500 metres or so, felt thorougly puffed out and not great. And that was slowing down to 7 minutes per k.
Got out of the woods, so to speak, and just settle don completing 5 miles, which really seemed a long way off at times. Was really glad to finish and think a full rest week might be in order, as my body is not responding at the moment and might need some time to recover, which might be to do with the two longer/higher intensity runs last week.
Posted on Feb 15, 2012 under Easy Runs, Jogs |
Briefly, knew I needed to run easy after my fast 5 miler and longer run last week, and it was going well, although my heart rate felt way too fast for the pace I was going (not very scientific but I run how I feel and it was working overtime!). Then a hill came and after that I revised my target down from an easy 5k to 4k, and petered to a stop. Think the last 2 runs have taken more out of me than I thought, plus some stress lately, so plan to rest for 3 days before a long slow run on Sunday.
Posted on Feb 12, 2012 under 10k, 5-10k, All Weather Running, Long Runs, Milestones |
Decided it would be a good idea to try getting up to 10k, and it seemed a fitting way to mark my early bird entry to the City of Manchester/We Love Manchester 10k later in the summmer.
Left the house and it was pretty cold and a bit misty with a threat of rain in the air. Set off down the road walking to warm up while I got a Garmin signal – and walked, and walked, and walked, by the time I had walked about 600m I was getting a bit frustrated as time was starting to slip by. Eventually it got a signal and I set off, aware I was going a bit too quick and also aware of a bit of pain in my feet and lower legs, which seemed to be down to the freezing concrete.
Planned a long looping route that takes in a lot of roads, and not a lot else, but there are a few big inclines over motorway bridges and the like. At 2.5k felt ok, but a bit puffy, and had to keep slowing myself down, reminding myself that the only aim was to reach 10k, not run it in any particular time. Was going OK but when I got to one of the big inclines I wilted a bit and stopped to get my breath, before ploughing on, and would have to stop a couple of times more just to collect my breath. I saw the canal was totally frozen over at one point so it was maybe colder than I thought.
I did start to struggle in the latter stages – after all, I had only just done a fastest of season 5 miler a few days ago and have not run more than 5 miles for a few months. But I kept going, and by the time the Garmin got to 9.7k I was ready for falling over, but somehow staggered the last few hundred metres to post a respectable (at this stage) 1 hour 6 minutes and 40 seconds.
I have the distance, the idea now is to steadily bring the 10k time down with a view to running a good time in the Great Manchester Run, and of course I now have another bite of the cherry later in the year in the We Love Manchester 10k. I may even enter some more races at this rate!
