Training Log Archive: Thumper

Very painful pre-work recovery plod.

Despite running easy yesterday my calves and hip flexor/gluts were screaming.

Lovely morning though

10 min tempo on the holymoor triangle/2mins, 8x 3min loads road/90s, 10 min tempo.

Legs very sore all day, pretty much from wearing innov-8s in the threshold run on thurs, think it was a shock to the system.

So this session was a "get through session", didn't hit it too hard, but was working hard enough

Legs sore again after.Very lucky that the rain subsided and it was a cracker of a evening, some cracking views on the descent

Plod around Holmbrook.

Calves sore from runing in the mud claws yesterday and left hammy tight. Enjoyed running in the snow though

Nice catchup run with Sprotty putting the world to rights then a few pints before working all weekend.

Ready to cut the boozing back. Have withdrawn from Highgate. Gonna give the mountain scene a bit of devotion so I can leave the summer knowing whether it is for me or not, no point trying to do everything.

Feeling motivated for some mileage, but wish I could have a niggle free period, calves were in bits tonight and hammy tight! Very enjoyable run though, it flew!

Woke up pretty knackered at 6 to try and squeeze a run in before nursery duty. Hammy and calf feeling pretty tight so decided against it.

Hate missing runs, particularly in sub a nice frosty morning. Hopefully the right call.
Forecast for tonight's session looks horrid!

Had to wait for Hatts to get home from London before venturing out. Unbelievably, this led to running in decent weather, despite being dressed for a downpour.

Headed to Linacre, warmed up then did 3 laps at threshold, a nice undulating route.

Worried about both hammies throughout, but the seemed to survive (albeit a bit tight now).

Just received an e-mail requesting confirmation of attendance at Highgate. I'm in two minds now. Chuffed to bits to be back training at a fairly decent level, but I don't think I dare do the necessary speed work to make an assault on my 10k pb. The race would also impede on a family holiday to cornwall and I have entered the whinlatter mountain race the week after...

...but it looks such a good event to be part of. Decisions.

HR for threshold approx. 155 (couldn't quite let rip down hill)

Easy one around Linacre, wasn't sure if I was being paranoid but hammy felt a bit tight, to be expected really.

Lovely morning

Feeling a bit tired and trying to mix surface up so headed out along the canal.

Overdressed expecting a storm that never came, in fact it was pleasant and sunny.

Total plod as hammy was a but tight and sore- pace better than it felt.

Lovely morning amble around holmbrook

Session of 6 x mile/ 2 mins at holmebrook.

Bit anxious about this and in two minds as to whether it was a good idea to do it with Andy after over 2 weeks without doing a running session. Gave it the pre-amble of "I'll take the first one to see where I'm at but feel free to come past me".

Pretty surprised to hear that the first one was a decent pace and I felt ok (with no hammy niggles). So we took it in turns to alternate miles. Really enjoyed the session, weather was all over the place with 2 hail showers interspersed with lovely sunshine- but it was one of those evenings where with every breath you were able to gobble a big dollop of oxygen.

Really pleased and surprised with the session. But I sha'nt get carried away.

4.46, 4.45, 4.43, 4.47, 4.49, 4.47

Planned.
Anxious about session tomorrow but have no niggles on the right leg- so fingers crossed. Expecting it to hurt through lack of fitness though

Headed from the out-laws house onto the local trail for an initial mile out and back, then ran to Radley to jump on the Thames tow-path to Christchurch meadows, quick lap and back home.

Pleased with that. certainly felt rusty and could feel the session in my legs, but good to get back on the horse.

Feeling really motivated now to get the weight down and get stuck into a new block.

5 months to the marathon!

Parked up at Beeley and ran through Chatsworth before hitting the "mostly uphill" route at threshold effort. Then explored the moor top, something I've been wanting to do for ages, before heading back down to Beeley.

Really enjoyed it, nice morning, but more importantly the leg played ball. In fact the only gripe was my left (chronic) hip tightness.

More pleasingly I got a 2 minute pb on the strava segment I set for the route, which I think in part is due to 2 gates being open and good conditions, but still uplifting.

Didn't think the hammy would be feeling like this so soon, but still need to be smart. I will try some reps on Tues though if all still ok

6.3 mile 40.05 HR 160
TT segment 38.27

Did plan a second run, but unfortunately Hatti's gran is very unwell so I bolted down to Oxford afterwards and was on Sophie duty

IW

HFW


Very surprised at how my legs have felt today. No niggle in the hamy at any point.

Quads tired from hill work, but I think its a green light to try something a bit harder, albeit uphill

Plod around Holmbrook-very enjoyable.

Hammy still nipping, but going to try a double day tomorrow

Loads Road hill reps
60 min warm up then 12 x 2mins/ roll back rec. (roughly 1.45 by the time I'd got turned around and clipped back in).

Worked hard, biggest limiter was quad pain, depsite really grafting (particularly on seated reps) I couldnt get the HR as high as I'd liked.

Compared it to previous sessions and pace was woeful. In hindsight I think I did the session in the big ring last time vs the little ring today (the rationale being perhaps that would be more specific).

Nice night for it, I quite enjoyed it, but would rather be running

IW- gorgeous morning, could have gone on for hours.

Decent ride, finally feeling a bit more bike fit, average pace ruined by a big traffic jam (don't think the forerunner takes stopping into account when uploading.

Average HR suggests distinct lack of fitness

C •  could have gone on for hours 1

3 laps of Linacre.

Took it easy, felt very un fit and quads feeling the cycling.
Was aware of the hammy after the first few steps, but it never worsened, wouldn't be able to run hard on it though.

Will try again tomorrow AM then bike sesh pm. Hopefully a successful double day friday and will look to try a harder uphill run Sat.

Being a bit of a dick with food and beer, need to stop, but feel the need to compensate myself...not cool.

Little plod to Holmebrook, cant remember it, but know that towards the end the hammy was pulling.

The spasm has settled but leaves a particularly tender area.

Will see how it feels waking up tomorrow, but will try a slightly longer un tomorrow evening

Session of 8 x 5mins/roll down recovery (c. 2min35) on Beeley.

2 mins seated, then 1min out of the saddle, followed by a further 2 mins seated.

Certainly worked hard on this but wasn't particularly brave, the quads pain was more limiting that any CV issues, but a god workout worth doing.

Really enjoyed the ride to be fair, how couldn't you on a day like today.

Warm up from work via Chatsworth.

Need to get serious again now and lose some weight.

Rep pace:

10.1, 10.1, 10.0, 9.8, 9.8, 9.6, 9.6, 11.9 (top stretch of Beeley)

Planned rest.

Hammy twinging in certain positions but feels absolutely fine most of the time. Feeling very cautious due to the bruise, but think I'll try a run in the morning

Bottled the planned 7am ride (to accommodate a family day out with the outlaws).

So took the bike with me to the farm park- I forgot what a faffy pain in the arse cycling was!

Headed from there to the via Gelia before hooking up with one of my favourite routes through Hartington, Lognor, monyash and bakewell.

Embarrassingly I bonked just before Bakewell al had to stop for an emergency coke before crawling up Beeley.

Initiated a hard effort up crowdecote but after 4 turns of the pedals realised I wasn't ready for that yet. Made me realise how fit I used to be on the bike!

Average pace ruined a bit by using my running watch which doesn't take into account stopping- but was still shirt considering I was on my best bike and blew up! Haha. Should see the benefit of that in a few weeks

Had to really fight myself to get out for this, took forever to get the bike sorted and lost any ounce of motivation.

Initially planned to do hill reps on Beeley, but it soon became apparent that I'm no were near "bike fit", despite being fairly fit running wise!

So, I settled for a little loop with the idea that I could spend more time with Hatts and Soph and hopefully get on the turbo later.

Actually enjoyed it when I got going but still feel a bit fearful on the bike.

Will get a decent length ride in tomorrow all being well.

Gooch v. sore from just 20 mins the other day!

Nearly didn't do it in favour of more sulky beer. Decided if I was going to have more beer then I had to earn it.

8 x 5 mins/1min with some token warming up and cooling down. Watched the first half of Ex Machina.

Couldn't find the balance between working too hard and not hard enough, I think this kind of session on the bike takes a few weeks of cycling to really hit hard, so just got through it. Nw drinking beer, bike ready for the morning.

In the interest of not looking like a "couldn't of done well at Sheff half but.." and a "dick who swerved the road relays", I feel compelled to provide photo evidence of the injury (and the reason why I suddenly shit myself and ceased trying to run trough it.):


[IMG]http://i68.tinypic.com/kz4ia.jpg[/IMG]

C • Ouch! 2

I have to be honest and say that the sight of a significant bleed in the hammy frightened me yesterday. I've run through hamstring problems in the past, but didn't realise it was quite so bad until I noticed it yesterday. Woke up this morning and it was too sore to run on.

So I'm admitting defeat. After a week of feeling sorry for myself and drinking quite a bit I'm having a rest day today and more beer.

Its unlikely that I'll be able to get myself ready for Highgate 10000 (which I was really looking forward to) and I'll also be unlikely to get the necessary work in for the 5000 races I had planned. So to avoid any rushed training (or heartache) I'm binning them.

But, to put a positive spin on it, this does give me an opportunity to focus on mountain running. It will be a much kinder route back into full training for the hammy and allows me to use the bike for sessions without it feeling like a compromise.

My only concern is that the hamstring may take a VERY long time to heel, the nature of the injury still baffles me, there was no reason for it to occur!

Not really sure how I'm gonna get any training in this weekend as a) the weather is shit b) both bikes could really do with a service.

Glad I have beer. Feeling blue.

Pretty sore and tight this morning and caught out by the rain, BBC weather let me down

Plod around holmebrook

Plod around Linacre (3 laps) hoping the uphills would spare the hammy.

Running within the pain, I think the pace tells a tale. Very boring, slow run.

Spent much of the run weighing up the sense of running atm. There is a huge bruise around the back of the leg where the hamstring has torn, but I can run so long as its not hard. I think the bruise is more dramatic than the injury, but it got into my head.

Previously I have run through hamstring tears, but the sight of the clear bleeding does concern me. I'll take it each run at a time.

If I can't run without pain by Sunday I think I'll have to admit defeat and hit the bike. This would mean no track 5k/10k races, but at least it might put me in a decent position for some mountain running. Making my tough racing decision over the summer much easier.

Summer is a challenge for me, I'm not fast on track, would like to improve my pbs, but I find it quite tedious. I much prefer the training for fells/ mountain running, but I'm not very good at that either (in the scheme of things).

Its trying to weigh up what would give me the biggest feeling of success, which I need atm as work is stressing me out!

Got the bike ready for a double day of riding. But when I woke up I saw the frost and bottled it for 2 reasons: 1) Its so long since I rode and I'm nervous about it anyway, without the risk of ice 2) My winter bike is in the shed and needs servicing so the only bike available was my hill climb bike which believe it or not, I've never even ridden. (So I didn't fancy knacking it by crashing)

Feeling fat and with it being a beautiful morning, like a dick I drove to holmebrook and ran within the pain. Total plod, but nice to run on a nice morning. Hammy very restricted. Think its gonna be a while 'til I can do anything hard

The second session was either a drive home and jump on the bike or run uphill only to avoid stretching the hammy. Couldn't resist running so drove to Chatsworth and ran from there.

Pretty sore but got through it. Bit of a wobble at half way where I thought Id torn it more, but it seemed ok. The descent down in to the village was agony

Ride to pick up the car.

Great to finally try the HC bike and it didnt disappoint. Was a bit of a fanny descending. Not good anyway but its been such a long time I literally feathered the brakes the whole way down.

I wish I could justify some decent wheels as it would be super zippy.

In two minds about entering the national HC champs this year as theyre in Matlock

Balls.
Hammy too sore to run today, hurting all day at work.

Had to withdraw form the road relays so feel like king of the knob 'eads.

Currently (and literally) dusting off the bike for tomorrow

Planned rest day.

Hammy very sore, got that injury blueness..

Gonna try a jog tomorrow, not so sure I'll get through it, but will see

So, cards on the table (retrospectively). Knowing that John Franklin was in the race I secretly hoped that no one better would toe the line. On paper we are of a similar ability and in my pre-race day –dreams I hoped that we would be involved in a head to head on fantastic racing course.

Unbelievably, this all came true :As it turned out a neat pack formed all the way to Ringinglow, with John at the helm and me at the rear. I hoped to take the first half of the race as easy as possible but remain in contention, before winding it up and going toe to toe at 10 miles. This would give us the best of the crowds and create a real spectacle; something both of us would enjoy being part of.

This all happened, having followed from a distance up Ringinglow , this distance remained the same until passing through Dore, then suddenly at approx 9.5 miles I was on Johns shoulder with no-one else in sight, feeling very good and ready for a hard 5k. Then, suddenly, TWANG. My hamstring went. FUCK! I continued to run through it but it was very sore.

I stopped to stretch it out in case it was spasm, at this point I nearly dropped out, but at least wanted to run past Sophie and all my mates that I'd seen on the way out. So I got going again but certainly had an antalgic gait. Things improved but I was still aware of it and had lost touch with John.

What a shame. It was a shame not to be able to fight to retain the trophy, but it was more the loss of opportunity to whip up the crowds and be part of a special race that had gone exactly as I'd hoped until that point. I didn’t initially come back to the race for the trophy (partly the money- but I subsequently learned the prizes had changed).

My main motivation was to sample the immense crowd again from the front of the race. I’ve run loads of well-supported races, but this is different. Its my home city race, it happens to involve me at or near the front (rather than 20 or 30 people back), many of the people are friends and colleagues and to be honest for 3 minutes both years I felt like a rock star.

However, it was great to see someone from far afield (albeit with Sheffield connections) specifically target the race and give it a worthy winner. Hopefully the event will grow and grow, it truly is a fantastic course to race on and I really enjoyed it today. I'm very pleased with my time considering the nature of my run and the course. Bit of an awkward one getting interviewed by Andy Thakes brother post race, as soon as he told me who he was I became very self conscious!

The only real shame is that my hammy is now very painful and it appears to be a tear. I said when I entered last minute I just don’t want to get injured as a result of this race. But the insidious onset of it suggests it was going to happen any way, as I was feeling comfortable until that point and it came from no-where.

Aside form this; I have to say a huge well done to Steve Bayton on winning Manchester marathon. Not only for winning it, but the nature of his performance, running his own race and capitalising on poor pace judgement in front- a true racer.

Commiserations to Pete as well bad luck like that should not happen to people who invest so much into training, all runners should be exempt from bad luck!

C • Sounds like 1

Shakeout at Holmebrook with a mile of 20 secs strides.

Still feeling DOMSY and my calf remains sore.

Have made the decision that tomorrow I will race to retain my title, but won't race hard if a bunch of Kenyan pot hunters rock up.
I don't want to set myself back by flaring the calf up.

I'm hopefull that the field is full of people of a similar ability, as the conditions are good, the course is good and the support is good...and i do fancy a race (if my body will let me).

IW
Bit Domsey.

HFW
Still Domsey

Struggled to sleep last night and woke up feeling pretty tired, calf still tight.

Decided again to sack off the planned morning run.

Trying to see this week as an easing back in week and will hopefully get back onto some decent mileage next week- I often feel like this at the start of a build up

Session of 4 miles at HM pace. Couldn't not do a session tonight- I'm trying to build up for other races and I cant exactly taper when I've been tapering for 3 weeks!

The plan is to make this thurs 4 miler a 10k pace effort in the coming weeks.

4 miles at HM effort. Decided not to look at the watch as my legs were pretty darn sore form tuesdays session. But at mile one I couldn't resist, I assumed I'd be going more like c.marathon pace, so I was pleasantly surprised to see 5.08. Which gave me a boost and I aimed to maintain it.

Not an ideal session to take into a race physiologically, but psychologically a nice booster. Just need to stop the legs hurting now.

Still in two minds re: the weekend, but more and more I am leaning towards racing it. My main comment after last years race was that it would be a fantastic racing course. Dependent on the field it appears that there are numerous guys around my ability, so it would be a shame not to get stuck in.

Or should I jsut go for the training effect... I think I'll see how it pans out on the day. Conditions look perfect

C • Race it 1

Pre work plod around holmebrook, pleased to see that icing and compression had significantly improved my calf, but it was still sore as the run progressed.

Blue skies when I set off but good old BBC weather got it right and the rain jacket which felt overkill saved me. Very painful cold hail and headwind on the way back was not fun, but woke me up

Out and back on the canal to save the calf a bit. Sore towards the end with some post track DOMS.

Getting a bit nervous and excited for Sheff Half now. Pretty sure I'm out of the running to retain my title, but looking forward to a blast out.

Knackered when I woke up. Left calf tight. Set off to do an easy one but decided to get to work early and get some work done- will just build the miles this week...

Calf better initially but tightened when warming up. Carried on as I think its neural (no issues on Sundays long run) but woke up with it after a very long day sat down on the coach to and form Wembley.

Session of 6 x 1600/2mins with Andy C. Paces initially were decent but things slowed halfway through.

Bit of a wind, but hopefully it is just a post rest period dip. That would be a good sign, but if its a continuation of the dip in form pre Cardiff....

Anyway,

4.52, 4.51, 4.53, 4.57, 4.59, 4.59

Incidentally HR higher than normal, which hopefully suggests a sign of unfitness rather than fatigue

Knackered from a long,but fun, day at Wembley. Woke up with a tight left calf

Planned rest day

Was gonna take today as a rest day but thought I better get 13 miles in the legs before Sheff.

Off to wemberly today to watch the super reds with my old man so set the alarm for 4.45 for a faster long run. Didn't consider the darkness factor and didn't bring the head torch, so it consisted of 2 boring out and backs through not very nice areas from my parents house in Barnsley.

Sat on the coach now and every one around ME appears to have a cold. Excellent!

C • Barnsley... 1

Ah, the Road relays. I have a love/hate relationship with this event "(in both of its guises).

I spend the weeks leading up to it ruing the fact that I have to do it. We're often the bridesmaids (if that) and more often than not it falls on a period where the following week I have a major target race, or it comes immediately after a period of rest.

This weeks race came after a 4 day break (shortened to allow some running pre-relays. Fortunately I didn't bury myself at Cardiff once I'd realised it was most certainly not to be my day.

My legs have been relatively good on the return to running but still have niggles in the usual places. I was a bit anxious as to how today would go.

On the warm up it was clear that the course was quite cool with challenges to suit everyone. We knew we were outside the medal hunt, so the pressure was off and I was actually looking forward to racing. (As is always the case at the road relays, its very rare I don't enjoy it).

I set off with another runner from Sunderland (I think). I quickly rounded him and cracked on up the hill. My first mile came in at 5.00, which I was pleased with, but the second was 5.22, despite feeling like I was going ok. I didnt want to get carried away, not knowing really where my shape is now so tried to keep it constant and stay strong.

I caught a few more men, but I was unsure how many were on the same leg as me (turns out only 2 were). Towards the final hill, Keith informed me that Sale were just ahead, so I got as close to their man as I could for Connor to chase.

All in all, I was pleased with todays run and really enjoyed it. The course was good, but I didn't find it was as easy to socialise here as say Sutton Coldfield. I though my run was strong and, importantly I felt rested, so hopefully I can push on from here.

I thought results wise the team did great despite missing 3 of our star men, but everyone who turned out put a strong run in.

As for my feelings about the road relays. When I planned my season i didn't envisage us developing into the squad we have (although I had my suspicions). Next year we should be in the hunt for medals in XC and road relays and I will be structuring my plans accordingly.

Andy and I plan to encourage everyone to do the same as this could be the beginning of a glorious period for the club

On another note, I've got wind of some good guys turning out at Sheff half next week. My initial plan was to run a similar effort to last time, but it is tempting to go with the race unless A N Kenyan rocks up. We shall see. Priority is getting the mileage back up so dont wanna go crazy

C • Sheffield half 5

Took annual leave to get to my folks early and get a run in (staying there to break the Sunderland journey up.

Sadly we hit a massive traffic jam and Sophie has a chest infection so with constant hacking she inevitably puked up everywhere, delaying the journay as daddy cleaned her and the car on the hard shoulder.

Delayed my run and in the end I couldnt be arsed farting about to add on to the planned 9 miles.

Love running around Wintersett.