bad race

This morning was a shambles.

The original plan was to run for an hour but include a local 5k race.  But with the slight recurrence of ankle pain a couple of days ago I decided to only run for 50 minutes but still include the 5k race.

But ... for reasons totally beyond my control [traffic problems and Fay being ill] I arrived late and missed the start by at least 20 minutes.  Never mind, I thought, I can still run a quicker than usual 5k which will be good training if nothing else.

And then, after about 1.8k I took a wrong turn.  Unbelievable.  Today was just getting worse.  I continued and eventually got back on the correct route.  Back at home, looking at a map, I can see that I probably ran about 60m short.

And so to the times.  I knew that my official time would be of no use whatsoever but I had set myself a tentative target of running the 5k in about 22:30.  Using my stopwatch I ran the first kilometre in a quick 4:11 - slightly downhill and chasing people.  I didn't time the next three kilometres (the wrong turn would have made the second and third km wrong anyway) but the final one was timed at 4:35.

I stopped my watch at 22:11 but have adjusted that to 22:27 which is my slowest ever timed 5k.

Officially my time was 45:17 which is my slowest ever time in a 10k race.

Yes, you read that correctly.

Anyway ... a fun exercise in fairly bad weather.  The time was OK too.  And the ankle held up better than expected so I've decided my next training runs should be:

Monday 11 March ... 50 minutes
Wednesday 13 March ...50 minutes
Friday 15 March ... 60 minutes
Sunday 17 March ... 60 minutes

and then, on 19 March, back to alternating running and walking (10 minutes at first) but on two consecutive days before a recovery day.  This is six days later than planned but I don't want to rush things - a proper, long term, recovery is needed.

now what ?

Today's run was not good.

Apart from it feeling unusually difficult to run for 50 minutes my ankle began hurting about 5 - 6 minutes before the end.  Now, it could be that the course was not as flat as my recent routes.  Or it could be that, at the moment, 50 minutes is my limit.

Or maybe it's just a blip.  After icing the area and taking some extra protein I got some advice from the physio.

The suggestion is that, for the moment, I should continue so long as it isn't debilitating.  The problem is that ultra distance runners have a different perception of pain to the rest of the population ...

Will listen extra carefully to my body for the next few days.

40 minutes ... and a UK team

On Friday, and today, I ran for 40 minutes.  Non stop.  I managed 7.6 km and 7.8 km respectively but the pace wasn't important in the slightest.

The important thing was that that 40 minutes was the longest time I've been able to run since last September. Although 24 hours is a bit longer than 40 minutes.

Feeling good at the moment though.  And next there's 50 minutes on Tuesday and Thursday and then 60 minutes on Saturday - which will incorporate a 5k race.

And now I can also begin strength training with the legs.  Very small weights at first though, but it is progress.

The UK team for the European Championships 100km has recently been announced and I was amazed to find that no men have been selected.  Four women but no men.  After thinking about this for a few days perhaps the reasons are:

- the Anglo Celtic Plate 100km is only weeks before the European Championships
- qualifying times are not easy to come by, especially as there are very few 100k races in this country
- few races partly because of the increased difficulty in staging road races (stringent licencing requirements, etc)
- few races also because ultra trail races seem to be ever more popular, more people enjoy those apparently
- many runners capable of achieving the required standard would rather run an enjoyable ultra trail race in the UK than a long road race abroad

I'm not sure what can be done to reverse this trend but I do believe we should be represented (men and women) in all championship events.  Congratulations to Emma Gooderham, Susan Harrison, Karen Rushton and Helen Taranowski.

thoughts for today

This morning, for the first time since last August, I went somewhere and ran home.  Only 30 minutes mind but it's a start ... slowly getting back to normal.

Not that many people think I'm normal in any way.  But that's OK with me.

Fay was going shopping this morning in Guiseley (about 6 km from here) so she suggested buying me a coffee before I left her to run home.  Brilliant idea.

And talking about ideas ... I've decided to run the Leeds 5k parkrun on 9 March and Fay has already agreed to resume her role as 'bag person'.  I'm due to run for 60 minutes on that day anyway so I can easily incorporate a 5k run at a slightly faster pace than normal !!!

And in early May Fay and I have decided to have short walking holiday in the Yorkshire Dales to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary.  We were talking over a couple of cups of coffee (one each, of course ...) this morning and we decided that there's no real need for us to spend a fortune just because we've been married 25 years.  Twenty five is no different really to 24 or 26 and there's no doubt we'll be together for a long time to come.  Barring accidents and illnesses of course.

what's going on here

The ten minutes I spent running yesterday proved to be quite strange.  After all the recent snow, rain and cold weather it turned out to be very sunny and quite warm.  But what was even more remarkable was that I lost some weight.

I know, I know ... losing weight whilst running isn't unusual, but losing 0.54 kg (1.2 lb) in ten minutes is very strange.

That's a sweat rate of almost 3 litres per hour.  In February.

So what's going on ?  I've no idea but at least I'm losing some of the small amount of extra weight I've accumulated in the past five months.

Also, between now and mid June, to help with motivation during rehab, I'm allowed to enter a few short races (no longer than an hour) on two conditions. 1) I don't overdo things ... 2) I don't run at all on the following day.

Expect the first race to be in March.  No personal bests though ... not even an attempt.

progression ... at last

Went back to the physio today and the good news is that the ankle is still improving and my running (!), cycling, etc has not made things worse.

Which means that I have permission to progress as follows:

when I can manage 60 minutes of alternating running and walking every other day ...
I can run continuously, increasing from 10 minutes to 60 minutes, every other day, then ...
I alternate running and walking, 2 days out of 3, increasing from 10 minutes to 60 minutes, then ...
running continuously, 2 days out of 3, increasing from 10 minutes to 60 minutes, then ...
alternating running and walking, 3 days out of 4, increasing from 10 minutes to 60 minutes, then ...
running continuously, 3 days out of 4, increasing from 10 minutes to 60 minutes, then ...

alternating running and walking, 4 days out of 5, increasing from 10 minutes to 60 minutes, then ...
running continuously, 4 days out of 5, increasing from 10 minutes to 60 minutes, then ...

I can begin 'normal' training.

In the meantime I have to continue the rehab exercises for a few more months, at least.  But I can start again with the leg strength exercises ... squats, lunges, etc.  Obviously with light weights at first and not many reps.

Things are looking up now.  But there's still a long way to go.

Many thanks to James Sneath for all his help with understanding the injury and especially for teaching me how to manage it and which things will help and which will make it worse.

not much news here

Not a lot has been happening here in Wharfedale recently.  It must be true because yesterday a reporter from the local newspaper telephoned for a chat to find out about my future plans ... post injury.

He had been reading this blog and knew about the injury but we had a long chat anyway.  About possible plans for this year and next, and training, and the planning that goes into racing very long distances - nutrition, pacing, etc., and why ultra distance runners don't have such a high profile ...

And one or two other running related things.  Not sure when, and if, anything will appear in print.  Depends whether anything more important happens locally I suppose.

I know at the moment I'm only running every other day but using my usual percentage scoring system I reckon the worst run has been about 98% (where 0 is almost impossible to run and 100 is no pain whatsoever).  So I'm feeling really good at the moment.

But running on consecutive days is a different prospect and I'll wait until I've seen the physio again (12 February) before I try that.

Right now though I feel as if I'll be able to take part in an ultra race in the autumn.  No promises though ...

change here ... for recovery

Haven't posted for a while because nothing has happened here really.  Except that I've been reading an awful lot about weight training ... how heavy, how many, how frequent, etc.  More about that in a future post in the not too distant future.

In the meantime my gout medication was changed earlier this week and I was also prescribed a different rehab regime.  It seems I have been doing not enough passive stretching and far too many eccentric achilles stretches.  225 per day instead of the recommended 90 and that has probably been having a negative affect on my knee causing a patella tracking problem in the left leg.

So now I also have straight leg quadriceps stretches to do three times per day.  But I can also run ... every other day.  Starting at the beginning again with alternating 5 minutes running with the same amount of walking for a total of ten minutes.

Tomorrow morning.

As far as I'm concerned though there's no rush to get back to full fitness so long as it is FULL fitness.

Oh well ...

On Tuesday morning I had a routine appointment with the physio to assess how the first month or running had gone.  After an extensive examination and some tests I was disappointed to learn that four weeks or so of light running has been making things slightly worse with my ankle.

Having recently being diagnosed with gout hasn't helped and the medication for that will probably have to be changed but have no doubt ... I will be back running the races I love.  And that means those that are at least 100 miles (161 km) in length.

Shit happens sometimes I guess ... but cancer had two failed attempts at stopping me so I'm sure I can beat this one too.

Things have obviously not gone too well for me over the past few months but maybe typing out the following song lyric will make me feel a bit better:

LA CONNECTION (Rainbow - 1978)

Carry home my broken bones and lay me down to rest

Forty days of cries and moans

I guess I've failed to pass the test

I've been sent away not a thing to say

I'm banished from the fold

I'm a fallen angel who's lost his wing and left out in the cold

Right now I seem to have a lot of early Whitesnake songs (1978 to 1980) on my mp3 player when I'm cycling.  I guess I'm WALKING IN THE SHADOW OF THE BLUES ... but, you know what,  I AIN'T GONNA CRY NO MORE.

recent happenings

Keir has now returned to University in Coleraine, Northern Ireland.  We were a bit worried about him travelling alone through Belfast when there is quite lot of trouble there at the moment.

He was due to arrive at about 9.00pm and we had asked him to text us when he arrived.  At 10.30pm we still hadn't had a message and we were, by now, starting to get concerned.  Half an hour later we sent him a text knowing that he almost always replies within a couple of minutes.  Another thirty minutes passed and we decided to not go to bed until we had heard from him ... or at least knew what had happened.

Within ten minutes of that decision he phoned to say that he had forgotten to send a text [teenager speak for 'stop worrying'].

Running continues to progress, and slowly improve, which is pleasing.  Running non-stop for half an hour is quite tiring though !!!  Even at 8:30 per mile (5:17 per km).  I know that will soon get better though.

In the meantime Here's something I've recently found which addresses the issue of whether or not to eat/drink during training.  Over the past few years I've read lots of evidence and anecdotes which have been contradictory and seem to be inconclusive as to which is the better protocol.  For me this article by Andy DuBois clarifies everything nicely.

To finish this post I found something on the BBC news yesterday about a man who had recently received a hand transplant - the first in the UK.  And the hospital where the surgery was performed is only 10 miles (16 km) from here.  What caught my attention was that he needed a new hand because of complications arising from gout.  I'll make sure I take my medication and be a good patient.