Hmmm pregnancy hormones cause havoc

Seems like the pregnancy hormones are still coursing around my system, finding it hard to recover from relatively short runs of 5-6km, both muscles and joints seem stiff and achey days after.

Have suspended running for a week, and have soley cycled – which of course I’m also not used to.

Run from home to Big Ben and back is 5.7km (3.5m), maybe too far along with taking up cycling again and breastfeeding and going back to work – I think I need more cake :-)

Considering keeping things under 10k for the time being, perhaps switch to the Harvest Trail 10km only rather than the 10miler. No denying that I’m finding it harder than I thought to get back into things…

2010 Back to running!

Early 2010 saw me dust off my Puma Prances and run (*cough*walk*cough) the Medecins Sans Frontieres 5km Charity Run in March. Pelvic floor still flaky but I managed not to disgrace myself :o Training is hard with a small baby that is being breastfed (not to mention to F-cup boobs) and running falls to the wayside post run.

June 2010 decide that I would definitely like to run Clarendon again and use Runners World SmartCoach to draw up an easy training schedule in the next 16weeks.

Training Schedule: Carendon2010.pdf

Easy 2 miler around my area [GMAP 2 miler route]

Have been running c1mile every other day and aside from large chest, I still feel in good shape. Nipper starts at the childminder this week so will be able to stary cycling & swimming for regularly too, as well as taking some time on Saturdays to do my Core DVD.

Not running, but planning for the next race next year…

Pregnancy has been somewhat more exhausting than expected. Up to 18 weeks today and E-Cup, no chance of squeezing into my sports bra :(

Still cycling and occassionally using the cross-trainer and swimming, but plan to utilise the following to sustain fitness:

1) continue to cycle c8 miles to work & back daily until can’t get on the racer, and then walk one way and bus home

2) watch (and do!) Prenatal Fitness Fix DVD

3) antenatal aqua-aerobics

4) Antenatal yoga

Would love to run next year’s Forest of Dean Half again (try for a new PB of 1:45!) and the Red Kite / Devils Race Challange 18 miler in mid-Wales, although this has a walking challange too. Hope that I can get back into form soon after the birth!

Remainder of 2008 and early 2009

Did I really last post in July?

POSE forefoot running technique: Had MRI scan on the dodgy knee in August and finally the prognosis is in:  Chondromalacia patellae after all! Dr mystified why it has started to manifest only now, even though I have been an active cyclist for the past 16 years, but anyway, visiting the physio will be of no use and a radical change in style is agreed by the consultant to be the most viable long term solution. Hence I have adopted (albeit not very religiously!) the POSE technique. Running now in Puma H-Streets (goodbye hideous Brookes!) and took time to build up tolerance and distance to change in biomechanics.

Harvest Trail: Royston, Herts, Sept o8:  Decided to run this on the morning of the race, relatively little distance training over the summer due to the start of the house renovations, so ran the baby 10K rather than the 10miler. Was absolutely gorgeous, the 10K was very under populated so mostly very quiet (after the 10milers peeled away over the hill) but the early race congestion meant I got in at 1:01. Bah, but a large part of the early race was over newly ploughed furrows so not easy going at all! Had a lovely time.  POSE technique is hard to maintain going down very steep muddy rough tracks so did switch to heelstrike (was running in the Inov-8) and definitely felt clumpy doing so, but otherwise didn’t struggle at all.

Hellrunner – Hell Down South: Hants Nov 08:  Appaulling lack of proper training, all time taken up with house renovation work and finally moving in but M was up for it and despite only having done around 6-7miles as a longest run, managed it with absolutely no trouble at all.  Perhaps because M was even less prepared than I and I had to pause often. Came in a VERY SLOW 2:20 *hangs head*, but completely covered in mud and a stupid grin on my face. Brilliant!

Didn’t run Gatliff Ultra 20K in December, the weather was completely awful and we were desperate to get the bathroom tiling completed :(

2009

Good News: I’m expecting! Not due until Sept so still very early but determined to continue to run as and when I can. This doesn’t actually happen until today, due to a combo of morning sickness (oddly absent today, trying not to feel anxious), snow, sleet and of course the ubiquitous renovation work. Went for an early morning 1miler to start me going again. So this will become a non-racing, running though pregnancy blog instead :D

1miler route: house to Vauxhall Station via Oval, down to Vauxhall Park, Fentiman Road and home

Felt very good to be running again, but concerned as to how to stretch out without over stretching now my ligaments are softened.

Here is a good article from Runner’s World: Two for the Road

http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/news/article.asp?UAN=286

Training, racing and resting

Training runs with A and mid-week to-work runs continued apace, occassionally coming foul of bad knee pain but nothing too long-lasting. Final 10miles around the S London 3 commons ended prematurely at Balham with a knee ache and a sulky bus ride home.

Week preceeding White Peaks was spent in Volos, central Greece where most of the training runs were  treking back and forth the long harbour and spur along the harbour breaker wall and around the beachside restaurants with the stray dogs! Got a bit teadious but did manage to get an 8mile tempo run it at mostly sub-8min miles and felt good. Last run was in the mountains, very hot and only saw a cyclist who winked at me on the way past :D

White Peaks

Did manage to get onto the half, and A was a star. She struggled a bit mid way, and I hated the long endless downhills (as did my quands and knees) but managed to get in a 1:55:24, which was pretty low in the rankings and race leader won in 1:15! Could have gone about 10mins faster but determined to get A in under 2hrs so was completely fantastic! Absolutely goregous scenery, great marshalling, post race facilities were fine, but overall didn’t like the monotony of the flatness and then single long dowhills.

[http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5802416]

Post race, iced the knee in the pub all afternoon and although was a bit achy was fine the next day. Landlady at the B& B in Stanton-Lees was crazy but whole weekend was really wonderful.

Since race in mid-May, haven’t run at all as wanting to start over with POSE technique which entails reading book, watching DVD and starting drills. Have read half of book and started on drills but very tempted to take old running shoes to Kythera tonight so as to enjoy the gorgeous trails around the mountains and olive groves…

Did however cycle nearly 70miles for the CARA cycle challenge, which was interesting if not exhausting. Interesting insight into mental (but not physical) fatigue and ebbing away of stamina. Wondered if that was what 7hrs of running would feel a bit like from an emotional point of view. Or would knackered legs hurt too much to notice?!

Have seen orthopaedic consultant at Guys who is thinking that its tendonitis in the knee but the xray shows nothing out of the ordinary. Am now awaiting for an MRI scan for further analysis.

Would very much like to run the Harvest Trail 10miles in Herts, 21st Sept, hope POSE will see me through?!

Also http://www.runthemoose.com/ looks great and hopefully KD will be a team mate!

Good week for running (bad for property)

As a counter-balance to the self-fulfilling ‘housing crisis’, my running has gone a-ok.

Tuesday: 4miles, Thursday: 5miles and Sunday 8.5miles, all at 10m/m.

Slow but steady.

Will try some tempo runs this mid-week and hope the knee holds.

Have purchased POSE book and DVD from here: http://www.posetech.com/services/olegtimoshin.html, and a pair of Puma H Streets from ebay in the States. Lets hope this will see the end of my knee-niggles…

Plan 10miles next week: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1817054

Slog back to dubious recovery

Pulled out from Marathon, and will run the half instead at White Peaks. Knee too unreliable and course is far too isolated and could mean hobbling for some time before being rescued and returned to car / husband / food.

Physio and podiatrist NOW decide that my right leg is functioning 2-3mm longer than my left and over-pronation a result of right leg needing to move around more. Disappointed it has taken this long for the diagnosis, given I’ve been going there for 5+months but then I did refuse to see the podiatrist all that time ago. Again, cutting corners does not make sense in the long run.

Podiatrist pops a 3mm insole in my left shoe and work shoe to wear all the time, warning knees and hips could be achy. Thus far, no problem in no runs. First LSR with insole: 16miler cut short to a barely managed 8miles around hyde park and hobble back on the bus, no running all week, LSR around Clapham, and manage 2.5miles before pain starts up. Remove the insole and run another 3miles to make 5.5miles. Still achy and no time to ice and rest as moving furniture around to put flat on market. Whilst there is a housing crisis :(

LSR with insole: today concurrent to the FLM for the first time with Anne: A rainy windy 7miles around the 3 S London commons and knee grumbly only at the very end. Did take 2x400mg ibuprophen pre-run and may have helped, aslo swimming core and pilates all week. Have stopped doing single leg bridge and was making hamstring sore (and physio commented it was tight), so just clamshellx75 with resistance band and single leg squat.

Have been sent to get xray on knee and GP to refer to orthopaedic – 11week wait.

ForeFoot Running (POSE technique)

curious about how potentially useful this is, seems to resolve some peoples constant pains in knee and hips. Much smaller shoes (running flats) and needs to start to retrain running gait all over from beginning:

RW forum for POSE

Video I

Video II (Trail Running and POSE)

POSE technique homepage

POSE guru book

Five-toed rubber sock-shoes :D

Barefoot Ted Ultra runner blog

Knee Blow-Up The Second

First run post FoD half was on Friday; a 6.5mile run at c9:30m/m. No problems, not in the hips nor knees.

Yesterday run on a snowy Easter Sunday planned to do 12miles, sticking to 10m/m but at 5.5miles, right knee completely blew up, very sore even to walk on. Had to get a taxi back from Tower of London!

Lesson to learn: Once race a half, start training at least 2 weeks later and as if a novice runner: slow short runs. This implies NO halfs during marathon schedule.  Will almost certainly have to pull out of White Peaks… :(

Forest of Dean – Race Report

Excellent PB achieved for this trails half: 1:51. Very pleased, given how achy the right hip had been.

Parkend itself took around 3.5hrs drive from London but the B&B had really lovely staff and a good pub next door for a big dinner the night before. Right hip was achy but brought the Foam Roller of Pain to roll about on.

15min delay to the race start time meant I became quite chilly in the damp and wind. The first 2-3miles were quite crowded and particularly muddy where parts of the course had flooded with all the stormy wet weather we’ve had. After the field thinned out, I fell in behind a woman who had a really steady pace of c8:30 and I stuck like glue to her but we didn’t talk until after the finish. No pain in either knee and hip pain emerged at c3miles and went away, not bothering me again. Consumed (and nearly choked) on mini-mars-bar and some jelly babies en-route drinking half water cups at stations (saw a woman pour half a cup of water over her head despite the rain!). Post-race ate too many pretzels and felt a bit sick, and none of the malt cake.

Also used 3 Deep Freeze cold patches on right hip and both quads and had some kind of nauesous reaction a few hours later. Don’t like sitting in a long car journey after but nice to relax and G’s parents for a few days.

Scenery wasn’t brilliant at FoD, not as beautiful as Clarendon but then not as hilly either. Indeed course felt like there were a few steep sections and lots of long gentle downhills so a good fast course! Inov-8s did well.

Garmin data here: MotionBased

G didn’t take any nice photos, must be sure to get some post-WhitePeaks. 16miler due on Sunday but will instead run 10miles and save the 16 for weekend after. Details on racing a half in the lead up to a full marathon [here], including:

“I would say an eyeballs out half in March is a good idea. As pointed out above, it’s probably the best indicator of your marathon potential and as such provides a good way to determine the right pace for the marathon. In terms of recovery time, I think it very much depends how well trained you are and the sort of mileage you do on a regular basis. If you’re doing high mileage and have been doing regular tempo runs then I think you’ll be able to resume hard training by ~Thursday/Friday of the following week. The less well trained you are, the longer the recovery will take. Futhermore, as the half is done at race pace, by definition, a 13.1M tempo/threshold run, you’ll provide a very strong physiological stimulus to boost your lactate threshold (LT). Think it’s pretty much undisputed that the two most important determinants of marathon success are having a high LT and as much endurance as possible. For these reasons, I think you’re better off racing a half and forgoing the LSR run for that week. In terms of a 20M “race” pre-marathon. I’d agreed with Susie (and Pfitzinger and Douglas, and many other coaches for that matter) and think that it’s too far to race. However, it can be an excellent venue for a marathon pace (MP) training run provided that you don’t get carried away. Again, depending on how well trained you are, anything from 10-15M @MP can be an excellent session, with the benefit of mile markers, aid stations and “race conditions”. All these factors lead to a great rehersal for the big day. Again, expect to need a few days easy running after such an effort and try and choose a course that mimics the profile of the marathon so that you are using your legs muscles in the same way as you will during the marathon.”

Foam of Profanity

Tempo Run:

Went very well – post passage from physio, no pain for a 5miler (3 at tempo pace) in GTS6 with Soles.

Mile splits 10:35 (162bpm) / 8:56 (173bpm) / 8:25 (181bpm) / 8:56 (181bpm) / 9:57 (172bpm). And it was VERY windy indeed especially for the first three miles or so. Next run will be c4 miles easy so tapering for the race :D

More kit

Have bought into the hype that surrounds the foam roller for IT band stretches. Hurts like mad, but hope will end hip/knee aggro. Purchasable from Fitness First near Baker St tube.

YouTube demo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZIl0QxOgKc

http://www.coolrunning.com/forums/Forum11/HTML/009672.shtml

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=78237

http://www.diet-blog.com/archives/2008/02/18/the_mighty_foam_roller.php

Someones advice who gets down with the IT Band recovery: