Things appear to be falling into place as my training starts notching up again. Yesterday was perfect conditions to get out running in Perth with no winds, the sun out but far from scorching for this time of year.
My long run was supposed to be on Sunday but I couldn't wait till then! I worked out a course that I can run from home and into the city, around the bridges via east Perth and home again.... All up it was 21km and took 2:17:52 including drink breaks which I'm happy enough with as it was supposed to be slow.
Since there are so many bubblers to get a drink from on the way I didn't take any fluids along with me for the run. I stopped probably three times to catch a quick drink and at around the 18km mark took a Gu Vanilla Bean gel (that I carried in one of the pockets in my race ready shorts www.raceready.com )and washed it down. I've got no doubt that this helped in the last few km's giving my that extra edge. I hadn't had the vanilla before and didn't mind the taste or texture at all.
My muscles were pretty sore afterwards, and indeed in the last 2 km but later in the evening hardly felt anything lingering. Today I was itching to go out for another run and probably could have done just a recovery run but thought it best to give the joints a breather after such a long run on sat.
Over the course of the coming months I'll be increasing my distance for the long runs, with next week going for a 23km... after yesterday, I'm really looking forward to it!
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Sunday, July 8, 2007
A Great Weekend
My return to training over the last week, and particularly over the weekend is certainly giving me a great deal of confidence. On Saturday I wanted to get back to where I was prior to my knee injury and set out for a 15km from home around the bridges and back again. I didn't feel puffed at any stage and not really any soreness either as I finished at an avg 6.20 pace.
With a bit of icing, compression in the skins and elevation, I hardly would have known that I'd just gone the distance feeling no niggles whatsoever.
Initially I had planned on resting today but after catching the last few runners in the Perth marathon and feeling so good I set out for a 12km run. About half of this run in the afternoon was along some of the marathon course as I saw the markers still there by the side of the track, and a good 20 or so Gu wrappers too.
The weather wasn't very good, but as I indicated in my last post, the rain is actually pretty grounding and didn't annoy me in the slightest. I was keen to extend it out to another 15km but thought it probably wasn't the best idea for my body.
Avg'd 6.05 pace for this run and sitting here after a tasty sunday night roast am very pleased that again I feel no soreness anywhere. For me at least it really does appear that the orthotics are what I needed all along and have no regrets spending the $$ on them now.
As much as I want to do some running tomorrow I think with the km's I have done over the last few days my body really does need a rest and will resume on Tuesday night, with some cross training, ie cycling to work to even things out.
Congrats to all that went in the marathon today! I hope to join you next yr.
With a bit of icing, compression in the skins and elevation, I hardly would have known that I'd just gone the distance feeling no niggles whatsoever.
Initially I had planned on resting today but after catching the last few runners in the Perth marathon and feeling so good I set out for a 12km run. About half of this run in the afternoon was along some of the marathon course as I saw the markers still there by the side of the track, and a good 20 or so Gu wrappers too.
The weather wasn't very good, but as I indicated in my last post, the rain is actually pretty grounding and didn't annoy me in the slightest. I was keen to extend it out to another 15km but thought it probably wasn't the best idea for my body.
Avg'd 6.05 pace for this run and sitting here after a tasty sunday night roast am very pleased that again I feel no soreness anywhere. For me at least it really does appear that the orthotics are what I needed all along and have no regrets spending the $$ on them now.
As much as I want to do some running tomorrow I think with the km's I have done over the last few days my body really does need a rest and will resume on Tuesday night, with some cross training, ie cycling to work to even things out.
Congrats to all that went in the marathon today! I hope to join you next yr.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
On the road again
Last night it was time to put my recovery to the test so I set out to do the bridge to bridge 10km in sth Perth. Wearing my new orthotics, my knee still freshly taped from Monday's visit to the pysio I took off...
For the first few km's it felt like I was flying, it was quite different to my w'end run as everything seemed to be flowing so smoothly. I started to think to myself about the orthotics and indeed I could feel quite a bit of pressure on my arches as I pounded down each foot.
After a while my mind wandered to other things and to tell you the truth I hardly noticed them at all. It was a dark and stormy night with the wind howling, and the rain coming down almost horizontally with the wind trying to get under my cap. I was pleasantly surprised to see probably 10 runners all up on the run, kind of a reaffirmation that I wasn't going crazy doing this sort of thing.
Having said that, it was really quite invigorating being at one with the elements and made me feel alive again after being stuck behind a computer all day. I lifted the tempo a little over the last 1km and was really happy that my body carried me the distance without much of a problem.
Sitting here 24 hrs later I have hardly any soreness at all to report except for probably just a 1-2% dull ache in the knee which seems to be getting better every day.
It is early days so far, but I am really really happy with how the orthotics have helped align my body and somewhat correct the biomechanics. It will probably take a long run on the weekend and a few more weeks to truly ascertain the effectiveness of them, but at the moment I couldn't be happier! It really did feel like I was running the way I was meant to be. I guess everyone has different shaped feet and the way they supinate, over pronate, or just go neutral doesn't necessarily mean they are the answer... for me however on just a couple of runs, they are (...i think :)
In hindsight I probably could have gone for an off the shelf inner sole approaching the $100 mark to try first, but I was stubborn in a way and thought that I may as well go for the custom ones and fork out the $$$ in hope they would work. The good news is that I really do think they are. I have been wearing them around the house over the last two weeks and after my run have no blisters, admittedly though there is a slight discomfort on my arches which my podiatrist said will go away and I won't notice them at all. Oh yeah and about the squeakiness, talcum powder works a treat!
I'll keep you posted in the coming weeks with a bit more of a conclusive analysis, but at the moment it's so great to be on the road again!
For the first few km's it felt like I was flying, it was quite different to my w'end run as everything seemed to be flowing so smoothly. I started to think to myself about the orthotics and indeed I could feel quite a bit of pressure on my arches as I pounded down each foot.
After a while my mind wandered to other things and to tell you the truth I hardly noticed them at all. It was a dark and stormy night with the wind howling, and the rain coming down almost horizontally with the wind trying to get under my cap. I was pleasantly surprised to see probably 10 runners all up on the run, kind of a reaffirmation that I wasn't going crazy doing this sort of thing.
Having said that, it was really quite invigorating being at one with the elements and made me feel alive again after being stuck behind a computer all day. I lifted the tempo a little over the last 1km and was really happy that my body carried me the distance without much of a problem.
Sitting here 24 hrs later I have hardly any soreness at all to report except for probably just a 1-2% dull ache in the knee which seems to be getting better every day.
It is early days so far, but I am really really happy with how the orthotics have helped align my body and somewhat correct the biomechanics. It will probably take a long run on the weekend and a few more weeks to truly ascertain the effectiveness of them, but at the moment I couldn't be happier! It really did feel like I was running the way I was meant to be. I guess everyone has different shaped feet and the way they supinate, over pronate, or just go neutral doesn't necessarily mean they are the answer... for me however on just a couple of runs, they are (...i think :)
In hindsight I probably could have gone for an off the shelf inner sole approaching the $100 mark to try first, but I was stubborn in a way and thought that I may as well go for the custom ones and fork out the $$$ in hope they would work. The good news is that I really do think they are. I have been wearing them around the house over the last two weeks and after my run have no blisters, admittedly though there is a slight discomfort on my arches which my podiatrist said will go away and I won't notice them at all. Oh yeah and about the squeakiness, talcum powder works a treat!
I'll keep you posted in the coming weeks with a bit more of a conclusive analysis, but at the moment it's so great to be on the road again!
Monday, July 2, 2007
...and I'm back.
It's been an agonizing fortnight as a combination of my sore knee and a cold put things on hold. I never would have thought that not being able to run for two weeks would put such a dampener on things as I felt somewhat like the Perth weather of recent times.
The sun however has come out and after two weeks of physiotherapy, icing, stretching and just rest I managed to get out for a little 5 km'er yesterday. I definitely could have gone further but thought it would be best to start small again.
The good news is that I pulled up with no niggles at all, and the remaining 2% or so soreness in my knee didn't flare up. I will probably resume running every second day gradually increasing back to what I was doing pre injury and fingers crossed I do hope to start getting along to the runs in the hills pretty soon. I'm thinking as you said Jon, towards the end of the month. Around that time I also would like to regularly join the wed night wamc runs too.
Oh yes...my orthotics which I finally picked up were part of my comeback run yesterday. I'll give an update on how I think they are going after wednesdays run.
... it's so good to be back, fingers crossed I don't go back to the injury basket any time soon.
The sun however has come out and after two weeks of physiotherapy, icing, stretching and just rest I managed to get out for a little 5 km'er yesterday. I definitely could have gone further but thought it would be best to start small again.
The good news is that I pulled up with no niggles at all, and the remaining 2% or so soreness in my knee didn't flare up. I will probably resume running every second day gradually increasing back to what I was doing pre injury and fingers crossed I do hope to start getting along to the runs in the hills pretty soon. I'm thinking as you said Jon, towards the end of the month. Around that time I also would like to regularly join the wed night wamc runs too.
Oh yes...my orthotics which I finally picked up were part of my comeback run yesterday. I'll give an update on how I think they are going after wednesdays run.
... it's so good to be back, fingers crossed I don't go back to the injury basket any time soon.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Longest run to date
Hopefully the title of this post will be a regular feature here in the coming weeks as I work my way up.
I went out for my longest run so far 15.2km which I ended up doing in 1:36 on Sunday afternoon.... and now, I'm paying the price!
To my delight the left achilles which has really been bothering me over the last few weeks came out feeling fine, the pain however decided to relocate two feet up my left leg to my knee. Ouch! I am still able to ride to work as I just use my right leg to turn the wheels over but the motion still causes some pain.
I'll probably take most of this week off running hoping that the rest will be good enough and I can avoid getting it checked out at a doctor... friday aka 'orthotic pick up day' can't come soon enough.
I went out for my longest run so far 15.2km which I ended up doing in 1:36 on Sunday afternoon.... and now, I'm paying the price!
To my delight the left achilles which has really been bothering me over the last few weeks came out feeling fine, the pain however decided to relocate two feet up my left leg to my knee. Ouch! I am still able to ride to work as I just use my right leg to turn the wheels over but the motion still causes some pain.
I'll probably take most of this week off running hoping that the rest will be good enough and I can avoid getting it checked out at a doctor... friday aka 'orthotic pick up day' can't come soon enough.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Orthotics are a go!
After a visit with my podiatrist this afternoon I was recommended and accepted the option of getting some custom fit orthotics. I initially have mixed feelings about this, somewhat the money aspect, ie $595!!!!! that includes the few visits to my pod as well, but also as a few people I have seen around the traps mentioning that they get your body totally reliant on them which may prove a problem in the future.
However, on a positive note, it appears to be that approximately %70 of those that have subscribed to such measures have reported a substantial decrease in injury with their running. It's with this confidence that I am actually looking forward to getting my hands on them so I can start kicking out the km's I've been wanting to over the last month.
Next Friday I will get the chance to pick them up and have them fitted to my Kayanos, though he did say I can move down to the 2120's which will make my bank account a lot healthier with the next pair of shoes that I need to buy. I always envisioned that getting my cast done would involve putting my feet into some massive white boxes 30cm x 30cm for some reason, but it turned out to be nothing more than a little dip in the water of some fabric with the cast that he moulded by hand around each foot.
Taking my pod's advice I'll drop my km's over the next week both in length and intensity which is quite the opposite of what I really want to do but I'm sure it'll be better in the long run. I'm itching to get my hands on these plasticy/rubbery things that'll hopefully correct my bio-mechanical probs and let me get back to what I really love doing the most.
However, on a positive note, it appears to be that approximately %70 of those that have subscribed to such measures have reported a substantial decrease in injury with their running. It's with this confidence that I am actually looking forward to getting my hands on them so I can start kicking out the km's I've been wanting to over the last month.
Next Friday I will get the chance to pick them up and have them fitted to my Kayanos, though he did say I can move down to the 2120's which will make my bank account a lot healthier with the next pair of shoes that I need to buy. I always envisioned that getting my cast done would involve putting my feet into some massive white boxes 30cm x 30cm for some reason, but it turned out to be nothing more than a little dip in the water of some fabric with the cast that he moulded by hand around each foot.
Taking my pod's advice I'll drop my km's over the next week both in length and intensity which is quite the opposite of what I really want to do but I'm sure it'll be better in the long run. I'm itching to get my hands on these plasticy/rubbery things that'll hopefully correct my bio-mechanical probs and let me get back to what I really love doing the most.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Recovery week and....Joggling
After the big race on Sunday I substantially dropped the amount of running this week. With only one midweek run of 5kms, and this morning I went out for a 12km. In coming posts I'll put up my regular running routes.
The other reason for dropping off the amount of running is because of an injury I've sustained over the last two weeks and saw a podiatrist about. That being achilles tendonitis which flares up on anything over 10km, though luckily went away completely in two days off. I've had it flare up twice now and the running over the next few days will probably determine whether or not orthotics are on the cards.
I have another appointment with my podiatrist next Wednesday afternoon which will probably leave me $500 or even more worse off depending on his recommendation!! Here's hoping it was just part of my body getting used to the longer distances.
Now what's this all got to do with Joggling? Actually what the heck is joggling? That's exactly what I was thinking when I went to watch this video from last week. No hints from me, you will have to watch it yourself :) Joggling
The other reason for dropping off the amount of running is because of an injury I've sustained over the last two weeks and saw a podiatrist about. That being achilles tendonitis which flares up on anything over 10km, though luckily went away completely in two days off. I've had it flare up twice now and the running over the next few days will probably determine whether or not orthotics are on the cards.
I have another appointment with my podiatrist next Wednesday afternoon which will probably leave me $500 or even more worse off depending on his recommendation!! Here's hoping it was just part of my body getting used to the longer distances.
Now what's this all got to do with Joggling? Actually what the heck is joggling? That's exactly what I was thinking when I went to watch this video from last week. No hints from me, you will have to watch it yourself :) Joggling
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