A running rut

(credit: Cafe Press)

Reflecting on my training calendar, these last couple of weeks have been a bit odd. Not just physically but mentally too...

It all started post Adidas Thunder Run (you can read my race rundown here). My right ITB was really stiff and sore and I found I was very restricted to what exercise I could do. Running was a total no go, even cycling in the first few days so I made it my mission to rest up, blitz the foam roller and keep stretching. By Sunday, exactly one week after the race, I ventured out for a jog. It was slow and painful but I managed 5K. I didn't enjoy, it dragged and I was exhausted. 

It seemed in the space of a few weeks, I had gone from the fittest I had ever been, smashing Blenheim Palace Triathlon, to being what felt like a battered and bruised beached whale. By the following week, I was suppose to start training for the St Neots Sprint Triathlon in Sept but with my leg buggered, I was really worried I wouldn't be able to commit to the training plan I had devised. I've been told many a time that training hard on an injury is pointless. It will only get worse and the time it takes to heal will increase. So with a heavy heart, I decided to not proceed with the triathlon and instead focus on recovery and retrieving lost strength. 

The week following my meek 5K run, things did ever so slightly improve. I managed two short runs and whilst these were still slow, the pain had eased. The week after, I was back at my running club and evening managed 10K across Hampstead Heath! All these runs I had chosen to not go with my Garmin as they were more about focussing on distance rather than speed. However, by last Thursday, I was curious to see where I had ended up speed wise. So, I joined the 6am club and headed out on a 5K. First mile was a drag (8.48 minutes to be exact) but I did start to speed up, ending my last mile on a sub 8. My finishing time was 25.38. 

Seeing this flash up on my watch was disappointing. Whilst in my head I know I have had a) time off getting married and b) an injured leg, I really thought I was going to be faster. I am addicted to pace and speed and to see it all lost was upsetting.

Reaching this point has made me realise there is a lot of work to do. With my ITB looking to slowly be on the mend (fingers crossed!), there is no reason for excuses. I have let my training slip and I have now made it my aim to build up my running strength again. It is time for an overhaul and an opportunity to almost start fresh.

To keep on the right path, I have made a little action list which needs to be completed by Christmas:

Overcome injury

Run 13 miles comfortably

Enter two 10K races

Complete one cross country race 

Swim 1500m front crawl open water

These pointers are all positive steps to getting marathon ready for the start of 2016, taking into account cross training and decent recovery. With Brighton Marathon on the horizon, my focus now is to become physically and mentally ready to take on the big 26.2!

I'll keep you posted!

Lipstick Runner.

TRAINING UPDATE: Ticking over and planning dreams

I’m still injured and I am trying my absolute best to not let it get to me. There are days where I look outside at the summer sun and pine so bad to lace up and get running but realistically, this injury is worse than I thought.

It has been one month since Mizuno Endure24 and since my last Training Update, the pain in my right knee has definitely become more frequent and is making its show during runs sooner. Each weekend, I have attempted to head out for a jog praying I will be able to complete good distance (and by good, I am referring to at least 5K at the moment) but alas, I cannot even complete two miles before the familiarly strong, dull ache kicks in.

Of course, this does signal to me that something really isn’t right and I shouldn’t assume that it is just linked to my injury prone ITB. So as it stands, I am looking to seek some physio help for the very first time to learn what really is wrong with me and more importantly, how can I fix it!? I have also opted to pull out of Chippenham Half Marathon which I am GUTTED about but with it being just weeks away, I honestly feel like I won’t even be ready to shuffle 13.1miles, let alone run to my target pace of sub 8-minute miles.

Things haven’t totally gone to pot though. I have found that I am able to keep up cycling and swimming. Thank God otherwise I’d be going nuts! I cycle to work most days and I have managed at least two swims a week. During this period, swimming for me has been something I’ve discovered I'm actually fairly good at (sorry to boast). I have been heading to my local 25m pool and found myself to be one of the stronger swimmers in the lanes, even overtaking people! Wednesday just gone was also was an achievement for me as I reached the 800m mark in just over 25 minutes and to my surprise, I still had petrol in the tank.

So in all, whilst I cannot run and honestly feel like I have lost all signs of fitness in this field (I cannot remember the last time I ran over five miles) I have decided to start thinking about how I will start up again after I’m fixed.

Focus on my strengths

Before I was injured, I was dabbling in all sorts of distances. I love the challenge of getting those miles under my belt and building up endurance. My dream is to run London Marathon and I have tried a few half marathons to date to customise my body to distance running. Deep down though, I know I belong in the 5K/10K field. This is where I feel strong and dominant. I’m built for this type of running more so than marathons and so once I am able to get back out on road again, I will start to concentrate on these distances to build back up speed and strength. I cannot remember the last time I ran a parkrun (I’d say Christmas?) and my last decent 10K time was back in January so I am keen to find my feet again and get more involved in these sorts of races.

Set a challenge

Of course, if in October I get that much desired letter from Virgin London Marathon confirming a ballot entry, I will definitely, DEFINTELY switch to a training plan for this, no matter how fast or slow I am. However, as you may have noticed on my social media channels, I am incredibly curious to set myself another rather different challenge and that is in the form of a triathlon.

I just love watching triathlons on the TV. From the Brownlee’s storming it at London 2012, to the ITU World Championships (Jodie Stimpson, Non Stanford and USA’s Gwen Jorgenson are my faves) to just recently watching England dominate the singles and relay at the Commonwealth Games, I will watch it all, at home or on the go.

In the last six months, I have become more confident to dabble in this sport myself and now I have my shiny new road bike, all I need is a wet suit and I am good to go!

At the moment I am researching UK triathlon events and seeing which takes my fancy but I have decided to test the water and opt for a Super Sprint. The swim is the bit that daunts me the most so I want to start short and sweet. I’ve found Twitter a great help in learning more about this sport and have also picked up a copy of Triathlon Plus to get familiar with it.

Having this target for 2015 is what’s keeping me sane at the moment. Knowing that I have something to work towards and a project where I will start as a complete newbie does also reassure me for when I’m injury free and back on the road. I feel no pressure to beat any target and I thoroughly look forward to setting a new and very different challenge.

Weight Watcher!

As I am not running at the moment, I am noticing a erm…slight tum forming. I think this is due to me eating the same amount of food that I was consuming during the peak of my training. I need a food overhaul and VB6, which I blogged about in my last Fuel for Thought post, is definitely helping even if I may have slipped up this last week. But I have been working crap loads and when I am working long hours, I do reallllly struggle to maintain a routine.

As I am losing the luxury of high calorie burning through running, I need to ensure I cut my food intake and I have also decided to try and squeeze in core and glute strength exercises to keep the old bod toned (or close to being toned is more like it for me). Also, I get enough of my fiancé ‘casually’ mentioning ‘hey, why don’t you try and do some squats?’ so it’s safe to say my bum isn’t in tip top condition. Cheeky sod.

That's it for now but let’s hope next time, I actually have some ‘training’ to update you on. And maybe a perkier behind!


Lipstick Runner.

TRAINING UPDATE: ITB Troubles

The last couple of weeks have been what can only be described as ‘jumbled’. Half Marathon training was supposed to be worked around Mizuno Endure24, my biggest challenge to date, yet what has happened is well, not much.

In the week leading up to Endure24, as I mentioned in my last training update it was going to be a taper week. I had the time off work also so I spent it concentrating on getting my bike sorted for commuting and also seeing my fiancé, who had returned from a work trip.

By the time Endure24 came, I was energised and relaxed and managed to run four strong laps in the most horrific weather conditions (read my full review on the event HERE). The last lap was my toughest and I started to get a very familiar pain in my right knee. This was the sort of pain I had suffered a year previous and straight away I knew it was the dreaded return of the irritated ITB.

Iliotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS) first became a problem for me last September and came across in a weekend training run when I was running up a hill on Hampstead Heath. A very annoying, tight pain could be felt in the knee joint and for a good couple of weeks, I tried various stretches at home for knee related injuries. It wasn’t until I attempted a fast track session and pulled out in agony that my coach informed me that it was in fact not my knee but my Illiotibial Band I had triggered. Where the band runs from the pelvis and extends down over the knee, it has become almost ‘taught’ and was rubbing again my knee, causing inflammation and aches.

I was prescribed new stretches and a daily dose on a foam roller (at the time I used a Sprite bottle which works just as well!) and after a month or so, the pain decreased and eventually stopped. I did have to pull out of St Neots Half Marathon as that was at the peak of my ITB problems but I did manage to attempt Cabbage Patch 10 in a reasonable, yet slightly painful, 1.20.

So, going back to Endure24 on my final lap when that all too familiar knee ache kicked in, I knew exactly what I needed to do. This time, I have invested in a foam roller and have spent the last fortnight putting the right pressure on my ITB to almost loosen and relax the tension.

The week after Endure24, I did no running what so ever but I did start my cycling commute to work. I saw this as a great alternative for exercise and is less invasive on my knee than running. I also managed to squeeze in an evening at the local swimming pool so by Friday I was feeling ok(ish). 

Oh how I jinxed it.

Friday evening, my fiancé and myself took a nice evening walk after a meal out. During this walk (where I was wearing supportive trainers may I add), a searing pain appeared in the side of my left foot. This baffled me as I was merely strolling along a flat path but the feeling was very uncomfortable. I thought I may have trapped a nerve so went to bed that night thinking the pain would have subsided by the morning.

That weekend, I had another challenge to face in the form of the tough and very muddy obstacle course, Insane Terrain. Waking up on the Saturday and still feeling the dull, continuous ache in my foot I was a bit dubious about tackling this 10K course. After studying my foot for signs of swelling or bruising, to which there was none, I tried to shrug it off and ignore it. Travelling up to Peterborough, where Insane Terrain was taking place, I took some Nurofen to numb the pain slightly but by the evening, it has returned stronger. My friends Mum who is a nurse looked over it and after massaging it could feel a lot of tension and suggested that I drop out of the event on Sunday. I was gutted as my best friend had bought my place for my birthday and I felt awful letting her down, so the next morning we decided to opt for the 5K course and take it slow. Her Mum & Aunt were also taking part so it felt more of a team effort.

I won’t go into too much detail on Insane Terrian here as a Race Rundown will follow but I can reveal that it was actually a lot of fun. Despite crossing the line and smelling like a swamp, we were all in fits of giggles and actually, running it together proved to be more entertaining. The ankle held up, especially as I drugged myself with Nurofen again and even though I felt a bit battered from the course, I was still smiling.

This last week I have managed two runs and another full week of cycling to work and back. By Tuesday the foot and knee were feeling much better and were almost a distant ache and so I opted to go for a 5K. I don’t know if all this cycling is tiring me out or its where I haven’t ran properly for a couple of weeks, but I felt shattered! I managed an average of 8.15 minutes per mile but boy was it tough! The aches from my ITB also made a presence in the last 2K, signaling that perhaps my struggles weren’t gone for good.

On Thursday, I really wanted to head to my weekly track session as I had missed so much these last couple of weeks. Conscious that my strength and speed have suffered, the urge to go back out that, guns blazing is too fierce. However, my knee niggles weren’t far from my mind and instead of tackling a fast session with my club mates, I opted to go home and do my own speed session up on Ally Pally.

Ally Pally (Alexandra Palace) is a great place for fellow North London runners to head if they want to get a good training run in. If you want a run with a challenge, there is the big climb up to the Palace which gets the heart rate working but there is also a great flat straight if you want to concentrate on faster, shorter sessions.

This quiet pathway measures almost 400m so I find it is a great alternative to track training and the quietness and nature of the park is, to me, rather therapeutic. After a half mile warm up to the park, I did some drills before carrying out a session of 2x 800m at 5K followed by 4x 400m hard. It felt tough and when I got down to the 400m, the knee just about held up but I could definitely feel it was still hindering my performance. I then finished with a run home to complete 5K.

My splits confirm a loss in speed but I was surprised I managed to keep this pace despite everything that has unraveled these past few weeks. The half marathon training schedule on the fridge that I try to follow religiously is lacking in activity and I am worried how this will all contribute to my half marathon in September. I really don’t want a repeat of St Neots again and so I have decided to take it easy until my ITB has fully repaired. Injury, which I guess this is, is only temporary and half marathons can be run again and again. Whilst I am pining so bad for that glorious sub 1.45, keeping my body in correct working order is far more important.

For now, it’s all about getting in to the rhythm of cycling to work and introducing mileage over slower speeds. The less impact on my knee the better and so I hope to integrate some swimming sessions into my weeks (if work commitments allow) to help repair and build my ITB. I know what I can achieve and if I cannot reach that point at the moment, I know that one day, I will eventually reel back in my target pace.

This motivational message basically sums it up for me.

Lipstick Runner.