The last month

It has been a month since the NY marathon. I returned home and didn't run at all for almost 3 weeks, hoping to cure the ITBS.

I ran a short 3 mile circuit in a relatively quick time, perhaps 20 sconds slower than normal. However, afterwards and for the next few days I had hip pain with every step, as the leg compresses into the hip.

I waited 5 days and tried a 5 miles route. Same again, more hip pain.

This Sunday just gone I decided to take part in a 10k off road race that I have entered for the last 2 years running. Each time in the last 2 years I have had to stop many times due to my leg going totally numb from the knee down several miles into the run. This was sciatica I was told afterwards; it was the reason I got orthotics in my shoes in January this year. Since then I have had no more numbness. So despite not really running at all for a month, and still have this hip pain, I decided to try and do the event more justice. The event is the Newcastle Dales 10k, in Apedale country park. It was previously known as the 3 dales dash. The course had changed this year considerable, and no longer took in the 3 dales, just one - Apedale. I suspect this is cost-cutting, as they had to pay the police to stop traffic on the old course as the route crossed a main road. The course is much tougher now, and to be honest it's not as good. You were almost running back on yourself all the time. It felt like you were weaving about, and the organisers had really tried to wring a 10k out of too small an area.



The weather was awful. We'd had gale-force winds during the night and very heavy rain. The wind had died down a little by the morning, but it was still blustery. 170 people started the race, up about 40 from last year. They are mostly locally club runners. The route is all off road, some of it on compacted stones paths, woodland, grass and marshland. The race begins with a 150ft climb in the first half mile, enough to take the wind out of most people's sails. You then descend that 150Ft in the second half mile and then gain 200ft in the next mile or so. The route then slowly descends over the 4 miles before a truly awful hill half a mile before the end. See the map below. I kid you not when I say you are almost on your hands and knees. Did I mention it was muddy? Half way through the course had gone through a field and you were up to your ankles in mud and water for about the next mile. Your feet take on about a 1lb each I think, and keeping your balance is the main priority. So you end up runing with sodden, heavy feet for the last half of the race, only to end on this very steep and slippy climb just to finish you off before the end.

The course difficulty was reflect in the finishing times. The winner completed it 4 minutes slower than last year in 38 minutes ~(average 8:26 minute miles) I completed in just over 53 minutes, and 63rd place out of the 170. Not everyone finished. I saw one man being carried by others. He was in a lot of distress, and must have fallen very badly, umable to walk.

I was happy enough with that time, given the difficulty of the course. A normal road route 10k, I would have finished considerably faster. About 6 weeks ago I completed 7 miles in average 7:30 minute miles, so I would have knocked at least 6 minutes off that time.

Anyway, my hip is still hurting 2 days later, so I'm going to take it easy for the next few weeks, and work on strengthening my hip muscles. I'll do the odd run before Christmas, but then in the new year unveil my master plan for the MDS training.

New York Marathon Result

I arrived in NY and spent Friday afternoon and Saturday doing tourist things, and being careful what I ate and drank.

Sunday morning I got up just before 5am, spent 30 minutes taping up my toes and applying bodyglide, and cooking porrige in the coffee machine in the bathroom. I met up with the other runners from the 2:09 events ltd group at 6am in the lobby, and we walked to NY public library to catch a bus to the start. We queued for about 40 minutes and then took about an hour long bus ride to the start at Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island.

I ate a Go energy bar on the bus, and a half of one an hour before the start. I drank 400ml of PSP22 carb drink half an hour before the start, and had a Go gel minutes before the start. I wore my Pattstrap for the ITB and I had a gel belt on with 8 gels, one to have on each half hour. I also had a pouch to carry my gloves and hat when I got warm. I chatted to an American Tom Davies from Texas in the queue for the bus and stayed with him until the start. He was looking for a 4:45 finish, so we bidded each other good luck at the start line and I never saw him again. I checked on the website and he did a 4:44:56; talk about accurate predicition!



A large US Airforce plane, flew low and buzzed the crowd as the gun went to huge cheers from everyone. It took over 7 minutes for me to cross the start line, when I started my watch and GPS, hence the finish line clock didn't tally with my end time. Just as the gun went I also took a Tylenol 8 hour painkiller as a precaution. The race starts on a 150foot climb up one side of the Verazano-Narrows bridge and down the other side. The 3 different coloured race numbered participants run on seperate carriageways, but the route is nonetheless very congested. It was so crowded that the first mile took me over 10 minutes, and the second mile I was still averaging 9 and a half. At mile 4 one of the other race numbers merged with our side (blue race numbers) of the road making congestion even worse! It was mile 6 or 7 before I managed to pull the average mile back to 9:01 minute miles. At mile 8 the whole field merged, and it was again congested and my time slipped back to 9:12 for a couple of miles.

The crowd support through Brooklyn was amazing. Loud cheers, people high fiving (although I avoided to save energy), Fire trucks parked at the road with the firefighters on top etc. The first 10 miles passed by quickly, and easily. I'd read that the first 10 miles should feel easy if you set off at the right pace. So far so good I thought; I feel fine. I kept reassuring myself on route that it was all working out well and I felt fine and strong.

11 and 12, then half marathon 13 arrived. About mile 13 my legs felt a little heavy, but nothing serious. It was the first time I'd felt a little tired, but I was still OK. The route crossed briefly into Queens before going into the Queensbro bridge at mile 15. For a whole mile you are undercover. The bridge isn't normally open to pedestrian traffic, it's just a double-decker road. However it's narrow and we can only use one carriageway. There is about 1 mile long climb, some of it almost pitch darkness, before the steady descent down the other side and into Manhattan. I lost quite a bit of time as there was no room to pass slower people on that bridge. I emergerged into deafening cheers from the crowds at mile 16. I hadn't paid any attention to my GPS, and didn't really look at again until mile 17, just awed by the crowds.



This is where things went strange. I looked down at my watch and it said I was running 8:58 minute miles. I thought "No problem, maybe I just subconciously speeded up with the crowd noise". So I slowed down a little, but my time still kept dropping and I kept slowing until it went down to 8:50. I then looked at the distance and it was about half a mile behind the road markers. I then realised that the covered bridge had probably obscured the GPS signal and it had only picked up again when I emerged. However, I had been slowing down because of it time had been ticking by. It was mile 18 now, and maybe it was because I had started to slow up, or maybe it was my body running out of sugar, but I started to feel awful. I think it was a combination of the two perhaps. I slowed up still further. I almost felt a little detached, my left hand tingled too, I remember it doing that once in training. I'm sure it happens when I run out of carbs to burn and my body switches to the less efficient burning of fat stores.

Whatever it was I felt rough for abour 2 miles until we crossed ito the Bronx. I had to make a quick loo stop in a portacabin that prob lost me 40 secs or so, but it was necessary as I had been taking on water and the sickly sweet gatorade as the miles had passed, as well as the carb gels. After the loo stop I felt better. Maybe the brief break had revived me, or maybe it was the last carb gel I'd had hitting my blood stream. I picked up a little, although obviously tired at this point. I was almost running on auto pilot, maintaining a reasonable pace, though I knew not quite as fast as the start. I'd already calculated that I could not finish in under 4 hours, but that was never really going to happen anyway after the training injuries. From miles 21 - 22.5 I continued like this, but got tired again at mile 23 where there is a steady incline for a whole mile, and you can see it ahead of you. That's pretty demoralising! I think I must have looked in pain as I ran up the hill, but I didn't stop and was dodging lots of walkers. The crowds were very supportive here, but it's hard to block out the tiredness and pain at this point. My GPS had bizarrely picked back up and was almost in synch again, but still showing I was running at just aover 9:00 pace.

At mile 24 we entered central park and the route climbs and dips for the whole way to the end. My GF had missed me at mile 17 (where we arranged for her to wait), and she didn't know if I had pulled out as the mobile networks were all jammed. I passed her just after mile 25, much to my delight, "Hey, I've got a supporter". I strided out as much as possible on the downbanks, doing fairly well, but the upbanks slowed me back down. I began to feel really rough again after mile 25, and I slowed up considerably. I think a combination or knowing I was almost there, and that I'd do it, plus knowing that the 4 hour mark was long gone made me think "I'll just slow up, take it easier and try and feel a little better". I actually felt more elated at mile 24 and 25, knowing I'd done it, than I did when I saw the finish approach. 800M to go, 400M, 300yrds it all went by so slowly. I was just desperate to cross the line at this point. I tried to wave for the camera a hundred metres or so before the end. I probably looked awful, I think the photo's just about capture that.

I thought I raised my arms in the end as I finished, but I could not remember. I found the photo's and I did, just before the line as you can see, before dropping them behind my head in relief and tiredness.



I only remember crossing the line and slowing down to a walk in a couple of steps, and feeling more relieved than happy. I felt terrible at this point, pretty sick really. Some stomach ache and kidney ache. I'm guessing this was injesting so much sugar, but I just don't know. It was at this point a horrifying thought entered my head: In 18 months I will feel like this (or quite possible a lot worse) then have to do it all over again the next day, for 6 days, in the Marathon Des Sables. What have I done I thought...



It was so crowded at the finish and very narrow. I picked up my medal and put in on, and then wrapped myself in a provided space blanket. I was amazed at how quickly I started to feel cold afterwards, and how grateful for the blanket I was. There were people who had collapsed onto the road at the sides, plenty of heads in hands, and even people curled up asleep (I hope). Everyone was herded onwards to have the timing chips removed from our shoes, then through other areas where I think the announcements said they were taking photo's. I must have missed the area where I picked up the finishers T-Shirt, but I didn't care I was so tired I just wanted to get my bag. My surname beginning with letter right near the end of the alphabet meant that my gear was on truck number 71. They were parked in single file for what seemed like a crowded, narrow eternity. Any future events I enter, my surname will be Aadvark!

I slowly started to feel a little better. My legs felt fine, and it was at this point I realised I had not had any knee or hip pain at all. I had not even thought about it on the course. I was amazed and owe a big thankyou to my Uncle the chiropractor for sorting me out a few days before, as well as to my physio for the ITB massages, and Clive for the gym workouts and advice. I speeded up my shuffle to a quick walk, slipping past hundreds of people who looked a lot worse than I did. My phone rang at this point. It was my parents congratulating me! I asked if they had heard from my gf and that's how they knew I had finished. No, my father said, he'd been tracking my progress live on the ING New York Marathon website. We had run over pads every 5k and the data was trasmitted to the website in real time; amazing!

We talked for a while and the lorry numbers passed by and eventually I found number 71, and got my bag. I put on my jeans and left the park to find my gf. It took ages to find her. It must have been an hour and half since the race ended until we met up. I allowed myself the luxury of being transported by the hotel by one of the rickshaw things. Some guy pedalling us back. However, I should have asked the price first.... $40. It was only about a mile and a half! However, I was just happy to be back and sank onto the bed gratefully.

My legs still felt OK at this point, but I still had stomach and kidney ache. I stayed in for the rest of the day and didn't eat anything. I think this was the problem. At about 10pm I ate a few fried left over from my gf's meal and made sure there was some salt on them. I also forced down half a litre of water and did feel much better.

The next day I had some knee pain on each knee. Two very small points on the bony parts on the outside of the knee. The ligaments or tendons I'm guessing as they twinged as I massaged them. I applied some heat rub and spent the whole day shopping. The pain eased off as the day wore on and the following day they were fine. I was suprised that I had hardly any muscle soreness, certainly no stiffness. I think I'm still expecting it to kick in, maybe a week late! So, the following day I was pretty much fine, and I thought... "actually I could probably do another distance if I had to. So, maybe i'll be ok for the Marathon Des Sable after all".

I managed two days solid shopping, probably walking another 10 miles. Maybe thats what stopped any stiffness or soreness?

We flew home on the Tuesday night and I'm now going to take several weeks off traning. I don't feel tired or sore, but I want to give my injuries time to heal properly, and my body get stronger.

So I did it. I only managed one long run of 15 miles, where I got injured, seven weeks before the event. After that I took weeks off running and only did short runs of a few miles. Maybe the faster pace (7:30 pace) running I did each time on those short runs helped on the day when I ran at 9:00, or maybe it was because I had built up months of base fitness. Probably it was all of this. If my GPS had not have gone beserk maybe I could have finshed faster, then again maybe the tiredness would have kicked at the same time anyway. Who knows? At the finish the GPS said:

Average Speed: 6.6
Average Pace: 9:04
Event Distance: 26.10

This is obviously wrong. 9:04 would be under 4 hour pace (I averaged 9:34 according to the NY website. My pacing was perfect until the last couple of 5k's where I slowed up by half a minute a mile for 30-35k, then a minute per mile for 35-40K) I knew it was wrong before the end, as I was calculating the 9mm mile times. So, what happened to it I have no idea, but it's a lesson learned for next time. Don't put all your faith in technology!

But I made it, despite the show-stopping inuries. I think I can be proud. I almost forgot my time. I did it in 4 hours and 10 minutes. Not bad all.

1 Week to go

A week today I will hopefully be nearing the finish line in Central Park NY.
For those interested here is the course description and the elevation profile. I notice it's all hills and more hills!

http://www.ingnycmarathon.org/training/coursepreview.php
http://www.ingnycmarathon.org/entrantinfo/elevation.pdf

It's a 10:10am start, they are 5 hours behind UK time.

This week I trained on Wednesday and Thursday, running 3 and 5 miles. Wednesday was thoroughly miserable. I got out of the car after being in traffic jams for 5 hours. I got changed and went straight out. It was pitch black, very cold and throwing it down with rain. Not a very nice session at all. The roads were flooded and I was running up to my ankles in water at times. I looked like a drowned rat when I got back.

Thursday I can't recall the weather, but it was certainly better. Both sessions I completed at pace, and without any pain. I was wearing the Pattstap both times, however 5 miles is hardly marathon distance is it!

On Friday afternoon I travelled to my uncles in Sheffield for some chiropractic treatment. My pelvis is badly tilted upwards to the right, and rotated backwards on the same side. All of my back muscles were very tight on the right and were pulling my pelvis in that direction. This was the root cause of my ITB, all down to my back. My uncle assessed me and said I was a "walking disaster". As a result I had a couple of hours worth of treatment. I had Chiropractic adjustments, a lengthy soft tissues massage on my back and also right leg/knee/calf, and finally 40 minutes on one of the machines that passes electric current through the muscles. He also demonstrated how my leg leg will not stretch very far backwards becuase of this. As a result I'm almost dragging it along, and hence it has wasted muscle and is not giving me as much forward momentum and power. He suggested some exercises to help with that.

My Unlce suggested I stay over that evening and repeated the treatment in the morning, which I did. He also gave me a larger heel insert for my shoes as he said my current one was not sufficient. I travelled home and went to see my orthotic maker. They agreed with my uncles assessment and are modifying my orthic from a 4mm to an 8mm lift in the left foot. I won't be using the new orthotic for the marathon of course, I will be using a copy of the originals that I have in my work shoes.

I wish I would have gone to see my uncle eight weeks ago when this happened. He would have given the me right diagnosis and set me on the path to recovery sooner. I have been getting sports massage for the last 8 weeks which has certainly aleviated my ITB symptoms, but not treated the cause. I am going to see him again later on Tuesday for a final session. He thinks that even these few sessions will make a big difference.

Today, Sunday I did my last longish run. In the plan was to cap it at an hour. I decided I would try and do almost an hour no matter what. I ran an undulating route, primarily descending for the first half of then all uphill for the last half. I ran what I think was my quickest ever 7 miles, averaging 7:44 per mile. Of course 7 miles is a long way off 26.2, but the treatment at the weekend has certainly helped and I felt smoother and more relaxed when running.

So maybe i'll get fortunate and not be too bothered my the ITB. 7 miles is too few to tell, but the ITB gave me no problems. I also wore the pattstrap as well. Next Sunday, the race day it will have been 7 weeks exactly since the injury struck on that attempt to do my first 18 miler. I only managed 15 that day, and of course have done very little since then. So, my endurance will really be questioned next week, but rather that than my ITB. Today is the last time I am going to dwell on my lack of 18-20 mile training runs.

Today was a confidence booster. I ran fast, much faster than the pace I will set off at in the marathon, which will be 9 minute miles.

I had no knee pain at all, not even a niggle.

Despite everything I am going to try hard to finish in under 4 and a half hours. It's quite a big ask, but if I remain injury free on the day, I'll be able to give it my best shot.

Not sure I'll be posting again before next week. I assume the hotel has internet access, The Crowne Plaza on Broadway (staggering distance from the finish line!). If it does I'll post my results next week.

Keep your fingers crossed for me.

3 targets

Just been reading daily tip 18 on the ING NY marathon website.
http://www.ingnycmarathon.org/training/dtip18.php

Basically saying, set 3 targets: An ideal sceanrio, plus two others.

The tip 18 says that in an ideal scenario you would finish in double your 1/2 marathon time + 15-20 minutes. My 1/2 marathon time was 1:52

That would make my ideal scenario finish of 3:59 - 4:04 hours. That scenario would be me in peak form, no injuries and no unforseen circumstances on the day.

I'm going to be realistic, and say that my chances of meeting scenario 1 have long long gone.

So, I need to set two more realistic goals.

Scenario 2: I've not trained any further than 15 miles (and that will have been 8 weeks before the marathon), before all the injury problems. So, I've not got the endurance training I needed. In this scenario though,I don't get an injury issues on the day, or none that affect my performance. In this scenario I'm estimating a finish of 4:30.

Scenario 3: I've not had enough endurance training and injury strikes on the day, in the latter half of the race. It seriously affects my performance, but I am able to finish albeit with some periods of walking and ITB stretching. I finish in a time of 5 hours+.

I'll have to include the other possible scenario, because it is more than a possibility, given my current form. The ITB injury starts causing pain from 2-3 miles. By 6 miles it causes serious discomfort, by 8 miles I'm half-limping. By 10 miles I'm having to walk and stretch the ITB every few hundred yards to be able to run the next few hundred. By 12 miles I've had to retire.

It's not pleasant to think about that last one, but I think I've got to consider it as a possibilty, and prepare my mind for it. I'm going to be thinking positive from now on, and remembering all the good parts of my training. I will however be considering all of the above scenario's and planning in my mind for each.

Bad Day

When I started running today it was raining heavily. It didn't stop raining hard at all.

My 'waterproof' jacket turned out to have all the waterproof properties of a string vest. It was also a chilly day. So within minutes I was very wet, very miserable and very cold.

A couple of minutes later my GPS unit failed. The repair I made on it a few months ago has been good until now, but I'm going to have to replace it before the marathon. The only advantage is that the replacement model is much smaller than the original. You can see the units below, pictured with the heart rate strap and the watch.





The newer unit only takes one AAA battery instead of 3.

Anyway...I'm now cold, wet, miserable and I have no GPS. My route takes me off road, hopefully to ease the load on my knee which I strapped up before starting out. The offroad path is pretty waterlogged though.

So, a few short minutes later my trainers have soaked up twice their weight in water and it feels like I'm wearing concrete shoes. Then just to add to my misery, my knee starts playing up. I stop running after about 5.5 miles and walk the other mile home.

For the rest of the day the other end of the ITB, my hip, has been very painful.

My ITB just isn't getting enough time to heal, before taking another pounding on the next run. There is no way I should be doing a marathon 2 weeks today. The remainder of the training runs will have to be capped at 3 or 4 miles to try and help.

All in all, a very bad day.

Some Improvement

I received the Reebok Foam Roller I'd ordere on Tuesday. I got straight to work on it, doing a variety of strecthes, but making sure I paid plenty of attention to my ITB. 'Foam' Roller makes it sound as though it's a soft squishy little sponge. It's not. It is 1 metre long and it is about 6 inches in diameter, and it's hard foam.

You lie on top of the roller and work your way down over your various muscle groups. When you feel a tender spot, you stop and hold it there for 30-45 seconds until the muscle releases. It can really hurt, just like a sports massage. I used it several times Tuesday and on Wednesday morning before my physio appointment.

Mike, the Physio, commented that my muslces appeared to be much looser than normal! Also when he was deep tissue massaging my knee and ITB it hurt far less, hardly at all this week. The only area which still caused me a lot of pain (as he digs his elblow in) was my hip. That is still very tender.

Later on Wednesday I went out for a run. I wanted to try and push further than 4 miles. I didn't wear my GPS as the batteries had run down. I set out on a unplanned route and justmade it up as I went along. I had to guess my pace of course too. I picked a challenging undulating route as you can see. Probably a little tougher and steeper than I should really have attemted.



I put a strip of Leukotape 3 inches above my kneecap again, to ease pressure on my ITB. Seemed to do the trick as I felt no pain at all, and completed what turned out to be 5.5 miles. I averaged 8:05 minute miles. Not bad for such a tough course. Plenty of that route was offroad, and some parts are wooded with some treacherous footing.

I stretched out and used the foam roller to cool down.

I have continued to do 3 sets of the strengthening exercises and stretches each day.

The routine I follow now is: (repeated for each leg where applicable)

Use foam roller to warm up and strectch - Hamstring, Quads, Calfs, ITB, Back, Gluts
Then:
20 x short squat
20 x sitting. Point toes away, pull toes towards
20 x sitting. foot turned outwards leg raises
4 x 30 secs. lying, Bend knees, raise bum to form line from knees to shoulder
10 x 10 secs. Same as above, but straighten one leg in air, all weight on one leg
20 x lying on side leg raises
2 x 20 secs classic ITB stretch
20 x Walt Reynolds ITB special

This is quite a punishing routine to put myself through 3 times a day and takes over half an hour each time.

I'm happy with my progress and the way it appears to be recovering. I'm far from being out of the woods yet, but I feel as though I may make the start line reasonably pain free. I doubt i'll stay like that for 26 miles, but i'll do what I can.

Sunday Run. Last chance at a long one before NY.

Today was my last opportunity to attempt anything like a 'long run'. All the advice says that in the last 3 weeks before a marathon you can't add to your fitness, just maintain it. The daily tips on the ING NY Marathon website confirm this.

Given my record has been about 4 miles pain free, for the last month, I wasn't hopeful.

I decided to run at a faster pace, and also to put a strip of tape around my thigh about 3-4 inches above my kneecap. I've ordered something called a Pattstrap from the States, which i've pictured.

All of the testimonials say that it really helps and reduces or elimates ITB pain. I don't think it's something you can use longterm, but if it can get me through the marathon...
Anyway, I tried to simulate one of these with a piece of tape. Not a very hi-tech solution and I had to tighten it up after 2 miles, as I don't believe I had sufficient pressure applied. I'm not really sure that a piece of tape worked that well, but I did manage a better distance today so i'm hopeful the real McCoy will do the trick.

I tried to pick a fairly flat route so as not to agitate my injury. I also read running on the opposite side of the road to the one I usually run on is better. This is because of the camber of the footpath. My ITB is very sensitive to camber at the moment anyway, so I was careful where I ran. I tried to stay on the flat, or run when the camber was higher on my left leg.

I decided I was going to run until it started feeling uncomfortable, but not painful. So I took my mobile phone along to call in a lift home.

I averaged 8:21 minute miles, and called a halt to my run at 8.5 miles.
My knee had started to niggle at only 2 miles, but didn't get much worse until just before I decided to stop and get a ride home.

At least I managed a better distance that before, but it's nothing like the 20 miler my schedule had me down for.

All I can do now is keep doing short fast runs and not to agitate my leg by running further. Since the run my knee has hurt, and i've been icing and applying heat as well as taking ibuprofen.

I've kept up my strengthening and stretching, adding a couple more exercises into my daily routine. I've also ordered a foam roller http://www.bodyhut.com/shop/prodView.asp?idproduct=1707
This is used to stretch out my ITB.

I'm hoping all these things i'm doing and buying are going to patch me up enough to make the distance, but when I'm only capable of running 1/3 of the marathon distance without pain, things are still not looking good.

Even revising my finishing time down to 4.5 hours is pretty optimistic I fear.

Pain Free II

I had physio yesterday. 45 minutes working just my ITB, and knee area. I was tempted to ask for an anasthetic as he was working it. Sports therapy is painful!
Just when I thought it could not get any more unpleasant I was turned on my side so he could push his elbow into my hip and work the top of the ITB. I completely lost the power to speak at all at this point. Just a series of high pitched whines emerged. Anything hurting this much, must REALLY be doing be good. Mike (Physio) reckons I might just make the start line pain free, but given it's just 3 weeks away, it is touch and go.

I've continued with the stretching and strengthening routing as described previously. I can manage more of those special leg raises now, about 30 at once. Good progress there.

Tried a slightly longer run today. Same strategy as Tuesday; fast not long. I picked another undulating route as you can see above. Nice downhill to start, nasty climbs to finish.

I had no knee pain whatsoever which is encouraging. It aches a little now though. I'm currently sitting with a hot water bottle draped over it.

I completed in a quick time again, finishing with 7:42 minute mile average over the 4.1 miles.

Im happy that I've run pain free, but it just feels like I am starting all over again - Happy that I've done my first ever 4 mile run. I know I can't do anymore than I am doing, but it knocks your confidence wondering if you think you can actually run that far. I'm not going to be able to do any long runs before the event. At absolute best and if my ITB recovers well, maybe I could manage an 8-10 mile the Sunday before.

I'm going to continue to concentrate on running all my remaining runs almost as fast as I can. Obviously I have no choice in this because of my ITB. However, I am somehow hoping that come the event, which I will run about a minute to a minute and a half slower per mile (9 mins), it will feel slow to me and hence will compensate for my lack of 18/20 mile training runs. I think I'm kidding myself really, as nothing can replace that kind of endurance training. However, I have to live in hope.

Pain Free Run.

Don't get too excited. It was only 3 miles. I've been reading all the articles on ITBS and as well as all the stretching and strengthening, some also suggest running "fast not long". My knee went at just over 3 miles in the last run, so today I decided to run just under 3 (2.9), but to run it quickly.

I ran a local route, starts on quite a steep hill, levels off and comes back down. Then it undulates back home. See the route above.

I ran it at 7:35 minute miles, which I was happy with, and pain free. I've been strictly keeping with my exercises and have another physio tomorrow.

I'll try another run on Thursday, perhaps a little further, not quite as fast, but still at a good pace.

Todays run...walk

I did a 6 mile run today, although I walked probably a mile of it. I was perfectly fine up to just over 3 miles. At that point my knee starting aching. By 4 miles it was uncumfortable. By 5 miles I had already had to walk a couple of sections (hills). I struggled onto the end with a mixture of running and walking. As soon as I hit a hill I had to walk. It's amazing that as soon as I start walking, the pain subsides imediately. As soon as I got in I iced it for 15 minutes, as I did a few times today.

I also did my stretching and strengthening routing as below:
3 times a day
20 x Quad Muscle strengthen. Sitting on floor, one knee up. Other foot - toes pulled towards body, foot turned out to the right as far as possible. Leg raises
20 x Short Squat to Quad strengthen
5 x Short Squat towel Squeeze
2 x Standard Quad Stretch
5 x Classic ITBS Stretch
2 x Stepped ITBS Stretch
2 x Sitting, one leg straight, one bent leg over the other, grip leg and twist away
10 x 10 secs Glut medius strengthen. On Back knees raised, life bum up to make straight line down from knees, thru hip, to shoulders. Ensure using gluts.

Ice 15 minutes

Once a day: 400mg Ibuprofen

Hopefully I can build up my quad muscle and end this knee pain.

Back on the subject of the MDS, I found this article on the MDS website. Looks like next year New Balance are releasing an 'MDS shoe'. The interesting thing about them is that they are the 1100 OR trail shoes that I already use, just a different colour by the looks of it! Maybe there's a couple of other changes, but essentially this is what I've been using and been happy with for months. See the pic above.

That's it for this week. Hopefully I'll have better news next week.

Knee Injuries identified.

I had a physio session today to work specifically on my problem knee. I explained the pain and he did a few tests to identify the problem.
I'll post a couple of descriptions I've found. Firstly he showed me I had muscle wastage on my right VMO (Medial muscle just above knee cap on the inside. He measured the circumference of both legs above the knee and the right one was 1cm less. It's also really obvious when you look at it. My lef leg has a distinct bump where the muscle is developed, the right one has lost it's bump totally. Apparently this muscle wastes away very quickly when you have a knee injury.

Anyway, after a further test he diagnosed the following.

Runner's Knee
(Chondromalacia of the patella)

Description:
Pain around and sometimes behind the kneecap. One of the most common injuries among runners, runner's knee most often strikes as runners approach forty miles per week for the first time. Even after taking a few days off, the pain seems to come right back, sometimes even intensifying, after the first few miles of the next run. The pain often feels worst when running downhill or walking down stairs, and the knee is often stiff and sore after sitting down for long periods. You might hear a crunching or clicking sound when you bend or extend your knee.

The sure-fire test for runner's knee: sit down and put your leg out on a chair so that it's stretched out straight. Have a friend squeeze your leg just above the knee while pushing on the kneecap. She should push from the outside of the leg toward the center. At the same time, tighten your thigh muscle. If this is painful, you're looking at runner's knee.

Likely causes:
It's actually not your knee's fault at all. Blame your feet and thighs; for one reason or another they aren't doing their jobs properly. Your knee moves up and down in a narrow little groove in your thigh bone. It's a nifty design: when your legs and feet are working efficiently, your knee moves smoothly and comfortably with every step. But trouble appears when your kneecap moves out of its track, or rubs up against its sides. That trouble becomes pain when you factor in nearly 1000 steps per cartilage-grinding mile. Over time the cushioning cartilage around the knee becomes worn. That smarts. And that's runner's knee.

How did your knee get off track? Probably because of relatively weak thigh muscles and a lack of foot support. It's your thigh muscles that hold your kneecap in place, preventing it from trying to jump its track. Running tends to develop the back thigh muscles (hamstrings) more than those in the front (the quadriceps), and the imbalance is sometimes enough to allow the kneecap to pull and twist to the side.

Your foot, meanwhile, may not be giving you the stability you need. It's likely that your feet are making a wrong movement every time they hit the ground, and you're feeling the constant pounding and repetition of this mistake in your knee. Maybe you're overpronating (rolling your foot in) or supinating (turning it out too much) when you run.

Runner's knee is further aggravated by simple overuse. If you have steeply increased your mileage recently, you might consider holding back a bit. Likewise, back off on new hill work or speed work. Runner's knee can also be brought on by running on banked surfaces or a curved track. Running on a road that is banked at the sides, for example, effectively gives you one short leg, causing it to pronate and put pressure on the knee. Try as much as possible to run on a level surface, or at the very least give each leg equal time as "the short leg."

Remedy:
This is an easily treatable injury with a little patience. First, relieve the pain by icing your knees immediately after running. You can use commercially available cold packs or simply put a wet towel in the freezer before you run. Wrap the cold packs around each knee for about fifteen minutes to bring down the swelling. Take an anti-inflammatory like ibuprofen or aspirin after running, too, but only with food and never before running. Before bed, put heating pads or warm wet towels on your knees for half an hour.

Stabilize your feet. Make sure you have the right kind of shoes for your foot type (review our tips on shoe shopping). Consider buying a commercially made foot support in the footcare section of your drug store. If, in combination with thigh-strengthening exercises, the foot supports are not enough to get rid of the injury, see a podiatrist about whether you might need orthotics.

Ok, so I have runners knee. I can't describe how much the test hurt. Pushing down on that kneecap was agony. He worked my knee for a half hour or so, but then identified what he thought was the underlying cause. When I run I have been getting pain in the side of my knee, and also some deep in my hip. When he rubbed over the side of my knee it hurt worse than the kneecap almost. Turns out that this is your ITB (See description). It runs right up your leg, widening, until it reaches your hip. Full description here:

Iliotibial Band Syndrome

Description:
Pain on the outside of your knee (not usually accompanied by swelling or locking). The pain may be sporadic and disappear with rest, only to reoccur suddenly, often at the same point in a run. Depending on the individual, this could happen at four miles, two miles or just 200 yards. The pain often goes away almost immediately after you stop running.

Likely causes:
This is an overuse injury. The iliotibial band is a band of tissue that begins at the outside of the pelvis and extends to the outside part of the knee. The band helps stabilize the knee. If it becomes too short, the band rubs too tightly on the bone of your leg and becomes irritated. The tightness is usually the result of too much strain from overtraining.

Remedy:
Patience. This one takes a while. Give yourself plenty of rest, reduce your miles and ice frequently. You can keep running, but cut your run short as soon as you begin to feel any pain. Cut way back on hill work, and be sure to run on even surfaces. Look into some deep friction massage with a physical therapist.

Try some leg-raise exercises to strengthen your hips and be conscientious about the iliotibial band stretch. You might supplement that stretch with this one, doing it gently but often:

To stretch the IT band of your right leg, stand with your left side facing the wall. Cross your right leg behind your left, while putting your left hand against the wall. Put your weight on the right leg and lean against the wall by pushing your right hip away from the wall. Be sure that your right foot is parallel to the wall during the stretch. You should be able to feel the stretch in your hip and down the IT band (in this case, along the right side of your right leg). Hold for five seconds and do this ten times. For the left leg, do as above, but stand with your right side facing the wall, and put your left leg behind your right.

He finished up with Ultrasound, and I've booked in for next Tuesday.

He has given me all of the strecthes to do every day, several times, and also instruction to ice it 3 times and day, and take Ibuprofen for the next week.

He's pretty hopeful he can get me to the start line if I follow the routine. I can see me downing ibuprofen on the start line to get around.

So, I'm settling for a finish, and not a 4 hour finish. I need to rest my knee as much as possible, and if I do (or can) run, only every other day. He suggested I did nothing until next week though.

I may try and run at the weekend, but at the first sign of pain, stop.

Last nights run

I ran last night. After 4 miles I pulled up and walked the other mile and a half home. Knee is still hurting. I even ran 90% of the run on grass, to lessen the impact. I'm going to have to take a few more days off, maybe nothing until the weekend. I stopped just as it was beginning to niggle, rather than turning into more serious pain. I think this was the right thing to do.

I'm more or less resigned to the fact that I will be (hopefully) running in the marathon just to finish now, and not to try and complete in 4 hours. I don't think my knee has even one long run in it, let alone 3 or 4 before the marathon. If I just rest it now, it might get me through the actual day, then again maybe it won't. I'm going to have to hope my residual fitness will carry me thorugh the day. However, when my longest run will only have been 15 miles, that's 11 short of the marathon. I can't tell you how disappointing this is after all the training I've done. Just that one extra long distance walk has screwed up my marathon by the looks of it.

Update and revised schedule.

I ran for the first time in a week on Wednesday. Unfortunately my knee still got sore after just 2 or 3 miles, so I stopped after about 4.5. I had also ran off road to try and minimise the impact. The pain wasn't quite as sharp, but it's still worrying for it to come on so early.

I flew out to Ibiza on Friday night. I ran at midday on the Saturday in San Antonio. It was quite hot, about 27C I believe. I ran around the promenade and coast form San An town into San An bay, and back to my hotel. It was a 5 mile round trip. Again my knee was sore after about 3 miles. All the footpaths are concrete tiled, and not tarmac which won't have helped as concrete is about 10 times harder. My knee was sore for the whole day, but was improved on the Sunday. I flew back on Monday night.

It's now Tuesday and I'm going to run again later today and see how I get on. I've revised my schedule because of the injury and it means I am not going to get more than one 18 or 20 mile run in, and maybe not even that if my knee is still bad this week. If it is still hurting my marathon could really be in trouble. Already any hopes of doing 4 hours are looking a million miles away. Just finishing it may be impossible.

Revised schedule above.

Weekend update

I've not done any running since Wednesday as mentioned. My knee is still a little tender even when I walk on it, so running is definately out of the question. I have been icing it periodically and trying to stay off my feet as much as possible.

I did a half an hour of water-jogging this evening, followed by a short swim. The idea of water jogging was to give my legs a workout but less impact on my knee.

I still felt my knee ache though, so didn't push it any longer. You certainly feel it on your quads and ankles after just a half hour. I think wearing shorts in the pool didn't assist my cause, as they create quite a lot of drag. Still, I feel better for at least doing something this weekend.

I have another physio session on Tuesday and no plans to run until at least Wednesday. Even then, if I don't feel 100% I won't run. Thursday I am working away, and Friday evening I go to Ibiza for the weekend. I get back early on Tuesday morning. If I manage to run on Wednesday or Thursday then I will likely fit in a run on Saturday or Sunday morning in Ibiza. I hear the weather hasn't been too good there recently. This suits me to be honest, as I don't want to be running in 30C+. heat.

Any developments this week i'll let you know.

Healing time

After taking tuesday off, following treatment, I tried a short 4 mile interval sessions last night. After 2 miles my knee was feeling sore and aching with every footfall. Not a good sign. It was the whole knee area, rather than the tendons. I guess this was brough about by running further than I should have done on it, on Sunday. I've caused a general knee problem.

To stand any chance of even making the start line for NY I am going to have to take some time off from running. It's the last thing I want to do right now. This is when my training is peaking, and my head is telling me to run all the time to prepare. However, I know there is a real danger that I'll do even more damage and end up with a NY sight seeing trip, instead of a marathon. This morning it feels sore, and not right when I walk on it. I'm going to keep it raised as much as possible and ice it every hour.

I'm not going to run for a week now and see how it feels then. I'm losing valuable training time, but I have no choice. Next weekend (29th Sept) I am in Ibiza for the weekend. I was planning on running there, and still might, but I'll just have to see. When I get back I will only have 2 more weeks of training before taper. It may be that I have to sacrifice a week of taper to make up my training. I'm just not sure right now, and until I see how things progress I'll play it by ear.

I'm now concerned that I should not even attempt any 20 mile training runs at all. Maybe i've only got one 20 mile run in my legs, and I should save that for Marathon day. If I attempt a 20 miler in 3 weeks and my knee goes, that is the marathon gone for certain.

Worrying times...

Ouch

I paid a visit to the chiropractors yesterday. He performed a lot of muscle tests on both legs, which rapidly showed that my right leg was much weaker than the left. It's usually the other way bround as I favour my right leg; it's the strongest.

He established that my pelvis was twisted out of alignment and set about crunching it back into place. It went back with a string of cracks, one after the other. He also adjusted my spine, pushing down firmly from the base right up to between my shoulder blades. Quite a few vertabrae slipped back into place too.

Finally, he crunched my neck. Again it was out of alignment on the right side.

As soon as he'd finished I performed better in the muscle tests. Immediately the tendon pain in my knee eased off as well. So, something worked.

Today I saw the Physio. I know it was a good session because it really really hurt. I was in agony when we was working on my calf muscles. I told him he needs some leather to bite down on, attached to his treatment table!

The lump I mentioned on my calf appears to be very very tight muscles. I forget which ones he said, but he said they were inside my calf muscles, deeper towards the bone. He spent 40 minutes on my right leg, also stretching out my hamstring. Again this was incredibly painful. He then did my left leg. I had not experienced any problems this week with the left, however it was equally tight in the same places and hurt an awful lot too.

He checked my back, which after yesterdays chiropractic session was fine as I'd expect.

Finally he did 10 minutes of ultrasound on my right leg. The knee tendon and hamstring.

I left the room sore. He advised more rest days, and less mileage.

I'm not running today (Tuesday's session), but I will see how I get on tomorrow. I'm also going to really work on stretching my calfs. I stretch them after every run, using the push against the wall stretch that you see all runners doing.

However, my gym instructor showed me a better one. Find a small step, keep the heel on the ground and raise the toe end upwards to rest against the step, then push against the wall. You get a much stronger stretch. It's painful at the moment, so I know the muscle is tight.

I'll see how I get on this week. Everyone is advising me to take it easy for a week or two. I know this is good advice, but so close to the marathon this is when my training is peaking and I should be running the most! I have a good base of fitness and I should be able to jump straight up to 20 miles in 2 weeks time. I'll take it easy for a week or two. Try and keep up the speedwork and not do so many miles.

I'll keep you posted.

Lots of miles...

It's been a tough mixed week. Last weekend I did the 24 mile walk with the 10 mile run the day after.

I had some physio on Tuesday. After the walk the large tendons behind my knee's were very sore. Similar happened after the last 25 mile walk. I did quite a lot of stretches after this weeks sessions too.

This week, I ran 6 miles of intervals on Tuesday. A 6 mile pace run on Wednesday, and another 6 miles interval session on Thursday. All went well.

Friday my usual gym session went well.

Saturday I did an 8 mile pace run. I was intending to run at 8:30 pace, but I felt so comfortable I ran it at 8:11 minute miles. The route is posted above. Plenty of ups and downs.

So all good so far.

Sunday I had my first ever 18 miler scheduled in. I ran a completely unfamiliar route and carried a scrap of paper with the map printed on it. As my schedule indicates I ran at 10 min miles. I ran with my backpack containing 1.5 litres of water, and 4 SIS Go gels. I guess this with the pack and water it adds 2 more kilos of weight, but I have no choice with no feeding stations!

After just 4 miles my tendon pain really started, and I almost pulled out my mobile and stopped right there. However, I pressed on, as apart from that I felt fine and was running comfortably. My knee bothered me badly again at 12 miles. At 15 miles I paused to stretch it out. As soon as I stopped the tendon tightened instantly and I could feel the rest of my knee starting to inflame. I could have hobbled on and finished the other three miles, but I was too concerned that I could do serious damage to my leg and screw up my marathon due to injury. To be honest I should have stopped a lot sooner, but I wanted to equal my furthest distance so far. I pulled out my phone and called in a lift back. I walked another 1/2 mile before my gf showed up. We got back to her parents house, I showered and then I begged 2 x 400mg ibuprofen and put my feet up. Half an hour later and my knee had eased considerably. Also on the run I noticed my back was very tight.

This week I am not taking any chances and will get some more physio and probably a chiropractor session too. I've not had my back 'cracked' in a while and it could well be the route cause. I've also noticed a large lump at the back of my calf that is tender to touch. I guess the muscle is all knotted up. It's very difficult to try and stretchh out. Hopefully with spine cracking and soft tissue massage I can get this sorted.

It's a shame about today, but I'm not too dissapointed as I know I did the right thing. Up until I stopped I felt fine and could have upped the pace for the last few miles if necessary.

When I inlcude last weeks activities, over the last 8 days I have clocked up 75 miles. That's an awful lot in my books!

I don't think I'll have any issue with the 50-60 minute runs this week, and next Sunday's is a 2 hour run. I'll see how it all goes this week and let you know.

Training Plan Months 8 and 9. NY Marathon countdown

The latest two legs of the training plan, adjusted for the NY marathon. This covers September to the start of November. This is what this year is all about. Getting fit enough to run a marathon.

New York Marathon information day

...continued from previous post.

I arrived at the Hawker Sports Centre at 10:30am. The room quickly filled up with around 160 people attending. The introduction was given by 2:09 events director, and former London Marathon winner Mike Gratton. He gave an overview of the day, a lot of information about travel arrangements and hotels. 1400 people are travelling to New York with 2:09 this year! 400 people are staying at the Crown Plaza in Time Square, me and my gf included. Mike briefed us on the security measures. We can't take any liquids or gels of any kind on the plane. and so I'm sure we'll all be pestering the cabin crew for water for the whole flight.

Registration takes place in the Javit exibition centre in New York from Thursday to Saturday. He warned everyone about excessive shopping and walking on the Saturday. Very good advice I think.

Mike then handed over to Steve Smyth, a man with 600 marathons behind him, best time of 2:29 minutes!

Steve advised on how to train from now until race day. He advised trying to run as many Sunday long runs as close to 20 miles as possible, but no more than one every two weeks. He also placed a lot of emphasis on speed work. He suggested intervals and phartlek sessions twice a week, with perhaps an 8 mile marathon pace run in the week too. My training schedule looks like this already, but i'll tweak it slightly if needed. I won't be doing anymore long distance walks on Saturdays until after the marathon either, so I'll be running on Saturdays too. This will only leave me with Monday as a day off.

Next up was Pete Slater, director of Science in Sport nitrition. The talk was on nutrition, but Pete was really there to push SIS products, and I think it worked since I'll be ordering some. I already use their REGO Nocte nightime recovery drink now and again. I'll now order some REGO post training drinks and some bars and gels to see if they'll work for me. At the NY marathon they hand out Gatorade, and with no experience of using it, it's too much of a gamble. I'll try and get used to using gels and water only I think. Pete advised a light breakfast, some sports drink an hour or so before the run. Take a gel just before the start of the race, and then one every 30 minutes throughout. They handed out some samples to try. I'll give one a try in the week.

At 1pm we all jogged down to Richmond park at split into 4 training groups.

6-7 minute miles (about 3 people joined this group!)
8-9 Minute, 9-10 minute and a group for everyone else to run slower. Most people joined the 10 minute plus group, but still the two middle groups had a large turnout too.

The weather was hot, it was 26C. I thought I'd play safe and go in the 9-10 minute mile group. We all set off following our pacer. After a couple of miles I thought "This is too fast for 9-10 minute miles". We asked the pacer what his GPS said. He said 8:30 minute miles. He thought he was supposed to be running 8-9, not 9-10. We glanced behind and apart from a half dozen of us, the other 30 or so people were strung out for hundreds of yards.... oops..

Also, people had dropped back from the group in front of us, some were already walking. It turned out that the pacer for that group has run at 7:45 to 8 minute initially too.

Our pacer said he was going to slow down to the right pace, and it was up to us what pace we wanted to do. Me and another girl felt comfortable at 8:30 pace, so we carried on throughout. We passed a lot of people from the group in front who were walking. This was mainly becuase of the heat. Not all of them had been sensible and taken water along. I noticed how everyone really suffered on what they called hills. I slowed down for the girl I was running with up the hills. It was amazing how much pace people lost. These were just little gradients to me, not hills at all. I guess that's the benefit of training in a hilly area. We finished the 9.5 mile run, I'd say more or less at 8:30 pace. Over the next 40 mins everyone else finished and after lunch Mike Gratton closed the information day with a talk on the course itself.

All of the speakers had commented on the course being hilly. They reckoned that especially after 18 miles the whole course seemed uphill to the finish. That sounded a bit worrying, but I'm hoping their defintion of hills, and mine, and hills apart! Looking at the elevation profile diagram on the NY marathon website it does not look too steep. However, I know from experience elevation profile diagrams are not always that true-to-life. I guess i'll expect the worst and hope for the best. As long as I remember to take it steady up the hills and stride out on the downhills and flat, I'm sure I'll be ok. I really want to try and do 4 hours. I think that this is a really tall order for a first marathon given my running experience and background. It means me running 9 minute miles, if I slip to 9:11 minute miles I won't beat 4 hours.

I'm going to have to push the boat out in training for the next 8 weeks, but not injure myself.
I'm going to put a lot of effort into speed sessions, as recommended, but also try and get plenty of very long runs in on the Sundays.

I'll post a revised schedule for the next 2 months training later today.

24 Mile hill walk, plus London Journey

I've had a busy week. I went to physio on tuesday and experienced some pain as my tight muscles were worked. I was given some stretched to do which I have been doing after each run. My left hamstring/quad has (had) eased and the leg strength had improved. I've had my gf help me with assisted streches and she has noticed the strength improve. My trainer at the gym said the same.

Last Sunday I did 11 miles whiles whilst working in Swansea. In the week I did a mix of interval training and marathon pace work; Tuesday I did 10 mins jog, 25 mins intervals, 10 mins jog. Wednesday I was working away and could not train. Thursday I did a 6 mile pretty hilly route. Half road and half trail. I stuck to a strict 9 minute mile pace. Friday I did intervals again, similar to Tuesday.

On Saturday I took part in another Long Distance Walker associated event. It was a 24 mile event titled "Hills and Dales" in the Derbyshire peak district. It started from Hish Ash field study centre near the Roaches (Leek) and travelled up to Flash, Three Shires Head, Gradbach, the Roaches, The Rock Inn, The Mermaid, Butterton, then back up to High Ash. I set off at a slightly slower pace that I did the last LDWA walk at (I walked at 3.4mph). There were less fast walkers in this event and I believe I was only perhaps the 3rd walker to finish. There were some tough hills (a few thousand feet of climbs); an 800ft climb over 2 miles to Roach End at 1600ft was the biggest gain. I didn't have any problems on the walk with my legs at all and finished in a time of 6:44. I didn't rush at all and could have finished much faster if I had wanted to.

The event was very well organised with 170 people taking part. Each checkpoint was manned by friendly volunteers. I made sure I stayed to chat for 5 mins at each checkpoint. There was food and liquid at each checkpoint too! After the event there was a meal included as well. Such good value for £6. Most people paid a little more and also left a donation as the walk was for the Children of Chernobyl charity. I'll definately enter it again next year. Photo's along the way above.

I had picked up a couple of small blisters were I had not taped up the tips of my toes (big lesson learned there!) and was naturally feeling some tightness in my legs. However, my day was not yet over. I drove the 25 miles home, grabbed a quick shower, threw my kit into my rucksack and then was dropped off at the train station. I caught the train down to London Euston, Underground to Vauxhall, then another train to Kingston Upon Thames. I arrived at around 8pm and wandered the streets until I located the travelodge (Hotel from hell).

I checked in, got a quick and unusually unhealthy bite to eat. I wanted to eat fast and sleep and so had pizza. Still, once in a while won't kill me! I was in bed for 10pm only to be woken at around 11pm by the people in the room above tramping around like elephants. I didn't get back to sleep until almost 2am as the pubs closed, drunk assholes came back to the hotel, shouting down the corridoors and knocking on peoples doors. The elephants above still tramped around until I got out of bed a threw one of my trainers at the ceiling at about 60mph. Things went quieter after that. I got more sleep, still woken now and again and late arrivals. I slept in late, until 9am to try and recover. In the morning I has bags under my eyes and looked pretty tired. Looking forward to a hot shower I went into the bathroom only to find that there was no shower attachment...

I then noticed grab handles and bars all around the bathroom. They'd put me in a disabled persons room, and not advised me. I wasn't very happy. Too late to do anything about it, I just washed, shaved and went down to reception. I told the receptionist I was not happy. He couldn't give a toss and just nodded. I'll email Travelodge today and see if they are inclined to refund any of the £70 they charged me for that hell-hole.

I walked the mile distance to the Hawker sports centre and to the 2:09 events New York Marathon information day. I'll put a new post in for this, see next.

Catch Up

I've been very busy with work for the last few weeks, hence the lack of updates. I won't post all the maps I've run as there are so many.

I've had (got) some problems with tightness in my left thigh, hamstring possibly. But then again i've had aches and pains from the knee upwards all over the place.

I've got a physio tomorrow to see what's going on. The week after the half marathon I did a very tough 13 mile run. Very hilly and I think that's what set it off. I ran to schedule that week, but the following week I eased off the mileage. The Sunday after I only ran 5 miles, then walked for 2.5 deliberately as I could feel my lef really tightening. During that week I ran 4 miles on Wednesday and 4.5 at pace on the Thursday. My leg seemed to feel a little better. I did 10 miles Sunday just gone, but my leg was still pretty tight for the second half.

I'll see what the physio says tomorrow

Training Plan Month 7

This month things change. Instead of the pattern of 3 weeks build up, one week consolodation. It now goes easy, hard, easy, hard. No more consolodation, and the easy weeks are not that easy anymore.

I've switched daily sessions around to make sure I don't do 2 hard sessions on consecutive days, as now there is a full pace run included in the week, in addition to the interval session.

Also, I've annotated the plan to indicate on the long Sunday run that on some weeks i'll run the last x number of miles at pace. So, if I am running for 180 mins, I might run the last 6 at marathon pace. This varies from week to week as you can see.

I've also included the pace times for each type of run in the legend.

Newark Half Marathon!

Today I sucessfully completed the Newark Half Marathon. Before I get onto that I'll just mention this weeks training.

I took Tuesday/Thursday off and only ran on Wednesday this week. I ran an intervals session 1 minute fast / 1 minute jog for about 3.5 miles. On Friday I did my normal gym session, but a little lighter on the weights.

So, the Half Marathon. Going into today I was slightly apprehensive wondering what pace I could sustain for the whole run. My practice half marathon I had done in a few seconds under 1:58:00, not far off 9 minute miles. I had not eaten that day, ran out of water, and hit the wall, so I had problems. I really was hoping to beat that today. The course is very flat for the first 9 miles. It's not quite as flat as the picture makes out, with a few long gradients, but certainly pretty flat. After 9.5 miles there is one climb, followed by a 1 or so gradient up to 12 miles. Then a downhill, a short flat and a short climb to the finish.

I arrived in Newark a little less than 20 minutes from the start. Slightly later than I intended, but sufficient to get a short warm up in. It was raining fairly hard and the heavans opened seconds before the start. The heavy rain persisted for most of the race, with the odd 10 minute change to light drizzle. At least it wasn't scorching hot!

There were race numbers up to about 950, but I don't know how many actually started. The gun went and I started off at an steady pace. Because I was uncertain how I would perform I settled on around the 08:50 minute mile pace. Lots of people came streaming past me, and I probably ended up in the back 1/3 of the race in a short space of time. I reined in the urge to go faster, and stuck to my race plan. I told myself if I felt good later in the race i'd push a little.

The first 4 miles of the race wound through the outskirts of Newark up and down streets in housing estates. Because of the weather hardly a soul was out to cheer us on though! The race was well marshalled but there were a few problems with impatient drivers tearing up the road beside us. Annoying, but nothing the marshals could do to stop them. I saw Anna and Alex a couple of times, although I spotted them before they spotted me. I have got to wear red in future apparently, it stands out more than the grey T-Shirt I had on.

The feeding stations started at 3.5 miles. There was one at 4.5, 5.5, 6.8, 8.5. 10.5, 11.5, 12. One dissapointment that they only served water and sponges, no electrolyte on any of them. However, I had a good breakfast of porridge oats and was well hydrated anyway. I took the small plastic cups of water, slowed my pace a touch and took a few mouthfulls before discarding the rest. Such frequent feeding stations meant I didn't have to take much in. Only at 8.5 did I take two cups, knowing there was a longer drag to the next water station. The miles went by pretty quicky, and at 7 miles I realised I was feeling pretty good. I had already come past a people who had blown up too early and were walking (after 2 miles in some cases!!) or had faded badly. I picked up the pace, edging the minute mile pace down into 08:49. This gradually came down and down over the next few miles until I was on 08:40 at 11 miles.

I passed a quite a lot of people on the hill section. Even though the hills were nothing compared to the ones I train on, they killed off the pace of some competitors. At 11.5 miles I picked up the pace a little more, and really strided out at the 12 mile downhill. I didn't look at my watch again, and continued to go past people right until the end, even managing a sprint finish to see-off someone who I had already passed, who fancied getting the place back!
I stopped my watch at the finish:

01:52:35 Total Time
08:34 Average Pace

I was really really happy with that. I'd not only cracked 2 hours, which I had more or less assumed I would, I had brought the average pace down to practically 8.5 minute miles. This bodes really well for New York, as it means with a bit more work I can try and run at around 09:00 minute miles for the whole 26 miles. It is going to mean some serious effort and some hard interval sessions, but today has given me a confidence boost and I'm sure I can do it.
I know I could have gone a little faster, earlier on now, but I'm glad I played safe and stuck to exactly my plan for the race. I'll know for next time.

Good Points:
Great finishing time, great average pace. Well hydrated and plenty of energy. I had carb-loaded with pasta for 2 days previous. My 3/3 breathing rythym worked well. I sounded very composed next to the hard breathing, spluttering people I passed. Slipped into 2/2 for the last couple of miles for a quicker pace. GPS timing was invaluable.

Bad points:
No electrolyte given out at the feeding stations. Arrived at the event a little later than intended, sothings felt a little rushed.

How to improve:
Confirm that electrolyte is supplied at NY feeding stations. I'm sure it has to be for that distance, but I want to be sure. Allow even more time in the mornings to get ready, and to travel to avoid being rushed. GPS is a must for NY, invaluable tool.

Three months more training to the NY marathon, I now enter training month 7 feeling happy and confident.

Busy week and Gastric ills!

I was working away until Wednesday this week. Packed up my running kit and took it along with the plan of running on Tuesday evening. I worked in Cardiff on Monday, then Swansea on Tuesday. Imagine my horrow when I realised I'd left a bag containg my trainers at the hotel in Cardiff, when I was getting ready to run in Swansea.

The bag contained my NewBalance 1060's with £150 orthotics installed, plus a pair of Nike Free's, that I drive and do the odd short run in. So over £250 of kit. I phoned up the hotel to be told that housekeeping had gone home for the day at 3 o clock, and would be back in at 7am.

I phoned the following morning at 07:01! By good fortune they had been handed in. I had left them in reception whilst checking out. I picked them up on my way back home on Wednesday night.

On Thursday I ran 6.5 miles at pace. I set out to run as quickly as I could manage, and hoped for 8:30 minute miles. Half the route was off-road through Apedale country park. I have ran this route before but some months ago. I was running at 8:11 minute miles when the path became almost inpassable due to head-high ferns. I waded through and began a hilly woodland climb section but already my time had gone down to 9:11 minute miles, in only one mile.

I emerged from the woodland and back onto a solid packed path, then eventually onto tarmac for the last 2 miles. I managed to claw back some time to get the minute mile time down to 8:47. I was happy with that.

Friday I completed my usual session in the Gym, mostly free weights. Nothing excessive as I'm not built like a tank. I'm currently around 10St 4 ounces, down from almost 11st since January.

On Friday night my girlfriend started to complain of stomach pain and sickness and went to bed. I went to bed an hour or so later, and immediately started to feel the same. A horrible gurgling and churning in the stomach. She was actually sick, but I managed to keep my food down. I'd not slept a wink then at 3am hit on the idea of milk. I had a glass of milk and within half an hour it settled down. I got a 3 hours sleep, but woke just after 6am with the same problem. I drank more milk and again it settled down, but I didn't manage any more sleep. I dragged myself out of bed around 9:45 even though I was just lying there and not sleeping. I went to the chemist and bought some Pepto-bismol. £2.99 for 4 doses! It helped but I certainly did not feel like doing my usual Saturday long walk.

By Sunday morning I was feeling fine, and in the afternoon I did a 10 mile run. I followed the Canal from Scholar Green to Congleton and then back. I set out to run 9 minute miles and did that almost exactly, 8:57 to be precise. Just under an hour and a half for the whole run. This time is shorter than planned becuase of next Sundays Newark Half Marathon on the 13th August 06.

This week I intend to taper to some degree, with short and lower intensity runs, plus plenty of pasta of course. Hopefully i'll crack the 2 hour mark in next Sundays event. Fingers crossed for me, i'll let you know how I got on.

Half marathon training and ankle problems

I ran last Sunday whilst working away from home. I worked all day saturday, a 12 hour day. I got back to the hotel at 7pm, got changed, picked up my pack and headed out. I ran around the Gosforth area of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, not far from the Airport. The area is pretty flat, which makes a welcome change from running at home. I ran 12 miles in a few minutes under 2 hours. 1:54 I think. I ran the first 8 miles at 10 minute mile pace, and the last 4 at 8-8:30 minute mile pace. I felt comfortable throughout, and had no problem picking up the pace for the last few miles.

I took Tuesday and Wednesday off running, as I've developed a problem with my left ankle. I mentioned it in a previous post. I think it's an old injury which is coming back to haunt me, now my weekly mileage has increased. I did a pace run on Thursday though. It was pretty warm, but I set a goal and stuck to it. I did 7 miles at 8:30 minute mile pace. I was pretty spent after it though. The first half of the run is steady downbank, the way back is all up!

On Saturday, rather than walking a long distance I went to see a physio. It looks like it's one of the 3 ligaments on the outside of my left ankle bone that's the problem. Possibly an old strain that has come back with a vengence. Walking around with no shoes on is pretty painful, i'm wincing a little with every step. The physio got his fingers right in and worked it. It really hurt I can tell you. After that he did about 10 minutes of ultrasound to promote healing. He's given me some strengthening exercises to do and booked me in for a double session in two weeks time. That is the day before the Newark half marathon.

On that subject I decided to do a trial run of that today. I picked a very dull route, running along the A34 dual carriageway down to Trentham Gardens and back home. According to the map the route was 13.3 miles. My GPS battery failed 3 miles into the run, so I had to guess my pace for the other 10 miles. I also ran 15 minutes in a torrential downpour, soaked to the bone. The sun came out afterwards and dried me on the way back. Other than the start and finish, the route is predominantly flat. This was the idea, as I know that the Newark is a flat course. Given my performance on Thursday completing 7 miles at 8:30 pace, but feeling spent, I decided to run at 9:00 minute mile pace. This went well until the GPS battery failed of course. After that I had to guess my pace, and estimate time markers. I did a pretty good job as it turned out. With 3 miles to go, I picked up the pace a little. I felt pretty comfortable for the whole run up until the last 2 miles. Then, I think I hit the wall. It's never happened to me before, but I really started to struggle. I was really drained, out of energy, increased heart rate and breathing. I even started getting pins and needles in my left leg and arm. I think I had just ran out of fuel. I struggled on, typically the steepest back of the run happened just after this hit which made it a double blow.

However, I took control of my breathing and bought myself home, even managing a last quarter mile speed increase. I completed the 13.3 miles in 1:57:50. Which by my reckoning is around 8:55 minute miles. Given the circumstances I was pretty happy. I forgot to say, it was all my own fault. I ran about 5pm and I'd forgotten to eat any lunch. So I was surviving all day on a breakfast that I ate at 10am. Also, I only took 1 litre of water with me, not electrolyte as usual. That also ran out 2 miles before the end. So, I have only myself to blame but I won't make that mistake again!

I've only plotted the 6.6 miles on the map above, as I ran the identical route back. Fairly flat, although gets tougher at the end as you can see. In fact, I guess it's steady uphil the whole way back.

I won't run as far next Sunday, as it's the event the week after, so this is my last long run until that. Using what I've learned I will try and aim for a time between 9:00 and 8:45 minute miles. The weather could be a factor though, as it was been the hottest day of the year on a couple of previous occassion during the Newark run I have read! Now I understand why they have 8 feeding stations in just 13 miles!

I will keep icing and exercising my ankle this week and see how I feel for running each day. I'm working in Wales Mon-Wed, then Scotland on Fri, so I'm going to be pressed for time to train although I will doubtless manage to run on Tues and Thurs.

Catch up next week.

Midweek update

I'm working this weekend, so I'm not going to be able to walk on Saturday. I am taking my pack and trainers and I will hopefully fit a 12 mile run in on Sunday if I'm not working all hours.

All runs this week have been after 8pm becuase of the heat. It has been over 30C on Monday and Tuesday, and it was 34C here on Wednesday. That's getting on for Morocco temps! This year is all about getting fit, not climate training, so I wisely ran as the sun is setting. Still hot and humid though.

On Tuesday I did a 52 minute easy pace run. I guess it was about 5 miles, but I didn't take my GPS. It was an off-road route in nearby Apedale. Quite a hilly route but enjoyable.

Wednesday I did a 10 minute warm up followed by 25 minutes of intervals. 1 minute jog, 1 minute fast (I'd say about 7:30 - 8 min mile pace). Really enjoyed this run, despite the heat. First time I have done 1 minute intervals. I usually do 3 mins jog, 2 mins fast.

Thursday I did a pace run. I didn't plan a route, but I had hoped it would work out to be 5 miles. In the end it was 4.6. I'd set myself a goal to run the 5 miles in 8:30 pace. I ended up running the 4.6 miles at 8:19 pace, with a 153 Heart rate average. It was 27C when I started and finished, so I was more than happy with the result, especially since it involves a long 0.7 mile climb near the end.

I have got a 5:30am start to drive to York and onto Newcastle-upon-Tyne, so no Gym tomorrow. There is a Gym in the hotel i'm staying at though. So, if I finish work early enough i'll get my workout in up there.

Speak to you next week.

Training Plan Month 6

6 Months already? Who'd have thought it.

This month is more 'Intensity' with the Newark Half Marathon on August 13th. I'm an confirmed entrant now. I've dropped in a few pace runs to help with the Half Marathon pace.

Yay!! Sucess!

Yesterday I took part and sucessfully completed the 25 mile Ludlow Challenge Walk.

I took the whole week off running to give my ankle time to heal. I think it must have been an Achilles strain. I made the decision to take part on the Friday night and packed my rucksack ready for the early start. I had to get up at 5:30am to ensure I had enough time to drive to Ludlow. It's only 70 miles away, but it's all single lane A roads. Sat Nav reckoned on 1 hour and 45 minutes. Not at 6am..!

I got there at 7:10, an hour an 10. Roads deserted so I could give my car a workout on the way. I arrived and registered, changed into my walking shoes and then we were all briefed and sent off from Dinham Bridge, just below Ludlow Castle. Two pictures above are taken near the start.

It was forecast a cloudless hot day, and turned out to be 28C! Before I set off I had taped up the underneath of my left foot, where I'm prone to blister, but didn't tape up any of my toes. I had mixed up 2 x 1.5l saddlebags of Vitargo electrolyte. Including a few spare clothes and other kit my pack will have weighed somewhere in the region of 4 kilos. I suspect I was carrying more weight than anyone else there. The organisers had said that although food was provided at some checkpoints we had to bring our own liquid. In the end they provided liquid at almost every checkpoint as well! I wore my long 'Craghoppers' walking trousers, my Railriders long sleeve white shirt, Injinji toe socks and my New Balance 1100or shoes.

We set off at 8am, over 100 people at my estimate. Age ranging from late 20's to 70's! I set off at my usual walking pace, which is about 3.8mph for off-road. As you can see from the route map above, there is some real height gained in the first 4 miles! My ankle was playing up after about 2 miles, and I was quite concerned I would not even make the first checkpoint! As time went out my ankle eased and I forgot about it. I'd estimate I was in the leading 15 or so. The first few people actually ran it, despite the organisers stating 'No Runners'. There were another couple of real power walkers, one guy strided past me after a few miles at a terrific pace, and I never saw him again. He must have averaged over 4.5 mph. I did notice that those in front tended to be tall, I guess stride length helps?? Me being a little 5ft 8, I have to take more strides!

The first checkpoint was called 'High Vinnals', the highest point on the walk; about 1216 feet. If I calculate correctly it looks like the whole 25 miles encompassed around 3000ft of climbing. I took a photo not long afterward, you can see the fantastic views over Shropshire, and the hot and cloudless sky! The route continues along the 'Mortimer Trail' for the first 14 miles. At 12 miles was the lunch checkpoint. I was just behind a group of 6 people who walked just a litle quicker than me most times, but I made ground on them going uphill. I was hoping everyone would stop for a half hour for lunch, but they all just grabbed a couple of sandwiches of bread and Brie, before setting straight off!

I was a little disheartened, and knew that there was no pressure and I could take as long as I wanted. However, I also reasoned that I wanted to treat this as an endurance event, so I did the same. I followed the same group for the entire walk, sometimes catching right up and chatting to them for a while. This was usually when they took the long way accross a field. As I was using my PDA with Memory Map software and Satellite Navigation, I was always taking the most efficient route following the footpaths to the metre! I firmly believe in tackling things with technology where appropriate. I even mentioned they were going the wrong way at one point, but they carried on walking. They had done the walk the previous year, so I figured they knew where they were going, so I stayed with them. 1/4 mile later they realised they went wrong and I pointed everyone in the right direction!

I faired very well up to my longest previous distance, about 15 miles. Even after that I felt ok. Then I hit the 20 mile mark. As you can see there is a steep climb for 2 miles. This really tired me. For the first time I actually stopped and took a couple of 10-second breathers. In the blistering heat, wearing long clothes and a pack, and after 20 miles... that climb was truly punishing. Oddly enough, after the short breather and a few sucks on my drink I was much better and caught those few people back up. A couple of them were struggling (well maybe one, and the other slowed up to assist). I passed them a trailed about 200yrds behind the others up to the end of the walk. The last couple of miles were mostly downhill, and this is where the back of my knees really really started hurting. I think it must have been my tendons. Especially in my right leg, every footstep downhill hurt a lot. I begged for another climb! The last half mile was all uphill and into Ludlow town centre and into the Assembly Rooms, rather cruelly up 3 flights of stairs to the top!

There I gave my number, and was presented with my certificate. I'd finished inside the top 10, including the runners. They had laid on a fantastic lunch (with free beer!!), which I had to skip as I needed to get back home. I must say that the walk was really well organised and the route was very well waymarked. You could almost have done it without a map. Food and refreshments were laid on along the way, and the entry price was just £10. I sat down for 10 minutes, drank some water and made my way back down the hill and to the car, for the considerably longer drive home (trucks and tractors all the way back!) I used up all 3 lites of my drink (I poured about 800ml away as it was a little strong). I also filled up a 600ml bottle at checkpoint 4, which I finished a couple of miles before the end too.

I could feel that the downhill near the end had taken it's toll on a couple of my toes. My big toes are prone to blister on the outsides, and the next toe along tends to rub against my big toe (but only on my left foot?). So, I had picked up 2 small blisters. I hadn't really noticed them when walking. I sat in the car and applied some compeed. Never used these blister plasters before, but I am thoroughly impressed. If you have not used them, go and buy some and be amazed. I guess I paid the price for not taping up my toes. I thought about it, but thought I'd be ok in those toe socks. Just goes to show you that you can never really blister proof yourself.

The walk took me 6 hours and 40 minutes, which is 3.7mph. Given the heat and climbs and the fact I had never tackled more than 15 before, I am really pleased with that.

I did a short recovery run today (the day after). Just a little less than 3 miles. I am feeling sore (aching tendons), so I didn't want to tackle a big distance. Besides, it was 30C today as well. I listened to my body and chose a light evening run. Hopefully I'll feel good for the weeks training ahead.

Good:
A real milestone: 25 miles, almost marathon distance. I know my legs can do it!
Won a few mental battles. Despite hurting at the start and end, I pushed on.
Shoes performed well, I could have found my MDS partners here.
I took jelly babies to eat along the way, worked well.
I kept telling myself 'every hill has a summit' 'so just keep moving', seemed to work.
Short breathers can really sort you out.

Bad:
Toe Socks are good, but not perfect.
Don't make electrolyte mixture too strong.
I took some fuit/nut bars to eat but never touched them. I just didn't fancy them when walking. I doubt I will when running either.

What to do next time:
Tape up my toes. A few minutes before the start will prevent days of hurt!
Make sports drink much weaker. I don't think my kidneys appreciated being overloaded with sugar either. I'm going to make it up less than 50% the recommended strength.
Trust my GPS. It knows best when it comes to route finding. It won't help on the MDS of course (except for speed/distance), but it's invaluable for training.
Take a few seconds break on steep climbs, it pays off in the long-run.

Sorry about such a long post, but I learned a lot on Saturday, and I think it's worth recording. Speak to you soon.

Important Milestone

Today I sucessfully completed a 15 mile run for the first time! In fact that's the longest distance I've ran or walked. Map above - all the hard work at the end, as you can see. The route doesn't look quite 15 miles on the map legend, because the corners at cut by the route track. The actual run was though

I'm very pleased with how it went generally. After reading a few tips from Runners World magazine I ran the first 11.5 miles at easy pace, which is 6mph, or 10 minute miles. My heart rate averages about 138 at this pace, which is just what I want. After that I ran the last 3.5 miles (or last 25%) at full marathon race-day pace, which is 9 minute mile. I actually probably ran it a little quicker than that, but it's difficult to tell as the GPS speed jumps around a little.

Stats are as follows:

Total Distance:15 Miles
Total Time: 2:27:23
Average Speed: 6mph
Average Pace: 9:52 minute miles
Average Heart: 142

The only issue, which takes away some of the satisfaction, is that I appear to have picked up some kind of ankle injury. Well, actually two! I have had minor pain on the top of my left foot running down to the left of the outside ankle bone for quite some time. I think this dates back to last September. I can't remember how I injured it, but I then went for a weekend break to Amsterdam the next day and had to walk around a lot. The pain got so bad, I had to catch a cab back and spend the rest of the weekend in the hotel. Since then, every morning my ankle 'cracks' when I get up and the first few steps out of bed are quite painful. I gradually walk it off and it goes away. More recentley the pain hasn't been going away, but I only really get pain when I am barefoot, so it's not affecting my running.

Today I started my run and almost straight away I felt a slight pain on the right ankle this time! The pain is on the inside of the leg this time, running down the back of the inside ankle bone. I can honestly say I felt a twinge for every single step of the 15 miles. I thought it would anesthetise itself after a few miles but no. It gradually got worse, especially on hills, and became quite acute in the last 3 miles. I managed to run through it and finish, but I'm now hobbling around the house. I have had my feet up for the last 4 hours, icing both ankles in alternation every 20 minutes.

This coming week is a consolodation week fortunately, so mileage drops. However, I have decided that I will not run at all this week and try and stay off my feet as much as possible. Very wise I'm sure you will agree.

It does however but a challenge walk I have entered next Saturday in doubt. I joined the Long Distance Walkers Association about 2 months ago. This Saturday I'm taking place in the Ludlow Challenge walk, it is a 25 miles route. This is much further than I have ever walked, but it is a walk, and it's not a race. There are checkpoints and food served along the way, and at the end too. All this for just £10! Anyway, I'll see how my ankles feel this week and make a decision on Friday. I'd really like to do this, as I know I can manage the distance, and 25 miles would be another fantastic milestone to hit.

I did a 9 mile walk yesterday. A little short, but I was pressed for time. I made up by completing it at a rapid pace; 4.2mph to be precise, which is a very fast walk indeed over that terrain.

On Tuesday I ran 6.5 miles at easy pace. Wednesday I did 25 minutes worth if intervals, after a 10 minute warm up. On Thursday I did a 7 mile tempo run. I wanted to run at 8:45 minute miles, but the temperature was so hot (29C) I averaged 8:55. The idea with the tempo run is to increase my speed for the Newark Half Marathon in August. I'd like to run it at 8:30 minute miles, but I question If I will be capable of that by then. I may have to settle for a little slower. I'll see how I progress over the next month and make a decision the week before the event (13th August). I don't want to jeopardise my long term goals by increasing my speed just for one event. I'd love to break 2 hours for the 13 miles, but I'm not going to be silly about my preparation. I'll just see how I feel in the next month.

I'm working away for most of this week, which suits my decision not to run anyway. Catch up next week, hopefully after completing the Ludlow Challenge Walk!