Day 36/112. Surprisingly stiff and sore today, or maybe I shouldn't be surprised after setting a half marathon PB yesterday? Yeah, I'm still feeling pretty good about that. But it has meant no running today, but then again it was a scheduled rest day anyhow.
I've said it many times before, but I am not, never have been and never will be an early morning person: and that is doubly, nay trebly so when it's cold. When it's literally freezing, as it was this morning, the chances of me getting out there and running are incredibly remote.
No prizes then for guessing that (a) it was cold enough to snap-freeze Satan's kidneys this morning, and that (b) I did not get up and go for my scheduled morning run. Instead I lay there shivering under the blankets and wondering how the hell I was going to get this run ticked off when I wasn't likely to get home until very late in the evening when it would again be very bloody cold and I'd have the added disincentive of a day's work under my belt and (as it happens) a little agreeable grog as well.
Well fear not, intrepid marathon-campaign-viewer, against the odds I did indeed get out and complete the run, despite the intense cold, despite the lateness of the hour, despite intense tiredness and even having been coerced into drinking an agreeable semillon/chardonnay blend from a small, somewhat elevated winery somewhere just to the south of the Clare Valley in South Australia not an hour beforehand.
It was cold, slow and wheezy (the run, not the wine) but I did it, and I'm glad. It was touch and go, but stick to the schedule I did.
6.5km in an ugly but OK 39m30s (including 4 hills).
TdJ: Bruce Springsteen's Dancing in the Dark (appropriate, as it was bin night).
According to my running log, I've now clocked 201 kilometres over the last seven weeks: a helluva lot more to go yet, but this is the best start to any campaign for me ever.
One of those "get home, get changed and get running before you have time to think about it" days. But hey, it works! An achey, breaky 8 k (sorry) in the cold and dark, but it had definite moments of transendence where I felt like a legit runner, gliding along at ease and with pace. But then my shins and calfs/calves/calf muscles would ache again and I'd have to grit the teeth and just plough on.
Anyway, all done in a good time for a mid-week, and it was pretty enjoyable really.
8km, 45m23s.
TdJ: A Flock Of Seagulls I Ran, a bit cliche perhaps, but it lifted me. Status Quo's Down Down came a close second for also, erm, lifting me up. :o
Gee, it's amazing that I'm already up to day 40: more than a third of the way through the campaign. I'm also experiencing my first significant pain, with my shins and lower legs in general giving me quite some grief this morning. However the pain subsided over the course of the day (luckily a rest day) so I'm hopeful all will be well for the weekend. As of this week I move up to four runs per week, with an additional short run on Saturdays. Which means I still have 26 kms to run this week, so I'm hoping like crazy the pain is completely gone by morning.
There have been a couple of comments lately about treadmill running, with most RC forumites seeming less than enthusiastic about the benefits of treadies. I love 'em, and my treadmill has been a signifcant factor in my continuing to run over the last few years.
Coincidentally, today I was reading in the local running mag of a 24 hour race a few weeks back where three ultra runners ran 24 hours non-stop on treadmills in a shop window as a promotion for an inner city store. Not only did they complete the 24 hours non-stop, but it was the first time any of them had ever run on a treadmill! The best effort was by one Martin Fryer, who completed 245km to be just shy of the world 24 hour record - that's better than 6 min/km pace for 24 hours... the mind boggles.
I'll be happy if I can do that for 4-5 hours in a few weeks time. We shall see.
Mid Life Crisis Man Wrote:Coincidentally, today I was reading in the local running mag of a 24 hour race a few weeks back where three ultra runners ran 24 hours non-stop on treadmills in a shop window as a promotion for an inner city store. Not only did they complete the 24 hours non-stop, but it was the first time any of them had ever run on a treadmill! The best effort was by one Martin Fryer, who completed 245km to be just shy of the world 24 hour record - that's better than 6 min/km pace for 24 hours... the mind boggles.
Wow
That Martin Fryer is almost in this guy's league. Funny how they all end up in Australia...
Bierzo Baggie Wrote:Wow
That Martin Fryer is almost in this guy's league. Funny how they all end up in Australia...
Oh yeah, all Aussies know about Yiannis. Yiannis Kouros won several of the Sydney to Melbourne races (875 km, held from 1983-1991), and pretty much put ultra-running on the map here.
They were crazy days - the Sydney to Melbourne was an amazing event that always attracted masses of publicity ever since the first race was won by a 61-year old farmer called Cliff Young who used to train by running around his farm in gum boots (at least that's he said). Then Yiannis came on the scene and just blew everyone else out of the water. Incredible runner. Well anyone who can finish an 875 km race is an incredible runner, but Yiannis was so far ahead it's unbelievable!
A gentle plod on the treadmill confirmed my fears - the dreaded shin splints are back. I took off for a gentle 6km but chucked it in after two and a half as the pain was clearly not going to go away and to continue would be too risky.
I've got another 20km scheduled tomorrow, but that looks unlikely now. I'll see what it's like in the morning, but a couple of rest days might be needed.
Mate I'm gutted for you; yet this was always a possibility n'est pas?.
Rest from running, use your new-found cross-training to stay in shape and you'll be back to it in no time wirth little if any harm done.
Eveything's crossed for you here.
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
That's a toughee MLC. Still, you knew you'd get setbacks, everybody does. You'll still get there - your determination to succeed springs out from every post you write!
One solution I've heard about but never tried (when running) is to tape the section just below the kneecap (Nadal does it a fair bit). This is supposed to support err..something and lessen the shinsplint pain. Maybe worth a go. (Won't make you a better tennis player though...)
I used to do it sometimes in my yoof when playing volleyball - certainly helped me although I never got a diagnosis of what was wrong, a mate who was studying sports science recommended it though when I described the pain I was getting.
Seafront Plodder Wrote:One solution I've heard about but never tried (when running) is to tape the section just below the kneecap (Nadal does it a fair bit). This is supposed to support err..something and lessen the shinsplint pain. Maybe worth a go. (Won't make you a better tennis player though...)
Seafront Plodder Wrote:One solution I've heard about but never tried (when running) is to tape the section just below the kneecap (Nadal does it a fair bit). This is supposed to support err..something and lessen the shinsplint pain. Maybe worth a go. (Won't make you a better tennis player though...)
Yeah, it's hardly been an unqualified success for Nadal . . .
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
Adelaide Marathon Campaign - Week 6 of 16.
Yeah, I'm still feeling pretty good about that. But it has meant no running today, but then again it was a scheduled rest day anyhow. 
