Slowly but Surely!

Week - 10k
Month - 10k
YTD - 380.5

With regard to my last post a few questions were asked

Tesso - So what sort of pgm is the physio doing for you? Is it just exercises or does it involved running as well?

The program is pretty basic, I see her on a weekly basis so she tells me what I can do for that week until our next appointment. The program involves icing, self massage and this pressure point type activity where I run my fingers along the inside of my shin. With this I slowly move along the bone's edge until I find a tight bit or a painful area, I then have to push on this and rotate the ankle in either direction about ten times, then move on to the next spot. This is pretty time consuming as there are so many spots and sore bits on either leg. The pgm also involves running, low intensity stuff, this week I am allowed to do 2 x 5k (50% pace) and 1 x 3k (60% pace), so not much but at least I can do something.

Go Girl - Have you entered the GC Marathon yet?

This was a hard decision but I think it will be the correct one. I always seem to rush my recovery, I come back to early or too fast and get more niggles. I have decided to bite the bullet and as hard as it will be I will not alter the recovery program the physio sets for me. In saying this, I will not have the training under my belt to complete the GC marathon. I would like to still do the 1/2 though, hopefully the training will be sufficient for this. So unfortunately GG I will not be able to claim that I am a marathoner with you on Jul 2, I will be there to cheer you on but :)

So yesterday was a visit to the physio, nice and early so I could be sore for the rest of the day :) The usual painful appointment, alot of poking and rubbing into very tender spots. The physio said that she thinks the right leg is the worst side in terms of tighness, she feels me tense up when she finds a point and says that I seem to do this more on the right side. This is strange because the leg that caused me the most aching was the left, all I know is that they aren't supposed to be like this and wish they would hurry up and get better or least less tender. Apart from that not much else happened she told me what I can do for this week which was detailed in the reply to Tesso's question.

Round two of the BIL's fitness regime. Another 5k, exactly the same as the previous run. The sun was out this time and was quite warm for this time of the year. The pace was much quicker out to the 2.5k turn around in which we arrived there about 1 min faster than 2 days ago.

We again walked 500m to the 3k mark where we continued on for 1k before our last 500m recovery before reaching home. All the running splits were faster, the pace was around 10 -15 secs quicker per km. We arrived home in a time of 29.34 for 5k about a 1.30 improvement in two days.

The legs again pulled up good, I iced them immediately after the run and stretched the calves, next on the agenda is a 3k I am allowed to up the pace to 60% Woo Hoo, I don't know what that equates to so maybe around 14 mins.

Starting Over

Week - 5k
Month - 5k
YTD - 375.5k

Well im back into it after 20 days of pure rest. I haven't received my program form the physio yet but I thought seeing that I haven't got stress fractures then the amount of time I have had off for shin splints was a pretty good period.

So yesterday seemed like a good day to begin. My brother in-law is down for a week and planned to get some exercise in whilst here. He doesn't normally run and being an employee for the council his life is fairly sendentary :)

5km was the plan, just around the local area. We set off around 4pm, the weather was nice for a run, overcast and a slight breeze. The pace was comfortable about 5 min/k which we maintained until the 2.5k turn around where the BIL needed a rest. We turned around and walked for 500m and then began to run again. The next stage was a 1k stretch which was run again at 5min/k pace. We then began to walk for another 500m and then ran the last 500m back home.

The total time was 30.59 so just over 6 min/k pace average, with a total of 4k running - 1k walking. Obviously this was pretty comfortable for myself but an easy test for the legs which pulled up great.

I have physio tomorrow, hopefully they have done a program for me, we are again heading out for another 5k aswell, with a goal to get the BIL under 30 mins. The legs are usually very tender for a day or so after physio but im sure another easy 5k will do them good. Im sure that a bit of ice and stretches will help aswell.

Until tomorrow..

Answers Revealed!

I have been tagged by Tesso so here goes.

1. What time of the day do you run?

I generally run in the afternoons on weekdays, about 1/2 an hour after I get home from work but before dinner. On the weekend if there are club races then it is in the morning, early, too early for my liking but it is good to get it over and done with so you have the rest of the day to relax.

2. What are your favourite runs?

I have a few from different locations that I have lived in over the past few years. I really enjoy Mt Coot-tha here in Brisbane only because I haven't really done alot around here yet. The Castle hill run in Townsville is great, short but tough. I used to enjoy my runs around the Nepean/Hawksbury river when I was younger living in Penrith.

3. What is your favourite song to run to?

To be honest I haven't ran with music before, probably due to not training for long durations. There are times that I have a verse of a song stuck in my head that I seem to replay over and over again, but this is more an annoyance than anything else.

4. What book are you reading at the moment?

Im pretty slack when it comes to reading books, I used to be right into it and at times I would read about 3 or 4 in a row, but these times are rare now. My last book was 4th of July by James Patterson, I enjoy crime or court room type genres.

5. When did you start running?

I started running when I was 5, the under sixes in little athletics and have continued ever since. I have always been involved with a club every year, some years more serious than others. Most of my running was track, sprint distances for competition but I have always participated in longer distances for fun and fitness.

6. What is your post-race/ post-run ritual?

I wouldn't say ritual as I am pretty relaxed or rather, loose in regards to structure, but I do like a nice stretch. I generally take time to have a stretch and do some sort of cool down after an event or training run.

7. What do you eat before your run?

When I run in the morning I must eat something usually some cereal like weetbix or some toast and water. In the afternoon I usually don't eat anything, lunch seems to tie me over, I may have some fluid prior but that is about it.

8. What is your favourite running accessory?

I must say my watch or garmin. I'm a person who needs to know how far and fast I am running. I love working out possibilities and outcomes on the run so to speak. My maths seems so good when I'm training, if only they allowed me to do my HSC on the run :)

9. What is your motivation for running?

This is a hard one, because I have been running since I was 5, now 26 it just seems to be part of my life. I love the fact that the possibilities are endless, each day will never be the same. The great motivator is setting goals, the challenge of bettering yourself aswell as competing against others is second to none. Although I am a quiet sort of person, the social aspect of running is also a great motivator, hearing other peoples achievements certainly inspires me to aim for goals that seem out of reach.


10. What are your running shoes?

Currently my shoes are Asics Evolutions II, I over pronate alot hence my current shin splint issue. I haven't really liked Asics that much over the years and generally wear Brooks, Mizuno's or Adidas. When I think about it whenever I have Asics I seem to be injured, I must be stupid because I keep buying them, I just never think about this when Im shopping

11. What is your next running goal?

Before my minor set back my goal race was Warwick, however now I wont be able to compete in all the events, so to be honest I dont know. I have already achieved my 1/2 marathon goal for this year, so maybe to get back under 40 mins for 10k. In regards to a race or distance goal I would love to do the Kurrawa run, it is either the 2 x 25k relay or the 50k solo, I think the latter is a bit adventurous. I have a while before this one, it sounded good from reports last year so to ensure I will be there the relay will be the main focus, just have to find a partner.

*Edit*
To keep the ball rolling I tag Go girl, Hannah and Steve.

In the clear!

YTD - 370.5

Well to an extent anyway.

The bone scan I had a few days ago showed no signs of stress fractures which is great news. I do however have pretty painful shins splints, which has kept me from the running scene for 17 days now but whose counting.

I have been seeing a physio on a regular basis who causes me a great deal of agony. The next day the muscles are pretty tender but after that subsides it feels much better. I have also received my tailored made orthotics which are not as bad as I had thought although I haven't tested them running yet. They are purposely made for the my running gait so not really an all day walking around orthotic. Hopefully these rectify my stuffed up biomechanics.

I plan to have another few days off and on Wednesday which is my next physio appt I will receive a running program to start back onto. This will be a significant reduction in mileage although I wasn't doing much to begin with I can feel that it will be boring. I saying this I am taking this seriously as probably getting into it too soon after my surgery has caused this which is now making me miss out on some races.

With respect to work, as I am in the defence force we have medical classes that determine what you can and cant do. I have been put on a level that has a alot of restrictions that enables me to do only what the physio tells so I can make a quicker recovery. I have been medically downgraded for 6 months which will be ample time to get over this, after this time I then get reviewed and upgraded to hopefully what I was before.

How frustrating is this, I must be getting old, the last 6 months have been my worst ever so fingers crosed that this will be the last of it for a while. The most disappointing thing is I cant do my favourite run, Warwick, I have acommodation booked still so maybe depending on my program I may be able to do some of the shorter races. It is a great weekend but I will find it hard to sit and watch the event I had enjoyed so much last year. Also our little bundle of joy is due 3 days after this event so maybe I will be changing dirty nappies and practising sleep deprivation instead. That will be so much more fun :)

Congratulations to all that done so well in the Canberra Running weekend.

Down and Out... For how long????

WEEK - 30K
MARCH - 167.5K
YTD - 365.5K


Well this week has been one of a kind, I haven't posted at all since last Sunday so I will start from the beginning of the week.

Monday - Arrived at work, to find out that the person that was supposed to run the PT session had forgotten to tell someone that he was on a course for 2 days. When this happens and it does frequently we usually go for a run. This is exactly what happened, we done a total of 8k.

Tuesday - This was supposed to be my rest day. At work our Wksp starts at the normal time where as the rest of the workplace start at 1pm and work an afternoon shift. This means that there is hardly anyone around so the plan for PT is usually up to yourself. However the Boss decided to organise a session, years ago the fitness test for the defence force used to be a little different to what we do now. The run used to be 5k instead of 2.4k, there were chin ups instead of push ups and 2 minutes of situps, similar but it is to a cadence now, a total of 3 minutes if you do them all. So you can guess what he had install for us, we done the old fitness test minus the situps, everyone can pass situps especially when your feet are held.

I was a bit annoyed as I had my other runners on which are not great for running and I had no opportunity to change them. I decided I would run fairly conservative, you have 25 mins to pass anyway. I managed 13 chin ups which I was quite happy with considering I dont train for them. We arrived at the start of the run and done a few stretches, then on the line and off we went, nothing really major went on besides the fact that we started in the wrong position. After the turn around of the first lap I let the boss know about the start position and that we would need to stop 100m before the finish line. I crossed the line in 19.30, not really blowing hard but my legs didn't like the shoes much.

Tuesday pm - Now that this wasn't my rest day I decided to make it my speed session day instead of thursday which would be my rest day. I hadn't been there before and the grounds were a little rough. The legs were feeling a bit achy during the warmup which concerned me a bit. My shins have been weird over the last 2 months, they ache sometimes so I have been just icing and sometimes rubbing some Voltaren to settle them done. If they are pretty sore a few days rest usually fixes them.

The strides were the last part of the warmup, and the legs were getting worse I knew something was up and should have stopped, instead I eased up. Phil arrived and the bulk of the session started abit of chatting not doing much settled the legs down. We done some short sprints and some lunge type movements. I was so glad it was dark and nobody could see us do these it looked weird and felt ridiculous :) A quick lap as a recovery and we were told we were doing three laps of the oval, I started off with Steve Lucas and right from the start I was feeling uncomfortable, not breathing but the legs hurting not allowing me to stride out. I dont have a problem with short 1k intervals and the pace were running was not fast at all. I was struggling and by the end couldn't hang on crossing the line 10m behind.

As soon as I stopped the pain hit, I could hardly bear weight on my lower legs, they were aching BAD! I let Phil know that I was stopping the session and went home soon after. They continued to ache for the remainder of the night even after icing. I went to the Doctor the next day and let him know what happened, I now have two weeks complete rest from any impact activities and have a bone scan booked for next week, to rule out stress fractures. He was also saying something about Compartment Syndrome which can cause things like this. I also had to go to the podiatrist and he plastered my feet up for orthotics which arrive in a week or so.

Friday - This was the day I have been dreading, an appointment was made to see the Physio, the Doc and Pod wrote that I needed a deep tissue massage to loosen me up. After regurgitating what happened again, she knew exactly the type of pain that I had experienced as she had the same issue a few years back. She found that no matter what she did, reduced work load, ran on softer surfaces nothing worked as well as massage. So that is what I got, to see if it is going to work for me she only done one leg and so I wasn't too sore over the weekend and so I could compare the feeling between legs and let her know next week. Im so glad that only one was done it hurt bad, and being a wimp I told her to do the right leg the one that is nowhere near as painful to touch. I have another appointment on Wednesday so I can see the other leg is going to get done. I also have my own massage and icing program I am required to do to help things along.

I am annoyed that this has happened, but when it comes down to it, it is my fault. Well partly, I should have stopped when they began to ache a few weeks ago and got them checked out. This would have found that I have issues with the biomechanics of my legs which would have been addressed alot earlier.

I have now ressessed my goals for the year, I am now out of the ADF 1/2 Marathon Champs on the 30 April. If the bone scan finds stress fractures I will be out for around 6-8 weeks if they are just servere Shin Splints then I would like to do Warwick Mid May still depending on when Im allowed to start training again. Not that I have mentioned it but I had decided to do GCM, but now it is out aswell, I would still like to do the 1/2 however, beyond this I dont know the only run I would like to do is Kurrawa, maybe this could be Marathon for the year.