Has it really been 5 weeks since i posted an update on my training? Yes it has. Anyway, seeing as i'm being badgered from foreign lands to post an update, i felt that i should use the time my PC is taking to author some videos to post an update. And quite an update it is.
Week 2 (w/c 06/02/1011) schedule:
Sunday - 8 miles
Tuesday - 5 miles
Thursday - 6 miles
Saturday 4 miles
Sunday is always the worst day, it's the one after Saturday, really?, meaning that you have to run two days in a row. Sunday is also the longest run of the week on 90% of the schedule. I approached this run with much to fear, but i was confident that i could pull off two runs in two days even if my body was sore. I devised a new route that i had never taken before in order to hit the 8 mile mark. It was much downhill to begin with and much uphill to end with, something that i would have to contend with on race day.
I started off quite steady (but still too fast) at just over 7mins per mile for the first 3 miles, but mile 4 was uphill and i slowed to 7m 47 for that mile. I was tired at this point and then it happened. A pain like i've never felt in my shin. At 5.74 miles of the 8 i was intending to do, i had to stop, i couldn't put much weight on my foot. Shin splints. Ouch. I'm typing this 6 weeks later and it still hasn't fulled healed, but i'm getting through it. I had to get the bus home!! haha. And that was me out for a while, just typical :(
Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday were all sacrificed as i hobbled about at work and struggled to come to terms with the fact that i was having a mare.
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Week 3 (w/c 13/02/2011) schedule:
Sunday 10 miles
Tuesday 5 miles
Thursday 6 miles
Saturday 5 miles
Again, this week, i had to sacrifice Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, that was 6 scheduled runs all down the swanny due to shin splints. Having procured a calf support, ankle support and two new insoles, i thought i'd chance things on Saturday 19th Feb at the 5 miler. I still wasn't comfortable on my foot to be honest, but i decided to run 4 x Silverknowes Loop, as at least i would be local if it all went pear shaped. 5.33 miles later and i was fairly happy that i had managed to get back out there. Massive damage to my feet caused by new insoles and ankle strap though - that will take a while to heal :(
So, week two only had one run, as did week 3. Week 4 would need to be better....and it was.....a wee bit anyway.
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Week 4 (w/c 20/02/2011) Schedule:
Sunday 11 miles
Tuesday 5 miles
Thursday 7 miles
Saturday 5 miles
I was still tender after my Saturday run so i again decided to miss the big Sunday run to heal both my cuts and blisters as well as my shin splints. Dogged by a tight calf and a dodgy groin as well.
Tuesday was my first lunchtime run in a long time and i decided to use my trusted 5 mile route, which came in at 4.91 miles, which was weird. Pace was decent at 7m 24s per mile for the entire run.
Thursday was a 7 mile attempt, but i felt that Thursday was pushing it a bit, so i delayed until Sunday when i ran the 7 miles i should have run on the Thursday (studio engineering there!). Anyway, this was slow - well, fast compared to what i should be running but ultimately slow compared to everything else lately, but it was the longest i had run in a long time also accutely aware that the Lasswade 10 mile race was coming up on the 6th of March and i hadn't really touched anything like near 10 mile yet.
I kept it local again, just in case, and the foot wasn't too bad when i finished. All was well for the following Sunday's race then ;)
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Week 5 (w/c 27/02/2011) schedule:
Sunday 12 miles
Tuesday 5 miles
Thursday 7.5miles
Saturday 5 miles
Well, having already run last week's Thursday run on the Sunday, and bearing in mind i had a 10 mile race to go to on Sunday coming, i decided that one run was all i needed this week, a short 5 miler on Tuesday around my favourite short course at lunchtime. 7mins 22secs per mile for the 5 miles wasn't too bad. I didn't enter any notes on runkeeper so i mustn't have had a lot to say about it :)
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Week 6 (w/c 06/03/2011) schedule:
Sunday 13 miles (although this was 10 mile race day actually)
Tuesday 5 miles
Thursday 7 miles
Saturday 5 miles
So, on the Saturday before my race I was up in Perth to see the mighty Hibees draw 1-1 with the less than mighty Saints. That night i did something strange to my back, i thought i'd pulled a muscle as i couldn't breath to the capacity of my lungs nor could i exhale properly. Well, this was not good. Then i was getting jabbing shooting pains like i'd never felt in my life near my shoulder blades slightly to the right. I spent the rest of Saturday night lying like dracula trying not to provoke it :( I also got about 2 hours sleep. No good for Sunday's race!!
Sunday was worse, i was climbing the walls in pain :( So, no race at all.
When i woke on Monday morning, it was completely gone :( That's just weird. Never will i have a go at someone with back pain again :(
Ultimately another week with no running!! :(
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Week 7 has got off to a flyer, so i'm hoping to report some good news in my next blog post. 4 weeks till the edinburgh half. 10 weeks will the marathon!! GULP
Since i started this schedule, i have been due to run 23 times. I have completed just 8 of them. That needs to improve.
www.runkeeper.com/user/zooldafool