Late scratching for Race 3.

Thursday, March 31, 2005
52 days to SMH 1/2M Well Larry the Physio has ruled out Striders for Saturday. After the last 4 weeks of running on grass only, the impact of a 10km road race would be counter productive. So the Striders Race takes a back seat this month. Last night I had more bone needling and massage to the shins. Larry says that my left calf is still comparatively weak, so the twice daily calf letdowns will be maintained. He has also suggested that I do the exercises with a few kilos in a backpack. That should be interesting ! His advice is to continue to run through this injury. Friday night I will run 5km easy, Sunday 7.5km easy etc building up to 10km next Sunday. All on grass. I will book today to see Pod Andrew Bull next week. This is just to make sure that my shoes/gait/whatever is all OK. Will he make it to his first 1/2M ? Stay tuned .... Mood: :(

2 steps forward, 1 step back

Wednesday, March 30, 2005
5km moderate pace | 25:21 Finished 5km on the grass last night feeling very average. Legs were tired, shins hurt. Walked home and finished with 30 mins spinning. Bad day at the office. Physio booked for Thursday arvo. Mood: :(

Easter Sunday

Sunday, March 27, 2005
45 mins | Easy I managed to fit in a run just before dusk today. I ran at 5:45/km pace and felt no pain. Long stretches and ice afterwards as usual. Fingers still crossed. :) EDIT: I should have mentioned that I was passed by a racewalker who passed me like I was standing still. A most humbling experience for this plodder !

10k shin test.

Friday, March 25, 2005
10km | Easy | 60:31 Ran the Queens Park 2.5km loop 4 times. Kept at 6:00/km pace all the way and did it pretty easy I reckon. I felt twinges in the calf/shin from time to time, but that was mostly when my footing was awkwardly placed on a slope or something. Iced afterwards. Seems OK. :)

Shin rehab report #1467

Thursday, March 24, 2005
45 mins | Easy 59 days to go. No problems last night. I ran on grass (and mud) all the way and felt good. I even did the last 2km at a moderate pace just to see what would happen. Applied ice afterwards just to make sure. I will venture out on Friday Morning for 60 mins but will stick to the grass for the time being. Feeling optimistic at the moment. :)

Sunday Evening

Sunday, March 20, 2005
45 min | Easy Had a light run on the grass at Queens Park. Didn't feel great today (two pies and a beer at the footy probably didn't help). Shins/calves held up fine. No niggles. I iced afterwards anyway. Fingers crossed. :)

Testing 123

Thursday, March 17, 2005
30 mins | easy I ran for the first time since Physio on Tuesday and kept to grass only. After a few more days of anti-inflammatories, stretching and calf let-downs I actually started the run without pain. I ran on the flat only and finished only a little bit sore (I had to press hard to find any inflamation) and applied ice afterwards. On Sunday I will try for 45 mins. Until then I will keep up the same daily routine. :)

No run today

Tuesday, March 15, 2005
I saw Physio Larry today who massaged and applied dry needling (sort of accupuncture) on my left shin. I jumped on the trendy bike tonight and did 40 mins at average HR 130. I was hot and sweaty and a little puffed, but no real comparison to a run. I must learn to push myself harder (and perhaps for a longer period) while spinning so I can gain max benefit from it. I will maintain my calf let down exercises and Larry says try a light run on Thursday. Feeling just OK , with no real pain ATM. :|

Sunday run

Monday, March 14, 2005
..was cut short due to pain in calves and archilles. Didn't feel right after 5km (30mins) so i came home, did some mild stretching and hit it with the ice. Still doing my twice daily calf/archilles exercises etc and am due to see the Physio again on Tuesday. :(

Bronte Run

Friday, March 11, 2005
Easy run | 8km | 51:21 I took it very easy last night and just plodded down McPherson Street to Bronte Beach and then up, up, up Bronte Road to Charing Cross, Bondi Junction and home. I had a bit of shin/calf pain at the start, it went away by the time I got to the beach and then came back after I finished climbing Bronte Road. Not too bad I guess. I am doing my exercises twice daily like a good boy as the physio said. Next run is on Sunday. :)

Eccentric, not exentric !

Tuesday, March 08, 2005
My appointment with Larry Cohen (Sports Physio Bondi Junction) went well this afternoon. Initially, Larry was concerned that my recovery from races seemed to be very poor. Ice packs, ice packs and more ice packs are his answer. Immediately after a race, I should apply ice packs to quads, calves and ankles. Better still, he says, I should jump in a cold bath. Better than that - put a bag of ice in the bath ! Brrr. He said that I would be amazed with the difference. Um, ever heard of hypothermia Larry ? Now to the main problem. He says that my shins and calves are inflamed - not because of over training - but rather because of the lack of strength in the calf. This causes increased pressure on the shin bone and can or will lead to stress fractures. Solution is eccentric calf/archilles exercises. Eccentric exercise is the lowering action of an excerise rather than lifting. The exercise: Stand on a step on two feet and raise myself onto my toes. Then lower myself down on one foot only. Swap the process and do 15 repeats on each foot. Do the same thing with knees bent, 15 repeats on each foot. Two times a day. After that he's keen on me skipping in a few weeks. Should be fun. Larry had a look at my training program as I edge towards the SMH Half. He said that it needs to be reduced to avoid injury. Essentially, my Sunday long runs need to be cut back by about 25% until I build up a better base. I can start running again on Thursday with a 5/7km light run on grass. I go back to see him in a week. :)

Striders Race 2

Saturday, March 05, 2005
Olympic Park Homebush 10km 49:30 PB Hey ! Based on Striders Handicap I came 12th !!!! Ha !! Woke up this morning feeling pretty crappy. I stuck with my pre-race breakfast - bowl of fruit with yoghurt and a can of V in the car on the way. Again the turn up was amazing. The Striders club is apparently growing in numbers every month. Batteries were low in my GPS and I couldn't get a signal through the overcast sky. I set out at a steady pace with CoolRunners Jets and Plu on and off for the first few kms. Like Lane Cove I ran with Jets for most of the first 5kms. Jets kept me on pace and focused (if it wasn't for her I'm sure that my Lane Cove time would have been much slower) and then Plu for a while after that up to about 5 kms. Plu then mentioned that if I wanted to shoot for a PB, then I better get a wriggle on. So I pushed on and gave it my all. With a few Kms to go and I was hurting but could see that a PB was in reach, so I dug even deeper to finish about 30 secs below my Lane Cove Time. The real good news of the day is that my calves seem OK and my shin only slightly tender on the touch. Lets hope that this continues. I heard today that the Sydney Morning Herald 1/2M entries open on Monday. Yikes ! :D

Not running, spinning.

Friday, March 04, 2005
No thursday run. Sore calves and archilles meant that I had to cross train on the trendy excercise bike instead. Did 40mins and then gave up cos the seat hurt my bum (how do these cyclists ride all day? Yeowch!). Got a solid sweat up and rode hard. Gotta be good for you. Booked to see Larry Cohen (sports physio) in Bondi Junction on Tuesday 8th at 4.30pm. Will take all my shoes, 1/2M training program and running diary with me so he can sort me out. Lets hope he doesn't make me have time off. Still going to Striders tomorrow.

Pain in the ... (part 2)

Wednesday, March 02, 2005
5 x 300m Hills | Jog back recovery Last night I ran 3km warm up and then hit the hill at Ruthven Street, Bondi Junction again. Left archilles was tender, as was both calves (inside of shin). I'm not saying I'm in any real pain and it certainly doesn't hinder my stride, but its there and seems to recur every now and then. Anyway, the run was fine. Hills didn't really stress me (I didn't bludge either and ran them pretty hard). Ran 2km warm down jog home. Usual story, ice and stretching afterwards last night. I will ice and stretch Wednesday. My Thursday run will have to become a static bike session, so I should be right for the Striders Rce 2 at Homebush. I really don't know what causes all of this. I run in shoes recommended by a runners shop (for mild pronation). I run 3 days a week and use a program which never increases workload beyond 10% per week, so I can't be accused of over overtraining. I'll see either a physio or pod next week I guess.