Monday, January 27, 2014

The Waiting Game

My left foot has forced me to take the entire week off from running and this is a disappointing setback to say the least. I am feeling better, I think, and then it tightens up again. It's undoubtedly the dreaded plantar fasciitis, a catchall term I know. In any case, I also came down with a nasty cold towards the end of the week and spent the weekend coaching little boys at their first basketball tournament while trying to stay awake, ethusiastic, upbeat and positive. It was rough.

Onto the next one...

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Monday, January 20, 2014

Wrinkles

This week represented the first setback in quite some time. For once I feel confident that the reason for the setback was not overtraining, but rather my inability to recognize that a pair of shoes was causing problems soon enough to avoid injury. After I switched shoes, thinking the pair I'd been wearing was at the end of their useful running life, I thought I was being smart. I threw on a pair of Asics GT2170's, the same model I'd worn before successfully and part of the same model line I'd been using for years with good results. This pair, for some strange reason, started rubbing the outside of my left foot under the ankle bone when I ran. I thought they just needed to be broken in and attempted to soften that area of the shoe with my hands to get rid of that annoying rubbing. However, I think the fact that the shoe was bothering my ankle changed my gait just enough that another, much more serious problem, started developing. I didn't become aware of it until it was too late, but I maintain it has nothing to do with mileage per se. It's just that this is the first time I've ever experienced this specific issue with footwear and now must suffer the consequences of my inexperience. As such, I haven't been running since Thursday and have made a commitment to let this injury (which is a bit like the scary plantar fasciitis, but I think it's actually a muscle or tendon strain in my foot) heal before getting back into running. I hope it will only take a few more days, but have no idea as I am not able to simply put my feet up and let it run its course. Coaching basketball will keep me on my feet, especially as we are heading into our first tournament next weekend. Oh well... Fitness will be lost I guess, and that sucks big time!

In the end I managed to cover a paltry 40.3km (25 miles) on 3hr38m39s of running.
  • Monday: rest (Left foot hurting, think new shoes are a problem. Took a rare day off to let it rest.)
  • Tuesday: 12km, 1:06:01, 5:30/km, 130bpm (Early morning run, nice and easy recovery pace, testing the foot and new GT2000 shoes.)
  • Wednesday: 16.2km, 1:31:30, 5:39/km, 135bpm (Tough waking up early enough to get this one done. Still bothered by left foot, so running slowly and trying to remember this is a step back week.)
  • Thursday: 12.1km (treadmill), 1:01:08, 5:03/km, 143bpm (Still sore in the left foot so this was supposed to be a bit easy. As I ran the foot felt better so I increased speed gradually topping out at 7.8mph for a 10min stretch. Good run.)
  • Friday: rest (Alarm went off at 5am, decided foot was hurting too much to go for a run.)
  • Saturday: rest (All day coaching certification clinic including 4 hours on court and foot had a setback. Damn it!)
  • Sunday: rest (No running. Left foot going to take some time to heal.)

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Sunday, January 12, 2014

Cold Doesn't Begin To Explain It!

The week began with a deep freeze that closely followed a period of precipitation and thaw, all of which is to say that the sidewalks were a distaster even if one wanted to brave the -22C (-7.6F) temperatures and, with the wind, -40C (-40F). I guess now I really know where the two scales meet...

As it was, I ended up doing all my weekday runs on the ole treadmill at the gym down the street. It pains me to say that I drove to the gym, but that's simply what ended up happening. The sidewalks were such a mess that I felt it dangerous even to try and walk the 1.2km. At 5 a.m., which I managed Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, I didn't feel too guilty. But on Monday and Wednesday (evening second run) I felt it was probably a waste of gas and polution. Oh well.

The running continued to be decent, though I started up on a new pair of shoes as the arch and bottom of my left foot started hurting me a bit after I slipped on the sidwalk a bit while walking a few days before the week started (more reason to drive to the gym, right?!) and I recognized that the shoes I'd been running in were at the 800km (500 mile) mark, so time to go anyway. The new shoes, though I'd worn the model before, have been rubbing the left side of my left ankle in an uncomfortable way and I think it's simply that the material is not very soft there or something. I've been working at it with my hands to soften it up, but the ankle is still quite irritated. Not fun, but I guess it comes with the territory.

The runs themselves were good, though I think I started the week off a bit aggresively and paid for it in the form of sore legs and generally being tired. Not used to waking up at ungodly hours likely contributed to the effect. Weekend long run in particular was tough, but it's always good to get through those. That being said, I am happy to push myself a little bit into the upper aerobic heart rate ranges, though I have to be cautious when I start to feel worn out. Thinking next week should be a "down" week as a result, but it's very hard for me to take a step back so I'm not really trusting myself to take what is a well deserved break, active though it may be.

In the end I managed to cover 112.91km (70.16 miles) on 9hr54m51s of running.
  • Monday: 18km (treadmill), 1:30:09, 5:00/km, 137bpm (ice rink sidewalks and friggin cold so treadmill in the evening it was; great HR average for that pace!)
  • Tuesday: 12km (treadmill), 1:01:03, 5:03/km, 147bpm (-22C, -36C with wind, so 5am wake up and treadmill at the gym. Feeling the effects I guess as HR was elevated for this pace.)
  • Wednesday AM: 10.8km (treadmill), 1:00:01, 5:33/km, 129bpm (Took it easy on the treadmill, yet another cold morning. Sidewalks still a mess for running.)
  • Wednesday PM: 10.8km (treadmill), 1:00:01, 5:33/km, 142bpm (Hills setting, from 1.5% to 7.8% incline on one minute intervals, ran the last ten minutes as cooldown on steady 1.5% incline. Definitely stressed the lower leg muscles!)
  • Thursday: 12.25km (treadmill), 1:00:26, 4:58/km, 143bpm (Varying pace interval type thing, 10 min warmup, then two sets of 4 times: 3min@4:54/km, 1min@4:09/km, 1min@4:30/km with 5 min easy running in between sets and 5 minutes cool down at the end.)
  • Friday: 16.1km (treadmill), 1:29:40, 5:33/km, 133bpm (Tough mental early morning slog on the treadmill. Got through it though so I guess that's good.)
  • Saturday: 8.8km, 49:50, 5:39/km, 132bpm (Nasty sidewalks, feet totally soaked, and slipped a bunch of times. Got it done at least, nice and easy.)
  • Sunday: 24.1km (treadmill), 2:03:41, 5:08/km, 145bpm (Early evening run after eating out and a pint of beer. HR elevated and hot at the gym. Sidewalks still crap.)

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Sunday, January 5, 2014

Back to Work

The end of my holiday break is upon me and, as always, it never feels like it was enough. I certainly don't feel reinvigorated to "get back at it" as far as work goes, but perhaps it will hit me when I get to my cubicle in the morning.

Perhaps...

The past week was a bit of a surprise for me running wise because I didn't know if I'd be able to manage to run every day given the up in the air plans that we had. Ultimately it all worked somewhat well and I didn't miss a day, though it was dicey at times. The highlights of the week were the nice mid-week long run with the running group where I managed 19.3km on January 1st. A great way to start 2014! Also, the treadmill runs, all three of them, were a good test of the higher mileage and Lydiard theory of running. I am now able to run quite comfortably at 5:00/km pace (8:00/mile), something that a month ago would have put me into anaerobic mode within a few minutes I think. The benefits of daily running at a comfortable and aerobic effort, with some variation in effort and distances covered throughout the week, are clear and were never in doubt really. It's just nice to see the results already.

In the end I managed to cover 107.91km (67 miles) on 9hr17m25s of running. A few weeks ago I ran a similar distance for the week and it took me 32 minutes longer to cover the slightly shorter 107.67km. All good stuff!
  • Monday: 16km, 1:23:43, 5:14/km, 145bpm (slippery and cold, throat still sore, low on energy)
  • Tuesday: 12km, 1:05:50, 5:29/km, 139bpm (so slick out, snow falling, snowed overnight, sidewalks a disaster)
  • Wednesday: 19.3km, 1:39:07, 5:08/km, 142bpm (feeling better, 9km alone before group run, sidewalks a bit better)
  • Thursday: 16.6km (treadmill), 1:20:16, 4:50/km, 143bpm (seven repeats of 5 min @ 7.5mph, 5 min @ 8.3mph with 5 min @ 6.5mph at either end. That's more like it! )
  • Friday: 12.33km (treadmill), 1:00:01, 4:53/km, 144bpm (progression run of sorts, warm up for 5 min @ 6.5mph, then 15 min @7.6mph, 15 min @ 8.0mph, 10 min @ 7.6mph. Felt pretty good on this one!)
  • Saturday: 8.5km, 48:16, 5:40/km, 133bpm (end of day at cottage, tired, once it got dark I called it quits as it felt very unsafe on the dark country roads)
  • Sunday: 23.1km (treadmill), 2:00:12, 5:13/km, 136bpm (progression-plateau run, started with 6.5mph and went up by 0.2mph every ten minutes, then held it at 7.5mph for a full hour before a ten minute cool down at 6.5mph. Washroom break at 60mins as treadmills stop there automatically at the gym)

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