If only today turned out a little differently the title of my post would say "Midweek Long Run". I had planned a mid-week long run as I am on a company training course on Friday and Saturday and I may not be able to get in my scheduled runs. I was tempted to run a 5 mile race in Cork this evening but decided in favour of the long run as I mustn't lose sight of what I am training for. In any event I had signed up a month ago for some waterskiing this evening with the company sports and social club (why not give it a shot) so everything seemed to fit into place.
.
When trying a new "sport" caution should be exercised. When I turned up for waterskiing this was the principle I adopted so i followed the advice of those that had gone before me. The available options for waterskiing were
.
(i) hold onto a bar fixed to the side of the speed boat (Beginners) and
(ii) use the traditional rope off the back of the boat (those who have successfully completed
option (i).
.
The conventional wisdom appeared to be that option (i) should be availed of first followed by option (ii) - if option (i) went well. I started with option (i) and after 1 or 2 falls/flips I managed to stay up and enjoy the view. Although I did not feel the "exhilaration" others felt - and I thought I liked watersports. When my second time came round I took option (ii) safe in the knowledge that if I failed I would revert to option (i). Sounds like a good plan. So after 1 minute of instruction - skis straight in front, knees bent, arms straight, let the boat do the work - and off we go - flip/splash head over heels into the water - skis came off boat circled back - ski's on again - ok lets go again - up,up and off we go - oops --- left legs goes left and right leg goes right and ski comes off --- f*** ---- pulled something in my left leg - think it's my hamstring. Boat circles back. "I'll go back to option (i)" ---more training required.
.
When I got back to shore I did a bit of stretching - definitely sore hamstring (start and end of my waterskiing career - not that I'm afraid of a little pain it's just that I feel I have started my taper for the half marathon on the 9th September a little early. That's if I'm lucky --- this could be the start of the long taper for the Dublin Marathon on the 29th October.
.
Now 2 hours later I'm a bit more optimistic - I can walk and jogging on the spot isn't too uncomfortable - maybe, just maybe this is going to be a blip on this weeks schedule only. I'll wait and see what tomorrow morning has in store for me. Fingers crossed.
.
Back to my running. I did a relatively easy 10 miles in the park yesterday in 01:20:45 (08:04 pace @ 131 HR) I was happy with the pace for that effort.
.
That was followed by my mid-week long run of 19.8 miles following a similar, but shorter, loop into Cork as for my Saturday long runs. However given that it was a weekday traffic was much heavier and I was forced to dart and dodge around vehicles to cross intersections. Note to self: keep out of the City during the week - unless it's 5 a.m. (no fear there). The run itself went well and I felt comfortable all the time. The pace appeared to be slightly faster than my previous long runs but my watch begged to differ - I finished the 19.8 miles in 02:40:58 (08:08 pace at 128 bpm).
.
Stay tuned - Here's hoping my next post is about running.
You're not just trying to psych me out for the half, are you?
ReplyDeleteI bet you'll be fine, there are still 10 days until race day.
Thomas, I could think of better ways to phych you out. Hopefully I'll see you on September 9th.
ReplyDeletePs: Prior to yesterday I was going to raise the issue of whether I should taper for the half or train through it. What are your thoughts?
Tapering: it's up to you. Obviously the main race is the marathon, so you don't want a full taper for the half. But taking it easy for 2 or 3 days before the half should have a negligible effect on your marathon training but would probably help your time for the race. At least that's what I'm planning to do.
ReplyDeleteOf course, all that is meaningless if you're injured.
Quoting Forrest Gump - you must be a runner ;)
ReplyDeleteHope the hammy thing is nothing more than a strain. A tear would definitely put you back a bit.
Yes, have two light days (6 to 8k easy) and you should run a good half. No advantage in running it tired just to get more miles in the week.