The Long Taper

Week 4 of my 6 week taper for Cork is now complete and if I continue the way I am going I might just be able to walk unassisted to the start line on June 2nd. Two 6 mile runs on Tuesday and Wednesday went quite well with the tenderness in my left calf slowly disappearing. A further 2 mile on the treadmill on Thursday and I was ready for a tempo run on Friday morning. I was planning on 2 x 3 to 3.5 miles @ 06:30 pace (programme called for 2 x 4.25 miles - but I would be happy to get some fast running under my belt) unfortunately I only managed 3 fast miles (06:34, 06:31 & 06:24) before my left calf began to feel tight and I eased up on the pace and dropped the 2nd fast leg. 1,500m in the pool on Saturday and I was ready for my MP run this morning (2 miles warmup & cooldown with 13 miles @ MP). I decided that, for this run, MP would be 07:20 per mile (still well under 3:20 time) and depending on how I felt I would extend the run beyond the scheduled 17 miles. I set out with Pat, next door, who was planning on 07:40 per mile for his MP. During the early miles I felt good but both my calves felt tight and I had to stop and stretch my right calf at mile 3.5 (never had this problem before) - unfortunately I only lasted another 1.5 miles before I had to pull up with a cramp in my right calf and couldn't continue. I handed Pat my Garmin so he could record his pace/distance and for the 2nd time in the last month had to phone for a lift home. While my ITBS is still around it has now been relegated to third place as far as running injuries are concerned. Here I am peaking for a marathon and unable to do speed or endurance workouts - I think my body is telling me something - so i've no choice but to take it easy for the next two weeks and see what comes my way. To be quite honest my focus is beyond Cork at this stage and taking a month off running to recover while maintaining fitness through cycling and swimming - I think my first Tri beckons - the Little Bo Peep Olympic distance triathlon on 27th July is supposed to be easy to gain entry to. After that it's back to the next Marathon - Berlin or Dublin? Training week 22/24 - 28 Miles.

Demise

Every old man I see

In October-coloured weather

Seems to say to me:

"I was once your father"

(Patrick Kavanagh - MEMORY OF MY FATHER)

My dad passed away peacefully in his sleep in the early hours of Monday morning after a long illness, so my week has been pretty hectic and tiring. On the running front my first run of the week was 11.5 miles on Wednesday morning where my ITBS decided to tell me it had not gone away and although I completed my run without pain I could feel tenderness on the outside of my knee. I kept my scheduled appointment with the new Physio on Thursday morning. Much better that the last Physio. He advised against long runs (24 miles scheduled this weekend) but said that tempo runs and speedwork (except on the track) should not be a problem. With this in mind I headed out for 2 x 3.5 miles @ 06:30 pace on Friday morning but only got 2.5 miles into the first leg when I got a cramp in my left calf and had to stop and walk the 3.5 miles home (no amount of stretching allowed me to run comfortably).

On Saturday morning I headed out with other members of Eagle AC who were incorporating the second half of the Cork Marathon route into their long run, starting on the Marina near Páirc Ui Caoimhe. The minimum run on offer was about 15.5 miles with some opting for extending it to 20 miles and beyond. The run started off at an easy pace well over 8 minute miles but after a while the pace increased, for some at least, (don't quite know who was in the driving seat) until we were motoring in the straight road at 07:30 pace after 10 miles with no sign of slowing down. Mile 13 through town was close to 7 minute pace and by the time the loop to Pairc Ui Caoimhe was complete any thoughts of extending the run were long gone. While it was a good progression run and my ITBS did not flare up I didn't feel great and the dull ache in my left calf at mile 1 remained with me throughout the run - I was glad to finish. 15.5 miles is a long way off 24 when it comes to endurance training.

Plenty of calf stretching on Saturday saw me heading out this morning to see if I could get another run in the double digits on tired legs and at least get some long run endurance memory into my legs ahead of Cork. I did not feel great from the first mile (stretching at mile 1 and 3.5 did help somewhat) as my left calf continued to niggle. To compound the discomfort my ITBS reared its ugly head after mile 3 which forced me to concentrate on my gait - I increased my leg turnover and shortened my stride and the ITBS subsided (less heel striking) and the run became more manageable. I eventually finished after 15.3 miles but felt washed out and exhausted. I'll take a day off tomorrow and look after my left calf. The closer I get to Cork the more crocked I begin to feel. Next weekends MP long run will tell a lot about how prepared I am to run 26.2 miles in 3 weeks time.

The official results of the Half Marathon last Sunday have me finishing in 01:30:00 exactly, which means I didn't miss the mark - although I am not yet a sub 01:30 half marathoner either (A kind of Limbo). Still a PB by 02:29 though, despite what others may have thought (although my 10k improvement of 04:37 over the same yearly interval is far more impressive)

Wed 7th May 11.48 Miles in 01:27:36 (07:38 pace @ 148 HR) Fri 9th May 4.51 Miles in 31:48 (07:03 pace @ 145 HR) with 2.51 Miles in 06:34, 06:25 & 03:16 (06:26 pace) Sat 10th May 15.57 Miles in 02:04:00 (07:57 @ 141 HR) 09:01, 08:31, 08:18, 08:25, 08:30, 08:26, 08:10, 07:51, 08:06, 07:32, 07:10, 07:14, 07:02, 07:14 & 04:15 (07:23 pace) Sun 11th May 15.32 Miles in 02:02:35 (08:00 pace @ 137 HR) Marathon Training Week 21/24 - 46.88 Miles. Third consecutive injury induced low mileage week. Revised target for Cork I'd say.

Better But Blunter

Todays Half marathon in Bantry, on the whole, was a very good run for me in that the expected ITBS pain did not materialise at all and despite some minor stiffness hours after the race I had more aches and pains in my claves than anywhere else. Therefore it would appear that I should be able to ramp up my training for Cork (and more importantly sign up for it) - only 2 weeks to taper. Given my apprehension about injury in todays race my plan was somewhat different than usual:-

• Short warmup to save wear and tear on the IT band.
• Start out conservatively.
• Wear running tights and carry drink in my hand.

I met Thomas at the start line and wished him luck as I wouldn't be going out at target race pace. I met up with Pat, my next door neighbour who was targeting a 01:35 time (07:15 pace) and said I would pace off him at the start and see how my knee held up.

The gun went off and the speedesters tore off down the road at a rate of knots. Thomas must have been among them as I never saw him, and he's not the type of guy to take up the rear. I headed out with Pat at just over 7 minute pace and felt very relaxed, taking it relatively easy.

Mile 1 passed in 06:56 (a bit faster than target but no problem)

Mile 2 and 3 were similar in 07:05 & 06:55 respectively. Then the big hill outside Glengarrif hit during mile 4 and the pace slowed somewhat - although this is whre I left Pat. The Garmin was set to average overall pace, current pace and distance - overall was showing about 07:11 halfway up the hill. Initially I misunderstood this to mean current mile pace and though I was cruising up the hill, especially as I was passing others - that was until the 4 mile autolap beeped at 07:46 (holy shit - I did this in 07:42 last year).

This guy passed me at the 3.5 mile mark and I tailed him up the hill and was more or less on his shoudler by the time we got to the top, close to mile 5. I was feeling quite good at this stage (no sign of knee pain) and though I was well behind the 06:52 average pace required for a 1:30 time I began hatching a plan to get back on pace. I offered the guy I had been shadowing a drink and we got talking. This was his first run in the 4 weeks since he completed the Paris Marathon in 03:20. He said that he was aiming for "about the hour and a half". When I said that my target was the same he said "Stick with me so and we'll get there together".

Mie 5 in 06:56. We knew we would have to speed up to get on pace for 1:30. The next 3 downhill miles helped us in this regard and we moved along at a good pace which, although maneagable, felt a bit faster than I would have run had I been on my own. We picked off quite a few runners along this section. I always had it in the back of my mind when passing guys at a pace that I think is a bit fast that i'll get picked off by them half a mile down the road when I am forced to cut back, but we maintained pace and didn't get overtaken.

Miles 6, 7 & 8 in 06:42, 06:23 & 06:19. (average pace was now down to 06:53 - on target more or less). One thing that told me this guy was made of stronger stuff was when he pulled out a bannana at around 6.5 miles, peeled it and offered some to me and then turned around and offered it to a guy we had just passed - anyone who can do that at 06:30 pace has my complete admiration.

The next few miles were undulating and while my knee was not bothering me the effort and feeling of fatigue in my legs was beginning to take its toll. Still miles 9 & 10 churned out in 06:39 & 06:45.

And then the punishing series of never ending hills to the finish line commenced (I don't remember the down bits as much as the muscle aching long uphill drags). I still managed to keep up with my guy as we managed to pass others who had slowed down and any attempts at telling him to go on ahead were met with "come on you can do it". One guy did pass us along this section (the first guy, and only as it turned out, since about mile 2 or 3)

Mile 11 in 07:01. 2.1 miles to go. Hanging in there felt very tough. I had an overwhelming urge to stop and walk "just fo a few seconds" - I knew that if I did that would be the end of my race. Every 10 seconds my thought changed from "I'm never going to make 1:30" to "I can do this" .

Mile 12 in 06:50 - nearly there ...... but hey wait a minute Garmin read 12.08 miles as I passed the actual 12 mile marker "shit this throws my times and paces off - my Garmin recorded 06:52 average pace to-date is not the real deal at all.

With the last hill gone at mile 12.4 it was downhill and then level all the way to the finish. It felt like an age, still about 5 meters behind my pacer - running through the narrow streets with warning tape tied between cones - waiting, hoping to see the 13 mile mark around the next corner, my guy in front was now shouting back to me "come on get a move on" my legs were like jelly and my heart pounding - at last the 13 mile mark. my pacer was pulling away in one last efffort......... around the last corner............"is that a 28 or 29 I see - shit 01:29:50"- I shift my legs into another gear nearly tripping myself up -running on fumes, tank empty. My pacer got through with 2 or 3 seconds to spare with me about 2 seconds on the wrong side - utterly exhausted. I certainly would have finished slower if it hadn't been for this guy (Sean from Milstreet - he was using this race to test his form and decide whether he should sign up for the Cork marathon next month).

While I had not prepared for racing (no racing shoes, warm running tights, no real warmup), the course was hilly and the day warm - a 01:25 to 01:27 half marathon was never on the cards today and while I half joked in my last post about cruising along at 01:30 pace - achieving that pace was the best that I could do and took alot of effort (My HR averaged 184 during the last mile - dangerosly high). My hat goes off to Thomas for getting under 01:28 and although he was dissappointed at getting so close to his PB and not beating it his time, given the terrain and conditions, was very impressive. Well done.

Update

Looks like I am registered for the half in Bantry after all. I found an e-mail confirming my bib no. (444). It would appear that the dog may have eaten my race pack (or it got lost in the post) - so all I am waiting for is confirmation as to whether I can pick up a new race pack on Sunday morning or whether I'll have to travel to Bantry on Saturday night. As it's paid for and given that I was considering going down on Sunday and spectating from my bike I may just run the bloody thing (as opposed to race) - you know the sort of thing - warmup over 2 miles, stretch a little and wait for Thomas and help him to the finish - kidding. So ITB permitting my test run on Sunday may just be somewhere between Glengarriff and Bantry (length unknown) - maybe I could coast along at 01:30 pace.

15 Miles

The last three day's training consisted of trips to the gym at lunchtime for strengthening and stretching, a few lengths in the pool and into the steam room for some more heat and stretching.

I set out this morning to see if I could run the half marathon distance before deciding to run on Sunday and did indeed manage to complete 15 miles without experiencing and pain in or around my left knee (or anywhere else for that matter). However the presence of every muscle, tendon and ligament on the outside of my knee was the only sensory information coming back to my brain for most of the run (it felt like the only muscle group in my body) and I did experience the onset of some discomfort as early as mile 3 and mile 4 to 6 but it did not develop and went again. Miles 8 and 9 passed without incident and I felt very comfortable (knee wise) from mile 10 through to 13.11 (in 01:36:50) to 14. During the last mile I did experience the onset of discomfort again and reduced the pace to compensate. So while I finished the run without the ITBS pain I can't say it was a typical run - I can't help but feel that I probably altered my gait in some way as a subconscious preventative measure.

While I had no pain during or after the run. As the morning wore on at work (sedentary desk job) my knee got stiff and achy so much so that it hurt when I got up to walk and especially going down stairs (classic ITBS pain). Once warmed up it returned to normal. I went to Letti, my usual sports masseur, this evening (should have taken Michael's and Ewen's advice earlier) and got a overall rub down with particular attention paid to the ITB on the outside of the knee where she found some damaged/knobbly fibres at the joint between the tibia and fibula and worked them over (suggested that I manipulate them with an ice cube at home and apply heat to bring fresh blood to the area and repeat as necessary) . She also noticed bruising further up my leg - legacy of the physio on Monday (I cancelled Friday's repeat visit when I finished with Letti). Letti advised no running tomorrow and said I could run Sunday if I wanted to as it would give some feedback as to whether treatment is working (although I am less inclined to race) In any event it would appear that, while I applied on-line, I do not appear to be registered for the race in Bantry and therefore I don't think it is worth €55 to run 13.1 miles as opposed to race it and give Thomas the opportunity to legitimately win as well. As it is I am losing valuable peak training time for Cork and may not be in shape to run it well (am already thinking of a Plan B - perhaps Berlin in September, although I don't know if entry is straightforward given the high numbers).

Letti gave me the name of a good physio she has used in the past, whose name I also came across on an ITBS forum on the Eagle AC website (cured a girl of ITBS in 2 visits using acupunture). He's a triathlete and so may understand the issue better than a general sports injury physio.

Thur 1st May 15 Miles in 01:51:16 (07:25 pace @ 146 HR) Thomas - the stretch (left leg is the affected leg) 1. Cross the left leg behind the right leg, keeping it straight/rigid and extend it as far to the right as you can go with your left foot resting on its side on the floor . The right leg will be bent at the knee (crouching position). You will probably need to hold onto something. 2. While keeping the left leg straight lower your bum vertically towards the floor and tilt your torso to the right and you should feel a stetch come on the outside of your left leg from your hip down. I hope I've described it right. Otherwise you may have trouble explaining yourself to anyone watching you.

Physi ouch

A trip to the Physio on Monday evening did not necessarily tell me anything new (Ewen's advice came later). As my IT band only becomes tender after an hour or so on the road there was no inflammation to inspect or tenderness to reveal just a tightness in my left IT band above the side of the knee (not where the pain was felt). She explained that the tightness could occur anywhere between the hip and the knee and still cause friction at the side of the knee as the whole band is pulled tight over the side of the knee (my words - but she said something like that). She gave the tender area a good going over so much so that sitting here 24 hours later it is still sore to the touch (as if I banged the side of my leg against a hard surface - is that normal?). She did give me a good stretching exercise (it so difficult to stretch the IT band at the right spot as the fleshy part towards the hip, which is not tight, is the first section to get stretched). Heat, stretching and some strengthening exercises are the order of the day. While she did not discourage running I agreed to take a few days off and return on Friday evening. Before that I will attempt a medium long run (probably Thursday morning) to see if I have any chance of running on Sunday. If I last 13 to 15 miles i'll give it a go - if pain comes i'll give it a miss.

Caution

I've had a relatively easy week running with my 2 scheduled quality (speed) sessions cancelled.


On Monday morning I went for my usual 8.6 mile base run and towards the end of it felt a pain developing in my left IT band which got noticeably sore over the last 100m. I had assumed that I was developing ITBS which could take at least 3 weeks to recover from. I was hoping that I had diagnosed it early and that a few days rest would see me good (eternal optimist). With this in mind I skipped my mixed interval session on the track on Tuesday and did not run on Wednesday either.


I did run on Thursday morning but not my scheduled 2 x 4 miles @ HM pace but instead opted for an easy run over 8.6 miles to test the water. As the symptoms of ITBS do not necessarily present themselves straight away and usually take a while to appear I was cautious during the early miles. I did feel the onset of some pain after 5 miles but thankfully it appeared to subside after mile 6. I did a similar run on Friday morning at a slightly faster pace (still within base pace range) and completed the run without feeling any aches and hopefully thought I had avoided any serious disruption. However my scheduled 22 mile run on Saturday morning was the acid test.


I headed out the door shortly after 6 (Ani is making her first communion today so I had to get out early) with only 5.5 hours sleep in the bag. I maintained a reasonable effort which felt tougher over the first few miles but settled down after a while. I ran into Cork along the Model Farm Road, past the College, along the south quays, crossed the river at City Hall and back along the north quays - feeling pretty good. Up Sundays Well (tough 0.25 mile hill) and shortly after the nine mile mark the pain came on my left knee and I stopped and walked for a few minutes and started up again only to feel the pain again after 0.3 miles so I called it a day. I was a tad pissed off to say the least as I had been looking forward to seeing how long I could have maintained the pace. As I was 6 miles from home I called Abina who called a cab for me as she was heading to the hairdresser with Ani.

This is certainly a disappointing development and puts next weeks half marathon in Bantry in jeopardy. I haven't yet signed up for the Cork Marathon (9th of May is the closing date) - so how I get on over the next week to 10 days will tell me whether I should enter on not. On a plus side Ani had a great day and the sun came out to shine after a wet start to the day.

Mon 21st Apr
8.58 Miles in 01:05:30 (07:38 pace @ 128 HR)

Thur 24th Apr
8.58 Miles in 01:08:02 (07:56 pace @ 128 HR)

Fri 25th Apr

8.58 Miles in 01:03:36 (07:25 @ 134 HR)

Sat 26th Apr

9.08 Miles in 01:07:04 (07:23 pace @ 145 HR)

I don't know whether to take complete rest or do short runs below the threshold for the onset of ITBS - time to see a physio I think.

Marathon Training week 19/24 - 35 Miles!