Preparing For Sub 50min

After just going over the 50min at North Head a few weeks back, there is a nagging temptation to push a little bit harder at Lane Cove next time.I was forced to run by feel at North Head when I drained the batteries on my watch which meant my plan of running 5m25s kms evaporated as soon as I tried to light up my watch.No excuses this time so I need to have a doable plan.
To decide whether I go for sub 50min or not I have to weigh up some options.
Why do I always want to chase a number?I guess it's the easiest guide to measure improvement but in chasing 50min just because it's there is not worth busting my back again.I'll concentrate more on exercising rather than running the next 10 days or so just to build my confidence a bit.
Next time I have a layoff for injury I'd prefer it to be during winter please, these cold morning starts are harder than I remembered.
More Pilates now

Where's My Old Mate Gone?

A week on from my dumbarse (that's right it's ARSE not ASS) 10k at North Head and I feel like an old friend is fading from my life.Ordinarily, after a 10k continuous run, I would have needed a physio session, 7 days of anti-inflams, and a walking stick to get me out of bed.Instead, I had dull niggly pain for 2 days, 4 days of anti-inflams, and enough energy in the mornings to play with Wang and Murph (my 2 Burmese cats).Not a huge leap forward but solid little steps.

I did my 40 floor stair run Fri morning with the wine bottle laden backpack a second faster than my best time and it included a wee rest when my hr went a bit high after floor 32.Absolutely no pain at all and I kept the technique of making sure I straightened my back leg every time upper most in my mind.It's a sensational workout that one :10min, ave hr 167, legs really cop a minimal impact caning.It will be a staple workout on lazy days I'm sure.

Saturday early afternoon 10k run with my forerunner virtual partner.I set the VP at 5m45s and had little idea where I would run.I believe these runs are called "stray dog" runs and I love them.90% grass or dirt made it tougher than normal but great for minimising impact and building strength.Perfect weather (overcast,windy at times, 19deg) and virtually pain free made it a beautiful way of burning 874cal in 58m13s at an ave pace of 5m44s and ave hr of 160bpm.The VP had a lead of 9m with 97m to go but the lovely, grassy downhill to home gave him no chance of holding the lead.I won by 4sec this time which makes us 1 all.

Have to do some reading on how to improve the glute muscle involvement during some of my Pilates exercises.My right side is definitely being hampered by the nerves not firing up the muscles; if I can get this sorted then I will have completed the last hurdle in my rehab.After that comes the strengthening and endurance to keep them supporting me for x hours.

It's good to be running and training again.

Numbskull At North Head

Yesterday (Friday) I thought I should have a gentle 15min run before work just to stay fresh for the 10k at North Head on Sat.As usual the heart ruled the head and 15min turned into 40min.So 7.24 km in 40m38s; exactly the same distance I ran on Tuesday at the bay run when I overshot the 7k mark - uncanny coincidence.There was a slight twinge at work after Friday's run , enough to make me think twice about tackling the 10k.Then I received 2 encouraging msgs from fellow CRs and decided that the reason we train is so that we can run in events like a Striders 10k - settled then.
Saturday dawns (almost) and I grab the usual stuff; taking particular care to include the forerunner and hrm strap because I knew I couldn't trust myself to run at the gentle pace I had set for myself. I arrive at Manly, get my number and turn gps on to discover that there was no battery life left!I had forgotten to turn the wretched gizmo off the night before and it had spent the night bleeding power and there went all my confidence with it.
No point worrying about stuff you can do nothing about so I resigned myself to pester other runners at various points to get a handle on my progress.Brief warm up run then some of my funny looking stretches had me at the back of the pack 45sec prior to the start.
There was none of the usual adrenaline or stress to get through the crowd and start a steady pace; just avoiding other runners streaming past me again and again and again.No enjoyment yet!
One thing about North Head is that you get to see the faster runners 3 or 4 times.I kept trying to spot runners that I used to spar with, wishing I was at their pace rather than where I was.Again, no point worrying about shite you can't do anything about so just plod on.To add a bit of amusement to the run I decided I would let myself go a bit, down the hills (less braking stress on the legs I rationalised) and it worked well for a while.Then I'd spot the faster packs of runners coming the other way and get disheartened again.So I decided that I'd make it a bit tougher on my pace but easier on the back by running on the verges of the road.The surface varied from lush grass to sandy mud to scattered fist sized rocks.I didn't care what other runners thought I was doing, I just knew that the hard asphalt was doing me no favours and I had a feeling that I was pacing too fast.
As the km markers wound down toward the 9k point, the anticipation of needing to finish fast just wasn't there like it usually was.I nearly didn't bother with it but in the end ran strongly the last 700m to the finish - all downhill and all on sandy or grassy surface.
I had no idea what time I ran until about 10pm tonight - forgot to look at the clock as I ran through!I just knew I had to stretch the niggle I could feel in my right glute and get back home to roll around on a tennis ball for a while.
I'm glad I ran today, I may have gone too hard but only the next 48hrs will tell.As I write, it's only the glute that's a bit tender not the SIJ and may just need one of those godawful massage sessions to release it.Massage used to conjure up lovely,peaceful,soothing thoughts until I found the unique, breathtaking pain of a sports massage.

It's Time To Come Out

As my rehab goes along suspiciously well my competitive nature starts to whisper in my ear.I'm sure every once injured runner knows the temptation in doing too much too soon.Unfortunately for my rehab I have a stubborn,competitive streak in me that can resist many things but not the chance of 'running' in my new CR t-shirt at the most beautiful of 10k courses in Sydney this weekend.After this last run I am tempted, SOOOO TEMPTED, to revise my target time for the Striders 10k.
I had a minor hitout on the bay run yesterday and averaged 5m18s over 7.24km- I had a ball!I did the last 1km in 4m38s into the (mild) wind then spent the next 15min feeling guilty that I had given in to temptation; so I stretched for these 15min as penance.
I would be lying to us both if I said I was twinge free after the run.Twinges are so much more bearable than the 'dead leg' pain I have been accustomed to feeling after a run and the 'old man' feeling in between runs.As I write this, I feel like I could easily run another bay run without straining at all.
So the next few days will be spent negotiating between the competitive and the careful, the rugged and the rigid, the playful and the purposeful etc, to see what my ambitions will be for North Head.The only certainty is that I will finish the last km determinedly hard.