Life is not fair

Well, pursuant to yesterday’s post, I pootled out for what I hoped would be a three miler today. Ow. Like, really, OW! Unable to walk properly levels of ow. My gait was okay, my heart rate was fine, all other muscles felt good, I wanted to run–but my bloody shins were screaming at me after only three quarters of a mile. The pain was bad enough I was reduced to hobbling when I finally gave up trying to run. This is not a cadence problem (see yesterday’s post). My cadence was about 165-170 at the beginning. I warmed up properly. I’ve been stretching my calf and tibia muscles (twice a day, morning and night). So that leaves overuse. I guess I’m just going to have to stop running for a while and let it heal. I think two weeks should be enough, although the thought of not running for two weeks makes me cringe. That amount of time should give me enough to prepare for the St. Alban’s half marathon (which is coming soon). For those two weeks, cycling will have to do instead.

I’m not going to post stats for this week–too embarrassing. Total distance less than 5 miles. Ran on Tue, Sat, Sun. Terrible shin splints on Sat and Sun. I wanted to run, but my shins were killing me. But after I’d been reduced to walking after only a mile on Sunday, I tried picking up the pace and running much faster. Shin pain vanished. I wonder if I’m overstriding when I’m going at a slow pace. The Internet (Praise To Mighty Google) says in several places that overstriding can cause shin splints–and heel striking is a symptom of overstriding.

Given that I didn’t run for several days and my shin pain got worse, I’m not sure that the pains come from overtraining. I’ve started stretching twice a day (as well as after running), and I’ve downloaded a cadence program for my iPod. This week coming I’m going to get back into the marathon program, and concentrate on keeping my cadence up and my stride length short. We’ll see if that makes a difference.

Without doubt overtrained. Every run seems harder than the last–even when it’s the same distance as the week before. I was reduced to walk/run this week: 2 mins walking, 3 mins running. And even that was hard. Shin splints when starting out–so my calves are getting very tight. Completed a 12 mile long run on Saturday, but my calves were cramping painfully from mile 11, and the overall pace was abominably slow. Next week I’m going to run 2 miles on Tue/Thu/Sat, and see if running gets easier. I don’t have a marathon until July, so taking a week to recover isn’t such a big deal.

• Tue: aborted 4 mile run, 1.17 miles @ 11: 10. Very painful, Shin splints, stiff legs that felt like lead weights.
• Wed: 4 miles @ 12:13. Some fast stretches (max pace was 5:15), but overall very sluggish. Couldn’t keep up a decent pace.
• Thu: 3 miles @ 12:35. Much like Wed. Some faster paced, but overall not good.
• Sat: 12 miles @ 13:58. Mixed run/walk. Okay for about eight/nine miles, then started cramping at mile ten. Walked the last mile.

Total weekly distance: 20 miles.

I’m pretty sure I’ve been overtraining: I’ve lost all my joy in running, and my times have been getting slower and slower. I’ve cut down my training this week after a blow-out on Tuesday. Keeping the same volume, but dropping the pace. (Not that I was very fast anyway.)

• Tue: 4 miles @ 11:16 mins/mile
• Wed: 4 miles total, 2 miles RP @ 10:50
• Thu: 5 miles @ 11:44 (this is where the overtraining kicked in; I was knackered from mile one)
• Sun: 8 miles @ 12:35 (painful)

Saturday I was wargaming, so I did my long run on Sunday. 21 miles running in total.

Next week (this week, really) is going to be slow. Volume is going to be screwed as I had a blow out on Tuesday, and the pace is going to be sloooowww. But I need to cut back to let my body catch up on rest. So, what’re you going to do?

• Tue: 4 miles @ 10:41/mile
• Wed: 1 mile RP warm up @ 11:24, 3 miles RP @ 10:19
• Thu: 4 miles @ 11:20
• Sat: 10 miles @ 12:15
• Sun: 3 miles @ 11:22

The first three miles on Saturday were run in dappled shade and went fine. At mile 3, I turned onto the Grand Union Canal towpath, and I was running in direct sunlight. The temperature was 27 degrees in the shade; I have no idea what it was in the sun, but it felt fricken hot. I dehydrated very quickly and by the turn around at mile 6, I was knackered. It was hard going from then on. I went from 11:33/mile at mile 5 to 13:11 by the end. Lesson learned: don’t run in direct sunlight at midday on one of the hottest days of the year. Yup.

• Tue: 4 miles @ 10:42
• Wed: 2.5 miles RP @ 10.00
• Thu: 4 miles @ 10:48
• Sat: 8 miles @ 11:22
• Sun: 3 miles @ 10:55

21.55 miles total. 3:58:11 running time. Slowly, very slowly building fitness back up again.

Mileage slowly increasing. Fitness returning after the knee problems.

• Tue 5th, 4 miles @ 10:40
• Wed 6th, 1.5 miles warm up @ 10:30, 2 miles RP @ 9:53
• Thu 7th, 4 miles @ 10:37
• Sat 9th, 6 miles @ 11.05
• Sun 10th, 3 miles @ 11.27

Total mileage: 20.5.

A reasonable week this week, although my long run on Saturday was weak. I had insomnia the night before, and woke up tired and dehydrated before i even started running. After two miles I had nothing left. Ended up walking for about half a mile in the middle (I ran the full 7; total distance maybe 7.5 miles).

• Tue: 4 miles @ 10:25 mins/mile
• Wed: 1 mile RP warm-up @ 12:10, then 2 miles RP @ 09:43
• Thu: 3 miles @ 10:18
• Sat: 7 miles @ 10:56
• Sun: 3 miles @ 10:14

Weekly total of 3:30 running time, and 20 miles distance.

Missed out on my Sunday easy-paced run yesterday, but that’s the least important of the weekly mileage, so I’m not that bothered. Training’s going okay; no knee or hip problems, quads feel fine, no stiffness or muscle pain. Mind you, I’m not running all that far yet, but it’s still a good sign. Distances were:

• Tue, 4 miles @ 10:36 mins/mile
• Wed, 1.5 miles warm up @ 10:55 and 1.5 miles race pace @ 9:29
• Thu, 3 miles @ 10:14
• Sat, 6 miles @ 10:24

Weekly total of 16 miles and 2 hours 46 minutes.

6 miles today at 80ish% max heart rate. Flattish run on asphalt pavement, and one short section across a sodden field. Stats and map are here.

This was my first run after knee pain from my ten miler last Friday. I ordered a knee compression sleeve from Amazon, and it stopped the wretched clicking I’ve been having for days. Once the clicking stopped, the knee ached a little, but nowhere near the level previously, when all I was doing was walking round the house.

The new shoes felt good too–although I made an error by running along a footpath that crossed a field . . . which was waterlogged. Not muddy, but under about an inch of water that wasn’t draining anywhere. Yeah. Wet feet. Luckily it was about the five mile mark, so I didn’t have to run far in wet shoes. They don’t look new anymore, though. Mud splattered all over them, and stained dark brown where they are supposed to be bright white. Still, never mind. They’re there to be run in, not to be looked at.

I bought them because of the hip and knee problems I’ve been having. They felt perfect in the running store. I tried a bunch of pairs on the treadmill there (with the staff videoing my feet and laughing at how my left foot waggles around like a chicken), and these fit best: New Balance 850. They’re designed for severe overpronators like me, and are surprisingly comfortable. I’m not getting the same feeling of my left foot going splat as I was before. In the old pair, it felt like my foot was landing flat every strike. This pair, it felt like I was landing on my heel or mid foot. Much better.

Training Log:

• Mon 14th: 5 miles @ 80%. Pace 10:07
• Wed 16th: 9 miles @80%. Pace 10:42
• Fri 18th: 10 miles. Pace 11:48

That makes 24 miles for last week. So far this week, I’ve done 6 miles, and I’m planning an 18 miler on Saturday. I’ll probably go along the Grand Union Canal up toward Tring, and take the camera along.