VLM ballot entered...

I'm in Madrid. On a stag do. (The weather is awful thanks for asking)

I'm going home today. I got back to the apartment last night at 4am, got up at 5am to let the last 2 stragglers into the apartment (we were only given one key...)

I was woken up by a text at 9am and been awake since... I'm pretty tired... However I've used this time constructively; I've entered the VLM ballot....

Maybe I'm still drunk?! Anyway, here's a picture of a cow boy hat I, er, 'acquired' whilst in a bar - in Spain's national colours no less!

Amazing club session tonight...

Just a very quick post to say that tonight's club session included intervals - my first bit of speed work for over 6 months....

I was a bit worried to say the least, but it was blooming stonkingly brilliant!! It felt amazing to stretch my legs. Anyway, here's the Garmin info :) (which I don't think does some of the speedy bits justice!)

Garmin stuff

Random picture of the day...

Ladies and gentlemen, yours truly, dry humping his foam roller (well, either that or rollering my hip flexors...)

Returning to club running and being envious of VLM'ers! (and a stag do in Madrid)

Last Thursday I returned to club running.

It's something I've been building up to for a while and knew at some point I would have to 'bite the bullet' as I couldn't keep putting it off...

I figured last Thursday would be a good time to go as it would be 3 days before the London marathon, and, knowing quite a few of the club would be running it, it would mean that the session wouldn't be too taxing.

It ended up being a gentle 7 mile plod in under an hour. It was a comfortable pace, actually slower than what I've been running (though longer than anything I've done since return from injury) so I didn't struggle too much. I did struggle a little though - it was the longest I'd been on my feet all year and I definitely didn't have the same freshness and zip in my legs that I would normally have on a club run.

However, I got through it pain free, well, knee pain free!

The knee held up fine, but I had to deal with a pain between the top of my foot and my shin. It wasn't anything too bad, but was a sharpish pain. So I've RICE'd it over the weekend and it's feeling fine now.

I'll be heading back to club again tomorrow as it should be another light session. Hopefully there won't be any twinges in the foot/shin area. If there are I will rest up as this weekend I am going to Madrid for a stag do! I don't want to be hampered when I'm getting ridiculously drunk exploring the wonderful sights Madrid has to offer.

I also have my first race, the Liverpool Spring 10km, the Sunday after I'm back so want to be able to see how I'm doing in terms of race fitness for that.

Finally, I couldn't blog the day after London without making some mention of it. 40 people from my club went down to participate and watch. I can't tell you how envious I was seeing their times appear on my twitter & facebook feeds. They all did brilliantly and hope I am there at some point over the next couple of years to represent the club and get back into running a little more long distance.

For now though, I just want to get back some semblance of fitness and get the torpedo-ness back to my pint sized-ness!!

Thinking you've lost the running bug then finding THAT spark again...

I said in my last post about how much exercise I'd completed last weekend, and in truth, I probably overdid it...

10km run Friday (as well as a gym session)
6km run Saturday (another gym session before hand)
Rock climbing Sunday
27 mile bike ride Monday
4km run Tuesday

Considering I'm meant to be feeling my way back into things it's not surprising my legs have felt heavy...

On Thursday I set out for a 10km run but had to cut it short to just under 8km - I really struggled and it felt like my knee pain was back. This really worried me; I've worked so hard in physio to get back to running, and I don't want to undo all that by stupidly overdoing it...

So on Friday I spent a good hour doing all the leg strengthening exercises that have helped in my recovery. It felt great to get my leg muscles working and my knee was fine.

When I went out on my run this morning my legs felt fresh, but I struggled due to my lack of fitness. I was just over a mile in and thought to myself "I'm really not enjoying this - nor can I honestly say I've enjoyed many of my runs since return from injury... Have I lost my love of runing?"

At this point of my run I got to the Liverpool-Leeds canal where I have the option of turning right and completing a short route, or turning left and taking a longer route.... I had to make myself turn left. As soon as I had I remember thinking of Sarah Marsden's (see her blog here)  favourite quote when it comes to running "amazing things rarely happen inside your comfort zone"....

Suddenly I decided to go for it; if I want to get back to my previous levels of fitness i've got to push myself, so I proceeded to do exactly that. It was a warm morning,  and I really sweated it out on the run, but didn't relent... I got to about 1 mile from home and saw two runners coming towards me. I thought to myself "I really hope they're from my running club because I need a lift." Guess what? They were!

We chatted for about a minute as they were in the middle of a London marathon training run, and one of us wanted to stop our runs for too long. It was great though and reminded me just how much I miss the running club gang and how much I love running with them. Done with chatting I had renewed vigour (as well as a nice little rest!) and to home I scurried to complete a 10km run with an average pace of sub 7 minute miles - the first time this year! I felt great, still do, and know that this morning's run was the one when I turned a corner.

Onwards and upwards from here!

Weekend of Sportism

Today was my first day in work since Wednesday… Whilst getting up this morning felt well, horrible, it’s nice to reflect on a long weekend when I was doing some form of exercise every single day. (Well, kind of… You’ll see in a second!)

Friday I went for a 10km run and completed it in under 45 minutes, which was a good 90 seconds off the time for the same route just 4 days earlier. I also managed to get out to pound the streets for 6kms on Saturday morning too. Both of these runs felt fairly tough going on my legs, however, no knee pain!

Sunday I went rock climbing again, though with slightly less enthusiasm and gusto this time given I didn’t want finger DOMS and for my whole upper body to be aching (plus making sounds like the incredible hulk when he’s transforming every time you stretch your back isn’t attractive). This was cut short as I think I’ve pulled something in my left shoulder – lifting isn’t painful but I get a very dull ache afterwards. So, resting my left arm and ibuprofen is the order of the day at the moment for that.

Monday I went on a long, (very very long,) bike ride. Even though the distance wasn’t that far – about 27 miles in total, for my first ride (stop guffawing at the back there) in over 7 months it was understandably tough. Add in the strong head wind and difficult terrain of un-kept canal pathways the ‘1,086’ calories I apparently burnt makes me feel a little cheated.

My backside took one hell of a pounding on that bike ride (again, stop guffawing at the back there) and towards the end of it I was forced to stand up and peddle to protect my bruised and battered derriere. I consider this tactic a success as it only hurts a little bit to sit down (on a cushioned surface) today.

You may well have noticed I haven’t mentioned Thursday; well I consider Thursday as a cross-training day… I went to Aintree races; Thursday is the opening day of the Grand National weekend. It’s just down the road from my house and is always a good day out. This consisted of drinking and eating from 12 midday ‘till after tea time. I ate A LOT, I didn’t drink that much considering, but I was a merry little fellow to say the least.

So… Where does the cross training come in you say? Whilst I would like to count the work I made my stomach and the rest of my digestive system do in order to process all the food and drink I consumed, sadly I can’t. No, the cross training came from being on my feet all day (this is a long time considering I have an office job) and freezing my tezzies off in the chilly wind. For me, that definitely burnt off at least one of my 5 meals of the day and a couple of pints of Strongbow (poor choice of cider Aintree, poor choice!).

I know that some calories were burnt anyway, ‘cause I had a bit of DOMS in my legs and back #JustSaying

My atrocious eating and drinking on Thursday probably explains why I really struggled with my runs on Friday and Saturday. However, even given that I think I need to ease back on the pace and speed of my runs and concentrate on going long (this post is turning into an innuendo laden-fest!) as my speed comes fairly naturally – I need to make sure my musculoskeletal system is keeping up with my cardiovascular system!!

Below: One of my 5 meals from Thursday (with a cheeky little photo bomb from my Garmin too!)