8 weeks to the Lausanne Marathon.
6 weeks to the Phedippidations World Half Marathon Challenge (at Henley on Thames)
2 weeks to the Robin Hood Nottingham Half Marathon.
Week 1 - 40.
Week 2 - 39
Week 3 - 36
Week 4 - 31
Week 5 - 19
Week 6 - 26
Week 7 - 61 (!!!!) Long run 1 - 16 miles.
Week 8 - 24
Week 9 - 50 Long run 2 - 18 miles
6 week average 35 miles (must get to 40!)
My weight is now 86 kg (down 6.1 kgs in 10 weeks)
I have entered the Lausanne Marathon - look - and have booked Easyjet flights there and back. Only 74 in my age group so far. It gets real now!
The fund raising for the Ugandan orphans has begun with a bang (see separate post).
That was a pretty satisfactory running week, especially as it was compressed into 5 running days and I completed my first 18 miler, my longest run since the year 2000! It was hilly and, as a two lap course, quite a good test psychologically. I could have done without the rush hour traffic which inevitably accompanied me on the busier parts. One of the problems of where I live is that is impossible to avoid a major road completely on any run of over 8 miles without resorting to multiple laps or double-backs. Oh, well, I mustn't complain, at least I'm surrounded by some quite scenic countryside.
I know seem to be able to knock off tempo runs at sub 8:30 pace and 9-10 mile runs pretty easily and am recovering exceptionally well. I am reasonable confident that the range of daily supplements that I went for around 10 weeks ago are having some sort of positive effect on me. They are:
A compound Multi-Vitamin / Mineral
A straight Glucosamine Sulphate
A Omega 3 Fish Oil capsule
Chromium Picolinate
L-carnitine
I've just added a Glucosamine / Chrondroitin combo which is a 2 per day and I will use this up to my marathon, phasing out the straight Glucosamine when the supply finishes early next week.
This feeling also probably means that my "Endurance building phase" is now done and I should start more strength based running over the next 4 weeks. Lots of hills, lots of offroad etc. - probably just in time (see below).
My Asics GT 2110 shoes now have 457 miles on them and I have just ordered some Asics Kayanos from Wiggle. The idea is to run around 200 miles in these in the next 8 weeks, mainly on the roads with my GT 2110's going to the offroad running. The Mizuno Nirvana's I bought have only got 70 miles on them, but they worry me. The wierd firm plastic spring "thingy" that runs under the heel and mid-foot gives quite a firm ride and I am pretty convinced that it is contributing to the onset of more lower leg problems. It is a motion control shoe, which I know I need, but what kind of motion is it controlling, I wonder? I've retired them for a while anyway.
My main problem in running right now (apart from keeping the button headphones of my MP3 player in as I sweat!) is the insidious encroachment of achilles tendonitis into my life. This started on my right leg and, feeling left out, the other leg has now joined in. Hence the new shoes and the title to this blog entry. I now have ice packs as a pretty much constant companion around the house, along with that minging pack of frozen peas that I found at the bottom of the freezer, unsused for over a year!!
Some things I know about this and will work to reverse :
- Increase in running , particularly on hard surfaces brings it on. So I will go to the country!
- Worn shoes and collapsed midsole cushioning can encourage it. New shoes on the way!
- The tendon naturally shortens during running. I'm stretching all day long, I promise!
- Worst of all, its a bugger to get rid of once you have it and I have a marathon to run in 8 weeks!
But there is something else I found out about while trawling the web - POSE running. I love the little videos on the PoseTech site and that evil Dr. Romanov has me brain-washed already! I tried my own version on a 9 miler last night and I can see what they mean. Basically it's a style of running that has to be learnt where footstrike takes place directly below your centre of gravity and your body axis shifts forward, using gravity as a forward propulsion force. The basic premise is that your running becomes more efficient, you stop crashing down on your heels, your times improve and you get less injuries. You feel a bit strange (and probably look it too!), but a change in biomechanics can't be a mistake for someone who seems to be flirting with overuse injuries, can it? So I am going to POSE for a while, if that's OK, and see if I can look like this on the Chiltern Hills!
I've got a 16 miler in the plan either today or tomorrow, but that may just turn into a 2 hour offroad jaunt. I have 25 miles under my shoes already this week and in theory I could get 3 more running days in to make up the other planned 25.
Next week is going to be a bit silly as I'm working at Blenheim Horse Trials, but that is a big park and I've said I'm going offroad.....
A footnote - 3 members of the family are now running regularly and it is with great enthusaism that we are planning to all run with lots of old friends in one of Europe's coolest running events in December at the Course d'Escalade in Geneva. I ran this about 5 times in the 7 years that we lived in Geneva and hurtling around the steep cobbled streets of Geneva's old town in your own age and sex limited mini-field was always a lot of fun (usually also very hair raising in the dark, rain and / or snow). I've yet to find a better excuse for gorging yourself on mulled wine and vegetable soup (there is a reason for this which can be read about here).
Thus perish the enemies of the republic!
It may just be that Coffeeman's Running Blog morphs into some team effort after Lausanne. Expect anarchy if Trev gets involved.
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