Centennial Social Club
Mr lulu and headed to Centennial Park for our Sunday run. It's the social club of the running world. After running for 10 mins we met Kit and Bernie G who were nearly at the end of their long run. Another 10 mins later we met Don Juan on his way home after his run.
We managed a solid 20 mins after than before we ran past where the SWEAT squad convenes and stopped for a chat with Sean and Cindy as well as meeting Laurence Whitty. This was a handy meet as it allowed me to discuss my comeback training with Sean. He has advised another 2-3 weeks of low intensity pottering around the park before returning to SWEAT. When I do come back he suggested once a week for a while and make them relatively short sessions with a longer warm up and cool down. Sounds like a sensible approach and one that is least likely to break me again!
We finished off with another 10 mins back to the car for a total of 50 mins, 8 kms and three social stops. Next time I'll bring a flask of hot coffee with me to enjoy!
We decided on a bush walk in the afternoon and headed to the Royal National Park where we did a walk down to Burning Palms Beach. It was a beautiful walk through the palm jungle and up and along the coast track. Our walking book said it was 11.5km but it felt a lot further than that especially on the back of the morning's run and my legs were feeling it on the climb back to the car. I was worried that I'd over done it as my itb was complaining but apart from being a little tight this morning it appears that I haven't done any damage.
Week 2 or 8 programme
Mon: Pilates
Tues: 25 mins run, massage and pilates
Weds: 40 min run
Thurs: water running, Pilates
Fri:45 min run, Pilates
Sat: Rest, catch up with Wobbly Man in Melbourne
Sun: 1 hour run
A chilly, hilly one
Well it was slightly chilly and a slightly hilly run. I managed to get out of bed at 6am with a bit of prompting from Mr lulu. I'm finding it so hard to get up these days, either it's old age or I'm just out of practise.I headed down to Centennial Park as it was getting light and did a section of the path before heading back up Darly Road and then up Clovelly Road which is where the hills came in. A nice long climb and then a few ups and downs before a long down to Arden Street. I then had to face the climb up Arden Street. I didn't quite make it all the way up to Macpherson St before I ran out of steam but it was better than I expected. All up just over 7km in 44 mins at an average pace of 6.15 which is not bad considering my lack of fitness. A few twinges here and there but nothing serious and felt great when I got home. My left adductor is a bit tender now but nothing a few stretches won't fix I don't think. Happy days.
Lots of water
Yesterday I headed to the pool in the morning and did 45 mins water running. I had a lane to myself for some of the time and the life guard came and chatted to me for a while. I did a 10 minute warm up and then 5 reps of 5 mins hard 1 min easy, a 5 mins cool down and then into the hydro pool for some stretches. Ended feeling good and any tightness I had in the itb was gone. Did a Pilates class in the afternoon. First one for a week or so and my abs were definitely complaining by the end of it.Today, my conscience in the form of Mr lulu got me up and into the rain. If it had been up to me I probably would have buried myself under the doona. We ran together down to Queen's Park and then Mr lulu disappeared off into the distance and I trudged through the mud for a total of 4.5km in just under 30 mins. Lots of stretching and some strengthening when I got back and again everything felt good. I don't want to get too excited but I'm actually running without anything hurting so I'm starting to feel more optimistic. I also love my new shoes which I'm convinced are also helping. Off for a check over by Easy Tiger at lunch time.
Eight weeks and counting
It's eight weeks until the Sydney Bridge run so this is the start of my eight week programme to get to the start line in one piece and relatively flat. I have to confess to doing practically nothing all weekend. We had a great time just lazing around and although Mr lulu went for a couple of runs I opted for the lying in bed, sleeping and reading slothlike for most of the weekend. A bit of a novelty really as I don't normally get the chance but I needed a break after dashing around for the last few weeks since we got back from Europe.My itb and adductor were both a bit sore this morning so I decided on only a short one to start the week. 25 mins around Queens Park which was running through mud for most of the way. The mud clinging to my shoes must have been the reason I found it hard to get out of first gear.After a good stretch and some strength stuff my itb and adductor actually felt better so that's the good news.As I'm still a bit worried about overdoing it and setting myself back the first couple of weeks I'm going to do a mixture of water and land running and gradually switch across to all land running. If all goes well I should be able to go back to SWEAT in a few weeks for at least one session a week.Week 1 of 8 planMon: 25 mins, PilatesTues: Water run 40 mins, PilatesWeds: Run 35 mins,Thurs: Water run 40 ,PilatesFri: Run 40 mins, mat classSat: restSun: 45 mins run
Running all over the place
Since my tentative run on Sunday I have been all over the place. First I spent a couple of days in Wagga and I'm currently sitting looking out across the beach to blue waters on the Sunshine Coast.
So my running this week has been in different locations. I had an early start on Tuesday so ended up doing my run in the afternoon. As I was in the middle of Wagga I headed off to the river run that I discovered on my last stay here. Great running conditions as the sun was going down and it was nice and cool but not too cold and a very nice way to spend time on my birthday. A nice 30 mins with just a slight niggle from the adductor. Maybe I'll do more running the afternoon in the winter as getting up in the morning is so much harder. A pit stop in Sydney and a trip to Easy Tiger before heading up to Queensland to deal with the police and have a weekend on the Sunshine Coast. I got up at 6 and did a great run from Maroochydore, where I'm staying, down to Mooloolaba Beach and back. This even had a couple of hills in it over one of the headlands. First time I've run over a hill for while. I did 6km in 37 mins and felt good. My cardio fitness has definitely declined so there's lots of work to do but at least I seem to be on the raod again. Keeping fingers crossed!
Good luck to all those racing this weekend at either S2S or HV. Wine Trail Runner aka Mr lulu should be running amongst the vines really but he's on his way up to the Sunshine Coast.
Tentative steps
Sunday saw me and Mr lulu out in Centennial Park giving my legs and shoes a test run. Mr lulu set off through parts of Centennial I'd never run through before which is an achievement considering how often I run there. I'm extremely happy with the shoes and I did 30 mins at a relatively easy pace with no problems. I'm not getting too excited though as it will be a test to see what happens when I do a couple more short runs this week as to whether I've put the problems behind me. My adductor was a bit tender last night but seems to have recovered over night. Fingers crossed.I spent a pleasant afternoon with the nephew at the movies seeing the Pirates of the Caribbean which I thoroughly enjoyed. Mr lulu was a little surprised when I decided to demonstrate my swashbuckling on him later in the evening though. Sadly, Captain Jack wasn't available as a dinner guest, but we had the next best thing; Don Juan.
Testing testing
I've been slack for three days so today I decided I needed some fresh air and to test out the legs, not to mention the new shoes. So I managed to lever myself out from under the doona and into the cold and damp morning. Very English weather this morning.A brisk walk on my two hills course, down to Clovelly and back up through the Cemetery to Bronte and then home.The new Nikes felt excellent, as comfy as a pair of slippers. I even tried a few running steps and am looking forward to floating along in them. I can dream anyway.The left knee is still not 100% but it's definitely a lot better. Just a bit of soreness on the lateral quad/itb. No doubt Easy Tiger will knock into submission later this afternoon and on Sunday I am going to try a short run and see if it's ready for action. I'm bored with not running and I'm hopeless at doing other things instead. I've managed the pool once and a walk once this week, although in my defence I have been very busy at work and looking after the nephew and his friend. They've both got jobs now though so with luck they will be self sufficient in due course.
Water rat
Despite my new shoes calling to me I decided to be sensible and stick to the plan and so got a lift from Mr lulu to the Cook and Phillip Pool for a water running session.40 mins of 10 min warm up, followed by 5 reps of 5 mins hard and 1 min recovery and then 2 mins cool down. Then I hopped in the nice warm hydro pool and did some stretches.All is feeling good with the exception of the left itb which something has tightened up. Might have been the cycling yesterday I suppose. It felt a lot better after the pool. I think the plan is working as generally things are feeling good. A few more days and I'll test it out with a run in the new shoes.And finally, before I ruin Easy Tiger's reputation, I was accompanied at all times by Mr lulu yesterday who was also on his bike and was present during all muffin making and eating activities :)
New Shoes!
Yesterday I took my nephew who is staying with us from the UK and his friend for a walk on the wild side, well it was the lower north shore any way! We took the ferry over to Taronga Zoo and then walked on the coast path to Blamoral where we bought them lunch at the Bathers Pavilion cafe. Not a bad introduction to Sydney life. I think we walked about 7km and my left lateral quad and adductor were complaining a bit by the end so obviously not ready for running yet.
Today I was going to water run but couldn't be bothered going to the pool so I took my bike out for a spin around Centennial Park instead. I did about 25km in just over an hour as well as stopping for a chat with Easy Tiger who had just finished his two hours.
Then it was home, make some muffins (Raspberry and chocolate) and head over to Running Science to see Caleb and feed Easy Tiger muffins. I tried on a three different pairs of shoes; Brooks Trance (those are the ones that Jen_runs calls 'fugly), Nike air Structure Triax and Brooks Adrenaline. The Trance were rejected, not because of the colour, but because I thought they might rub my heel like the Brooks Radius do. In the end I chose the Nikes because I thought they were the most comfortable and least likely to give me blisters. They look nice too!
The plan
Despite another absence from blogsville I have been working on the plan for getting me to the start of my planned races this year.In consultation with Easy Tiger we decided another couple of weeks of no running might be advisable to try and get my lateral quad/itb and adductor problems to disappear. At the moment as soon as I start running they start creeping back so they're obviously not ready.The next step was to go and get my orthotics checked out by the lovely Caleb. Caleb is not only a top runner (3rd in Gold Coast 10km) he's an excellent podiatrist, and wrote his thesis on running shoes so we figured he'd know what he was talking about. After an hour with him and with me running up and down the corridor in his practice trying not to knock over any small children who were visiting the neighbouring doctor he made his prounouncement. Basically, I'm doing everything right. He feels I have very good core strength (thanks Pilates!) and knee and hip strength due to the exercises I've been doing. He also said for a runner at my level I've got a very efficient running style, which was good to hear. Oh and he muttered something about problems with tib post tendinitis.. oh goodie another potential injury to add to my catalogue. So the strength is there, it's just not converting into running somehow. So he gave me a few more functional exercises related to running and told me I needed new shoes. Now you might remember I recently bought some new Brooks running shoes and I've never really liked them. Turns out my instincts were good; they're not right for me. In fact they made me pronate more. Caleb works at running science on Sunday's so I will be paying him a visit on Sunday to get something more suitable. He's not a big fan of Loco's. He thinks I can do better. Not only that but Easy Tiger is going to meet us there so he can find out what Caleb says so he knows better what to work on... how's that for service..So, that was all very encouraging which is what I needed at this stage as I was beginning to get a bit dispondent about it ever getting better. There's hope for the old girl yet!In terms of exercise this week, I had three days rest and then received a firm boot up the bottie from the lovely 2P to get me moving and I did a Spin Class yesterday and 40 mins water running this morning. I forgot how much I quite like doing water running. At least I feel like I'm getting a running related work out!So I'm off to Pilates this afternoon and tomorrow I'll do Pilates and Spin and probably a longer water running session on Sunday.
