Daz Does Tri

Take 4,397 !! The diary of an injured runner ... Chapter 1 - anger, avoidance, denial, acceptance ... 8 days since I last ran, it's actually been nice to take a break from running. Just forget about it and relax. Tying that in with an injury and not trying to constantly get back every day really recharged my batteries and I'm ready to start again. Will jog today. I think it's important to realise myself that this is not going to be totally ache free - there will be some aches and pains - there always is. I may need another week of R&R, or maybe even more massage / physio. Accept the fact and move on ! All being well though I will get round a run with minimal fuss. Weight was fantastic last week, still sub 10 st 7 on Friday BUT a weekend away eating and boozing and I had ballooned to 10 st 9 so a return right now is fairly needed !! I will do lots of pre-had - stretch routing, glute activation every day and follow up with glute / low back strength daily just to keep in c

Started to finally feel a lot looser around the hip today. It's amazing once you give in to the injury it all starts to fall to bits. I'm convinced if I had kept running I'd be patching myself up but getting sessions done. This week it's been the worst I have felt it and I haven't done a stroke since Saturday (well, apart from a gingerly tester on Tuesday).  Yesterday I went to see Jenny for a deep tissue massage and it really helped. I think that the trauma of running just tightened up everything so she loosensed off my back mainly but also my hammys and glutes. The outcome was that it was clear to see how tight my hammy left was at the top by the insertion to the hip. This is probably what's causing the gip now. This morning all felt much better, back is looser (still needs work) but hip is generally much better. Giving myself an extra few days I am finally confident that I should be clear when I start again - well, scratch that. It won't be clear but it&#

I'm already tetchy. There's a bit of me that wants to just keep trying to jog BUT on the whole I feel like taking an end of season break actually makes me feel like I am controlling the situation! Many (many) years ago, after my last track race of the season (usually GRE Cup final or last league race) I took a couple of weeks completely off. Usually went away on a lads holiday and ate / drank myself at least a stone in weight. I'd come back and start training fairly half arsed all the way up until New Years Day. After an all nighter for NYE I would wake up on Jan 1st and think shit, only 4 months until track season. Then I'd be completely focussed to getting fit. During my 2 weeks off I had no issues not running, there was no part of me desperate top get out for a jog, in fact when I came back from October to end of year I would do every session but they would be pretty lazy efforts. Get it done but no way I was killing myself out there.  Oh to have today's attitude

Holiday time ! OK so today I tried a jog. From the first step it wasn't right. It's FUCKING annoying because it really does not feel like there is much wrong, there is no pain just a nagging ache. When I think back to June, I literally could not walk upstairs. Now I  Decided on the way home that it's time to call it. Just take a break, no pressure. I had a good 4 month block from Feb to June and then 5 months from July to now. I figure if I can stay reasonably in shape (i.e not put on a stone) for the next 7 - 14 days off running then I'll be good to go when I start back. It's actually been many, MANY years since I took a break from running that wasn't an injury. I always took a break end of track season. I guess nowadays I figure time isn't on my side in terms of performance so there is always pressure to get stuff done before it's too late. But this time, it really is just accepting it for what it is and making the most of having some time away from r

Up to take Jake to Frostbite this morning. Usual aches and pains. Little bit of stretching and to be honest it's just not much fun managing this niggle. I can run, it's just taking longer to get myself ready to run and harder sessions and races are making it harder to recover. It's still not painful, more of a tooth ache kind of grumbly, naggy pain in the hip.  So on the way home from Frosty (Jake 3rd with a so - so run) decided to call it until I have this niggle completely under control. It's definitely heading towards some kind of full on explosion so best to stop now before that happens and hopefully retain some kind of fitness. The issue really seems to stem from my back being incredibly tight. I have a kind of spasm that needs releasing off but generally my whole back is tight. First thing was to change my pillow, I know that's often been the cause of back issues - change them and then end up getting issues weeks later. The key will be loosening off the lumba

In a word. Shite. Ok, that's a little harsh. It could have been better, a decent start but just went too hard on the middle of the first lap which left me tired on the second lap and dropped maybe 15 secs. The issue is the lack of strength. I know even in great shape currently I would not be quick enough here to be competitive.  What do I need?  1 - Healthy - no niggle just free reign to train 2 - Strength - yeah those long rep sessions can't progress quickly enough !! 3 - Better endurance. Can't hide behind the fact I need a long run That's about it. Simple mix. Just plan better, recover better and you'll train better. That'll give me the right result long term. Just need to stay in the game. Piriformis - that's only going to rehab by doing the S&C which is primary focus right now. Forget the race plans from now to new year, just get stronger and lighter and stay healt hy. Do better Daz Man /rant

I guess I kinda knew it was likely to be something like this.  Phyiso Simon diagnosed it pretty quickly so guess it's a likely candidate.  Either way it's nice to know what it is so I can manage rehab. Good deep massage and later today my back is tight so stuff is happening. Decided to take the planned rest anyway as still looking to race tomorrow. I'll do lots of stretching and focus my S&C more towards core now as I think that may be where the weakness is creeping in. It's not directly affecting running yet as pain is mostly nagging rather than painful but I'll also need to take more ibro to manage levels. Frustrating that it's always this time of year that I seem to get injured (Nov / Dec) but hoping that this one just passes without causing a big full stop. Plan will be to keep to 5 days running, keep a lid on things and try to do my long reps session as focus and race hard(ish) if all good once per week. I'll do S&C on my 'off' days and

Interesting one, and certainly contentious at the minute. Does weight loss affect running performance? Massive problem in the athletics world (mainly for female athletes) who feel they've been bullied into feeling self conscious about their appearance and feeling pressure to take drastic measures to loose weight. Mainly from old school male coaches who have limited skills on dealing with the modern athletes feelings!  Most obviously less excess weight means less to carry around so for the same effort you will run quicker. I use the rough formula of 3 secs per mile per lb of weight you loose. Disclaimer time - again a fairly obvious one - you have to get enough nutrition in ! Loosing weight needs to be done in a healthy way without compromising your training and / or health. Starving yourself and not getting enough nutrition will 100% NOT make you faster in the long term. Also, there will be a minimum limit you can achieve where you simply are not going to loose weight. I am a 47 y

Back on glute watch today. My left glute is starting to twinge, regular followers (there are zero, well, just me !) will know that I've had several hip problems over the years and they usually signal the injuries that halt me in my tracks. Plan is - 1) read back over the blogs and see where and when I've sorted them (when I have). 2) get on the trigger point tennis ball (this has helped) 3) foam roll 4) stretch out lower & mid back (that's really tight right now) I'll hopefully manage it out and continue as I am ready to push onwards now. Training wise, I'm not an awful lot fitter at 40 mpw than I was at 30 ?? Maybe it's not enough and I need a bigger block (the less fun route) or just switch back to where it was - that felt like a safer route in terms of injuries. Some strava stalking required I think

This week my focus is concentrating on getting enough protein in at the right time. This is something Ange is great at but I always let this slip. I'm going back to tracking and making sure I get 30g Protein at each meal and getting at least a shake in immediately after finishing a session. I'm a bit concerned that whilst I am nailing the sessions I am not building back and recovering. Last week I was just hammered after Tuesday and never felt like I recovered from that session. Tracking food allows me to see progress but also I can see when I need a top up with protein powder. This morning I had 3 poached eggs on toast and that came in at 20g so I topped up with a protein shake (water not milk). I'll also hit a protein shake after each session just to get that in straight away. Ideally this week is a cut down (of intensity) to focus more on tempo so all being well i should start to feel stronger as the week goes on. I felt lethargic constantly last week and that's a fr

Continuing the theme of a training diary ... Monday - rest. Really need it, this schedule is fairly punishing and feels like I am sailing really close to the edge. Tuesday - speed work. 8 x 60 / 60 this time at 21 kmph. Really hard session, not sure I'd say I was in control of this one. It's 3 weeks of progress and I think I may actually not do this one next week and repeat on week 5. Starting to get the leg speed where it needs to be. This is bordering on lower than 800m pace. If I can control this pace then I think Thursday sessions will become a piece of piss. Wednesday - coke club plus a bit extra. Tired this week, ended up with 9.6 miles @ 7.27/mm which is fine but more concerned with how battered I felt after yesterday. Checking Stryd, power was really high for yesterdays session from previous hence the fucked legs !! Thursday - economy reps. Laughable title at the minute but the aim is to start relaxing on this session. This week 3 x 4 mins @ 5/mm on the treddy. Was real

What a difference a week makes! After stewing on that terrible Parkrun this week went so much better. 16.49 at Storys. To be fair it was set up perfectly. Zero wind and I had Ty to chase for the first mile and a half and then Jacob to about 1k out. Still have the same problem that I can't run too fast in the first mile but turned out progressive splits - 5.30, 5.27, 5.22 The week went much better than the previous week. Full rest day Monday just does wonders. Last week I was trying to push the distance and just built too much lazy fatigue. The idea this week was to strip the fat before parkrun and do nothing that wasn't productive. Tuesdays session was a progression to 20.7 kmph and starting to get the early signs that there is some degree of relaxation there. Short cool down this week rather than throwing in nearly 3 miles like last week. Cokeclub was so much easier and over a minute per mile faster at 6.56/mm and the NB fuelcell just feel insanely comfortable. So pissed that

First week of the new schedule done. Wow, I've been through a few this year !! In fairness it's all just a continuation of a theme but last week I think I actually got it kind of right in some ways, and massively wrong in others. The plan was (is) to build leg speed by doing fast, short reps. This has paid off previously. Then build in a longer session at faster than race pace to learn to relax (lactate buffer). Add in hills for strength. Finally hard tempo Parkrun. All of these I did.  The 60 / 60 session was done at a much faster pace than usual. Starting at 8 reps the idea is to build this session over winter to move from 8 - 12 reps. It's a long game ! The longer reps are probably the weak link right now. I won't be building that up too much for some time as it's tougher but as it progresses this will be key session. Aim right now is to relax at pace rather than just layer on more reps / intensity. But ideally get these to 4 x 5 mins from 3 x 3.30. Right now th

Absolutely gash - that's the honest outcome !!! To be fair, I guess I had a bad one coming. It's been 8 weeks since I last left some out there on the course and that was a 19.03 Parkrun so a bad 17.44 is a step in the right direction. Not sure where it went wrong. We'll I guess I am, I just don't want to admit it lol  Decent week training banked. That's definitely heading in the right direction as far as big picture is concerned. I've been fairly disciplined with food too and weight down to 10 st 6.9 lbs this morning so 3 - 4 lbs down on where it was. Changed up the shoes this morning so ran in the NB Fuel Cells. Now I LOVE these shoes and can't say enough about them as a daily trainer. By far the most comfortable shoes I have in my rotation. They are quick and I wanted to give them a tester over 5k - I've only run hard in them for intervals on the treddy where they have held their own. The biggest (the only) issue with these shoes is that they do not w

Replacing the cancelled Southern Counties 6 stage at Crystal Palace - today's race actually worked out much better all around as it's much closer to home. Jake ran 2nd leg for the u17 who unfortunately had a drop out on the way to the race so didn't finish as a team but a pretty decent 17.3x leg. I went first leg for the seniors. It's a shame as a club we can't get our best teams out to these races. Every man and his dog does Round Norfolk and Chariots but this is the big stage people !! Warmed up, felt a bit bleugh which is usually a good sign lol. To be fair I've been below the weather all week and ended up carding a zero yesterday as I was pretty rough. Felt OK - 90% range today so not 100% but still not that far off. Race starts and I settle in. It's quick and I'm just trying to get position. Fairly quickly settle down - off the big pack in front (long snake) with a few clingons but ahead of everyone else who fairly early are a long way off. Slowly w

Have to say I have really enjoyed racing since I got back to some kind of fitness. Hard to believe I've put out 9 races since my last blog post!  Some days back to back just to get used to running hard again. Previously I've tried to race fit and it's led to a lot of disappointment as the build up increases pressure and expectation. This time around I've used races as hard training efforts and if I've felt good I have pushed on but if not just kept it under control knowing I am still in the game. Net net I am improving slower than I would like but the plus side is I feel very comfortable pinning a number on. I think running to power really helps. 335w is high 5.3x range and 350w is low 5.2x so I am very comfortable running 330ish watts so I know it's not going to be a total disaster if it doesn't come together. It's a nice place to be. Race wise, highlights are the 5k at Battersea Park - 16.39 feeling a little leggy and a 9.54 track 3000m. The track time

"Slowly, slowly catchee monkey"  - the Gaffer '96 Feels like an eternity since I felt like I could plan out a training block but maybe, just maybe we are here. 3 weeks now very slowly building back to some light sessions and tempos. I've penned out a small block to try and get some fitness and motivation back but I am not going to lie, it's been a bloody tough journey. New Treadmill arrived a couple of weeks ago after the old one got worn out. The new one is a really good piece of kit and touch wood paces feel incredibly close to real world paces. I'll do 75% of my work on there as I build fitness I reckon. Aim from here is to slowly build and chip away at paces and mileage without going  too mad and peaking too soon or changing things radically when they don't work. I'm back on the old plan that got me 5k fit and if I can get relaxed at pace again it should pay off. Right now I can run 5 miles at around 6 flat pace without dying so I'm on the danc

Physio today. Pretty much 10 days off with this niggle and it does honestly feel past the worst now. Conclusion was a bone to kneecap rubbing scenario and avoid low squats, lunges etc. until healed. Can do boss !! Start running again. So, jogged yesterday in Adidas Prime X on grass at about 3 mph. Not fun - possibly the slowest those shoes have ever been off the production line but positive for me in there was no issue afterwards. Today, after fizz, I extended to run a lake loop. I will remain Garminless for the foreseeable - I can't face getting involved in all that for a while. Run was good, pace felt pretty decent but tried to keep it under control. In fairness a week and a bit off shouldn't be total devastation of the conditioning but it was noticably down. Have scrubbed everything off the race calendar which relieves the pressure. I have zero to aim for but getting fit again. Feels much more relaxed and can start to daydream about running quick times agin. Treadmill sold o

After last weekend's race I have only managed one run all week - coke club on Wednesday - which was a fairly painful shuffle. Since then I have isolated the knee which now seems to be the main problem. Ice and heat treatment is making it better (as is no running) and it does feel like it's getting better every day. I have physio booked in for Friday which will probably be clear to run by then !! It's been frustrating but just one of those things. It turned out far worse than I originally thought. The knee still feels swollen but I can now walk upstairs with zero pain. Not checked out squatting yet and i have had the odd strange twinge but I'll continue with the rehab. More worrying is the total lack of mojo. Can't even be bothered to check Strava or race results (did watch the AAA's tho) and I'm not really missing it. It'll probably come back when I start running clear again but for now I'm pretty much OK with being benched. Race wise - everything is

Sometimes you're so far from the target it seems all but impossible. I train and live OK as an athlete and on the whole I get a pretty solid return from my investment. But not today, today was one of those days you could easily walk on. 800m was first up. 2.10 was the absolute A target - this was a big stretch. 2.12 - 2.14 was the sweet spot. 2.15 would be disappointing. Anything slower inconceivable. I must admit was I wasn't 100% feeling it. My sciatic issue was a little strange but not stopping me running. In the non scoring race and from the gun it was an 'oh shit' race. Off the back from the start (Geoff behind me but he waived the white flag at 600m). I passed the bell a long way back thinking shit, if this isn't 62-63 I am bang on trouble. 67 / 68. Ouch !! Dug in, really not in the game. Tried to reel in the back markers but had zero gas today. It was like I was missing a gear, i just couldn't relax at pace. It was 100% effort for 90% speed. Crossed the l

Today was the start of a new target for me. I really needed to freshen things up and going from marathons to 5k to steeplechase I just haven't found something I can really get my teeth into. If I am honest, I really wanted to chase but the last one just went horrible. To be fair, I will try again this year and I think I'll have to perfect the foot on and see how that goes.  So I settled on something I toyed with for a year or so in my head. Focus on 800m. Last year I ran 2.13 off 5k training and this year I think I can go sub 2.10 with some focus. That puts me borderline competitive as a V45 (low 2 mins would be national level). So after consulting super coach Ashy I ran an old session - 3 x 200, 200, 400 off 200 slow jog and 5 min set rest. The idea is to run these really hard but controlled. Actually I was only supposed to do 2 sets BUT the main command was to warm the legs up so an extra set in Vaporfly before I went into spikes. Times were - 31,33,67 31,32,65 31,32,67 Then

Last 3 weeks now I have managed a nice bit of consistency in my training. The main thing has been nailling two sessions per week - some 400s (ish) oin Tuesdays and 5k tempo on Saturday. I've mixed and matched the sessions with track, road and treadmill BUT in an ideal world I'll keep as much to track as possible. Treadmill wise I have narrowed down the difference between track and the mill for the 5k session. My last 3 weeks I have had -  5k treadmill - 5.06/mm - 155 bpm - 323w  5k track - 5:38/mm - 170 bpm - 345w 5k treadmill - 5:33/mm - 160 bpm - 337w  The last session v first one was Zwift v Garmin. On the last one my time was 15.23 v 15.48 BUT I kept going until the Garmin hit 5k so the 5.33 pace was pretty accurate based on power whereas the first one was far too easy (155 bpm !!) My 400m reps (ish) the target is to hit 5k pace, 3k pace and 1500m pace switching weeks. Again, treadmill pace is far too slow so I will hit these at around 21 kmph when I repeat on treadmill for

Now for something completely different! Now our kids are all the little bit older we are able to transform an old play room into a dedicated home cinema. It's one of the few things we get to enjoy as a family all at the same time. Initially I had a local company quote to do the entire work BUT as always we couldn't agree on budget for the set up.  They had specced out some options but they didn't want to do the work for the cheapest option with some upgrades.  I ummed and ahhed but finally decided to go ahead and complete the build on my own. It's nice to have a project to work on (other than a 15 min 5k) in my retirement !! It's a concern as it's an expensive waste if it doesn't go well BUT we did project manage an entire refurbishment of the house including some really tight spots so how hard can it really be !! First up, the project timescale has been taken right back. Ideally if a company was doing all of this I would want it done in two weeks to minimis

There's no two ways, yesterday was very disappointing. I had hoped to go much quicker. But looking back now, the realisation is that actually it wasn't a bad run. I didn't do anything wrong, I just wasn't strong enough. When I ran 3k chase in 2011 (twice) I ran around 11 mins flat both times. It was shitty BUT looking back I had run 16.49 for 5k around that and was doing decent mileage. Those times all back up what I did over 2k. The simple fact is that it's not running that's the issue, it's strength.  I hurdled well and I was clean over the water. Those 23 obstacles just took too much out of my legs! Avge pace per km was 3.34 - so roughly 5 miles / 10k pace on a good day. I had expected it to be 5k pace like it used to be (well, 3k chase was 5k pace) - which was 3.23 (off of Thursday). So my options are - make my 10k pace my current 5k pace (not impossible) OR make my legs stronger so that steeplechase pace becomes closer to 5k pace than 10k pace. Both opt