Is It Actually Happening ??

After a weeks break from running, it feels today that it may - whisper it - may be on the upwards trajectory.

After seeing Tom on Wednesday, I got the update that the achillies is healing BUT I have an issue with the peroneal nerve & tendon. Makes sense as soreness is around side of ankle.

Parkrun today - it felt not amazing BUT it wasn't horiffic. Obviously the time and effort were (8/10 and 20:51). Finished day with a gym session (annoyingly strength room still closed for exams) BUT I am starting to feel like I am finally on the way up.

I am wary of typing this as I have done so many times in the past 10 weeks but it did feel different today.

Not sure where it leaves me, I'll gym tomorrow and the try another run on Monday. It's about time as I am balloning in weight now and need to get back to it even if just for the sake of my mental and physical health.

No targets just to run pain free and be able to do plyometrics.

Sunday 15th June - Fathers Day

Legs feel bob on today. No run. Tomorrow with all being well the comeback starts. Today - chill. 70kg exactly on the scales - 11 stone. Tomorrow is a total commitment. No shit, train hard, build build build.

5k pace - 6:45/mm.

From here on in will be HR meter on every run to track conditioning.

Mon 16th

Easy 4 lake loop, finally worked out that trails is likely causing issues with peronial tendon due to the rolling nature underfoot. Ran back on the road and much better - more achillies. Looking back, last year (almost to the day) restart was off the dodgy trails for a couple of weeks and mainly on flat tarmac. 

Not quite 100% but again seems to be heading in the right direction. Will stick this week out running 4 miles max on the road just to get used to loading and not over do things again.

On road, flat routes from here on this week.

Did 2 x rehab and 5 x 15 secs sprints in the pool. Food good.

4 miles @ 7:44/mm @ 140 bpm - 1084 b/mi. 70kg (11 st 0 lbs). 

I will run tomorrow, aim is to keep to 5 days of 4-6 miles for now depending on issues. Also double in pool. Get on top of food and bring that weight down quickly. I'll do 2 x strength and that will now stay for the duration. 

Rehab plan calls for light plyos this week from Weds / Thurs just 100 bounces.

Tue 17th

Easy 4, stuck to roads. Much better. Had slight neural feel to it and calf was slightly tight. Very slight ache from achillies towards end but all of that is to be expected. Best it has been by far. 30 mins is plenty.

Really positive after that run. Right IT band is very tight, whole right chain has something blocking it but all in all moving better. Stick to roads and see how it progresses.

Wore Vaporfly so expected to be slightly faster.

Rehab once I got home. Plan to do sprints in pool and then cryotherapy this afternoon. Sprints done, all good. Think these will help and I'll slowly build the time up. 5 x 10-15 secs max effort.

4 miles @ 7:24/mm @ 141 bpm - 1044 b/mi. 69.3kg (10 st 12)

Cryotherapy at Rev1ve - 3 mins down to -136 degrees. Felt pretty good afterwards. Not 100% but lets see how achillies / nerve is tomorrow. Always wanted to try. In honesty I'm not sure it'll top a massage with Jenny (same price) but willing to try anything!

Will Normatec tonight but nothing else to see how it affects things.

Wed 18th 

Decent weigh in - staying off shit is paying off. 68.7kg (10 st 11 lbs).

Legs don't feel like cryo was a game changer but to be expected. Still a great experience! Calf feels strained slightly so very good news that the nerve / achillies seem to be settling down.

Gym today and rehab - no running. Start plyo work today. 100 bounces. Very positive as this starts the era of increasing power output.

Eying up races. I know, I know. Much too soon but gives me a buzz to think about.

Actually some decent options. I will start racing in July to check out the legs and keep things under control. But once I get back from Pittsburgh in August it is full steam ahead and in September there are a few cracking options for all times. Happy days, there is a slight crack of hope seeping throug the grey clouds of depression.

IT band settled, that needs some work. Plan for gym (strength room is closed) is same as last week. hammys, quads, hip flexors to failure. Uppers. Core. I'll do rehab at home as better set up. Last gym sesh without TTR or strength room.

Red light therapy later - lets see how that works out!

Thur 19th

Weigh in - 68.3kg (10 st 10 lbs). Just over half way to target. Not bad off no run yesterday. 

Legs feel good this morning. Really starting to slowly improve on morning aches and pains. Plan today is 4 plus pool strides again.

Red light therapy was good. Really sweaty afterwards. I think again that in isolation these things are pointless but over long periods of time they would provide surface benefit. I don't think any of these tools will actually fix anything but they certainly feel nice after doing them.

Races are entered. Not 100% obvs on doing any of them BUT it's motivating to have those targets. Need some fire at the minute to keep going at it. Feel like I am heading in the right direction but expecting some hiccups still.

Looking at rankings this year not an awful lot happening in the ranges I would expect to be running. Nothing jumping out so far so just slide myself under the radar would be bang on !

4.68 miles @ 7.51/mm @ 143 bpm

Dissapointing run. Ached throughout. Wore Puma DNE3 with calf guard. Back to Asics tomorrow. Did not AJ or Normatec yesterday (or run) so will do both and check tomorrow. Frustrating.

Fri 20th

First stumbling block. Earlier than expected. Bad run yesterday. Bad weigh in today. 68.4kg after day of good eating. Frustrating along with the achy run.

Hot one today, will run in a bit and hopefully get the ship back on track - god knows I need to.

So, headed to Cambourne. 30 mins easy and much better than yesterday. Superblast felt easier. 100% no issue with achillies but def some nerve issue still lingering. Interestingly last 2 mins on grass was significantly worse.

3.82 miles @ 7:51/mm @ 140 bpm

Plan now is hit rehab, plyos, sprints tonight plus Normatec then total rest tomorrow.

Next shoe test is Sunday morning in Vomeros. Total rest tomorrow to see the effect of that.

Sat / Sun 22nd

Rested Saturday. Complete and total rest from exercise. Weight back up on Sunday. Ran Sunday morning. Really good form the foot - possibly best yet. Wore Superblasts. Weird nerve issue in hip when I stopped. Very strange and felt later in the day. Will floss all nerves! Good news aboiut the achillies tho lol.

4 miles @ 7:45/mm @ 136 bpm - 1054 b/mi. 68.5 kg.

Mon / Tue 24th

Weight in on Mon was 69.5 - ouch - Tuesday 68.3 kg. Back down keeping food under control. Need to keep it there while I am raising miles and slowly add more as I run more. But Alberto is right - less weight = easier running right now.

Easy 30 mins on Monday and felt OK. Best yet. Weird nerve issue in hip was totally gone all day. Likely weights and stretching but fingers crossed stays that way.

Focus now on adding in both legs for heel drops (I don't want issues on any side). The peronial nerve issue is still there. Whole right side of my body chain feels tight. But everything feels like it's settling down.

8 miles with Rich later. If all well then I need to look into doing something a bit steadier soon. It's been a while since I have thought that!

Races -

So I am aware !!

July 7th - Vets lge 1500m Lee Valley

July - 28th - Vets 3000m Harrow

August 8th - Mile Road Colchester

August 31 - Mile track Kingston

September 3 - 800m or 3000m Watford 

September 11 - 5k Battersea

September 27 - Mile Westminster

September 29 - 1500 Biggleswade

First 3 are purely to find my legs and see how training is going. After returning from Pittsburgh it's time to nail some times.

The Importance of Visualisation

Again, a reminder to myself what the game plan is here. I am currently in the managing injury stage which means proceed under caution. I'll take what I can get lol !

However it's important to push boundaries. I plan this week to start building base. In terms of running it's important to push towards the goal. In base running I run 6 x per week. I think 1 total rest day is still important and running up to an hour and then a long run up to 90 minutes is the goal of a successful base.

I will slowly try running some light tempo in this stage and see how the achillies / peronial respond to this. If I can sprinkle this in it's time to start adding in some strides.

I know my legs will be totally battered during this phase. As per January once I have a good solid 3 weeks building I can cut back and start to look to do a structured return to sessions.

I am currently doing ligh plyo - 100 jumps per day. Plus 2 strength sessions per week.  I will see what the physio says but I will likely start to add more plyo work in and possibly replace a gym session short term.

My short term goal (4 weeks) is to get to running 6 days per week with a session of some description (threshold / 10k) and a steady effort at Parkrun. Also 1 session of strides at a relaxed pace after an easy run.  If I can get to this I will be pretty happy with progress. Most important aspect though is I am moving towards totally pain free running.

Gym done - mainly uppers. Run done - 8 miles easy but felt absolutely battered. Low energy, ankle ached and just generally shite!

Takeaway - run first as priority. Rehab 2nd.

Pogo jumps were really good for 80 then last 2 sets knee ache.

Wed 25th

Weight stable this morning - 68.2 kg which is lowest but after nearly 2 hrs of exercise yesterday and cutting carbs down not worth it so I'll resume carbs as it's not worth affecting performance and not really loosing weigh lol. Ideally wight needs to get to 66.xx kg as that's roughly where I would expect to start feeling better.

Peronial is sore this morning. Lots of mobility work to stay on top of it and I'll try and run this morning.

Plan today is easy run then we are out for the afternoon so I will do rehab later tonight.

Feeling tired and achy atm so not much in the fun department. Low day after last few, just in need of a good one now.

Wore Enterer insoles yesterday. Not blaming them for the run but I kinda knew they would be shit. I wanted to try absolutely everything though. Today will wear the Vomeros but standard insoles and see how they feel. If it's back to 2 days ago then just resume.

I still want to stretch out the legs at some stage.

Pace has been shocking in this heat. 8.22/mm yesterday and that felt hard. HR was up to 161 bpm - 1204 b/mile is shocking. 144 avge highest since parkrun 2 weeks ago.

Ran 4.6 with Jake @ 7:54/mm @ 140 bpm. Felty absolutely horrific. Missed rehab - just wanted to recover as everything ached. Ate terrible all day.

Thu 26th

Woke up - weight at 67.6 kg - lol no idea how I dropped. 10 st 8 lbs is not far off target.

Ran and decided to do the old HR test. 5 miles of 1 @ 140 bpm, 1 @ 150 bpm, 1 @ 155 bpm, 1 & 160 bpm then 1 easy.

Ended up stopping at the end of each mile as I had no chance of controlling HR !

The good (fantastic) news is that there was very little ache and pains in ankle. Best yet and after doing pace work too.

Long way from fitness.

7:34 (140 bpm), 6:57 (150 bpm), 6:32 (155 bpm), 6:01 (160 bpm) - HR was above each on every rep, and got there fast on last 2. Max was 172 bpm at the end.

Really pleased to get moving again. Didn't feel like sprinting but conditioning felt terrible. Threshold around 6.30 pace but no way I could control that. Good start point, I'll use this going forwards. Really pleased there little in the way of pain although still a way from being where I want to with that.

Those numbers are pretty good if I didn't have rest but something to work on. Been mega tired this week and low on fitness. First time I've really felt any confidence going forwards.

Fri / Sat / Sun

Fri & Sat was too busy to run without rushing it after a long day. Sunday was a split long run. 2 x just under 2 miles at Viccy park warming and cooling J down from his race and then 5.17 miles with Mr Morley around Northstowe.

Wore Vomero for runs and ankle feeling better - almost nothing running although I am feeling it when at rest - weird and unnerving but the way around I would like it lol.

Not weighed in, I know it's bad but once I am confident I am back on a proper routine I will be happy to crack on and be good. 

29.8 miles for the week (20.6 last week) in 5 days. 2 gym sessions. Friday gym was pretty rubbish as weird knee nerve issue showed up and limited the compound lifts.

Decent week back banked. First time doing anything like effort for ages and ankle / achillies held up. Did almost all my rehab and starting to get consistent with the plyos. Long way to go, still not 100% OK but it does feel like I am starting on my way back.

Physio this week and I'll address the nerve issue. Plan for next few weeks is just to build up slowly. 6 days this week and around 35 miles safely.

The return to action - 

Week 3 - June 30th - July 6th

This week the plan is to run avg 6 miles per run x 6 run days. 2 gym days. Keep up the rehab, see physio for a plan to deal with the nerve issue and get a massage in.

Monday

Stiff in the morning but easing with the gliding. Ran 6 felt pretty tired but foot held up. Rehab done, 70 x jumps and heel drops.

Tuesday

Ankle slightly stiff all morning. Annoying but never actual pain. Track tonight!

2 warm up and cool down - not perfect but ok. 

Session was 2 x 1 mile @ threshold-ish. Plenty of recovery.

1.04 miles @ 5:47/mm @ 160 bpm (166 max) adios pro

1.00 miles @ 5:25/mm @ 168 bpm (175 max) puma r3

Leg felt completely fine in the R3 at pace, however jogging was near impossible. Definitely a race shoe. Strange as felt same effort BUT I think lack of conditioning meant 1st effort pushed HR high.

The adios just don't work out, foot was not great. Just don't see it as a race or training shoe so will sell it.

Next race 100% in puma as it felt really nice at effort.

No rehab as leg was slightly achy so didn't want to push things after getting a decent workout in. From this effort I would say I could likely run about 18 flat for 5k and maybe still around 5.10 for a mile. 

Wednesday

Wake up, leg improved as was sore last night BUT still not quite there. To be expected and time to test things out. Weight at 68.1 kg - lowest yet off not eating well. Once I build to 50 odd miles per week the weight will be stable.

Physio tomorrow - plan is to work on the aching peronial tendon on the foot and work towards hopping plyo.

Easy 6 miles done @ 8:40/mm and felt suprisingly OK - this definately feels like easy pace should.

Thursday

Track. Decided to just test out under control. Wore Takumi Sen for the session. 3 x 600m - 3 x 200m - 3 x 500m - 3 x 200m. Off 200 jog and 200 walk (ish). Ignored pace targets just ran as I could.

Start felt bloody hard but settled and and as per last few attempts at restart actually picked up pace as session went along.

2.03,2.05,2.03 - 37,36,36 - 1.40,1.36,1.35 - 34,34,33

Really pleased with that. Was moving pretty well and although ankle and calf was expectantly tightening nothing broke down.

Friday

Rest day! Wake up feeling as usual - nothing major. Foot / ankle feels slightly week but warm it up. Good solid test yesterday. Plan today is proper recovery and then just easy running at the weekend.

Comparing fitness to January - I think I am a couple of weeks from actually rolling well. I think Sub 17 will come fairly quick if I can stay active. The plan for me is to basically just get lots of conditioning in, loose weight and I think from there I will start to move better over the longer work. Good positive start though.

Running vets league on Monday and will be completely under control. Plan is to try and run 75s for the 1500 and 800. That's roughly 4.42 and 2.30. 4.39 would be sub 5 pace which would be really close to where I would like to be. I have a mile road race in a month and I'd really like to go sub 4.50 in that race. I think from there it's all really good vibes for the szn !!

Saturday 

Parkrun - felt achy after last night. Not amazing but to be expected. 20.03 for parkrun (20.00 on watch) so 6:26/mm but forgot HRM.

Sunday

Foot ache on outside. Mega frustrating but self-diagnosed as high heel arch causing over supination and IT tightness. Book in massage form tomorrow.

34.9 miles for the week. 1 track session. Missed some rehab with aches and fatigue and go to bed feeling like it's all over again.

Monday

Massage early afternoon. Really work on calfs which are mega tight. Hammys identified as tight too.

Vets league tonight. 1500m and an 800m medley relay leg. Plan to run 80s through the card basically.

1500m - start steady and relax. St Albans flies off and Ilford sits on me. 78 through 400m then catch on the home straight to take lead. 2.38 through 800m (80) and have Ilford breathing heavy on me. Decide to ramp it up. Bell in 3.40 and start to press the pedal on each 100m. Know that I have to stay on it but I am equally the worlds best pace maker. 72 (ish) last lap for 4.52 (I think !) Lapped watch instead of stopping it. Hard work at the end because I closed hard BUT was in the workout range and more there.

800m relay split goes ok. Long way behind and a long way ahead when I get the batton. Think I run 70 flat for the firsat 400m then ease a bit on back straight with lactic and then bring it in for around 2.27/2.28 which I am pleased with.

Seasons best lol.

Wore Takumi Sen so I think easy a second a lap there BUT the main news was the calfs were mega tight but ZERO from the ankle / achillies. Very very happy and what a difference 24 hours makes!

Did rehab and normatec legs at 11pm before bed - dedication to the cause.

Tuesday

First run with confidence. Superblast and jog 6 miles. 8:13/mm @ 138 bpm. Little high at the end but really really pleased. Maybe 1/10 on the pain scale but really just the slight grumbles and after a track session I am extreemly grateful to take that.

Feels like I am finally on an upwards trajectory. Long, long way from where it needs to be but feel like if I can remain sensible (the problem) I can start to plan.

I have a 3k in 3 weeks and I am hoping to be sub 10 by then. Currently 4:52 converts to 10.24 (17:52). I need to be in around 4.40 shape by then. That's exactly 3 secs per lap to find. I can allow 1 sec for spike and 1 sec for fresh legs and full race head so actually it's highly achievable. Even on weight loss I would get there. So head down and sensible build to get that goal.

So nice to be confident and positive as it's been nearly 14 weeks now.

Wednesday

Wow, again, what a difference a day makes !! Felt absolutely exhausted today. Aimed at 8 easy but pretty much bonked on a 5. Walked it in after I hit 5 miles and got a coke and a choccy bar from the shop on the way back. Really tired all afternoon. Didn't expect that. Will track food today and stay on top to be sure I hit my macros.

Weight down to 67.2 kg which is exactly where it needs to be but may just have gone too light on food yesterday. Didn't have much for dinner.

Foot slightly achy today. Maybe 2/10 against 1 yesterday. Wore Vomero so I will favour the Superblast from tomorrow and have a few days in that. If I retest Vomero next week they'll go to scrap and stick with Superblast. Reasonably confident that although they are 1) like boats 2) feel heavy 3) expensive and 4) near impoossible to get hold of that the work well for me on easy runs and this pair has about 1000km in them.

Didn't do my full rehab on QL muscle so may explain it. Off to Watford to watch J so I'll get full rehab in before we leave today. Not overly concerned with ankle but would like it gone now, it has seriously outstayed it's welcome !

5 miles @ 8:33/mm @ 140 bpm. Hot and just super fatigued. 

Eat well today, hit macros, drink enough and sleep! Tomorrow is another day!

Thursday

Wow, so close to starting a new post now about the comeback but we are still in that assessment period. Ate all my macros yesterday (protein, carbs, calories) and remained at 67.2 kg which I am really happy with. I am right on the edge of where my weight needs to be.

Feel OK this morning after a tough run day yesterday and hoping all goes well at track tonight. Will continue with tracking whist until I start working out at 3.20/km 5k pace which is where I feel like fitness is returning.

Ankle felt best ever this morning. Still not quite there but so much better than it has been. Still needs a good warm up and that tight QL muscle is the culprit.

Upped weight on rehab yesterday. Calfs are getting a workout and the discipline is there.

Have to remember I am on a journey to pain free running and not get carried away with racing!

Sooo. Yes improved nutrition massively helps energy levels - who'd a thunk it !!

Track. Usual wu / cd.

Session was 5 x 400 off 45 @ 5k [lap jog] 4 x 400 off 60 @ 3k [lap jog] 3 x 400 off 90 @ 1500.

Target paces were 82 / 80 / 78. Incredibly ambitious / very ambitions / under ambitious lol

[82,81,81,81,81] - 81 avge - [79,78,77,79] - 78 avge - [76,75,72] - 74 avge

Much better than expected. Felt like I was moving pretty well and no real issues with ankle. Bit achy and few electric shock style jumps but overall comfortable at those paces.

Really happy with that. HR shows that I am not in 16.52 shape lol but nice to get the work in. That's the fast work done for the week and seem to be surviving. I'd say if I get through Sunday I can start calling myself week 1 of the comeback.

Definately more positive moments now than negative ones.

Also Superblast 2 for easy runs and Tak Sen 10 for track as they are working !

Friday

Morning weight in - 66.7 kg - happy days. Sub 10 1/2 stone and right where I need it. Tracking and hitting goals is paying off. Maybe it's muscle loss lol. Ankle / achillies best it's been this morning but calf definitely feeling the faster work which is expected and good news. 

No running today. Rest and recover. Easy->Steady parkrun tomorrow (HR 150 bpm) and long run Sunday will be close to 40 miles for the week and 5 week mileage growth which will be amazing!

Feel very tired today, possibly residule fatigue possibly too much coffee but just be aware!

Saturday

Wake up for PR. Ankle - peroneal tendon - is sore. Not terrible but s5till not amazing.

Parkrun - actually goes OK. Ankle isn't million % but it's actually managable. Just frustrating.

Start pretty relaxed and build in. 1st mile in 6.49 and worked up towards that. HR at 154 bpm (steady). 2nd mile up in 6.43 and moving well. HR at 163 bpm (threshold). Last mile in 6.27 however HR is maintained and only climbs to 164 bpm right at the end. Shows that conditioning is actually starting to arrive!

Finish up in 20.30 (6:35/mm) between steady and threshold. Actually felt better and easier so heading in the right direction.

After wards jog to car as had an idea. Slipped an extra insole into right foot. Think that over supination (under pronation) is causing rolling and excessive pulling on peronial tendon which is where the issue is.

Now. This is likely caused by tightness up the right chain (calf, hamstrings, hip, back) basically making my right leg shorter. Adding an insole on the right side should effectively balance it out (ish).

Outcome - instant relief. Phew. Jogged anpther 1.5 miles and was much much improved. Not 100% because I had actually already run on it and agrivated it BUT I THINK THIS MAY BE A WORKABLE SOLUTION.

Plan now is to use insole on all runs for the meantime and work out that imbalance that's causing my body to be pulled out of line.

No stopping me now baby !!!

Gym this arvo with Gabe. First session for 2 weeks so plan now is to keep lifts to maintenance and work on deeper form.

Squats (50-80kg), single leg squats 50kg, calf drops weighted 40kg, deads (50-70kg), medicine ball slam, sled push & pull (20m x 3). Pretty basic but enough.

Leg feeling better already so fingers crossed this works now.

Sunday

Long un with Dan and Lee. Plan easy 10 and just hit the miles! Outcome - 10 miles @ 8:25/mm @ 133 bpm.

Ankle - very slight ache. May be just slightly just overcoming previous issues plus weights yesterday. Fingers crossed on the right path. 

Still considering myself under caution but happy to proceed as week 1 of the comeback!

Longest run since 6th April (14 weeks)

37.75 miles for the week and 5 weeks of slowly increasing now from 3.7 miles to this!

Plan is to keep building slowly - 2 sessions per week. Long run building to 16 miles. Coke club at 8. Parkrun easy -> threshold. I am not planning on growing by much just getting more in every week up until fitness.

Plan from here is 5 runs days per week. 2 strength sessions. Aim to ease off muscles and reset hips to naturally reduce leg imbalance.

So next week on the plan. Target is - 

Mon - rest (massage)

Tue - session (8)

Wed - cc (8)

Thu - session (8)

Fri - rest (gym)

Sat - PR (5)

Sun - long (12)

41 miles if I achieve everything