Das Uber Plan

I've yet to work out how to get this into the blog as a clearer image - sorry.

This is the first draft and I expect to adapt it over the coming weeks where necessary but the key features are:

• Fairly static mileage of 26 -30 miles a week with only a 10% cutback every 4th week.
• Pilates classes 3 times a week.
• Tempo runs each Tuesday.
• Easy runs on Wednesdays.
• Either speedwork/hill training or easy runs on Thursdays.
• LSR or race at the weekend.
• Each week has a focus to concentrate on in terms of making my gait more efficient.
  

Hopefully this addresses the aims:

Aims:

• To maintain a steady base ahead of marathon training just about at week 1/16 level
• To gradually re-introduce speed training
• To enjoy races
• To get a decent idea of fitness progress from 3 of the races
• To strengthen my core
• To improve running efficiency
• To be used to 4 runs a week (so marathon training only adds one more)

At the moment there are no pace targets. Partly because I don't have a recent race to base them on as the lack of running and poor condition over the last 6 weeks means using Castle Douglas is a bit risky, but also because the speed/hill work fits with club training and Tuesday's tempo run is done with the club too.

The other missing element is weight training. The obvious place to slot that would be Friday or Saturday but I'll leave the day flexible. At present I'm only looking at one session a week and am open minded as to whether I should do upper and lower body - any thoughts on lower body weight training during a training plan welcome.

Oi! Weights! Who's the daddy?

See what I did there? I uploaded an image of Ray Winstone to link in with the thread title (i.e. the film 'Scum'). Not bad for an old technophobe like me. Obviously the effect is now spoiled by my lack of nonchalance but, you know, small steps.

Back to weights. Yesterday I planned to do lower body weights - effectively the other half of the full programme that I'd postponed the day before - but felt good while there and ended up doing the whole programme even upping the weights on several exercises. Net result? No DOMS. Maybe there's an argument that on a couple of exercises I could push more but on some - chest press, Pallof press, face press and bicep curl for example - it was a struggle to eek out the last rep.

I'm pretty pleased with that and whilst the calves are maybe still a little knotted they certainly seem better, perhaps aided by the cardio work at the gym being done at a very steady level rather than pushing hard for any 'challenges'.

I'll do an exploratory 6/7 miles along the canal later today to give them a test.

My other reason for feeling a little smug is that I've stuck well to the core stability exercises. Result there is that the core feels more stable and strong already, as if the muscles have been energised (or maybe just re-awakened?). No groin pain and generally no 'odd' feeling at all.

Definitely not racing on Sunday though. Discretion is the better part of valour. Isn't it?

Too quick to point the finger?

After the first of the new weights sessions last week I was undeniably sore for 48 hrs, so, when I did the session for the second time and had soreness in the legs the following day I assumed the cause was the same.

I'm not so sure now.

First time round it was the hammies and lats that complained the most but after Saturday's second time it was the quads and calves with nowhere else giving more than a very slight feeling of fatigue. Maybe that should have raised a question, but after running Sunday and resting Monday I went to the gym yesterday and only did upper body weights along with 10 minutes each of very gentle exercise on the rower and cross trainer. When I got back I took Bethan for a run. Ouch.

Whilst the quads were fine the calves still complained - especially up hills - and just before going to bed I massaged myself with the massage stick http://www.the-stick.co.uk/ they felt sore and knotted.

I suspect that's not down to the weights as down to a combination of weights and, principally, the cross trainer machine.

When I use the latter I'm not good at just doing it, I have to feel that I'm pushing myself and tend to set targets for calories burned within the time. On Saturday after the weights I did the toughest 30 minute session on there to date with the resistance and RPM both high. I did it straight after weights so in order to keep up I noticed that I'd gone up onto my toes alot, presumably to bring the calves into play to support tired muscles elsewhere.

I now wonder if that is what has done for my calves?

Either way I'll keep up the massaging and stretching and see where we get to.

Monday's rest day was a challenge. Not having exercise calories to burn and feeling a little stressed with work had be reaching - or the second night running - for the toast and agave nectar. Eugh.

Better yesterday though. Stuck nicely to target thanks to a combination of gym, short run and banning bread!

Today will most certainly be similar.

I wonder if I'm the only one who has to ban certain foods?

On the horns of a dilemma...

...which is an uncomfortable position to be in. It'd play havoc with my hemorrhoids (if I had any...).

Yesterday's weights session was nice and tough but hasn't left the same degree of DOMS which is pleasing so I assume there's been a hint of adaptation by the affected muscle groups. I warmed up with 10 minutes on the rower and finished up with a hugely tough 30 minutes on the cross trainer - high RPM and resistance.

That left me pretty tired today and I felt it in the run. Also, my quads and calves felt sore during and after. I suspect that was down to the extra 10kg I added on to the leg press. Its also the 6th day on the bounce of exercising so there's unsurprisingly some general fatigue ahead of tomorrow's planned rest day.

The run felt hard work. Not as bad as Thursday's by any means but progressively tough, though I was pleased that I was able to test myself with the up hills and came out OK.

Mile splits were:

8:19 (downhill)
8:12 (downhill)
8:21 (half uphill then half downhill)
8:16 (downhill, uphill, downhill)
8:24 (uphill)
8:41 (uphill)
8:34 (uphill)
8:09 (uphill)

Groin feels OK after. Certainly no worse. Didn't feel like I could have ran 80 seconds a mile faster though (even on a flat course) ahead of the scheduled 10k race in Cheshire next week and therein lies the dilemma: do I race or not?

It feels a bit like I have a little devil and angel sat on a shoulder each giving conflicting advice.:

You're just beginning to get over the recurrence of a chronic injury. You're obviously not in great shape. Birchwood was only ever about setting a new PB so why risk hurting yourself further chasing a very unlikely PB? Skip the race and target the PB for Horsforth in 6 weeks...

Stop being defeatist. The injury is being controlled, even the physio said you'd be OK to race. Run at the pace you did at Castle Douglas and there's a dead set PB on the cards. Today was hilly and you're just tired that's all. Lay off the heavy weights for a few days ahead of the race and you'll be reet...

What should I do? I'm not even sure which one is the devil and which the angel...

Ouch

OK, three things to update about today: the run, weights and physio.

Actually, make that four: I continued my controlled eating throughout Thursday and Friday (though I, admittedly, went over my 1000 deficit target yesterday by nearly 400 but that was deliberate to aid recovery...).

The run. It was awful. Absolutely awful. Not from the perspective of groin pain though.

I set off and glanced at the Garmin after 1/4 mile and was at 9:15 pace so pushed a little harder. It felt tough though and the first mile still took 8:49 so I stopped for a stretch. Carrying on it felt somewhat easier at 8:22 and 8:25 with another stop just before three miles where I turned round but it still felt a good 30 seconds faster than that. Mile four was grim. It was like the end of a marathon: my legs felt dead and I couldn't help but slow. I stopped 3 times in the last mile and a half and slowed down to close to nine minute miles again.

I think it was down to two things. First up my hammies felt shot from weight training the night before and I was fairly knackered still overall (more on that later) and also I hadn't really ran for 16 days if you ignore the very slow plods with Beth.

The plus though was my beloved groin. Made a point of engaging the core and suffered no big ill effects during or after. In fact the feeling of stiffness I'd had in the adductors was eased by the run.

So, onto the physio at 8am yesterday morning. The regular physio went on maternity after my last visit in May and passed me on to a colleague (hence the trip to Harrogate). Unfortunately it was her last day yesterday and they'd lost all my notes. That made it a more difficult appointment but the upshot was she thinks a few things combined to bring back the pain:

• I stopped doing the daily exercises a couple of weeks too soon
• I was probably not quite doing enough each week for maintenance
• Its likely that I'd got lazy on form and was treating it as a numbers game just to get through
• I'd possibly not engaged the core consistently through the last runs (where the pain came in)

However, she thinks its probably controllable again by going back to basics:

• Daily exercises for the next couple of months
• Maintenance of 3 times a week thereafter, increasing to 5 times a week if training volume/intensity raises e.g. marathon training
• Be mindful of form - always - starting with pelvic floor exercise before each set

She even thought racing could be OK too. I'm not as convinced of that though.

The discomfort hasn't completely gone and in order to race next week I'd need to feel daily exercises were eradicating this and that I could run on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday with a bit of zip. If I can't run a potential PB I don't see the point in taking the risk. we'll see how the week goes.

Lastly the gym. By Thursday evening my traps, lats, hammies were all very sore with some discomfort also in my calves, glutes, triceps and forearms. The new programme obviously works! Even yesterday I was still sore in lats and hamstrings so I pushed the weights back to today and opted for core, cardio and alot of stretching. Forty minutes on the cross trainer helped the hamstrings and ten minutes rowing certainly loosened the lats. Stretching also helped as my hamstrings were particularly tight.

Today I'll take Beth for a run, go to the gym and cook a curry. Champion.

I'm quite pleased with myself

Sue and the girls went down to her parent's Tuesday morning (and come back tomorrow), leaving me 'home alone'. That's normally a danger for me but, so far, not this time.


I'm not good being alone, which is odd for someone who, since losing the crutch of alcohol, finds social situations hard work. As a result I've tended to go off the rails whenever I'm left alone.

I remember back in the mid 90s when Sue would go away each year to Robin Hood's Bay with her work I'd get a takeaway each evening - calling in at a restaurant and getting a takeaway with a couple of pints while I waited.

In following years it'll have been takeaways or the occasional meal out alone - a curry or a trip to a nice Persian restaurant. In the last couple of years she's gone away about 3 times a year to her parents during the school holidays and I've tried to control myself. Last time I went and got a job lot of ready meals from Marksies in the hope that would satisfy my desire for a 'treat' while she was away. It failed miserably. Very few ready meals are much of a treat with the low calorie ones the least appealing of the lot. Up shot being that I got two takeaways, biscuits, sweets, chocolate...

This time though I seem to be doing OK. On Tuesday I went to the gym and ASDA and had a lentil and tomato 'thing' (something I make that works as a soup base with added stock or can be had with pasta or rice - I suppose its nearest to a pasta sauce) when I got in; and yesterday I did the gym again and made myself sandwiches with the ever pleasant Burgens Soya & Linseed bread afterwards.

Weight wise a little more has dropped off so that I'm only a shade over 12 stones now - so that's my reward for being more disciplined. Well, its part of it. The other part is that I feel happier without the treats or perhaps I've given myself different treats (long session at the gym and more satisfying food).

On the gym front I got a new programme this week and did it for the first time yesterday. From memory it contains:

Squats on Smith machine
Bulgarian lunge
Shoulder press with dumbbells
Lateral pull down
Chest press with barbell
Face pull on cable machine
Plank
Pallof press
Leg press
Leg curl
Bicep curl with dumbbells

All at 3 x 12 rather than the previous 3 x 10.

I certainly found it harder work (even the rep increase on the old exercises like chest press) and have some soreness today. Good though. Also tagged on 40 minutes on the cross trainer.

Groin feels tight but I'm going to chance a run today (after opting out of Tuesday's club run). Fingers crossed.

A weekend of excess

Excessive food consumption but also excessive exercise.

Hopefully the latter will cancel out the former.

Saturday was pretty good through the day and I treated myself to a really good gym session. Over the last few months trips to the gym have been hurried affairs - straight in, straight out but on Saturday, with the family out shopping, I took the opportunity to take my time.

I managed a very good weights session with weights up to a point where I'd got slight DOMS in triceps and glutes by Sunday morning, 10 minutes HIIT on the stepper, 30 minutes steady on the cross trainer, 12 minutes on the treadmill, a very quick swim and sauna and even a Costa coffee while I read the Guardian after.

The treadmill was quite pleasing. Generally speaking I avoid them wherever possible. Partly as I don't see the point when you can run outdoors and partly because I find a flat constant speed in a still warm room to be quite difficult. Saturday wasn't too bad though. I had to guess pace a bit but started at 12km/h and increased to 15 km/h. I suspect that for adding in a really short recovery jog; doing 40 minutes when the roads are icy or even practicing running form could all be doable on there. I might add in an occasional use.

After I got in I cooked a vegetable biryani. Of sorts. Unfortunately I didn't look at what I was doing and added brown pilau rice instead of the white the recipe called for. As a result the rice was still hard after the cooking time and I needed to add alot more water and cook it on the stove. That left the whole thing rather more moist and stodgy than I'd wanted but it was OK. Unfortunately, later in the evening I ate several rounds of toast and had a couple of curly wurlys as well as 2 bowls of Weetabix. With sugar! I doubt I'll have gained from that but it will have used up most of the day's planned deficit.

Yesterday was long run day, and due to the heavy rain of the last few days I modified the 'normal' route in a few places in order to stay mainly on road. That left an 11.7 mile run with a few more drags up and down hills than usual and a last 2 miles that were relentlessly uphill.

I found it hard going from the outset. I suspect that was mainly because the previous 36 hours contained a trail race, a reasonable amount of cardio and some weights. In any event I started and finished slowly and finished with an average pace of bang on 9 minute miles. Just about still inside the LSR target pace range but at the opposite end of the range to normal.

After a quick shower, protein shake, and three bread cakes we booked a campsite for the first week of the kids' summer holidays (when I'm off for 2 weeks too) then set off for Langstrothdale to do a short walk. Before reaching Kettlewell the rain started to come down heavily and remained that way throughout, so it was full waterproofs on before walking up the hill and along from Hubberholme to Yockenthwaite and returning along the river. The river is normally languid, shallow and clear but after the recent rains it was a deep, dangerous, fast moving torrent that was slightly unnerving to walk alongside.

After that it was treat time and we headed to the White Lion at Cray where I had a huge (and lovely) horseshoe gammon, chips, salad, 2 eggs, tomato, mushrooms, onion rings; followed by 4 'balls' of toffee ice cream and the kids leftover puddings (chocolate fudge cake and Dutch apple crumble). Stuffed. No idea how you'd count that lot but the walk and the run should have offset the damage. Still, it really was gorgeous.

Onto a new week, and this weeks objectives are to stick to exercise plan:

Monday - Rest
Tuesday - Club tempo run
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - VO2 max test
Friday - Weights & cardio
Saturday - LSR
Sunday - Weights & cardio

As well as maintaining some consistency in diet, sticking close to allowances each day rather than the more up and down approach I had last week.

Fitness focus

As last week was mainly about weight loss this week mainly isn't!

Though on that subject it went pretty well. I don't know the final scores, as I've spent the last 2 days in Swaledale eating whatever I wanted, but the rest of the week went well and back on focus today. May update later in the week on this.

Now, to the running & fitness:

Monday
Almost a rest day after yesterday's long run. Just did 3.75 miles very, very slowly with Bethan. She definitely struggles in the heat and running after school.

Tuesday
Club run in the evening. Did a hilly 7.5 miles with the intermediate group. Relatively hard work because of hills, less stops than I've got used to with the steady group and above all the heat. Good though.

Wednesday
Went to the gym in the evening to pick up my weights programme. All pretty straightforward and I enjoyed it. Did 4/5 sets of 10 for each exercise so should be able to increase the weight.

Thursday
A long day. Was away by 5.30am to drive to Hampshire and back. Then in the evening did an enjoyable hill training session at Boddington. No DOMS from weights.

Friday
Surprised myself by being up before six in order to get to the gym to do a weights session. Upped all the weights from Wednesday and managed fine. Greatest limiter is the amount of weight I can lift over my head to rest on shoulders for squats. Got back and had a trip to Warwick and back before packing the car and heading to Swaledale camping.

Saturday
Up by six to do a sluggish run to Hurst and back. 6 miles precisely. I think I need a good 45 minutes before my body is loose enough to run properly! Followed that with a 3hr round trip back home to pick up the sleeping matt I'd forgotten! In the afternoon we went for a walk from Reeth along the river beyond Grinton then back beyond Reeth to loop back via the suspension bridge. Pub in the evening for Gammon & chips and apple & blackberry crumble for pudding!

Sunday
Up before six am to go for another early run. Planned a route based on yesterday's walk in part but had to make a couple of detours where the footpath was helpfully blocked by cut down trees and where an absence of signs (or map on my part) made it tricky. Went from Grinton along the river beyond Reeth to the next road bridge then looped back along the road through Reeth. Came in at a slow 6.11 miles. Did a pleasant but hot walk in Arkengarthdale in the afternoon before a visit to an ice cream parlour!


So, some long days but decent output. Had the slightest hint of groin trouble so need to re-start the core work; though I suspect it could be as much a product of sitting driving for many hours a day as any running or weights.