Blog 2 – ‘Training’ Diary
Some of you may be aware I am currently injured. Those who weren’t, if you are here to read a high mileage training log with some impressive pace-tempos, maybe just sack this one off! What you’ll find below is the ramblings from an injured runner. Being honest, when I’m injured I don’t particularly miss running. I don’t crave going for a run. It doesn’t mean I’m not passionate about running. I am. But, there’s not much you can do other than deal with the situation. Although, for someone who preaches rehab to people, I’m terrible at motivating myself to crack on with the typical rehab work (something which I always bear in mind when I’m dishing the stuff out to clients!) Most of the time when I’ve had injuries I’ve been in no rush to get back fit and fast for an event. But, before you read about me sitting on my arse ingesting copious amounts of donuts and caffeine, and turning into an (anti)social drinker, I thought I’d share some words of wisdom.
Here’s a screenshot of how my training diary looks like. Ok ok, I know what you’re thinking. “Running is not that complex, jheez”. Well gay yes it is. It’s simple until you start getting hurt. Then you ask questions. My diary provides answers to my questions. I can use that in any form to provide me with much better answers than if I didn’t have that. That allows me to keep my runs simple. To stop my mind drifting when it doesn’t need to. So, I’ve become a numbers geek. But, not so much miles per week. Or percentage of VO2 max or hours spent at my lactate threshold. Yes – those things are crucially important when priming energy systems for a specific event. The numbers I geek over are partially subjective. Arbitrary. They’re mine. Not yours. Not Terry’s. Mine. These numbers help to decision-make. Ever wondered if you should take an unplanned rest day when you feel like shit, or just push through and “get it done” anyway? Well, those numbers help me choose that. And, they’ve been very successful so far. I haven’t had an injury in two years (since getting five in the space of 10 months). My precious numbers couldn’t save me this time – they were as they should have been. In fact, I felt great, and the numbers also showed that! As I mentioned in my previous blog (LINK HERE), I’m blaming the exponential increase in desk time, combined with a handful of other mild factors. But, I was always going to search for a
reason. Only, I try to let it go quickly and use it to intervene in my lifestyle where it is needed. If you’re always searching for that ‘problem’ you can go in circles. It’s draining having your mind constantly switched on to what you can or can’t or did or might do that might lead to a little injury or niggle. Sometimes we just get hurt. Accept it. And, move forward the best way you know how. But, these injuries can become more valuable than training when we learn from them.
Mon 1st June.
10 days since injury. The pain is still moving around. 1-to-1 gait-retraining session with a client. The pain was significantly less going into this today, compared to last week, so I was optimistic it would be alright. The optimism was misplaced. Oh my, was it painful! I think the impact force had a weapon! Ah well. More rest.
Tue 2nd June.
Back to manageable discomfort. Weather is now miserable though, so I’ll have to adapt my recovery strategy from lazing in the garden drinking ice coffee and Sol. I did do some strength and conditioning in the garden, however. I looked like a prat shoulder pressing my pink 4kg kettlebell and a garden chair. The woes of a distance runner, eh. (See image)
Single leg sit down squat seems to aggravate the injury. Managed 2 sets of 8 at bodyweight.
Noted.
In other news, this marks the end of an intensive block of tanning. Probably in the best tanning shape of my life. A few easy days should allow the freckles to settle, so, then my skin will peak by the weekend. A shame pubs aren’t open to go and flaunt the bronzed god (or more like goddess, with my waist) that I’ve become.
Wednesday 3rd June.
The first signs of missing running today. Bored. Unmotivated. Even more unproductive than normal. In fact, I couldn’t even make time to procrastinate (I know, right!)
Thursday 4th June.
Aaron kindly lent me his bike. So, the drive down the A1 to collect it provided me with some entertainment. Also got my first McDonalds since the start of lockdown. That made me happy. By time I got back, my sacroiliac joint (SIJ) was actually quite tender. Clearly, it was not happy with 2 hours’ worth of driving yet. Noted.
To test SIJ on the bike, I went out with my housemates whilst they did their run session, featuring a few little blasts to keep me warm, entertained, and see what my body could, or couldn’t handle. The pre-ride pain had subsided by time I’d finished. Good.
Friday 5th June – 3 0 mile hard in 1:31:15 av 19.7mph est power 155w
Woke up with mild bum pain. I was going to sit on the turbo trainer and do an hour hard as the weather was a bit grim. But, I just wanted to get back outside moving through the air. Besides, perhaps for the last time in my life – I’ve got the long, luscious, lockdown locks of hair to feel the wind sweep through! It wasn’t raining when I left, but it looked ominous outside. “Is the sky warning me away from the roads?” It was grim for the first 30 minutes or so. But, that dark, heavy cloud seemed to stay south of me for the rest of the ride. Phew. I’m sketchy enough on the dry down hills and around corners, never mind in wind and rain.
Head down arse up for just over 90 minutes. But, as a result I was producing rare sounds within the last 10 miles. Brutal. Post-ride the pain in SIJ had disappeared. Result. Or maybe my brain was too distracted with the severe ache flooding through my legs.
I also ended up with a lot of medial pain in my knee. Felt like hamstring tendon. My guess – the seat being a little too low. Or, the fact that I’d not rode properly for nearly two years and I thought it would be a great idea to nail 90 minutes pretty much as hard as I could. Probably a little inflamed. Today was a complete write-off. Must have been in the bath for 2 hours and moulded to my bed for another 3. Conclusion: cycling is well hard.
Saturday 6th June.
I hate Saturdays. Normally I’d be volunteering at Doddington Hall parkrun. Or have a race to prepare for. Or just looking forward to resting from a usually busy Friday at work. 2020 Saturdays have been the absolute bain of my week. The long runs I had been doing had been cheering me up. Giving my Saturdays a purpose. And, if all else failed, they’d wipe me
out and pretty much consume my day. Had planned on doing more conditioning but just could not be bothered and my knee was still sore. So, I didn’t.
Sunday 7th June – Run 1.23mi av 8:09. Ride – 30min turbo.
My knee was still a bit sore. But, I hadn’t had any pain at my sacroiliac joint (SIJ) since I rode on Friday so I thought I’d try a little 10 minute jog today. Again, I was confident going into this that I wouldn’t have any trouble running. The main purpose was to monitor any after-effects. I thought the run would ease the bike-induced knee pain, and the bike would ease the run-induced SIJ pain. Before I had even left the street, I was limping with throbbing pains stemming from SIJ. But, I was out so I thought I’d persevere and see if the pain would subside a little. Sure enough it did. But, not enough for me to run without any ramifications on the rest of my running gait. Managed 4 minutes, a 2 minute walk, and another 4 minutes. Failed attempt. Noted.
Immediately after, I hooked the bike up to the turbo. I got a chance to test out my new bib-shorts I bought from Giant Lincoln earlier. The padding was most welcome! This was not fun though. I take my hat off to those who sit on the turbo week in week out.
Monday 8th June – 9mi in 32:18 av 16.7mph Est power 143w. (Plus 19 minutes of ungraceful spinning on the turbo)
Another turbo in store. This time for a session. I’d set a couple of my runners some VO2 max sessions, and their feedback was somewhat… interesting! So, my turn to enter a world of suffering! I did my warm up and couldn’t get the gearing right. It was really irritating me. So, I got frustrated and went outside. The knee was a bit sore so I kept it easy, apart from some Michaelgate efforts at the end.
Tuesday 9th June.
The weather forecast looked good. So, Phill planned out a route for use to conquer. What a route it was. And, what a day for cycling too. I thoroughly enjoyed this. But, I reached my magical hour mark when I started to feel it in my legs a little. I normally don’t drink on the bike due to poor handling skills and fear of ending up in a hedge. But, now I was in a position where I knew I’d run out of gas, being just 1 hour into a 45-50 mile route. So, time to practise multitasking! I didn’t stack it. But, kept losing a lot of ground. Sure enough, at about 1 hour 45 the inevitable happened. Legs were like, “na mate leave it out”. Sake. I was attacking gentle lumps in the road in anguish like they were category 1 climbs with my jaw scraping the front wheel. Cycling is well hard.
Wednesday 10th June.
Planned strength and conditioning and another little run. Didn’t do either. I am starting to notice the lack of daily structure running provides.
Thursday 11th June.
Appointment with Jon Hobbs at Lincoln Osteopathy. I was very much looking forward to this. Having no pain or issues other than when I try to run, I suspected intervention will help. My
body seems to respond well to Jon’s treatments. I planned on another run attempt pre-appointment, but I forgot. This it’s what it’s come to – ‘forgetting’ to go for a run!
Friday 12th June – Rest.
Saturday 13th June - 10 minute run. 1.3 miles, about 7:10 pace.
Run attempt – Another disappointment. Again, I was hopeful from pain-free days, combined with Thursday’s appointment. But… 10 minutes before having to stop. It was significantly better than last week’s attempt, however, so plenty to work with. Moving forward I’ll build up the running at the rate my body will permit.
Sunday 14th June – Ride – 61.57miles, 3:11:43 at 19.3mph est power 154w
Long ride today. Wanted to get a hill or two in the Wolds so we headed to Walesby. Riding into a slight headwind towards Market Rasen, I really wasn’t feeling great. Sleep has been an issue the past few weeks, and I had a few beers last night which probably didn’t do me any favours. Anyway, before we knew it, and after bumping into (not literally, social distancing and all that) a few familiar faces from the Doddington Cycle Club, we were attacking the hill. I quite enjoy doing this. I feel like Lance in his performance-enhancing prime. Only, I’m not juiced, or a cyclist. In fact, I probably resemble a worm squirming in the sun when I’m trying to get up a hill. Anyway, the rest of the ride was nice. We discovered a great road for an intermediate sprint. And then some boring roads. Then right on cue my jaw was back on the front wheel for the last 15 miles.