Not much to say about last week.  It was below par and down to a knee… issue.  I’m trying my best to avoid the term injury as I don’t think it is.  ITB issues are (in my very non professional mind) just that, issues.

Anyway, this week:

• I ran 17.47 miles
• At an average pace of 9.15
• With a total ascent of 1,594ft

While I’m cheesed off with my knee, I should take a moment to look on the bright side – 17.5 miles on a bad week.  Not something I thought I would ever find myself thinking.

‘The knee’ is feeling ok this morning.  Yesterday, after having a great run on Saturday, I embarked on a longish run.  I tried using a knee support thinking, well I don’t really know what but which I knew at the back of my mind may not have been the smartest move.  Especially since last year when I had ITB issues, my physio said a using knee support was the worst thing I could do.

Friction between my ITB and the bone at my knee join is what was causing the discomfort last week.  A knee support is tight.  I places pressure on the tissue at the knee, which in turn means the ITB is rubbing against the bone.  Again, not my smartest move using the support.  As soon as it started to get sore I took the support off and lo and behold the discomfort eased dramatically.  Yes, I am a dumb ass.

Well, I learned my lesson the hard way.  Next run is Tuseday.  It’s supposed to be speedwork but I’ll replace it with an easy run just to be safe.  If that goes well I may skip Wednesday’s run and just go out on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

Oh, I almost forgot.  I’m half way through training which means it’s only 8 weeks until the Edinburgh Marathon.  Here’s hoping I make it through training.

Happy running!

Haven’t done Sunday Stats in two weeks, not really had a chance, although any chance I did get I took the opportunity to write a race report for the Balloch Half Marathon.

Anyway, last week:

• I ran 31 miles
• At an average pace of 9.31
• With a total ascent of 2,594ft

Overall I reckon I had a decent week running.  Felt good all week. I missed Saturday because I was out on Friday night.  On Sunday, I varied the route slightly which made the run pretty enjoyable.  However, my right knee began to feel slightly tight.  Not so good.  The tightness has carried over to today (Tuesday).

Very frustrating to say the least.  As much as I don’t want to, I’m going to give tomorrows run a miss.

Well, I’ll update again on Sunday with hopefully some better news.

Great week of running all in i think but ended with a bit of a blip.

This week:

• I ran 30.35 miles
• At an average pace of 9.14
• with a total ascent of 1,827ft

Felt good in the first part of the week. Still happy with my 10K PB last Sunday.  However, I had to give Thursday mornings run a miss as I was shattered.  But, I made up for it on Friday.  A little too enthusiastically though might I add; 4 miles in 32 minutes. was supposed to be an easy run.

Felt a slight niggle from my knee but it didn’t seem to come back on Saturday.  Sunday it raised it’s head.  7.5 miles into an 11 mile run I had to stop.  I felt my ITB tighten up all of a sudden.  I tried to stretch it off a bit, which seemed to work since the discomfort subsided for the last 3 miles or so.

My theory behind its uprising – I think I was running too slow on my ‘slow long run’.  If I run too slow it messes up my stride.  I must have been putting undue pressure on one side causing it to tighten (plus the hard running mid week).  On the remainder of the slow run I picked up my pace and fell into a more comfortable, more natural feeling stride.

Anyway, I gave my left side a good stretching when I got home.  Knee is still feeling a bit iffy but tomorrow is a rest day which is ok.  If I feel I need it, I’ll rest on Tuesday as well.

Not a good sign with the Balloch to Clydebank Half next Sunday!  Hopefully I can loosen off my ITB before then…

It’s been a decent week of running, topped of with a 10K PB on Sunday!

First though, this week:

• I ran 25.98 miles
• At an average pace of 9.17
• with a total ascent of 2,425ft

The weekly total would have been 28 miles, however I had to cut the Wednesday run short.  It was snowing heavily, so I couldn’t see much more than my feet. That and my legs were feeling heavy from speed work the previous day.  Not to worry though, the weekend brought some great running!

Firstly, I felt oddly fresh on Saturday.  I kept an 8.40 pace over 4 miles without feeling out of breath or tired at all.  It was meant to be a slower, easy run.

On Sunday, the training plan called for a 10k race (1mile warm up and cool down either side) with a sub 50 minute target time.  I wasn’t entered into any races so I mapped out a 6.21 (actually ended up 6.23) mile route and set at it.

1 mile jog to warm things up then straight into the 10K circuit.  I picked up the pace, which knackered me out pretty quickly.  You can see from the elevation profile below the first mile or so was pretty hilly.

It was tough but I managed to settle into a rhythm.  Although I was pushing hard I did start to doubt I would make sub 50.  I thought possibly 52 mins.  Mile 4 – 5 helped me get some energy back in the down hill section which I would need for the last big hill on mile 5

In the last 3/4 of a mile I realised i might do it.  The old legs pumped as hard as they could – I even told myself ‘come on’ out loud.

I eventually hit the 10K mark, looked at my watch and I had done it!  49 minutes 46 seconds! A sub 50 minute 10K!

Get in!

Until next time. Happy running

It has been 2 weeks since the last Sunday Stats post but what a 2 weeks it has been.  I’ve been fortunate enough to notch up around 16 miles in the beautiful city of Barcelona, including a stunning run along the beach while the sun was rising over the Med!

So, over the last 2 weeks:

• I ran 43.34 miles
• At an average pace of 9.09
• with a total ascent of 4239ft

I pretty much managed to stick to the Marathon Training plan over the last fortnight with 2 exceptions.  I missed a 4 mile run on Saturday 13th Feb and some speed work on Tuesday 16th Feb.  I missed the Saturday run because i had to be up quite early for the flight out to Barcelona.  Then, I missed the Tuesday run because of lack of sleep on Monday night. Unfortunately boozing and having a great time in Barcelona was not to blame.  Instead, street noise and alarms going off woke me up a lot.

My work outs have all gone pretty well.  No niggles or pain.  The best runs the last two weeks were obviously the exploration of Barcelona.  I have some pictures and I’ll do a separate post on them soon.

The last two runs this week (Saturday & Sunday) have been back home.  Cold!!

Today’s long run run was a slow 9 miler.  A cold bath afterwards felt great.  We ended up going for a 5.5mile walk in the afternoon, which probably wasn’t a good idea as my legs feel a bit stiff and tight now.  A bit of stretching may be required.

That’s all for today I think. Happy running!

I think I got a bit carried away this week.  I did a lot of miles (for me). But, i’m not apologising.    Before we go any further though,

This week:

• I ran 24.19 miles
• At an average pace of 9.32
• with a total ascent of 2107ft

As I was saying, I think I got a bit carried away.  It felt pretty good, I had a great run on Wednesday and I don’t feel tired or sore.

There may be a couple of reasons behind why I got carried away. 1) I started my ‘adventurous’ marathon training schedule, and 2) I took up a ’100 miles in February’ challenge on Daily Mile.

These two influences alone have really motivated me.  However, although the miles have increased significantly, I’ve been cautious.  Slow or easy runs only. No speed work and no tempo, just slow/easy runs for the next couple of weeks.

In a bid to stay injury free, today saw my first ice bath after a long run.  I lasted about 5 mins.  To say it was uncomfortable is an understatement but I plan on introducing a cold bath into my post run routine at least twice a week.  No pain, no gain as they say.

Next week sees much of the same in my schedule – 5 days running. But, and this is a big but, I’m working away the week after.  I leave on Saturday so I’ve no idea where or how i’m going to do my long run next Sunday or the midweek runs that follow since the crappy hotel doesn’t have a gym.  It also means no Sunday Stats next week either.

I’ll try and post some updates though.

Until next time, happy running!

Not much to report this week.  I’ve had a cough and rather than aggravate it I decided to rest up and get rid of it.  I felt myself getting better by the day and I think I’ll be ready to start running again tomorrow (Monday).

Tomorrow is also the first day of my Marathon training plan.  Because of not running the last week, next week will be filled with slow runs only.  No tempo, speedwork, etc, just slow runs.

It was a decent week of running this week.  To a point anyway.  I had to make a tough decision not to run on Sunday but it was probably for the best.  That said, I managed to get in 3 x 4 mile runs.

So, this week I:

• Ran 11.84 miles
• at an average pace of 9.07
• with a total ascent of 1200ft

It should have been, at least, an 18 mile week.  But, as I wrote in my last post I made the decision not to run because of my breathing.  All seems to be on the mend now.  I’ll still take it easy over the next week.  Not sure how to approach it but, i’ll take it easy.

That’s all for now.  Not lengthy post today.

Happy running!!