Day 288 – Sunday 15 October
11 miles – 7:45 – 140bpm
I have never felt glute pain like this before. Both sides are sore. Which is actually encouraging because it means they were working hard yesterday which partly explains why my calves and achilles don’t feel as bad as I expecting. The racing load is being better distributing through my leg and backside muscles.
Ordinarily, I would have replaced my long run with a 4-5 mile jog and a series of stretches. But today is a very special day, 10 years ago I met my wife at the Cabbage Patch 10 and today we were celebrating by running together. Her pb is 84 minutes and whilst she hasn’t run much recently, she has been working very hard on the turbo trainer to complete the Zwift academy and is turning into an aerobic beast.
The first few miles were completed at a reasonable 8 minute miles which was perfect for what we wanted to achieve – or so I thought.
J picked the pace up and we averaged 7:40-7:50 for the remaining 7 miles overtaking a few hundred people in the process!
Whilst I never considered dropping off J’s pace, it didn’t feel as comfortable as I would have liked. It may have appeared that I chivalrously let her cross the line first but, in truth, I struggled to keep up with her finishing kick!
Day 289 – Monday 16 October
Run 1 – 5.1 miles – 8:24
Unsurprisingly, I felt very laboured and after a mile I lost all energy and the beauty of Bushy Park was interrupted by a strange flickering in the centre of my vision. It resembles the centre of a flower and remains in the middle of my vision whichever direction I look in. Perhaps it is the influence of the Saharan sand descending upon us courtesy of Storm Orphelia?
Run 2 – 5.1 miles – 8:07
Unusually, my run home felt much better than my disastrous run to work. I am starting to feel strong and fit, which I haven’t felt since June which is when my summer of disruption started.
Day 290 – Tuesday 17 October
11.6 miles – 7:58 – 137bpm
I was really looking forward to this session. It was 4×3,2,1 at Riverside Drive which means it is short, fast, flat and firm. Just my type of session! I decided to run there for the additional mileage and I felt great. My glutes were no longer sore and I couldn’t feel any discomfort in my achilles – at least not for the first 600m.
Drills and strides were ok and all the signs were that this would be an excellent session. I had already decided not to push too hard and pace the 3min reps at 5:40, 2min reps at 5:30 and 1min reps at 5:20, all under current 5k pace but not too loopy on the shorter reps that I would spend the next couple of days hobbling around the office.
The first rep started, I cruised along with the mid-pack which felt comfortably quick and after the first minute I checked the pace on my watch – 6:05! What? That can’t be right? I increased the effort but to little avail as I was dropped by the pack and ended the rep barely under 6 minute miles! This is a disaster. Perhaps I wasn’t warmed up enough and the second rep, two minutes, will be better. It barely faster and considering the reduced time, you could consider it to be worse.
The whole session continued to be a struggled as I kept falling off the back of the pack and I struggled to maintain a pae for two minutes that I was comfortably holding for four minutes a couple of weeks ago. The only consolation was that the final 1 minute efforts were at 5:20 which was the pace I intended, but the effort felt far greater.
My run data tells the complete story as my heart rate hovered around 165bpm for most efforts and rarely topped 170. In short, I was unable to generate the power in my legs to push myself hard enough.
Ice packs out tonight on my legs!
Day 291 – Wednesday 18 October
Run 1 – 4.1 miles – 8:05
My legs feel ok, not too sore and I managed to get to work faster than a shuffle.
Run 2 – 5.3 miles – 8:15
This was a very strange run. My felt strong, fit and fast yet my pace was slow and cadence less than normal. My legs are tired.
Day 292 – Thursday 19 October
Run 1 – 4.3 miles – 8:07
This morning’s run felt worse than Monday morning’s run. I had the same flickering lights which appeared after a mile of running and remained for another mile and whne their disappearance coincided with all the energy draining out of my body. My legs felt numb and whilst I was still moving I had lost control of my legs. I have a theory it is the result of dehydration. I didn’t drink anything last night after I returned home from work. I woke up this morning and my tongue felt like leather. This must have had an effect on my energy levels this morning.
I am starting to question why I am trying to increase my mileage. After today, I would have run over 60 miles in 6 days and I am being motivated purely by chasing the miles. I am not even thinking about tomorrow’s hill session and what shape my legs will be in. Afterall, as a hill session, I will benefit just by completing the session, no matter what pace I am able to maintain.
Run 2 – 5.1 miles – 7:53
Sub 8 minute miles for an easy, my legs must be returning to normal! The first mile was a painful crawl.
I really need a massage.
Day 293 – Friday 20 October
7.1 miles – 7:58 – 144bpm
Hills, and a return to Kingston Gate in Richmond Park for my first grass hills session since May. I need a good block of hill sessions before the next Surrey League meeting at Mitcham which contains 12 hills and Reigate exposed my weakness on the hills in a brutal way as a lost a lot of time in the second lap on the uphills.
My legs felt so bad on the warm up that I abandoned my usual 1km hard effort up to the park and when I reached the park, and stood at the bottom of its gritty incline I almost bottled it. I need to do a hill session and I couldn’t do one again until next Thursday/Friday so this was my only chance in a week.
My legs feel awful. My achilles are getting stiffer and more inflamed by the step and here I am determined to fight through it all just to try and gain a few more places in a race were I am only just above average.
The first rep felt better than I expected going up, but I took it easier than normal on the downhill, partly owing to the wind and partly because my legs just couldn’t muster the support needed to run fast downhill. By the third rep I was warming up into the session and starting to feel really good. My times weren’t getting worse and rep four was an astonishing 3 seconds quicker. I maintained this pace for the next three reps, picturing myself chasing runners up the steep hill at Reigate and this time being the one doing the overtaking. It was only the final rep that was a bit slower, but still faster than my first three reps. After nearly a year of running almost everyday, I still cannot fathom how my legs function so well whilst feeling so bad.
Day 294 – Saturday 21 October
9.3 miles – 7:52 – 132bpm
A very easy run around Bushy Park.
Weekly totals
- 10 runs
- 68 miles
- 6 leg freshness score
Yearly total
- 343 runs
- 294 days
- 1940 miles
The Double Ron Hill Challenge 