Easy Run With Hurdles!

13:55 3.7 miles 26:59

1 7:27 2 7:40 3 7:03 3.7 4:48 (6:55 pace)  Average 7:18 min/miles

Bin day strikes again. With the strength of the wind today however, a vast amount of the bins are lying down on the ground blocking the pavement, hence Colin Jackson style hurdling!

I just wanted a nice easy trot today to run off last nights efforts. I decided to do my 4 mile loop, but to miss out the add-ons to the route which round it up, hence the 3.7 miles. This also nicely rounds me up to 25 miles for the week so far. I kept it as easy as I could, you still had to work hard into the wind, and the faster times at the end were wind assisted… I wasn’t pushing it at all, honest! It’s freezing out there today (hence the snow!) and I was well kitted up; long sleeved top, short sleeved top, waterproof, leggings, buff round my neck, hat and two pairs of gloves… I was just about warm enough! I thought I was going to stay dry during the run but the last mile brought with it rain/sleet/snow (I don’t know what it was, but it was cold and wet and stung my face) and I finished soaked.

I hate running in the wind. As I said to Davie last night, “the wind is the one let down in my running”. I then corrected myself, “actually I have two let downs, running into the wind and a lack of talent!”

We have a ‘How Annoying?’ award winner today too. Just as I turned onto the final stretch for home, somebody actually tried to stop me and ask me a question! I was wearing my ipod so I pleaded ignorance and gestured that I couldn’t stop. If you’re reading this, please take note: the pub is still behind you (probably where you just left it by the look of you), the bookies is across the road, as is the chip shop. I don’t know the bus times, and I can’t phone you a taxi. I don’t want to answer a survey, win a holiday, or donate money to charity. I don’t want to know about how you used to run 150 miles a day. I don’t want to buy a copy of the ‘Big Issue’, and I don’t have any spare change. That should pretty much answer your question! If you need an ambulance or similar, then I’m sorry, and I now feel terrible! Still at least you won an award though eh?

Physio and Wednesday Night Run

19:11 9.86 miles 1:13:51

1 8:36 2 7:14 3 7:23 4  7:18 5 7:10 6 7:18 7 7:09 8 7:50 9 7:55 9.86 5:58 (6:57 pace)  Average 7:29 min/miles 

 Why is stretching such a hard thing to do?

I visited the physio at Hampden yesterday afternoon.  I saw a girl called Joanne, who was very good. She quickly diagnosed the problem as ITBS (Iliotibial Band Syndrome), and set to work on fixing me. ITBS is caused by a tightening of the muscle which runs from the hip to the knee, leading to friction which over time causes problems like the one in my knee. This is why I tend to feel it more as runs get longer, be it by time, or miles. She also said that I would notice a very quick recovery as soon as exercise ceased, which is spot on. She began by stretching my legs into places i didn’t know they could go, and then gave me a sports massage in my left thigh. I don’t know how many of you have had this done, but it is incredibly painful. Joanne thought I was mad though, as knowing the pain was ‘good’ pain, I just laughed the more it hurt! It was a strange sensation, but felt great afterwards.

So, the good news is that I don’t have to stop running. The bad news… I have a whole series of stretches to do. Joanne showed me how to do these whilst I was there, and they seemed straight forward enough. I began my strict regime of stretching when I got home, finding that things weren’t quite so simple. It was only after half an hour of standing on my head, left leg crossed over right, and trying to grab my legs with both hands without losing balance, that I realised I had the piece of paper the wrong way up!

Stretching doesn’t make you impressive to Mr average on the street. Saying, “I started stretching at 6am this morning”, does not sound as good as, “I headed out for a 5 mile run at 6am this morning!” It’s also incredibly boring, and if you try doing it whilst watching television, you need a further set of stretches to fix the neck pain that you have caused yourself trying to see ‘who shot Phil’, or whatever rubbish you’re watching!

I have 6 sets of stretches to do. I have to do each stretch three times, holding it for 30 seconds. That’s 9 minutes! Add into this, lets say 10 seconds recovery between each stretch, and we’re up to 11 minutes. Then there’s the interest of fairness and balance. I wouldn’t want my right leg to feel left out, so we have to double that time to 22 minutes. Then if you add in the transition from one Tantric pose to the next, lets say in total another 2 minutes, you are looking at 24 minutes of stretches… followed by 6 minutes of fixing your neck! So that’s 30 minutes 3 times a day, which equals 1 hour 30 minutes, or in working terms, £31.50 of potential lost income!

And that’s why stretching is such a hard thing to do. It’s boring, it’s unglamorous, and it takes ages!

Well, at least I’m still running. Which brings me to last nights club run. About 8 of us set off from the school together on the old ’round the houses’ club route. The pace was very steady early on, and it wasn’t long before I again found myself at the front with Davie. We tried to allow the others to catch us but in the end we just pushed on. I really enjoyed the run, doing the full version of this, reasonably hilly route, which I hadn’t done before. It’s always hard when you don’t know how far, or exactly where you’re going, and you always feel like you need to keep a little bit in the tank, just in case. Davie was good company again, and I thoroughly enjoyed the run, so thanks Davie. I feel as though I’m punching slightly above my weight running with Davie but it does me the world of good having to work that bit harder. The knee was fine throughout and I’m feeling very positive about everything again now.

…and yes, I stretched after my run (another 30 minutes of my life gone by), and yes, I am now going to do my morning session. So wish me luck as I go and attempt to get my body into positions that only Sting and Madonna are reportedly capable of achieving!

Blinded By The Light

19:11 5.5 miles 38:38

1 7:18 2 7:07 3 7:01 4 7:12 5 6:42 5.5 3:16  Average 7:01 min/miles 

I met Crazyboy at Bellahouston gym a little after 7pm… Crazyboy was late in his customary style (I let him off these days as he has the excuse of a new baby girl to answer to!) but we were soon heading off up the hill away from the gym on the usual 5.4 mile route.

We both love this run. It’s become the kind of route, and distance, that holds no fear. I really enjoy running around Pollock Park. The hills don’t phase me, the miles clock by quickly, and there always seems to be a good vibe around the park, whatever the time of day.

Myself and Crazyboy are always competitive, even when we say we’re just going for an easy run. Tonight was no different, Crazyboy coming back from injury, tried the underhand tactic of blinding me with the cleanliness of his shiny new trainers! The pace was pretty quick throughout, and I was pleased with how easy it felt. I had plenty left in the tank for the last mile and enjoyed pushing the pace on the way back to the gym, adding an extra 0.1 to make it an even 5.5 miles, and taking home the metaphoric trophy for the week! 

Best of all, I had no pain in my knee, and I wasn’t even wearing my support. I’m still going to see the physio tomorrow to see if they can diagnose why I keep getting the knee pain over longer distances, and of course, to see if they can give me a miracle cure. Please don’t tell me not to run… fingers crossed eh!

Monday Night Run (Yes… run!)

19:14 6 miles 50:17

10 x (2mins (1mins))

My knee was feeling fine all day, and having survived a run from my car to the supermarket pain free, I thought I’d give a run a go. I’d phoned the physio and made an appointment for Wednesday afternoon earlier in the morning, and wanted to go there with as much information regarding the problem as possible. So in my warped runners mind, decided i might as well run, then if it hurt again, I would have more to tell the physio!

Monday night is fartlek night at the club, so (again) I made the decision to go with the easier session, and not push things too much. Myself and Mrs pacepusher arrived a little late and the group were just heading out. I had to catch John, so headed down to the changing rooms, telling Mrs pacepusher I would catch up. I exchanged belongings with John (a result of my withdrawal on Saturday) and collected the WHW Race DVD to watch, then after a “do you really think this is wise” look from John, I headed out after the group. This meant that I had to run a little faster than I would normally do with this group, so right from the start my knee was tested. Not a problem! I was wearing my knee support and there was no pain or twinges at all.

I was most amused by a group of children that attempted to keep up with me as I chased the group. After a short burst they all gave up, and one shouted, “keep on running then you fat B*@!’$d!”I was most amused by the irony in this, and the fact that I have never been accused of being fat, especially whilst running!

Once the session started, I took the first interval easy, unsure still as to how the knee would hold out. As you can see below though, I soon started to work a bit harder:

Average pace (yellow) distance in miles (red)

1. 7:25  0.27
2. 6:19  0.32
3. 6:23  0.32
4. 6:28  0.31
5. 6:35  0.30
6. 6:57  0.29
7. 6:39  0.31
8. 6:30  0.31
9. 6:23  0.31
10. 6:03  0.33

I was cautious throughout not to push too hard so I’m quite pleased with these splits. I did get one niggle from the knee but only as I turned around to jog back toward the group after the 7th interval. Mrs pacepusher also had a good session tonight. She’s getting back into the club sessions now and will definitely see the benefits soon.

Once we got home we sat and watched the DVD I’d borrowed from John (Thank you) ‘Closing Distance: The West Highland Way Race’. It lasted about an hour and a half and we both really enjoyed it. The thing that was evident throughout to me, and something that I see in the training runs, is the spirit and the camaraderie of the race. As I watched the runner’s setting off, I actually felt nervous… who knows how bad I’ll be on race day!?! I really felt for those that couldn’t finish due to the weather and the abandonment of the race, except for the two idiots who felt the need to complain, stating that they could have run it on the roads. Is it not called the WHW race… thus you run on the WHW! I was amused when Dario (race coordinator) told them that he would not accept their applications the following year if they applied. Nice one!

I’m now obsessed about this race and don’t mind admitting it. The marathons have now become training runs, not necessarily PB races, and the WHW Race has my full focus. As I am unable to do the Highland Fling, I am planning to run the course on my own with back up and support runners the week before. If things go to plan, I’ll post my time so that you all have a target to aim for!?!?!?

Finally, my only disappointment regarding the DVD was that I thought Ian Beatie was in it a couple of times (he says sarcastically) where was he!?!!? I thought you came across very well Ian!

I’m meeting Crazyboy for our usual Tuesday night run round Pollock park. His foot is now better and he will be sporting new trainers. We haven’t been able to run together for a while so I’m looking forward to it. This could also be my last run for a while so I want to make the most of it. Call me pessimistic, but I’m expecting the physio to tell me I need to take time off for a while and rest!!!

Frustration!

13:30 0 miles 00:00

0 0:00  #@!*?@*&!  

I’ve now got over the disappointment of yesterday’s run, and have turned my attention to recovery. The knee feels a lot better today, although I was shot earlier whilst standing doing the dishes. We had a dinner party last night and the two hours of dish washing was clearly too much endurance for my knee!

So I’ve said my prayers to the Gods of running injuries, looked up ITB stretches on the Internet (I can’t get my body into some of those positions… the Kama Sutra is less complicated!), stretched a ridiculous amount, and planned my long runs on the WHW from now until June (You’ve got to stay positive!)

I decided not to do Body Pump today as planned, but to have complete rest instead. I have also put the number for the Physio at Hampden Park (another Neil, who worked with the GB athletics team at the last Olympics, if he’s still there) into my phone in preparation for waking up tomorrow morning and discovering that I haven’t made a miraculous recovery!

I hate not running and so myself and Mrs pacepusher are going to the cinema to stop me thinking about it. Today I can treat as a a rest day… tomorrow I’ll be a grumpy old man!!!!

In The Line Of Fire

9:21 20 miles (approx) 4hrs25mins (approx)

Drymen to Balmaha 7.5 miles 1:28:00 (approx)

Balmaha to Rowardennan 7.83 miles 1:30:14

Rowardennan to Agony 2.56 miles 13:51

Limping back to Rowardennan 2.56 miles about 35mins

So as you’ll have worked out by now, things did not go to plan. I have been saying that if I ignored my knee for long enough it would just go away, well it didn’t! It came back to haunt me and ruined my day!

We arrived at Drymen just before 9am and already a number of people were there. Everyone else soon arrived, and after a presentation of Jelly Beans to each runner from Ian, and a group photo, we headed off.

  Group Photo (thanks John’s Blog!?!?)

I knew the first section would be tough as it included going up and over Conic Hill. However there is also quite an undulating section before reaching the bottom of the hill on about 5.5 miles. The climb up Conic Hill was fine (I think it’s harder in the other direction), but it is still always a daunting prospect.

   The Start Of The Climb Up Conic Hill

It wasn’t long before we began to reach the summit and were hit by the wind blowing off the Loch. I paused to take a photo of the view as John and Ian began their descent. 

  John And Ian Begin The Decsent

I love the last section coming off the hill, and through the forest, and so let the legs go a little and enjoyed myself. My knee had been a little sore going up and over Conic, but was fine by this point, so I didn’t bother putting my knee support on at Balmaha (probably a mistake). We aimed for a 5 minute break at Balmaha and as we set off I clocked the rest period as 5:03 mins (quite impressive eh!).

I found the next section tough mentally. My knee was really starting to hurt, and I remembered the section being much flatter than it is. There are some tough climbs from Balmaha to Rowardennan. It was also very wet at times, twice we had to wade our way through water, the second occasion being almost knee deep and very cold (note to self: pack snorkel and flippers next time!). I kept up with everyone though, and as we approached the end of the stage I was feeling much more positive. I put on my knee support and changed my soaking wet socks, then after some food and a small cup of coffee (thanks to the ladies) we were off again.

I was leading the way (at a reasonable pace) chatting with John, and looking forward to the second half of the run, when we stopped to walk up a hill. That was when it first happened. A sniper shot me in the knee! I carried on walking up the hill and we began running again nearer the top. We’d run about 2.5 miles of the section when I was shot again. This time the sniper made a direct hit and I knew my run was over. I kept trying to run but after a few steps my knee would buckle under me.  I tried to convince myself and the others that I was fine, but I was soon sent packing back to Rowardennan (I know this was the right decision) to rejoin the ladies for a lift back to Drymen. I was lucky they were still close enough to collect me, and I thank them very much for their support. Even just walking back, the snipers were getting me and I realised that there was no way I could have continued!

Sitting at home now my knee doesn’t feel too bad, and there’s no doubt as to the recipient of today’s ‘How Annoying?’ award. I guess I may need to bite the bullet (no pun intended) and go and see a physio during the week. I know I’ll want to try and run tomorrow, but I also know Mrs pacepusher (quite rightly) won’t let me!

The Day Before Tomorrow

16:13 6.5 miles 52:58

(4mins (2mins))x6

With tomorrow in mind, today was always intended to be a nice easy run, and despite the strong winds, so it proved to be. I met Mrs pacepusher and Miss Pump (our friend who joined us for the NYC Marathon) at Bellahouston gym. The girls wanted to do a fartlek session and Miss Pump had her heart set on doing 6×4 minute intervals with 2 minute recoveries (because it was already programmed in her GPS!). Eventually I let her have her own way, and off we set aiming to run 5.5 miles. I was keen to run more than this so planned to run the longer way back to the gym alone.

I worked on my pacing during each interval, aiming for about 7:30 min/mile pace, as you’ll see below, the consistency wasn’t really there throughout the 6 intervals.

Average pace (min/miles) shown in yellow, and distance (miles) shown in red:

1. 7:41  0.52
2. 7:25  0.54
3. 7:01  0.57
4. 7:22  0.55
5. 7:09  0.56
6. 6:54  0.58

What surprises me when looking at this, is the closeness of the distances. For there only to be 0.06 of a mile difference from the fastest to the slowest interval, Strikes me as incredible. It seems like such a small distance on paper (well screen!).

I didn’t feel like I was working especially hard on any of the intervals and enjoyed a nice easy session. It was surprisingly warm tonight which needs to be considered when I select my kit for the morning. The heavy rain outside right now means an extra set of kit is going to be compulsory anyway. It’s also going to be very muddy under foot!

I’m picking John up at 8am in the morning, then it’s off to Drymen to begin the shenanigans. I can’t wait!

‘snow Fun Running In This Weather

14:06 6.5 miles 47:19

1 7:20 2 7:36 3 7:28 4 7:29 5 6:58 6 7:02 6.5 3:27  Average 7:17 min/miles

My run started today to a fanfare of abuse from a group of lads at the end of my street. A prize goes to the guy in the pale blue, hooped, Lacoste (true NED fashion) jumper, who became the millionth person to shout ‘run Forest run’ expecting me to find it amusing!

Well today has brought almost every type of weather to Glasgow. This morning the wind was howling at the window and the rain was coming down. A couple of hours later we had quite heavy snow showers, and then bright blue skies. I knew I was heading out for a run early afternoon and it was looking promising until just when I opened the front door and it started to hail. I promptly went back in the house and waited for a few minutes until it had stopped. And so, eventually, I headed out, spurred on by my support from the local youths, on what I expected to be about a 6 or 7 mile run. As I turned the corner onto the main road, the wind got up again, followed then by a horrendous hail storm that lasted for at least the next mile of the run. It was truly painful; as if somebody had a voodoo doll of me and a thousand pins! Still I was out now…

The hail slowly turned to rain, but the wind was relentless. It was only when I turned onto the cycle track, about 4 miles in, that I finally got the wind on my back for a while. Just after starting back towards home on the cycle track, I could see a magnificently vivid rainbow, ending quite clearly in the middle of the path ahead. However, as I don’t carry a pneumatic drill with me when I’m running, I can’t prove or disprove the pot of gold theory!

I later passed another immaculately dressed youth in lovely matching Nike tracksuit (yep, another NED) who was swerving a little as he walked. That would be down to the can of lager he was drinking whilst he enjoyed his walk then! Why is it that for so many of today’s youth, sport consists of shouting abuse, watching football, drinking and fighting? I know some of these guys are good runners, but that’s only with a Police tail!

Anyway, I made it home and my weekly total now sits at 38.5 miles which I’m really pleased with. Tomorrow night I’m out with Mrs pacepusher and a friend. They’re planning a fartlek session of 5-7 miles. I’m going to use it as an opportunity for an easy jog, with a few strides, which will hopefully leave me in fine fettle for Saturday. 

Would I Really Rather Be Watching the Footy?

19:14 10 miles 1:14:10

1 8:02 2 7:27 3 7:09 4 7:15 5 7:05 6 7:20 7 7:15 8 7:47 9 7:29 10 7:21  Average 7:25 min/miles

I spent all day looking forward to my run at the club tonight but by the time I finished work at 6pm it didn’t seem like such a great idea! For once myself and Mrs pacepusher didn’t talk each other out of going and we made it to the club for just after 7pm.

It’s been a little while since I ran on a Wednesday night with the guys and I’d forgotten how much harder it is running in a group rather than on your own. There were 8 or so of us heading out, all in supposedly the same direction. I ended up in a group of three, with Fraser and Davie, both good runners who make it look really easy. I wasn’t sure how far we were going (at one point I didn’t even know where we were) and the pace was constantly changing which always keeps your body on it’s toes and working that bit harder. I kept working hard to stay with the other two guys, and they were good enough to slow down and let me catch up with them a couple of times after my tired legs were forced to drag my body up hill!

I’m now on 32 miles for the week so far and well on the way to my target total of a minimum of 70 miles. I wanted to have a tough start to the week so that I could ease off a little ready for Saturdays long run on the West Highland Way, which I’m now really looking forward to.

I thoroughly enjoyed tonight’s run and the guys were good company. It’s amazing some of the conversations that will crop up to kill the time and the miles. Tonight we put the world to rights in areas such as television (is Sky/Virgin any more worth while than council telly?) and even religion (I’m not going into that again!). The answer to the television debate… yes. Without Sky, I couldn’t wish I was at home watching Everton v Chelsea in the Cup rather than struggling behind the other two guys for 10 miles!

The Good the Bad and the Ugly

13:33 8 miles 57:31

no splits  Average 7:11 min/miles

18:44 4 miles 30:42

1 7:52 2 7:46 3 7:30 4 7:35  Average 7:41 min/miles     

                   

“Red sky at night Shepherd’s delight, red sky in the morning Runner’s warning!”

I awoke this morning to see the fabulous view above out of the kitchen window of the pacepusher household. I looked forward to my lunch time run hoping to run in fine weather and daylight. However I didn’t heed the old sayings advice, and as the morning went on, my nice run became a miserable run in a wet, grey, damp, misty, almost daylight!

I was rather sore this morning. Those that read John’s Blog will be aware of his investigations into DOMS. As I remember from my University study, DOMS stands for the Delayed Onset of Muscular Soreness. This usually raises it’s ugly head two days after hard effort, and having worked hard in the squat track during Body Pump on Sunday, this morning I found myself walking like Clint Eastwood in a Spaghetti Western!

Still, onwards ever onwards, I dragged my body into my running kit and headed out for a seven mile run with the option of a lap of the block to make it eight miles. The first three miles were really tough, my legs were sore and felt like lead, and I was running the hilliest section of the route. Things settled down and I found a rhythm, deciding at about five miles that I would make it to eight. The extra mile meant running past the warm comfort of home which is always hard, but I kept things going. I had forgotten to set the auto-lap setting on my GPS so had no splits to go by throughout my run, and so I was pleased and surprised afterwards to see the average pace showing as 7:11 min/miles.

I decided that an evening recovery run might prove beneficial ahead of tomorrow nights club run, and so I headed off after work (surprisingly with little protest from the ‘don’t do it’ devil in my head) for an easy four miles. I took my head torch for the dark section, only to discover that the batteries were about dead and it gave off about as much light as a pair of shiny new running shoes! I aimed to keep the pace between 7:30 and 8:00 min/miles and so was happy with my average of 7:41 min/miles. I usually find that I start to wind it up towards the end of my runs as I get closer to home, so I kept pulling myself back to keep the pace steady. This is something I need to learn to do in view of the WHW race. My legs feel better after the run than they did before so that’s promising for tomorrow.

Avid readers of this blog may be asking, “what’s happened to the ‘How Annoying?’ awards?” well, there’s a few contenders today. Firstly it was to be awarded to the DOMS that left me walking like a cowboy, then they were pipped by Glasgow’s finest weather, then the batteries in my head torch had it, and then, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, came the incident about two miles into this evenings run. As I happily trotted along, enjoying the fact that it wasn’t raining and I’d be going home dry for a change, a van driver clearly thought it would be funny to drive through the large puddle that I hadn’t noticed to my right. Thus I received a soaking reminisent of Gene Kelly’s in Singin’ in the Rain! One was not amused!