Play Misty for me

Without wanting to sound like the opening line of a Blues standard...



I woke up this morning (da dah Dah dum), pottered about a bit to get my bearings and come to fully, dragged on my running gear - long sleeved wicking shirt, t-shirt & sweatshirt as an outer, sweat pants, gloves and hat. I stepped out into a misty, chilly - but not really cold, morning.



I wasn't too sure how I'd fare after my adventures with RRR and shin splints last week, but set off determined to give it a go.

After my 1/2 mile or so brisk walk as a warm up I set off at a comfortable pace, not concentrating too much on keeping my pace down, just going at what was comfortable and sustainable. By the time I had covered about 1K my shins were beginning to remind me that they were there at which point I dropped my pace a little.



Over the next 1K, I had to slow down to a walk a couple of times and experimented with pace and stride until I found a combination that although I was in a little discomfort wasn't getting any worse.



Once I'd settled on this pace, I was able to keep it up for the final 1K of my route, I found this comfortable in both the legs and breathing. My stride was approximately 1/2 -3/4 of my normal walking one, but the pace was approx 1.5 times higher.



All that remains is for me to start and continue at this pace and see how my shins react. It's not a record breaking pace, but over time I will be able to gently increase my it and stride as my legs become stronger and used to the work involved.



After completing my 3K run I did the same walk to cool down, and returned home to do my stretches in the warmth and light.



Only a 12 days until the fun run! Reading Roadrunners thingie tomorrow night, maybe another 3K on Thursday morning and then again Sunday.



Next Tuesday - depending upon how I fare this week, I will push my distance up to 4K.

Reading Roadrunners

Today was the day. After two aborted attempts to get my assessment/H&S/general info & rules session, I finally made it. In fact I was 35 minutes early! Partly because I left home with 75 minutes to make it there. I took one look at the traffic and decided that my best course of action would be to not take the Ring Road.

The car park was empty when I arrived, I parked up, opened the door and stepped out, after being in the car with the heater on for half an hour it was quite a shock to step out into the cold, to see my breath. I grabbed the beanie off the back seat and cursed myself for not bringing my gloves and headed off to the track. Upon arriving I contacted Jumile to ensure he was coming - there was no way I was going to go through tonight without him suffering too. Once I'd spoken to him briefly I introduced myself to the welcoming committee who passed me on to Tom ( I think that was his name) who showed me the facilities. Once we'd done the tour I left my car keys with the welcoming committee, filled my water bottle and headed out to the track.

The 400M track looked a helluva lot bigger tonight when I knew I was going to be running around it than it did a few weeks ago when I arrived (very) late for my induction thing. As the number of people grew, a quick scan showed I was the only person there of my shape. Jumile turned up a couple of minutes later and shortly before a brief news update, after which we split up into groups, I was one of a handful of people - 6 0r 8 excluding myself, there for the first time and we were led off together. The first order of business was a quick explanation of the lane layout, usage policy and track etiquette.

There were a number of groups of runners undergoing coaching at different levels or monitored running. There were also a number of people just running.

Our first objective was a 1/2 lap, which I think was as much to get us out of the way of other groups as anything else. Once there we stepped off the track onto the cycle track which rings the running lanes. We we taken through a few simple stretches and after a brief run down of what lay ahead of us, we were taken for a single circuit of the track to be carried out at our own pace. I set off in the middle of the group, was a little slower than the others but wasn't going to be forced into running faster than I felt comfortable with.

After arriving back, we gathered round to have explained to us exactly what we'd be doing next.It's hard to explain. We had to a series of 'odd' running styles, which exercised particular muscles more than the others, we ran maybe 50yds each time at a slowish pace, looped back did it again and then shifted focus to another muscle. After doing this six times it was all pulled together, running with a combination of all of the previous exercises, this time however we were to run a bit further and accelerate up to our maximum and slow down gently.

After a couple of minute break to get our breath back, we ran 1/2 lap back to the main stand/starting point.

By this time I was starting to develop pain in my shins, I knew what it was - shin splints, I have experienced them on and off since starting running again. I attempted the next exercise, which was slow pace round the curves, raised pace on the straights for two laps. After half a lap - at the end of the first fast pace 100M the pain in my shins was growing. I think what brought it on was the fact that I had been running faster tonight than I have done in years - many years. I sat out the rest of the session, I am not in this to injure myself and had a word with the coach afterwards. It was suggested that I for the next few weeks run at my own speed to build up my leg muscles. rather than try to mix it with the coaching groups.

While the balance of the group was running the last few laps of the evening, I did my stretches and then headed home after having a quick word with Jumile.

Catching up...

Saturday dawned, another trip to the gym was in prospect.

Off I trotted, did my routine as laid out in the program drawn up for me. This consists of work on four cardio machines, six weight machines and a little mat work.

I've been at this for about ten weeks now, and I have found each trip to be a little easier than the last. I have been tempted to push myself further to reach the same heart rate that I experienced the first few visits, I know that this is daft as this could lead to injury, but have once or twice succumbed to it.

I must admit that I have been more enthusiastic about gym work than road work. There are several reasons for this, not least that my bed is warm and dry at 6.30am and the streets are not. Another reason is that several weeks ago, I experienced my first attack - if that is the right word, of cervical spondylosis, this led to very frequent electrical impulses down my arms and occasionally to my feet. I took about a week off all training until I had a chance to see a doctor and get a diagnosis and treatment. After this I found it easier to get back into gym work than running. I am getting there though and tomorrow night brings my first visit and assessment/induction at Reading Roadrunners. I was supposed to attend two weeks ago, and then last week, but work got in the way.

With under a month until the 5K fun run that I have signed up for, I need to get more serious about my road work.

In a normal week I will visit the gym three times, on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Saturday morning, run three times, Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday mornings, shoot twice (yeah right!) Monday and Friday evenings and potentially visit RRR on a Wednesday.

I went to the gym on Saturday - yay!, ran Sunday - yay!, overslept Tuesday morning - boo! and went to the gym tonight - yay! again. In an attempt to ensure I can make it to RRR tomorrow, I have taken the afternoon off work and will be there for the 6.30 assessment come what may. I know Jumile took advice from his assessor regarding his regime and has opted out of one of the gym visits, and I will probably do the same if it is felt I am pushing too hard.

We both have a re-assessment at the gym on Saturday morning, it will allow me to gauge my progress and have my program changed a little - I have always had problems with my lower back, I'd like to see if anything can be done to strengthen this without losing my focus which is to tone the muscles used for archery.

As far as the road work is concerned I am currently doing 3K, I have seen an improvement recently, in that I am able to run/walk my 3K in about 20-25 minutes, and have noticed that my first and last kilometre are done at a higher pace. I am not going to force myself to run faster over the 1-2 kilometre stage, this will come naturally as I become accustomed to running again.

I have the rest of my life, I don't need to achieve everything in the next three weeks, or die trying.

Anyway...time I was away, sorry if I bored you.