I'm back!

Wednesday 6th November 2013 It's 19 months since I blogged. Amazing. I can't believe it has been so long. 2012 was a write off. I started 2012 as fit as I have ever been, and running with the club's fast group training for the Milton Keynes Marathon in May. I suffered a stress fracture of the thigh and had 2 months off running before coming back a couple of weeks before MK. As I wasn't running for charity I withdrew. I really felt I would run sub 3.10 and get a good for age spot in London and bag a 2013 sub 3 hr marathon..... I came back and started running reasonably, and then after a Saturday long run (with hill intervals) in June suffered some left knee stiffness, and thought little of it. The next day I ran again and the knee felt worse. I thoug that something might be up and thought I would give myself a few days off (felt quite proud of myself). I tried running the next Wednesday and 6 minutes in felt a very sharp pain below my left knee which stopped as soon as I stopped running, and I walked home. Same again the next Saturday. Not good. I saw a physio who diagnosed IT band syndrome. Atleast a a month's no running and lots of stretching. A preventable injury as I had suffered with my hip the year before and had been religious about stretching nd rolling. Coming back in May I had not bothered and payed the price! I tried coming back twice with the pain still there and spent some time riding my mountain bike and in the gym too. By the time I had got rid of it it was late October 2012 and began building the miles slowly. By mid December I had run two 20 mile weeks. Over Christmas I ramped the miles upto 35 miles a week and started thinking of a spring marathon. 35 a week for 3 weeks and the thigh pain started coming back. Happy new Year! 2013 Feeling pretty disillusioned I decided to have January off running and got into proper tabata style High Intensity intervals - squats, press ups, burpee's, lunges, mountain climbers, step jumps etc I had been on trips to Cardiff going to a cross fit gym and had really enjoyed it. It really gets the heart going. Coming back to a few short 10 minute runs in early Feb I felt no pain, and with surprising ease was running 6 minute miles. The interval training had really paid off, and stayed as part of my new mix of running, spinning and intervals. I ran a 6 mile trail race in late Feb feeling good, and decided to keep to 5-10k's and not go above 20 miles a week. Why bother going long if I start to get injured? I ran a adult PB of 18.34 for a hilly trail 5k in May, and some reasonable 10'k during the summer. I signed up for the Cardiff half marathon in October and decided to put some longer runs of 10 miles in, and ran the Dunstable Downs half in early September as a training run in 1.41 with some off course meaning I ran 13.5 miles. At 13.1 I was actually at 1.37.50 without pushing to hard. With all the star strength from intervals even the hills seemed easier. I had hoped for a PB in Cardiff and ran 1.31.50 so was a little disappointed as the course was flat and the temperatures ideal. I felt tired at half way and run 2 minutes slower in the second half. Not my usual focus on a negative split. I was also almost a stone heavier than when I ran 1.28.50 in berkhamsted 2011. If an extra stone is worth 7.5 minutes for a half marathon the perhaps I am really in 1.25 shape During the summer I had been running faster (6 min miles) and shorter distances meaning that I have been starting longer races a little to fast as 6.40 miles felt easy. However with the lack of endurance I can't keep that up. I need to focus on keeping the speed but also getting a good 10k tempo run and a 10 mile plus long run per week. I have started running with the club again in October and ran at the FRA relays in Snowdonia which was awesome. The hardest run in 3 years but brilliant. I am also going to run a full cross country season too! What's the plan moving forwards? I am not sure. I want to run a fast marathon and and I want to run ultra's too which don't really go hand in hand. I also want to run fell races too. I have 2 cross country's, the dirt half marathon next weekend and the club's Brenda Barlow 10 miler left in 2013. After this I will focus on 1 interval run with weights, a 10 mile ish long run with the club on a Wednesday and then a tempo 10k ish on the weekend, with a weights/cross training/HIT interval session on a Sunday. This will be my staple over the winter with a focus on Berkhamsted half marathon in March 2014 and a number of summer fell races. I am not sure if I will look at a spring marathon, and may well look at a summer trail marathon possibly a 50k, and then a fast autumn Marathon in a sub 3.10 to get a good for age for London. My big question is do I do MDS in April 2015? If I do then next Autumn becomes ultra time, and a long build up to MDS instead. That is a decision for summer 2014! Posts will be far more regular from now on. Shoes NB Pure Trail - 150 miles Adidas Boost - 100 miles Innov-8 roclite 285's - 40 miles.