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Beyond #asics262: life after Target 26.2 for sub-3:30 runner Malcolm
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Good to meet you Friday mate,thanks for the tips and advice.Not long till D Day! Fingers crossed.Good luck to all bootcampers!
Wow - it was all quiet on here and then it explodes over the weekend
Feral Bob - great to hear from you! It's come round quick for sure hasn't it? Did you know that Supermanruns was there? Keeping my fingers crossed for some superhero representation in the voting stages
Reikirabbit - thats good news from the doc then. Hope it's similar on the 15th and hopefully that'll ease your mind significantly.
Your running is going really well despite the knee. How do you deal with a mystery pain though? Just ignore it? Try different things and hope one of them does something? What an absolute pain in the proverbials that is!
Thanks for the heat advice. I have been trying to keep it warm and I've been rubbing the tendons and massaging the shin. I *think* it's improving but very slowly. Managed a decent paced parkrun and it wasn't as sore as it was when I ran much slower the week before so hopefully a good sign.
Stan - brilliant to hear that your upward rise in form is continuing and well done on beating your parkrun from last week.
lol - I think RW are probably sick of the sight of me now
Having made 3 bootcamps in a row I feel that I may be retired to the knackers yard. But I can't really complain can I? 
No goody bag but I saw someone else's and yes, there was a blue water bottle!
Angela - like your style, there's always a business opportunity round every corner. If Stan takes you on and you get him under 3 you'll have everyone here queueing up for the Isherwood treatment
Mr P - weh hey! Congrats on the London place!
lol - I should never be the person to ask about conditioning! That said I have found that the core exercise Roger gave me has really helped.
You lie on your back with knees bent up, as you would before doing a sit-up. Then raise the torso with arms crossed on chest (don't poke the neck forward). Hold for 10 secs - squeezing abs. Then do 10 mini crunches from that position up and back by just a small amount. Then finally drop back to do 10 full crunches. So 10/10/10. Once that gets easy you move to 1515/15 and so on.
Tigger - you did great. Only a couple of days to wait for hopefully good news!
Rachelcgen - Tigger should hear by Tuesday and I believe the voting starts shortly after that - eeek!
Paul - great to meet you! Always nice to meet a world record holder
Wish you the very best of luck. If you make it through you have a roller coaster week ahead of you so get some sleep over the next couple of days!
Thanks Malcs, I just want something simple like me
.
Rachel I don't think I should do weights, I would just hurt my back unfortunately.
I am enjoying all the anticipation of Paris, be interesting to see who is selected, is it Tuesday?
MrP: I do a lot of weights on the legs or arms only - using the machines, so just isolating the various muscles. Would that impact the back?
Yes, very exciting build up to the voting. Even more so because Tigger, Supermanruns and Ruffles are all in with a chance.
They said they'd let the lucky ones know on Monday or Tuesday as voting will have to open this week.
The bootcampers were a really nice bunch. It's going to be a tough call for RW.
At least this year they are not doing it all on the vote. You know then that it doesn't all come down to who is lucky enough to spread the word the furthest.
I thought I had to give my 2 pence, as a torso training specialist . . . (core and back, anything around the spine). A lot of pain in the back is caused by the weakness of those back muscles. A lot of people find exercises such as the plank very hard and painful on the lower back because the muscles in the back are exceptionally week. Being able to slouch in chairs all day driving, sitting at work etc, allows us to keep our head up without engaging any of the muscles in the back or abdominals. Then for recreation, we go outside and run putting exceptional force through our joints, and not having the strength in the muscles to cope with it, so you see people running around like LURCH!
The majority of back injuries don't come from exercise in the gym, but usually from a twisting motion of a very light weight held far away from the body! Think trying to get the coffee pot from the top shelf of the cupboard, or wrestling your lawnmower out of the shed, or getting a baby out of the car seat. Often when we go to the gym, we focus on the muscles we can see (chest, arms, abs (well we can't always see these but often want to)), at the detriment of the ones we can't, which means the back gets neglected.
I for one spend one of my training days in the gym focussing on the 'posterior chain'. This is CRUCIAL for runners - if you cannot get the back of your body (calves, hamstrings, glutes, lower back, upper back, shoulders) to work together as one, then you will have a hard time running.
So, Mr P, I would ask your gym instructor/Personal Trainer to give you some back strengthening exercises, and these don't need to involve additional weight initially, but a strong core and back will remove many injury tendencies. . .
Phew, glad to get that off my chest
Rachel, Thanks for the offer of testimonial - I will email you a request shortly, as I'm doing quite a bit of client research at the moment, and you might be able to help with that too
Malcs, glad you had a good day at bootcamp- I can't believe they didn't give you a goody bag!! They should have at least given you a new pair of trainers!! Before you start touting my coaching Stan to a sub 3, he needs to take me on
So what is this year's decision process then? And do we only have to wait until Tuesday to find out Tigger's won?
Reiki, well done on your race!! And interesting to hear you used to have coaching- will be contacting you to find out more
x
Crikey Angela I will reply in my lunch break , thanks!
Angela - wow, I don't even know if I have a posterior chain - will need to check
Sadly Tuesday is only decision day for those going to the voting stage. The lucky few then have a week on the adrenaline to endure before finding out if they made it through.
PS. I did get some very nice kit - they are a nice bunch at RW!
No problemo Mr P, I feared that you were being very cautious about your back, which of course is right, but if there's a problem there, strengthening it is the answer- the same as if you had a problem in your calf, you would let the injury heal, and then you would work on strengthening it to withstand potential future injury.
I've had exceptional results with one of my clients- she's 64 and runs marathons having only taken up running a few years ago- running has caused her to get sciatica, which if we don't know is caused by a bit of bulging of one of the intervertebral discs pinching on the sciatic nerve, which can cause pain or numbness in the leg. We have been strengthening her back and glutes, and the main exercise for this has been deadlifts at about 2/3 of her body weight... Her last trip to her osteopath confirmed massive improvement - he's really impressed, and said that her former personal trainer just wasn't pushing her hard enough in her strength training which is why she saw no improvement for over a year!! Because the muscles in her lower back are stronger, the weight of her upper body is supported by the musculature, and not just the skeleton, therefore there is less pressure to squeeze the intervertebral disc, and thus less pinching on the nerve, less sciatica. . .
Lucky Malcs, with your nice kit... Now I'm jealous!!
Ifirst hurt my back when I was seventeen, lifting a large pitch pine desk up a flight of stairs at work. I got exercises at the time, but I didn't do them because they made it hurt more. In my late teens and early twenties I worked on building sites hod carrying and labouring, it was nothing for me to carry a bag of cement up a ladder or dig out a floor and fill a skip in a day. I used to just live on Brufen (as it was then on prescription) and occasionally it would "go" and I would have to have a few days off. I really wasn't unusual to hobble into work in the morning then after the tablets kicked in just get on with the day's work. I was never involved in sport so it never occurred to me that the answer might be to strengthen the muscles. Later, truck driving, it was a more chronic pain but only when I started running properly did it improve. But, I still get lots of pain, and carrying anything in front of my body or overhead brings it on. But weirdly, if I get stressed about anything -workwise, like a missed order or a failed delivery - then it starts to hurt. Always bad on a Saturday morning, just is.
So although I always try to do core and conditioning, it leads to back pain, so I thought a simple achievable repeatable exercise is the way forward
Just spent a quick session in the gym with a little work on my posterior chain! I find I do this training thing best when I am slightly obsessive about it, with spreadsheets and challenges. Someone on a facebook group called out 'marcothon' to do during December, which is at least 25min (or 3miles, whatever is quickest) every day. That doesn't quite fit in with my training plan, so I'm doing an amended version - so at least 25mins exercise a day, to include gym and lounge core exercises. So day 1 done!
I just started doing deadlifts and am hoping for massive improvements too then!
I have lower back ache & tightness on the left side mainly, am not overly weak in terms of the classic planks etc, but functionally so, especially when generally tired.
Glad you got some gear Malcs!
Mr P, you've had an interesting life - very physical.
I get back pain too but it comes and goes. I'm sat down most of the day in front of a computer so not ideal for the back.
What are some good back exercises then that don't require weights?
Went out for a brisk run in the wind and rain at lunch time. Ended up being a 4 mile progression from 8's down to 7:20. No pain during and only the faintest hint afterwards after cooling down. Don't want to say it too loud but I think I'm making progress
Malcs - I did notice you sporting some shiny new kit at bootcamp, the perks of being a winner hey?!
Indeed
For the record, I would have come without the kit...
...although I would have worn some clothes of course
Gosh, that would have spoiled the photos!!!
Tigger - any news? Hope you're in!
Yeah come on!
Evening all! Sorry had to find my way down off the ceiling! Thank you for asking yes I have made it to the public votes!
Hehe Malcs and RRR had new kit but Adys was shinny!
Im thinking........(glad the run went well malcs but not saying it out loud).....shhh
Even though I knew the news I'm still really excited to hear this!
Tigger was Adys Shiny or Shinny? I might be up for a pair of those Shinny trackie bottoms he had
Yay Tigger - great news! Where do we vote?
I have not had my call but have had my email saying I am in. Awaiting voting instructions right now. Good luck Tigger
Brilliant news SupermanRuns !
Really doesn't surprise me at all that they put you through to voting again - you were brilliant at bootcamp.
Both you and Tigger have some very nice people in your groups. It's always such a shame when you find yourself wanting everyone to win. However, you were great on here supporting me last year and incredibly gracious in defeat. Tigger was amazing off the forums too. I really hope you both get the chance this time round.
Congrats to both SupermanRuns and Tigger, in getting to the voting stage.
I think this year is destined to be SupermanRuns year fingers crossed, after your support for Malcs last year and input on the forums.
Sadly the way the comp is set out I have no chance of entering, as I have already run sub 3:30, but don't have a hope at getting under 3:00
perhaps another category next year please RW?
.....so going to have to come out of forum retirement
I need to join the fun!!
Seany, Sean, Sean, Sean! Greta to hear from you! How are things?
Yes, a 3:15 category would be great!
Coach Jen! Indeed - out you come
Congrats to Tigger and Superman, I'm sure with this forum thread behind them they are certain to win!
Mr P, Indeed what an interesting life you have lead. Its such a shame that a) often rehab exercises aren't followed because they are painful and b) a pain med is so easily given rather than fix the route cause. Back pain isn't usually life threatening, so it isn't top priority in the NHS, but can lead to a poor quality of life.
Malcs, There isn't a vast array of back exercises not involving weights, and many to target the back are easily done without the back, as the glutes can kick in to take the load, or even the abs. However, the simplest one is the simple back extension. Lie face down on a mat, with ur finger tips touching your ears, and lift your trunk (just your trunk not ur legs) off the floor slowly, pause at the top of the move (about 15 degrees of movement max) and then release back down to the ground. Perform 12-15 repetitions of this, take a minute's break and repeat 2-3 times. If this position is too easy, you can progress it by having your arms straight ahead of you. Its important that this movement is slow and controlled- no jerky movements. Think of it as the opposite of an abdominal crunch.
Next exercise I call supermans... staring position is the same and you slowly raise opposite arm and leg at the same time.
Rachel, Great adaptation to that challenge
Reiki, Deadlifts are awesome- my favourite weights exercise. So simple, yet so effective: http://www.theptdc.com/2014/02/deadlift-exercise/