Monday 16th April 2007

24

Comments

  • Podro Kids got pi$$ed off with me training when swimming rather than 'swimming properly' which involves slashing around with them in the shallow end- hope there wasn't too much slashing going on. They put dyes in pools these days you know...
  • Morning all,

    DD - wow. Great report. I love the idea of an ice cream during a race - must try that. It's pirate tradition to try something new on race day so perhaps that will be mine in Florida! Great pics too.

    What an honour to post on the same forum as people who do things like ultras and north pole marathons and huge piles of marathons and running very fast indeed. Once again I take inspiration.

    Not sure what to think about Rotterdam. I was entered for it last year but had to withdraw due to calf trouble. I wanted to go back one day, but not sure now.

    What: long swim drills session; short hard bike
    Why: it's Monday
    Last hard: turbo yesterday
    Last rest: Sat

    Good runnings all.
  • Afternoon all,
    Lazy day as I've just come off nights and hoping tapering will be accepted by other half as a reason not to finish decorating the bathroon till next week.
    What: 6 rec, d&d
    Why: recovery after 10 yesterday with 6 @ marathon pace.

    Well done DD - great pics
  • MinksMinks ✭✭✭
    Hello everyone - I am back! Back running, and hence feel I can legitimately come back to this thread again.

    The physio at the hospital said no high-impact exercise (i.e. running) for 3-4 months following my Caesarean, but frankly I believe this is advice given to Jo Public rather than to those with a history of marathon running and general fitness. A couple of forumites on the 'Pregnant Runners' Club' thread advised that they had started back much sooner than that and cited the usual "listen to your body" advice. There was no residual pain from the surgery and I felt fully recovered so decided to dig out my running shoes ...

    First run last Friday - a whopping two miles - which told me just how much fitness and muscle tone I've lost. The pace averaged out at a paltry 10 minutes per mile but a) I was being deliberately cautious and keeping in tune with my body for any signs of pain, and b) I couldn't physically go any faster! At first I was dispirited by this but then I reminded myself that I had major abdominal surgery only 6 weeks ago and I haven't actually run since early December, and then I was down to a plod with several hundred pit stops to relieve my bladder.

    Yesterday I managed three miles, and the pace had improved to 8:46 average. I did find it very hard though (the heat certainly didn't help - trust me to pick the warmest week of the year so far to make my comeback!) and my legs were quite sore and stiff afterwards. But it felt SO good to be back running - and no need for any stops any more! I guess the 'advantage' of a C-section is that there is less likelihood of subsequent pelvic floor weakness and I was pleased that there were no leaks!!

    Now I need to build back slowly - I will be sticking at three miles until it becomes comfortable and the pace picks up. It's obviously going to be harder to find time to run now that there's Kit to think about, but I've negotiated four runs per week with hubby for the time being, which I'll probably stay with until I go back to work when running at lunchtime or home from work might be a more workable option for all of us. For now though, I'm just glad to be able to run again and mileage etc. isn't that important.

    So - what do I need to get up to speed with here? Who's running FLM? I thought Hilly was but there's mention of an injury in her post?

    DD - that sounds like a good race. Well done. Falling over a cat's eye sounds like the kind of thing I'd do (I fell over Kit's carrycot this morning even though it's been in the same position in our bedroom for ages!) Clink - go for it on Friday! LizzyB, why am I not surprised to come back here and find you leaping stiles??

    Bummer about Rotterdam. I hope anyone on here who was running managed to get in before 3:30. I'd have been furious if it were me and I'd sacrificed all that time and effort training - not to mention the monetary cost.

    Good to be back - sorry my inaugural post is characteristically rather long!
  • PodroPodro ✭✭✭
    BR - maybe that was why teh water in the pool was nice and cloudy.

    Rotterdam cancellation - at Leed HM a couple of years ago there were some major problems when the race was run on a very hot day. Although most people were careful given the conditions there was a significant number who lacked the foresight/experience to deal with the heat and as a consequence large numbers collapsed at the finish and some keeled over out on the course. Emergency services were overwhelmed and it was only the fact that the Leeds General Infirmary was right next to the finish that allowed quick access to sufficient medical help. Perhaps this was what the organisers were trying to avoid.
  • Hi Minks!

    Wonderful to see you back running, and so soon! I'm not surprised. Sounds like you are taking a careful approach. I can't remember if you bought a running buggy - they are all the rage over here (I'm in the States til mid-May) and you see whole groups of yummy mummies running along together, each with a buggy. Looks like excellent fun.

    Will you post a picture of Kit? Understand if you want to keep that private.
  • debbodebbo ✭✭✭
    Minks - good to see you back! You're still speedier than me, even with your months off!

    I got the impression that in Rotterdam if you'd reached a certain point by a certain time you could continue, not that the whole race was cancelled?
  • MinksMinks ✭✭✭
    Thanks IronMel and Iron Wifey - it's good to be back here!

    Mel, have changed my image to one of Kit, which will hopefully be uploaded shortly. He is SO cute!

    I haven't bought a baby jogger type pram, because they're quite long and you can't really use them as a 'normal' buggy. We just don't have the storage space for more than one so we've gone for a 'travel system' which is basically a chassis (three-wheeler) with interchangeable car seat, carry cot and pushchair fittings. It's really funky and I love it! Have also decided that running time is 'mummy only' time and basically pretty much the only time I get entirely to myself, and therefore to be savoured!
  • SportalooSportaloo ✭✭✭
    Hi there

    Just popped in to say:

    DD - Good run and you look very happy in those pics. Roll on Comrades.

    Minks - Good to see you back and hope the baby brings you guys lots of joy. I have had a miserable 7 months due to injury,went for two runs last week (2 and 3 miles) almost died and could hardly walk the next day,so good luck with the come back and know that you are not alone :o)

    Trini - Your training is going very well,will you be doing a 38-40 mile run around the 2nd week of May?

    And last but not least,good luck to everyone doing FLM. I will be watching.

    Have a good one.

  • That sounds like solid thinking to me Minks - I hadn't thought of it that way. Also I imagine it could be quite stressful running with a buggy, the way cars pull out without looking and so forth. Looking forward to the pic.
  • DD, a great race, well done

    Minks, good to hear you are back running. 8:45 by your second run doesn't sound too bad

    NZC: http://www.fortismarathonrotterdam.nl/

    What: 5ml very easy
    Why: tapering
  • Hi minks! (Don't worry, I've been doing plenty of minskeasy runs while you were away :-)

    Great running again over the weekend with DD so far being most eyecatching.

    Re Rotterdam, seems an unpleasant decision, but if people are fainting left right and center in the slower end of the field and emergency services are struggling, something may have to be done and this could have been the best decision at the time.
    I've read in dutch articles that 30 runners were taken to hospital and 17 actually admitted. That's a lot for only 7800 participants.

    What: 6 miles easy d&d lunchtime
    Why: enjoying the sun
    Last rest: all weekend
    Last hard: ages

    Right leg has been bothering me, selfmassaged this morning, and it behaved. Seems like tightness from the calf is causing a bit of trouble. Must keep an eye on that, stretch etc...
  • Minks - good to hear from you! Actually that c-section/exercise thing is not clearly defined at all - when I lived in Iceland a mate had a c-section (and more) and was given no advice at all on what to do afterwards - as a result she was driving a huge jeep and heaving her other four kids within a week and I think venturing out on camping holidays within a month - so I guess your body will tell you what it likes and what it doesn't. Sounds sensible to keep it to three miles and build up from there, especially as your muscles and ligaments may not adapt as quickly to running as your cv system does - you don't want to get injured

    DD - great pics! You look very relaxed!
  • Oh, and it appears the mayor of Rotterdam pulled the plug on the marathon, so little the organisers could do to fight that I suppose.
    (Can't see Ken Livingstone doing the same, I must admit)
  • WaboWabo ✭✭✭
    minks, fantastic!!!!
    possunt quia posse videntur - we can because we know we can 
  • Minks- great to see you back and great stuff on the restart

    Sportaloo - Yes, I plan 3 more v long runs. One 34 miles d&d, one 30 miler Sunday coming, another 30 on 29th Apr then the biggest at close to 40 on the 13/14th May. Sound OK? How are you these days?

    Rotterdam - So you've run 24 miles in 3:30 and have 2.2 to to go to get your 3:44 finish and the organisers close the course. Sorry, but there is no justification for that. They can still filter out those that are clearly struggling in the heat before they get to hospital cases. They knew it was going to be hot 3 days before and could have pre-planned.
  • SticklessStickless ✭✭✭
    woohoo Minks! On the trail again. I would second the try it and see policy, but be aware that it wasn't for nothing that "minks easy" became a technical term on this thread. Don't get carried away.

    DD - bravo. You speak the truth there, that bad patches will pass. Ice cream and coke definitely help, although with no one to feed me icecream, I made do with drinkable yoghurt.

    clink - again bravo!

    sorry to hear that surgery has not sorted DF's difficulties. Bummer.

    Me? Went to bed last night with the wind roaring in a tile snathcing tree snapping sort of way, thought, ok, brother, get it out of your system now. Only hitch, I woke up to the same sounds. Not good. It looks like delivering on the promise of 2 inches of rain too. My heart goes out to the runners. It is lightening up here a bit, but still looks pretty wild.

    Cancellation because of heat? Slow runners ending up in hozzie? I wonder. The medic on the Foulees de la Soie trip mentioned once that the plodders at the back rarely ran into trouble, but that he spent a considerable amount of time reviving the speedier lot, something that was borne out in my informal observations as to who was on a drip at the end of the race. (Both trips saw lead runners, in fact in both cases the best sprinters, on drips, and in one case forbidden to run again.) Maybe because us wussies at the back are more inclined to quit rather than run til we drop, or maybe I don't know what. In any case, I wonder whether it was the slower runners who were worse affected in the heat.

    Badly need a run. I was horrid stiff this morning just walking the geriatric spaniel.
  • SportalooSportaloo ✭✭✭
    Trini - Sounds good,but remember to take them very easy,time on your feet is all that matters. Most Comrades runners pick up a niggle or serious injury/illness during April or May,so take care. It must be extremely difficult doing those long runs by yourself,respect. I am okay,the past 7 months have been frustrating and expensive,but things are looking up. Comrades with my wife next year and Gobi is making sounds about coming out for Longtom again,so plenty of motivation.


  • Great to see minks and Sporta back
    :)
  • Afternoon all,

    SGQ: I'd put it down to the heat.

    BR: don't worry - I'm just following my normal pre-mara dietary regime.

    clink: great report - I felt like I was there. And a well deserved result.

    LizzyB: You're usual 200% effort then. Hope you get 3rd FV40.

    MikeS: Great team spirit putting club before calves.

    DD: Great report and a good result with a fall and the wheels coming off - looking good for comrades. I can't find your piccies.

    Minks: Great to hear you're back running again. Did you defer FLM to 2008 in the end?

    Sportaloo: Good to see you back too - are you still injured, or is it lack of fitness?


    I found out this morning I've put a time one minute faster than my target on my motivational crib sheets! Are the marathon gods trying to tell me something?


    What: 6m recovery. Seem to have picked up a knee niggle - perhaps the marathon gods are laughing at my presumption? Other than that just the usual feeling like a ball of lard and totally unfit.
    Why: Taper
    Last Hard: Wenesday
    Last Rest: 356 days

    Have a good one.





  • SticklessStickless ✭✭✭
    Been out for a short run, legs much happier now. It is getting better, the wind was not outrageous, as it had been earlier, dodging round fallen bits of tree, but not bad. I'll wander out later, as we are by mile 25 or so, no rush.

  • Pammie*Pammie* ✭✭✭
    Hiya

    DD - Well done on the 2 Oceans fantastic achievement one day maybe, no forget i said that. But stunning scenery i imagine

    Hippo sorry to hear about DF's problems i really wish him the best in finding a solution to his injury problems

    Minks good to see you again and certainly looks like the start of a good comeback.

    Spoerta - i was wondering how you were doing the other day. Hope you too can get yourself better


    What: 5km
    Why: just running
    Last Hard: Today
    Lyrics: I like this song

    After yesterdays brilliant run Pammie reurns to earth with a bump <thud>
    Guess i spent too much time gardening yestrday arfo. Just don't know when to stop.
  • PodroPodro ✭✭✭
    Read back - great reports from clink and LizzieB. Well run chaps.
    Welcome back to running and posting Minks.
    Off to get a new bike now.
    Pip pip
  • Sorry to hear about Rotterdam. I think I'd have been fuming too!

    Minks, glad to see you're back running again :o)

    I know the lyrics today, for the first time in about a century.

    Today ...

    What: Just tapering so far, and mucking out the Cavern. If you see me with a black bag and a purposeful expression, stay well out of reach.
    Why: Tapermania, a touch of sunstroke, and exploring the possibility of getting the Cavern into saleable condition and downsizing because at the moment it's swallowing all my income. But it's just at the thinking-aloud stage at the moment.
    Last hard: Saturday.
    Last rest: 11 days ago.

    Might go climbing with the wee-raptors later.
  • Hello there

    I'm back on after (a) illness Wed-Fri last week and (b) a blissed-out-in-the-sun playing with the kids internet is down weekend. Still have a head cold, however nothing on the chest, so:

    What: 6 miles done at lunch time
    Why: new start etc etc
    Last hard: ages
    Last rest: weekend
    Last lyrics: 7 days

    Crossing Tower Bridge Road this morning I noticed that all the crowd control barriers for FLM are out already. It's getting serious now. I wish I was running it.

    According to Accuweather, Sunday's forecast is plenty of cloud, 11 kph winds and a high of 17 C.
  • SportalooSportaloo ✭✭✭
    AF - I am still injured. Visited various specialists as well as a podiatrist. The stress fractures healed,but inflammation followed. Cortisone injections and more rest was ordered. I was pain free for the first time in 7 months,but the pain returned after running last week. I have lost all fitness and will be starting form scratch,but I have learned that any run is a good run.

    Thanks Pammie and Hippo,I will be posting more once I am back running.
  • Afternoon All.

    Enjoyed the Two Oceans report DD.

    4.03 for the marathon sounds about what i would be doing.

    Like AF I cant find your running pics though.

    Hopefully i'll be doing Comrades in 2008. Its the 'uphill' year I think.

    Today 3.5 miles into work with the reverse journey back again this afternoon.

    Good Runnings everyone.
  • Hey up Peeps,

    Greetings from sunny Croydon.

    Had a great weekend running in the New Forest, lovely weather, perhaps a bit hot towards the end of my long one on sunday.

    Nighmare about the Rotterdam Mara, I couldn't think of anything worse that getting within 2 miles of finishing after 4 months hard training, only to be told to walk! A few choice words I think would be said.

    Anyway, rest day today, which will be nice.

    What : Rest
    Why: I need it and P&D decree
    Last Hard: Sat
    Last Rest: when??

    Lyrics: Easy

    AF - ICE ICE ICE that knee! I would say rest, but I'm not sure you know the meaning of the word.... ;)

    Just a quick post today as want to get home to watch Boston (set the video you see)

    TRAVEL NEWS: if anyone lives in the area of Croydon - the flyover is closed and the trams are not stopping beyond East Croydon Station - the whole place has become one big car park, all roads stationary.

    Luckily I walk home....

    FIN
  • A long time since I posted as last week was hell due to work after a week away.

    A well done to DD for the weekend's efforts and glad to hear that nobody was ill/injured at Rotterdam.

    BR - really keeping my fingers crossed for you on Sunday.

    From my own experience of having run Rotterdam and watched Mary run there, I have always been extremely impressed about the organisation etc. Mary had major problems last year collapsing at the end and needing to go on a drip and she was handled perfectly. The lady who treated her did say that a few years ago in hot weather they had been mobbed. I guess if they arrive at the situation where the emergency services on hand are simply overrun and no longer able to deal with people collapsing left right and centre and one risks a number of deaths and the longer the run goes on the more chance there is that the situation exacerbates itself, then that is something that presumably is addressed by their contingency plans and however difficult it is, it is a call that they as professionals need to make. But agree, I would be spitting blood if stopped just short of the finish line!!

    Training wise, I still feel as though I am treading water at moment although at least got 50 miles in for last week. I still have though constant niggle/pain along adductor ad above knee and in groin. Am working on core stability and taking anti-inflamms but simply can not shift it and am fed up to back teeth.

    Last week was:

    Monday 12km in ca hour
    Tue 11.5 km in ca 55 mins
    Wed am phsyio - lunch 13km in just over an hour - felt better
    Thu - 12km in hour (not great - perhaps price for pushing a tiny bit on Wed)
    Fri am physio then 9 km in ca 40 mins
    Sat 12 km in under hour
    Sun 14.5 km in ca 68 mins

    Week total: 84 km


    Will try for basically same thing again this week i.e. an hour so relatively gentle not worrying too much about pace and/or pushing mileage up. Hoping by end of this week, will have finally shifted this mess which as now been going on for close to 6 weeks.

    Simon
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