Tag Archives: injury

Abingdon Marathon 2012

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Despite a snotty nose and an increasingly worrying dose of plantar faciitis in my left foot, for now subdued with a layer of ibuprofen gel, it was with a sense of confidence that I cycled to Tilsley Park for the start of the Abingdon Marathon. My revised target of 4:15 seemed very doable, the taper had left me feeling quite energised and the conditions, still, grey but not too misty, cool but not cold, were great.

A bit early this time due to my failure to get lost on the way, Peter turned up 20 minutes before the start on his Brompton to support then, just as we were called to the start, Maria appeared in VRUK vest and trademark green tutu. Onto the race track, 5 minutes milling about, then we were off – me strategically positioned near the back this being a chip to chip timed race.

A couple of miles of main road part closed just for us then we turned into Thrupp Lane where I was asked the ‘what do you eat?’ question by a vaguely familiar older runner with a moustache and an American accent. I’m never ready for this one so answered ‘a lot of beans’ which is at least better than ‘vegan junk food’ which I believe I came out with last time. My companion turned out to be a long term veggie, he gave up meat at Thanksgiving when he was 16, long enough ago for it to be a hippie thing. This was his 89th marathon and he was considering going vegan before his 100th. I mentioned the Northants Ultra and he said he ran that and was last hence the familiarity. Soon enough 5 miles had gone somewhere.

A shout of ‘come on vegans – you must be Nik’ turned out to be from faster VRUK runner Simon’s supporting partner. Maria’s other half, John, was stationed with the boom box on the cycleway after Sutton Courtney. Shortly after halfway a shout from following cyclists ‘keep to the right, the leaders are coming through’. Sure enough a Woodstock vest flew past like he was running a 5k then a couple of minutes later an Abingdon Ambler who I rightly guessed to be Paul Fernandez who would go on to win in 2:32.

Keeping my pace between 9 and 9:30 miles and necking an energy gel every 40 minutes or so all seemed fine and I was enjoying myself and confident at mile 16 as we ran towards Drayton for the second time. I don’t really know what went wrong, I remember pushing a little as my pace snuck below 9:30 on the slight incline. By mile 18 my left knee was hurting, I walked 30 paces to ease it which gave relief but didn’t fix it. So there I was yet again watching my plan dissolve as the whole world ran past. Walk a bit, jog a bit, lean against a telegraph pole to stretch it, 2 more ibuprofen, sit on a bench and give it a rub, walk 30 paces then jog for a few minutes. Soon enough I was near the back of the field struggling on in the cheerful but disappointed company of the slow and the lame. There seemed little point in continuing but also little choice but to do so. At least mind and soul seemed intact, it was just the blooming body that couldn’t cope.

Back into Abingdon by the Thames and lots of Abingdon parkrun folk marshalling around mile 23 so I put on a smile, have a joke, and keep running till I get round the corner by which time my sore knee seems to be spreading to surrounding muscle. Still, almost there and 4:30 seems possible. Through the underpass then walking up the exit ramp Maria catches me up and tells me we are going to run to the finish together. Maybe the ibuprofen had started to cut in, I manage almost half a mile before my knee cries ‘stop’ and I walk for 30 paces then catch Maria back up.

This is actually quite fun and lots of support what with 2 Vegan Runners vests together and it’s Maria’s local club organising so they all know her anyway. I can tell Maria’s really pushing herself so I get with the plan and only give into my knee once more and soon enough we are in the park where a huge puddle results in wet feet and then onto the race track where even the last 200m seems too far to go. Just before the finish Maria zooms off like a rocket and I cross the line a couple of seconds after her. 4 hr 30 min and 10 sec 643rd of 732.

Coffee, biscuit and a relax then Peter and I cycle back to Oxford together in our VC&AC tops, very slowly. The combination of fixed gear and my now cramping, but less painful, left leg offering some brief but excruciating moments of discomfort.

The next morning, ibuprofen and alcohol having mostly worn off, the knee itself is fine but the surrounding muscle, particularly the lat above, is very sore. My PF hasn’t really made itself felt yet but I expect it’ll be moaning by tomorrow. My right leg, the wonky one with the broken lump of metal in, doesn’t hurt at all and I suspect, not for the first time, that a lot of my problems are down to my lopsided gait and favouring the right at the expense of the left.

I’m a bit disappointed in the result though glad I finished. Part of me is tempted to enter another marathon soon, maybe an ultra, to treat Abingdon as a training run, something to be built on. I felt this after the MK Marathon hence entering the Northants Ultra shortly afterwards – I seem to be cursed with a ‘can I try that again and get it right this time’ outlook rather than the more sensible ‘never again’. I shall resist such inclinations though and give my body a chance to recover properly. No more races over 10k for the rest of the year and no more running until at least Thursday, maybe longer, is the plan. Maybe I’ll just have to stop running altogether for a bit to let the PF improve, I’ll see how it goes. I’m looking forward to some time out on the bike instead. My running distance target for 2012 was 1200 miles and I passed this somewhere around Drayton yesterday so at least that’s done.

 

Ridgeway Run 2012

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This was my 3rd time at the Ridgeway Run and once the mist cleared it was obvious we were in for a treat of a run on a beautiful sunny day without even the wind that made itself felt during last years edition. I met Peter and Simon at the start, about a kilometre walk from the HQ where we were to finish. I’d promised myself I’d take it nice and easy, targeting 1:35, so as to spare my sore foot and there’s not many starts as easy as this – I didn’t hear any countdown or bang – we just started shuffling, then walking, then eventually jogging along narrow Marshcroft Lane.

Peter left us behind soon enough and somewhere during the second mile I realised I was running much too fast and let Simon go ahead. Much of the first 3 miles are uphill and what with kissing gates and some huge puddles to get round we suffered minor congestion leading to a brief walk several times on the ascent. I passed Simon then he must have passed me as I snuck behind a tree for a leak. I caught him again at the water station near the Bridgewater Monument at the top of the main climb.

A couple of miles along a wide track through the woods then a sharp descent down a bit on gnarly single-track. Soon enough we were on the Ridgeway which takes the form of a partly sunken track through chalk grassland at this point. Then up and over the two lumps on Pitstone Hill and into the long final descent through woodland avoiding walkers and trying not to trip over roots and steps.

The last mile and a bit was mostly tarmac which I know peeves some runners but for me was a chance to expend a bit of the energy I’d been hanging onto and get myself to a comfortable 1:30:45 finish 378th of 559 and only 30 seconds slower than last year.

I decided to give the long queue for the technical shirt a miss as I have too many running shirts as it is. I grabbed a bottle of water though and went to see Simon finish. Peter appeared from somewhere having finished 5 minutes before me and we posed for a photo. Peter and I then went into Tring proper to visit the vegetarian, mostly organic, Anusia Cafe where we refuelled on vegan soup and cake.

Two days later, the ibuprofen having long worn off, my plantar faciitis appears to have got a bit worse. Maybe running up that hill wasn’t so good an idea after all but it was fun. I’d run the Oxford parkrun the day before, not fast at 26:22 but not exactly a rest day either. I’m hoping that a few days of nothing but the easiest of taper running will allow it to recover enough to survive the Abingdon Marathon on Sunday – after that I think it’ll be time for a bit of a rest, nothing more than 10ks for the rest of the year, and I’ve already dusted the bike off to get a few miles in the saddle instead.

Bristol Half 2012

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What with my last 2 half marathons starting too fast and ending too slow; nagging plantar faciitis in my left foot and failing to manage my hoped for 9 minute mile marathon place for the duration of a flat 15 mile training run I have had to lower my sights a bit. So the revised plan is to go for 4 hour 10 minutes at Abingdon Marathon, that’s 9:30 pace, and Bristol Half would be an exercise in consistency rather than speed with me trying to stay under 9 minute miles for a 1:55 finish. Fortunately I’m not the driven, ambitious sort so it was with a sense of optimistic relief that I found myself driving down to Bristol on a dull but dry morning.

The usual getting lost and confused on the way too and at the start resolved into me finding Vegan Runners Lisa, Andrew and Daniel in Millennium Square with Helena and Jasmijn there to support. This was my first really big event, apparently expecting 14,000 runners, which meant various different wave starts. I was in blue start same as Daniel and he did a fine job of getting us to where we belonged. We then hung about for a good 20 minutes before the expected shuffle, walk then run towards the start timing mat and we were on our way, Daniel soon leaving me behind on his way to a 1:46 finish.

Soon enough we were running up the Portway, a wide stretch of road along the Avon Gorge that we had to ourselves. We passed under the Clifton Suspension Bridge continuing to run about 3 miles along here. We cheered the two racing wheelchairs shortly followed by the bunch of 4 Kenyan men leading the race as they came  back past us on the other side of the road. I spotted Andrew coming the other way, a good ten minutes in front of me. Then my turn for the U-turn, an encouraging reminder that there were thousands behind me, I spotted Vegan Runners Lisa, Claire and Paula coming the other way.

A lot of people had passed me during the first few miles but I had put 1:45 down as my original finish time estimate all those months back and I was aware that I might have started in the wrong wave altogether. Feeling fine though and by half way those around me were at a compatible pace and a few were already starting to flag and drop back. Daniel had warned me that just as you think you’ve finished the ‘goes on forever’ Portway you cross over the Avon then find another long stretch to be patient with.

I swallowed the energy gel I was carrying just before a water point about mile 9, they turned out to be handing out free gels so I’d soon replaced it with a freebie. The last few miles seemed pretty convoluted and I was tiring a bit, I could feel my foot starting to complain despite the ibuprofen I’d taken an hour before the start. There were a couple of short inclines, reviving support and music round Castle Park, a cobbled bit (well setts really I suppose) that weren’t nice to run on. Several times we were running with a flow of runners coming the opposite direction as we seemed to meander all over this bit of Bristol.

Well after the 12 mile marker, when it should be almost over, a stream of runners flow the opposite way and I’m dismayed to think the course can be that far over distance to allow us to back track all the way along there. The penny drops, I’ve already done that bit, those guys are all behind me. I pass 13 miles on my Garmin and realise I need to push now if I want my 1:55 so I manage to speed up a bit, even so a Honey Monster tears past us at an alarming rate dropping about 30 runners on the finish straight.

The Garmin reads 1:54:48 later to be confirmed by the chip times. I’m 4,512th out of what I believe to be 9,975 finishers. I’m pleased it’s gone to plan for a change and reckon I could have been just a little bit quicker as I’m not totally knackered.

After the race I meet-up with Andrew, Jasmijn, Daniel and Helena and we go to the Cafe Kino where I refuel on a fine vegan all day breakfast before the long drive home.

Cafe Kino after the Bristol Half 2012

The official photos are very pricey so instead I buy one of the special offer personalised race videos available on-line and have a play at editing it.

 

Burnham Beeches Half 2012

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Well to start my report from the other end suffice to say I was crap!

The plan was to do my utmost to get under 1:50, I thought my course best was 1:47ish so this seemed realistic if challenging. No beer the night before. Lots of water to pre-hydrate. Feeling reasonably strong running Thursday and Friday. A couple of ibuprofen so the nagging but not (yet) painful plantar fasciitis which has been lurking in my left foot for a couple of weeks didn’t get the chance to worry me. Restful Saturday taking photos at the Oxford parkrun rather than running. Feeling good when I prepared on Sunday morning. A pleasant drive out to Farnham Common with Black Sabbath belting out. Good omens all-round! (Though my hand was all itchy and swollen where some monster insect had had a go while I lurked in the long grass at the parkrun.)

It was already hot as we walked over from the parking to the start at Caldicott School. I picked up my number and chip, had a gel and found some water to wash it down. I said hello to George from Headington Road Runners and told him some wrong information about the course, getting the descents muddled with the Marlow Half I think. I found Alex from VRUK and we chatted then just time for a warm-up jog to the start. I found a sign saying ‘1:55 or under line-up in front of this sign’ or some such and stood next to it.

A minute to go and I looked around to realise there were lots more people behind me than in front and the sign was not really in the right place. Only maybe a quarter of the field in front of me – oh well, take it easy and accept a few hundred are going to pass. Then we’re off – pleased to see the timing seems to be chip to chip rather than gun to chip as I thought I remembered from previous editions.

Up the steep bank then out the gate and soon enough we are running down pleasantly shady lanes. I’m comfortably on 8:15 minute mile pace the first 3 miles where I see Peter at the side of the road with his camera and give a thumbs up. I down some water at the first of 4 stations as it’s feeling hot even in the shade. Bit odd that the mile markers are all placed well before where my Garmin thinks they should be. Still going fine at mile 5 but then the road goes up and I start to struggle, more up and my pace drops to 9:30. Ok this is point I was expecting where I must call on my increasingly well hidden will power and just run faster. Nothing hurts, I’m not gasping for air – just get on with it. More uphill and I’m feeling a bit faint and my stomach is threatening to puke. Alright so I’ll just have to ease off and try for average sub 9 minute miles – after all it is by now really hot and also a lot hillier than I remember.

From that point on I’ve lost it, I called on my will power and it ran off and hid again. I’m well pissed-off. Walking the hills. Only just managing to to talk myself into not giving up as we pass the start on this 2 lap course. Others are struggling as well but my too far forward start means hundreds pass me. I walk a good way, maybe 5 minutes, and feel my body cool a bit and strength return but it’s too late. It doesn’t help that now the mile markers are now coming a fair distance after my Garmin clocks the mile. Around mile 10 a chap with a hose gives us a soaking and a check of my watch suggests a sub 2 hour is still possible. I tell this to a walker as I jog past and we run together urging each other on but mile 12 is another hill and another walk. I skip the mile 12 water station just to grab every second but I’ve not even entered the finish field when the 2 hour passes.

Down the grassy slope, round the endless field, over a false finish timing mat (I think it’s just the start mat still in place) a bit further then I’m there. 2:02:04 429/710. Like I say pretty crap and the worse time I’ve done on this course despite it being hot previous years as well.

I see George heading for the finish as I swig down my second bottle of water, he doesn’t look at his best. I spot Peter and Alex who had been waiting for me but somehow missed me. Peter takes a photo and I’m pleased to be running in VRUK kit as there doesn’t seem to be any other VC&ACs. I look a sorry sight!

So the post mortem (aka excuses). Checking back my course pb is actually 1:49 not 1:47 so 1:50 was a bit ambitious. Alex is noticeably faster than me but she took 1:52 so no way was I going to finish 2 minutes in front of her. I’d set my target when the weather was cooler, it hit 30 degrees that morning – way too hot and I should have altered my plans before I even started, I’m sure I’d have managed a sub-2 hour if I’d gone off at 9 minute miles instead of nearer 8. I should have ignored the wrongly placed sign and started halfway down the field as I usually do, it really doesn’t help to know you’re going to be passed by hundreds before the race has really even started. Position wise I notice there were only 710 finishers of over 900 pre-entered plus entries on the line – I wonder how many dropped out?

Maybe most importantly I need to realise that overcoming the ‘central governor’ is not just about will power, I need to keep training to specific target times and speeds so my mind and body have the confidence to do what’s asked – I can’t just expect to bully myself to run faster. I suppose a plus point is that 36 hours later and there is no sign that my PF is any worse, if anything it’s improving.

Fell Off Me Bike

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An interesting start to the ramp-up in my training plan saw me coming off my bike on the way to work ten days ago resulting in a bashed knee and elbow. At first the main problem was preventing the bloody knee sticking to my trousers, it’s a mild January but hardly shorts weather. After a few days the slight swelling and bruising around the kneecap started bugging me.

I tried to run the day after but turned round after 10 strides realising it was not a good idea, my kneecap felt like it was afloat and seemed to wobble alarmingly and painfully every bounce. The following day I managed a very, very slow 3 miles rather than the 5 I had planned then Saturday I decided not to run the parkrun in the hope I would be ok for my scheduled 10 mile trail run on the Sunday.

Oxford parkrun often needs a photographer so I turned up with my camera and as it happened they were short of volunteers so I ended up doing registration as well as taking some photos for the Oxford parkrun Fickr group page, it’s nice to be part of it even when not running. Sunday I managed my 10 miler, over Shotover to Wheatley, up by the Windmill, and back via Horsepath and Shotover. I was relieved I managed it as I really don’t want set backs in the plan this early.

My race diary for early 2012 goes something like: Wokingham Half in February; MK Half and Banbury Run 15 in March then Compton 20 and MK Marathon in April. I’d really like to go sub 4 hour at Milton Keynes but I’ll make the target decision nearer the time.

The couple of days after my Shotover 10 miles the knee felt rather achy. The skin had scabbed over OK at last but it was uncomfy to bend and seemed to ache particularly at night costing me sleep. Tuesdays run was slow and no fun, Thursday though I ran fine and was back up to speed and felt great – Friday I was slow and achy again paying for Thursdays exuberance.

At least it's stopped leaking.

I had a 12 mile flat run planned for Sunday (today) so sacrificed the parkrun again though went and took some more photos. 12 miles seemed daunting, it’d be the furthest for a couple of months. The knee kept up a gentle moan most of Saturday in an attempt to dent my confidence. I told my self that if I could run 10 hilly miles the week before then I could run 12 faster but flatter miles today.

Breakfast of big bowl of muesli with banana and kiwi fruit 2 hours before I set off. A good 2 hour mix on the iPod, a couple of ibuprofen to prevent swelling. I wrapped up well for the 2 degrees C outside and off I went. Round the cycle-track to Marston, seeing sparrowhawk zip out of the hedgerow and dart over the bypass narrowly missing a lorry. Along the Marston Road towards town where I had a fit of ‘only 4 miles and I’m struggling already’.

Over Magdalen Bridge and through town dodging the students and tourists, not too crowded on this chilly morning. Along the Abingdon Road where I was feeling good, passing the 8 mile mark I felt much happier than at 4 miles. I planned to average 9 minute miling overall but was managing to keep each individual mile sub-9 so tried to keep this up. Round the ring-road, gently climbing up to Rose Hill. Enough left in the legs to make the last mile the fastest. All in all a good run though no doubt my knee will moan again tomorrow.

A runner crossing the Millenium Bridge, just in time for the parkrun.