Nearly at 10 miles

[mattaitch]

Hi All

I've been off-grid for a few weeks, on holiday in Pembrokeshire (see picture from a 3 hour/11 mile run/hike around St David;s Head) then back into the maelstrom of work with no time to blog.

Anyhow I have had some fantastic runs and over the last 2 weekends I have managed and 8 and a 9 mile run! I'm not leaving burning tracks like a DeLorean time machine, but I am managing to keep a steady pace around the 11 min/mile mark.

I'm doing 2 or 3 runs in the week, a fast (for me) 3-ish miles, then a leisurely 4-5 miles followed by a long run at the weekend.

My 9 mile run was another river run, this time from Radcot to Buscot. Bobble came with me as the route is fenced off from any animals so is dog-friendly.

When I set out at 9:14 on Sunday it was still frosty and the River Thames had mists rolling along it. We had the path and river to ourselves for 2 miles until we passed a few hardy fishermen. I managed to not get lost and before long reached Buscot weir, having done 4 miles in 44 minutes . At this point there was a cow-field to cross so I turned back. The sun was out on my return journey and things were now slippier underfoot due to the ground defrosting and I had a few Bambi moments luckily only observed by the dog.

At around 7 miles I started to feel tired, but kept up the pace for mile 8 and as approached Radcot bridge I ran an extra lap around a field to try and hit 9 miles, but I ran out of path and so had to put the dog on the lead and wait for ~30 seconds to cross the road and carry on running. Literally 50 yards beyond the bridge I hit 9 miles and carried on back to the car to do 9.12 miles in 1h:43m.

After a brief sit down and a flask of coffee I was back on my feet and went home for second breakfast.

You'd think that I would have been knackered, but running does strange things to me and after finishing my toast I went out, cleaned the chickens out and chopped up wood for the log burner. Then later that afternoon I was the one chivvying everyone else to go out for a walk. After which I was in the mood for baking and so spent 4 hours in the kitchen, I swear that I have been kidnapped by aliens. I never understood what people meant by exercise giving you more energy, but I do now....

Come Monday I was a little achy, but in a satisfying way, and this morning I was still a little "clicky" in the knee department so I decided to take another day off. So tomorrow I'm going to do a speedy run, then a nice jog on Friday and I'm already planning my Sunday route, I'm thinking the Thames Path again, but this time from Radcot to Chimney and back which should get me to 10 miles.

[Mitts Graduate]

Hey, good to hear from you again and what fantastic runs in amazing country, I'm green with envy And ten miles is just fanastic... but try to avoid the Bambi bits, you don't want to do yourself an injury.

Speaking of which I'm still at war with my Chondromalacia, wasn't this what you had - any exercise tips?? I'm icing, quads and cross-trainering like I'm told but it's being a wee bit tedious

Please do post about your first 10 miler. That's a real achievement, how amazing that someone who graduated with me can now do 10 miles. Just proves what a great programme this is. (And how well you've gone on with it, too ) I'll be happy to get back to my 5K, no real ambitions beyond that but I can't wait.

Love to Bobble

[mattaitch Graduate in reply to Mitts]

Thanks - I loved being able to run the coastal path (even though it was no more than a steep strip of mud for much of its route) and I get a buzz from driving past places and thinking I ran there, or I'm going to run there and back!

Indeed, I had terrible knees for a month or two, and it was really a case of resisting the urge to run for 3 or 4 weeks at a stretch whilst doing the knee strengthening exercises (see couchto5k.healthunlocked.co... and a lot of cycling and swimming. I don't think there are any short-cuts to getting better, but I know from bitter experience that there are definitely short-cuts to going back to square one if you don't allow enough time to get better.

I think the hardest thing was to acknowledge when my knee wasn't ready to run and not pushing it. As it was I was still getting pain when I graduated and it was 3 weeks later before I had a pain-free run. Even now I'm aware of my knees, hence having an extra day off. I hope they are OK for tomorrow, but I know I've got to be grown up if they are still tender in the morning and take another day off.

When I started running again, thinking about form and where and how my a foot falls helps. One of the post-grad podcast talks about light footfalls and I try to aim for that. It's hard to capture the sensation, but "light effortless running" is the phrase Laura uses and to me it is almost a "skipping" sensation.. If I push too far and get tired I can feel myself plodding and jarring my knee so I have a rule that if my pace drops for a lap (eg: over 11 mile/min for a short run over 12 mile/min for a long run) then the next lap is my last.

How long have you been suffering?

[Mitts Graduate in reply to mattaitch]

I would so love to run by the ocean. Our lake is lovely but it's not the same. Maybe next summer when I'm back in sunny Scotland for a while

Thanks for the exercises and the youtube link, some great stuff there too. My ex's are similar but without the rotation bit which I'll build in. I've had it about 4-5 weeks now but ignored it at first which didn't help and then when I joined a gym for the cross-trainer machine I tried the weight training machines and that didn't help either, I'm my own worst enemy but I just want it better.

I'll continue with the ice and ex's and cross trainer, today it's almost painfree but I've promised myself now no running till December at the earliest. The cross-trainer is quite a good alternative in the meantime. Onwards and upwards.

And at least I don't have to out in the cold and the fog... and people-watching at the gym is highly entertaining... and the woods will still be there when I get back out

[Kayrowe Graduate]

Wow!!! I recently graduated the C25K program and even though I now know anything is possible 10 miles seems like a physics and chemistry test combined with some add math (darn near impossible). What a great achievement and you must be very proud. Thanks for posting.