With one thing and another, I haven’t been on here for ages (except for replying to Irish John’s post about marathon running which I happened across). Those of you who follow me on Strava will have seen that I’m still running.
One reason for my absence is that my knees have been playing up (although, I must admit that this doesn’t affect my ability to type!) They’ve been a bit sore for, maybe, six months now. Mainly when I’m walking or trying to exercise on one leg. I went to see a physio about the problem at the end of May. He advised that I should reduce my mileage to give them time to recover and gave me some exercises. Seems that I should have planned better recovery after my races! Anyhow, I cut back on mileage and did the main exercises but, after a couple of months, there was no improvement.
I recently went to see a different physio for a second opinion. He was very specific about it being the lower tendons connected to my knee caps. He’s given me some more targeted exercises. He also examined my running form and gave me some exercises to improve that (apparently, I’m not using my glutes, fixing that should ease the pressure on my knees). It definitely seems more promising.
A while back, the NSPCC phoned me about my Bath HM entry. I arranged with them to defer it until next year because I had the Newport Marathon the following week. They said that I needed to contact the race organisers as well to complete the transfer. However, before I contacted Bath HM, the organisers bounced Newport out to March of next year! I’m now waiting to hear from the NSPCC about running Bath this October (from what the physio said, it should be OK, besides, I did an impromptu HM last Sunday so I know I can do the distance, I just need to work on speed).
Other than that, the running club that I started is ticking over (although it’s very quiet with people being away over the summer). I’m aiming to keep things ticking over until September. To help move things forward, I’ve signed up for a Leadership in Running Fitness course. Had Covid over the first couple of weeks of July (I blame Rammstein for that). Still a bit fatigued but no serious issues. Still forefoot running (now up to 26k so I reckon I can add distance as I would normally without having to think about building forefoot specifically). Besides, it’s over six months until my next marathon.
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SkiMonday
Ultramarathon
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Thanks Cmoi. Hopefully, I’ll finally break through the two hour barrier! Although, thinking about it, this will only be the second time that I’ve run in a live HM event.
Hi SM, great to see you back posting on here. Shame Newport was moved to March - what is it with HMs chopping and changing their dates so much, even now? Hope you get to run Bath though. A HM is a mere trot round the park for the likes of you! 👊 🏃♂️
To be honest, with the knee issues and covid, I don’t think I’d have done well in a marathon this autumn so it’s probably a good thing for me that it’s moved. Someone suggested that it was moved because they weren’t getting enough entries. Don’t know if that’s the reason but I think that events are struggling to sell places.
Thanks for your vote of confidence, it does seem to be down to “how long” rather than “can I do it” these days.
Seems odd to me that, during the initial discussions on here about entering the Bath HM and meeting up afterwards, I was just going to the meetup because I couldn’t run. It’s been a long wait for this HM!
I’ve just been discharged by the physio with my painful knee. My running shoe guy was spot on. He said it was glute weakness, cited my recent bout of hip pain causing me to put my weight on my other leg, resulting in extra weight being put on my knee 🙄. The hip pain was caused by a hilly half 😤
It’s a game keeping ourselves in balance and niggle free 🙂
The physio gave me a resistance band, loads of homework and instructions to never stop moving 🙂
Good luck with your running plans. Have fun out there 👍🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃
Good to hear all is well, apart from a bit of pesky knee trouble. Loved the impromptu half marathon last week! Here's to many more ... with the odd full marathon thrown in to spice😍 things up
I really wasn’t sure what I was going to do when I set off. I was with a group who were planning to do a 7 mile run to a local gym. Their plan was to complete their distance on treadmills in the gym. I had some vague idea of sticking around for the first 5k to make up a 10k out and back. It seemed to be going OK so I re-planned on the hoof as it were and ended up doing an HM. Makes a nice change to head off with nothing definite in mind. It was a bit unfortunate that I was only equipped for a short run but it worked out fine.
Another vote for low drop shoes from me, but you'd expect that. I've had no joint problems other than the two times I pushed for a 5km in 30 minutes in my first year. The first was a sprained ankle, and the second a twisted knee. No joint problems at all in the last 18 months.
I'd even go as far to say that if increased heel drop in your shoes is making a huge difference, you may even be running with the wrong technique, and you're not landing on your forefoot. The heel should contact the ground fractionally after the rest of the foot. And I agree that this may cause the calves and muscles of the foot to work harder, but is that a bad thing? [Steps off soapbox.]
A physio consultation in May last year diagnosed tight (unused) glutes and hamstrings, causing me to compensate by overusing my adductors. Similarly I was given exercises to do which helped enormously.
The physio reckoned that my knee problems are due to failing to recover / ease back properly after my marathons. That said, it makes a lot of sense to me to use forefoot landing instead of relying on shoe cushioning to protect my knees. Apart from occasional calf muscle cramps during the night, my transition to forefoot has gone fine. I was prone to the cramping issues previously when I was building mileage but it’s easily avoided by maintaining my hydration. I’m now past HM distance running forefoot so I reckon my transition is pretty much complete.
I’m currently using Altras for the zero drop. The wide toe box seems to be good too.
I trust that you landed forefoot when you stepped off your soapbox?
How did your exercises to engage your glutes go? I can manage the forward lean from my ankles but, if I consciously try to engage my glutes it feels like I’m just statically tensing them instead of using them to run.
I don't try to consciously engage the glutes during a run, but use a dynamic squat stretch before the run to wake them up. On a longer run (over 90 minutes), I can definitely feel they've been used as they start to get a little sore.
Thanks for the shoe info. I’ve been using Altras for a few months now, they’re also zero drop. I’ve been using them along with transitioning to a forefoot landing to reduce the strain on my knees. Having built up slowly, my calves are fine with it but it hasn’t really helped my knees. Still, I’m confident that the new set of exercises will do the trick and I’m planning to carry on running forefoot.
My Newport Marathon entry has been moved to 16th April which is the same day as Manchester so that rules out Manchester next year for me. Looks like we’re all going to be training over the winter. Hope Dean and your training goes well.
I’ve got an old outdoor cast bath in my garden. I’ve repurposed it during recent hot weather for post-run cooling off. I think it’s going to be good therapy for tired legs
I was boiling in my run today, sweating cobs!🥵. The thought of a cold dunk afterwards kept me going. It already had water in it so not icy 🥶🙂. I managed a full body immersion today without much hesitation 😁
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Things are hotting up now, eek!
Moving up to 1/2 marathon 
HUHM race report and post-race follow up.
