All I have been able to think about this weekend is running. I practically read the "Daniel's Running Formula" over the weekend. There are alot of similarities between Lydiard and Daniels and there are also a lot differences. You can go to letsrun.com, and read the thread on this or get the books and read them. I learnt more about the Daniel's base building by reading his book than from the thread. I think that if I follow Daniel's Formula I will be able to run fairly close to my potential and prevent injuries.
I went to see a Podiatrist in London today. We discussed a number of issues:
- Overstriding, I am well on my way to correcting this with regards to controlling my cadence on easy/long runs.
- The Gel Empires, for me, are great for faster runs, but not the slower ones. They are too flexible and I require more stability. The shin splints are caused by over pronating on runs were I am heel striking. However, during races and tempo runs, he suggests, and I agree, that I am landing at the mid to fore foot. Therefore, the orthotics would not help. He does not yet want to put me into Orthotics.
- my calf muscles are much stronger than my shin muscles and I should work on strengthening those muscles. He gave me a number of exercises, they are different than what I have been doing and I think they will focus more on fixing the cause rather than just healing the injury.
- He pressed the anterial area of the shin, between the tibia and fibia? It stung like crazy. At first, I don't think that he thought it was a big deal. "There are a lot of fast runners that have the same problem." I don't think that I gave it enough time to heal. He suggested I see a massage therapist and get a "ralphing" massage. He had a huge smile on his face and said it will hurt! I have an appointment to get this done on Friday. It will take an hour! ouch.
- I will be off for 2 weeks, and then I will start with short runs, very short.
Even though the outcome of today's meeting is not what I expected, I feel much more confident that I have a plan in place to correct the causes. If this doesn't work, I am certain that I will get some orthotics.
Could I keep running with the shins in the current shape they are in? Probably. Would it come back to haunt me in 6 to 8 months when I really start running harder? Definitely!
Monday, June 05, 2006
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Slow and Steady
The training is starting to look better and better all the time now. This weeks running:
Sunday: South Huron Trail 9.22km in 51:40, 5:18/km( miles, 8:33/mi)
Monday: Grass 3.52km in 18:37, 5:17/km (2.19 miles, 8:30/mi)
Tuesday: Grass 3.35km in 18:31, 5:31/km (2.08 miles, 8:53/mi)
Wednesday: Grass 7.05km in 36:59, 5:14/km, (4.38 miles, 8:26/mi)
Thursday: off
Friday: Grass 4.34km in 21:41, 5:00/km (2.69 miles, 8:00/mi)
Saturday: South Huron Trail 9.73km in 49:43, 5:06/km (6.05 miles, 8:13/mi)
Total of 37.7km in 3:17:11,5:13/km (23.43 miles, 8:24/mi)
I ran with Ken today, and next week he racing in a 5000m track meet. He ran it in 16 something last year and he is hoping to improve on his time this year. I wish him the best. The Garmin is just not working very well on the trail anymore and it didn't really feel like we were going that fast. We were chatting up a storm too.
A really good week, man it feels good to be running again!
The shins are ok I will be going to speak to Robert on Monday. My biggest questions for him will be:
1) Can I correct the overstriding, if so then how? (Maybe he can tell me something I have not read yet.
2) Why is the inflammation in my shins caused by the overstriding mechanically? I want to know more details.
3) Show him the following graphs and see what he has to say.
I hope that I can keep this progress up and get to the state I was at in January without injury.
The following graphs shows my weekly mileage for the year. Ignore the first week, it is when I got the Garmin.
Next Weeks plan is to run on the grass, 2 days at 20 minutes, 1 at 50 minutes and then 2 at 20 minutes and then back here on the trail for an hour, if things go well on Monday.
Sunday: South Huron Trail 9.22km in 51:40, 5:18/km( miles, 8:33/mi)
Monday: Grass 3.52km in 18:37, 5:17/km (2.19 miles, 8:30/mi)
Tuesday: Grass 3.35km in 18:31, 5:31/km (2.08 miles, 8:53/mi)
Wednesday: Grass 7.05km in 36:59, 5:14/km, (4.38 miles, 8:26/mi)
Thursday: off
Friday: Grass 4.34km in 21:41, 5:00/km (2.69 miles, 8:00/mi)
Saturday: South Huron Trail 9.73km in 49:43, 5:06/km (6.05 miles, 8:13/mi)
Total of 37.7km in 3:17:11,5:13/km (23.43 miles, 8:24/mi)
I ran with Ken today, and next week he racing in a 5000m track meet. He ran it in 16 something last year and he is hoping to improve on his time this year. I wish him the best. The Garmin is just not working very well on the trail anymore and it didn't really feel like we were going that fast. We were chatting up a storm too.
A really good week, man it feels good to be running again!
The shins are ok I will be going to speak to Robert on Monday. My biggest questions for him will be:
1) Can I correct the overstriding, if so then how? (Maybe he can tell me something I have not read yet.
2) Why is the inflammation in my shins caused by the overstriding mechanically? I want to know more details.
3) Show him the following graphs and see what he has to say.
I hope that I can keep this progress up and get to the state I was at in January without injury.
The following graphs shows my weekly mileage for the year. Ignore the first week, it is when I got the Garmin.
Next Weeks plan is to run on the grass, 2 days at 20 minutes, 1 at 50 minutes and then 2 at 20 minutes and then back here on the trail for an hour, if things go well on Monday.
Monday, May 29, 2006
Knock On Wood
It seems like things are finally coming together. Saturday I ran a short 3.24km on grass in 17:08. Sunday I ran the trail with a heart rate monitor and the garmin. The garmin was not working very well in the tree covered areas, so I think that the distance is a little off. It measured 9.22km in 51:40. The full loop when measured in the early spring was about 6.8 to 7km, When I use the sportTracks mapping tool to figure out the loop as per yesterdays readings, I get 6.48. That is a whole 0.5 km off. So if I add this in the total is 9.72km in 51:40. This would make my pace at 5:15, fairly close to the target I set out for yesterday. This shins are feeling good.
The heart rate monitor gave me an average of 159 beats/min. I really don't know what my max is. Using 220 minus my age is probably not that accurate (188). If I use that then I was running at 85%, but it was warm out and humid, about 26ºC, which elevatess the heart higher and should be taken into consideration as well. I am sure that my max is higher than this, I had it the low 190's last year. When I start doing track work, I'll measure it.
This weeks plan:
Monday: 15 minutes on grass
Tuesday: 15 minutes on grass
Wednesday: 45 minutes on grass
Thursday: 15 minutes on grass
Friday: 15 minutes on grass
The heart rate monitor gave me an average of 159 beats/min. I really don't know what my max is. Using 220 minus my age is probably not that accurate (188). If I use that then I was running at 85%, but it was warm out and humid, about 26ºC, which elevatess the heart higher and should be taken into consideration as well. I am sure that my max is higher than this, I had it the low 190's last year. When I start doing track work, I'll measure it.
This weeks plan:
Monday: 15 minutes on grass
Tuesday: 15 minutes on grass
Wednesday: 45 minutes on grass
Thursday: 15 minutes on grass
Friday: 15 minutes on grass
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Friday, May 26, 2006
Grass Man
I have been running around the soccer fields all week, except Sunday. It is a little boring, but not as much as the pool. The pavement feels really hard after running 4k on grass. On Wednesday, I thought that it was making the shins worse, but I stuck with it. I can still feel a little pull at the front of the shins when I start to run, but it disappears in about 5 to 10 minutes. There was no inflammation after the runs today and yesterday, but I still iced them immediately after stretching. I always stretch after my runs.
Here is the breakdown of my running so far this week.
Sunday: 5.18 km with my wife, slow
Monday: 4.24km in 21:32 (5:04/km, 8:10/mile)
Tuesday: 4.26km in 22:56 (5:23/km, 8:40/mile)
Wednesday: 3.56km in 18:29 (5:11/km, 8:21/mile)
Thursday: 3.58km in 19:01 (5:18/km, 8:32/mile)
Friday: 5.2km in 25:34 (4:54/km, 7:54/mile)
I'll do a short run tomorrow on the grass, but I am not sure about Sunday. I would like to go for a run on the local trail. The full loop is about 7km and it is about 1 km from my house. That would make about 9km in total. I think that if I run no faster than 5:20/km, or about 48 to 50 minutes, I should be OK.
Here is the breakdown of my running so far this week.
Sunday: 5.18 km with my wife, slow
Monday: 4.24km in 21:32 (5:04/km, 8:10/mile)
Tuesday: 4.26km in 22:56 (5:23/km, 8:40/mile)
Wednesday: 3.56km in 18:29 (5:11/km, 8:21/mile)
Thursday: 3.58km in 19:01 (5:18/km, 8:32/mile)
Friday: 5.2km in 25:34 (4:54/km, 7:54/mile)
I'll do a short run tomorrow on the grass, but I am not sure about Sunday. I would like to go for a run on the local trail. The full loop is about 7km and it is about 1 km from my house. That would make about 9km in total. I think that if I run no faster than 5:20/km, or about 48 to 50 minutes, I should be OK.
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Re-read Injuries In Running To the Top
I had some time to re-read a few pages in Arthur Lydiards book running to the top. The first section I went to was the injury section. It's amazing how things can seem so much clearer the second time I read things, especially after a period of time has passed since the last time I read it. In that section I learnt or was reminded of the following ways to recover from the injury:
- must use ice,
- if you want to run, stay on the flats, on grass
- no running down hills, walk if you come to one
- physio can help
- need flexible ankles
- shin splints can be troublesome for such a long period,
He also talks about the reasons why shins splints occur; one is the shoes being too stiff I already talked about earlier, and the second being tight calfs and I also noted that earlier.
Then I turned to the "how to start running". Here I thought, that because I have been running for awhile and my times are ok, I know a few things about running. Well when I re-read the basics as noted by Arthur I am reminded that it is a continuous learning process. Here are the reasons why:
Arthur writes to start by doing 5 minutes out and back. I started with a race a couple years ago and even now I started with a minimum of 5k, approach 12.5 minutes out and back maybe this was too much (at a faster pace than my first race too). I noticed that Eric was starting out at much shorter distance to see if the injury had subsided.
Try running every day, at about 15 minutes. I ran every other day.
Once you can run every day at 15 minutes, then bump it up to 30 minutes one day and then 2 days of 15, again I started at about 25.
Do you think that this section is just for beginners? Ah, not really because then he talks about my favorite part: getting sore muscles. I think that I can also use this for a recovery from an injury. He says to get out an jog every day to get the blood flowing through the area of the pain. If you stop and wait for the pain to go away, then you'll have to begin again and work through the pain, you'll have gained nothing. Here is how I use this for my own problem. I run for some good amount of time every other day. Lately I have only been doing my ankle exercises. I was biking and swimming, and one could argue that, that got my blood pumping through the area. I'll try to ignore that part, because I thought I was on to something here. What I want to do is: try light slow running every day, about 40 minutes one day and then jogging for 2 days at 15 to 20 minutes. See how that goes.
Last weeks workouts went surprisingly well:
- Monday, 4.27km in 15:15 at 5:54 pace (2.65 miles at 9:30)
- Tuesday, off
- Wednesday, 7.34km in 40:20 at 5:29 pace (4.56 miles at 8:50)
- Thusrday, off
- Friday, 7.97 in 39:30 at 4:57 pace (4.95 miles at 7:58)
You know looking at the miles paces, it seems more obvious how much faster the Friday run was. Maybe that is why the shins flared up just a touch only on that day. I have a hard time keeping my speed down. It felt like a bloody darn jog!
Today I will run 40 minutes with the kids and my wife. I'll make a plan to stick with them, instead of taking off and running faster. Monday and Tuesday I will try running 15 minutes, then 40 minutes on Wednesday and 15, Thursday and Friday.
- must use ice,
- if you want to run, stay on the flats, on grass
- no running down hills, walk if you come to one
- physio can help
- need flexible ankles
- shin splints can be troublesome for such a long period,
He also talks about the reasons why shins splints occur; one is the shoes being too stiff I already talked about earlier, and the second being tight calfs and I also noted that earlier.
Then I turned to the "how to start running". Here I thought, that because I have been running for awhile and my times are ok, I know a few things about running. Well when I re-read the basics as noted by Arthur I am reminded that it is a continuous learning process. Here are the reasons why:
Arthur writes to start by doing 5 minutes out and back. I started with a race a couple years ago and even now I started with a minimum of 5k, approach 12.5 minutes out and back maybe this was too much (at a faster pace than my first race too). I noticed that Eric was starting out at much shorter distance to see if the injury had subsided.
Try running every day, at about 15 minutes. I ran every other day.
Once you can run every day at 15 minutes, then bump it up to 30 minutes one day and then 2 days of 15, again I started at about 25.
Do you think that this section is just for beginners? Ah, not really because then he talks about my favorite part: getting sore muscles. I think that I can also use this for a recovery from an injury. He says to get out an jog every day to get the blood flowing through the area of the pain. If you stop and wait for the pain to go away, then you'll have to begin again and work through the pain, you'll have gained nothing. Here is how I use this for my own problem. I run for some good amount of time every other day. Lately I have only been doing my ankle exercises. I was biking and swimming, and one could argue that, that got my blood pumping through the area. I'll try to ignore that part, because I thought I was on to something here. What I want to do is: try light slow running every day, about 40 minutes one day and then jogging for 2 days at 15 to 20 minutes. See how that goes.
Last weeks workouts went surprisingly well:
- Monday, 4.27km in 15:15 at 5:54 pace (2.65 miles at 9:30)
- Tuesday, off
- Wednesday, 7.34km in 40:20 at 5:29 pace (4.56 miles at 8:50)
- Thusrday, off
- Friday, 7.97 in 39:30 at 4:57 pace (4.95 miles at 7:58)
You know looking at the miles paces, it seems more obvious how much faster the Friday run was. Maybe that is why the shins flared up just a touch only on that day. I have a hard time keeping my speed down. It felt like a bloody darn jog!
Today I will run 40 minutes with the kids and my wife. I'll make a plan to stick with them, instead of taking off and running faster. Monday and Tuesday I will try running 15 minutes, then 40 minutes on Wednesday and 15, Thursday and Friday.
Monday, May 15, 2006
Will it ever Heal?
I thought that things were going fairly well this week, but now I am not so sure. Every time I ran this week the shins would flare up a little and after 48 hours they would be fine again. They really seemed to flare up on Saturday when I ran a little harder, I would say about 1/2 effort. Maybe I shouldn't be running hard days just yet. I took Monday and Friday completely off from everything. I also ran Tuesday and Thursday and did some pool running again on Wednesday. When I start the run, I feel a little pull at the shins, but it goes away after about 10 minutes of running. I guess that this is when they are finally warmed up. I made an appointment to speak to the podiatrist I have been seeing in London again. Robert's official title is D.O. (MP).,D.Pod.M. Osteopath. Hugh, pretty cool. But I can't get in to see him until June 5th at 5:00PM. In the meantime I will keep trying to add to my distances at a slow pace.
The plan for this week:
Monday: Short easy run, 25 minutes or so ( already done, 4.27km at 25:15)
Tuesday: Easy Bike, to and from work
Wednesday: Easy Long run, 45 minutes
Thursday: Pool Running, 40 minutes
Friday: Easy Run, 30 minutes
Saturday: Easy, 20 minutes, if the shins feel ok
Last weeks training:
Tuesday: 6.11km at 29:45 (4:52 pace)
Wednesday: Pool Running
Thursday: 8.16km at 41:19 (5:03 pace)
Saturday: 6.07km at 30:19 (avg 4:58 pace, with a 5.08k at 22:40 or 4:27 pace)
I have been putting on a few pounds too, I am now up to 160. Gotta stay away from the sweets. 3 months ago I was around 152 to 154.
The plan for this week:
Monday: Short easy run, 25 minutes or so ( already done, 4.27km at 25:15)
Tuesday: Easy Bike, to and from work
Wednesday: Easy Long run, 45 minutes
Thursday: Pool Running, 40 minutes
Friday: Easy Run, 30 minutes
Saturday: Easy, 20 minutes, if the shins feel ok
Last weeks training:
Tuesday: 6.11km at 29:45 (4:52 pace)
Wednesday: Pool Running
Thursday: 8.16km at 41:19 (5:03 pace)
Saturday: 6.07km at 30:19 (avg 4:58 pace, with a 5.08k at 22:40 or 4:27 pace)
I have been putting on a few pounds too, I am now up to 160. Gotta stay away from the sweets. 3 months ago I was around 152 to 154.
Monday, May 08, 2006
Threads Of Life
Yesterday I ran/jogged a 5k on wards island with my youngest boy, Brandon, who is 4 years old. We started off at the back of the pack to catch up to his older brother (Jared) and the sister of a dear friend of mine that was killed in an accident at work. After we passed them, I tried to keep Brandon motivated and got him to run a bit more. He said he was getting tired, he was running to fast and I told to slow down and take it easy. He did, for a bit and then said he was getting tired again. It must of been about a kilometer that he ran by himself. I then put him on my shoulders and jogged until he wanted down. I asked him if he was going to run. He said no, so told him to stay on my shoulders. The next time he asked, he said he would run. This was probably around 2km. He ran for a bit and then wanted to walk. I asked him to run until the next bench on the boardwalk. He did and then I put him back on my shoulders. We had passed a number of people even some other joggers and I didn't want them to catch up. Pretty sad, to be that competitive. We did this, running with him on my shoulders for a bit and then putting him down and getting him to run all the way back to the finish line. I don't think it took us any longer than 30 minutes. He is one fast little runner. I checked his shins to see if they were inflamed, I just couldn't resist. They were not.
My best friend was killed, when a limousine that he was working on, without stands under the axles fell off the car jack and on to him. It is a really shitty thing that happened, but for the last 2 years we have gone to this event to grieve his death. To find out more about the threads of life you can go to www.threadsoflife.ca.
My best friend was killed, when a limousine that he was working on, without stands under the axles fell off the car jack and on to him. It is a really shitty thing that happened, but for the last 2 years we have gone to this event to grieve his death. To find out more about the threads of life you can go to www.threadsoflife.ca.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Rediscovering the Library
In the last post I said I wanted to do some more research on orthotics. Searching on the internet is a fairly decent start, but it is just not as good as going to the library and picking up a good book. Even a library within a town of 5000 people has a few books on the foot. The book that I am currently reading is called the "Foot Doctor". It is mostly about orthotics. He goes on and talks about a lot of the problems in bio-mechanics that the foot can have. I had trouble truly understanding a lot of details that the podiatrist, doctor, and physio therapist have discussed with me. It probably would have been better for me to have read this book a few months ago.
Here are a few of the relevant things that I picked up:
Here is my plan for the next 2 weeks:
Here are a few of the relevant things that I picked up:
- periostitis - inflammation of the lining of the bone, caused by the lining pulling away from the bone, which I had thought was of the muscle
- gate cycle has 2 parts; stance and swing,
- the stance part (foot in contact with the ground) has 3 parts; heel-strike, mid-stance, propulsion
- in first and last part there is a normal amount of pronation and supination (±4%), the mid-stance should be neutral
- pronation is when parts of the foots, mostly the subtalar (1 of 3 bones that make up the rear foot) rollsinwardss
- supination is when parts of the foot, mostly the midtarsal, rolls outwards
- 25% of the bones in your body are located in the foot, so pronation and supination can be a little more complicated than what I have mentioned above
- a computerized gait analyses may help in truly answering the question of my foot being "flat" while weight bearing as well as the amount of pronation and supination
- using heat on the shins may increase the blood flow to the problem areas and help with the recovery, by "superinflamingg", a type of physio therapy that worked well on my injured neck a while ago, icing afterwards is a good idea
- mis-alignment of the metatarsils, namely the balls of the feet, can cause over pronation or supination, which the podiatrist in London determined, that my metatarisl of my big toe is lower than the other 4, making contact to the ground first, which is why I wear the Asics Gel Empires, with the dynamic forefoot cradle.
- A good podiatrist can determine a persons gait by watching them walk in bare feet on a flat surface, which is what the podiatrist in London had me do
- So many other problems exist that I don't seem to have can cause problems (i.e. there are more good things about my mechanics than bad)
- Orthotics can not heal the wounds, but properly fitted ones may prevent an injury from reoccurring
Here is my plan for the next 2 weeks:
- try to get in to see Robert Taylor in London and talk about the overstriding and possibly getting orthotics again
- continue reading about the foot
- orthotics will not fix everything, but may still yet help, a computerized gait analysess may really help me choose them
- let my shins heal, and take it each day, each week and each month at a time
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Pool Running to Relax the Calfs?
On Tuesday, I did some pool running. I warmed up for 5 minutes and then did 1/2 lap fast and hard and the other 1/2 easy. I continued this for about 20 minutes. I felt somewhat tired or wore out so I just did some steady running for the remainder of the 45 minutes. When I was getting dressed I remembered to stretch. As I started to stretch my calfs, wow, were they ever relaxed. This is very unusual, these things are normally very tight.
Today was my last physio appointment. There are no signs of sore shins. One of the tests my therapist performs every time I see her is to lift my toes up, this time they went up far and easily. She looked quite surprised. I think that the pool running helped. Now I will continue to try and go it on my own, as she suggested, I did not request it. I will continue the strengthening, stretching, massaging and x-training, while I SLOWLY increase my mileage.
One of the things that I am puzzled about is the orthotics issue. A podiatrist that I see in London and a Sport Medicine doctor that I have been seeing in Toronto both indicate that orthotics are generally more necessary for people with flat feet. What they do not agree on is the type my foot is. The one says it is a medium to high arch and the other says it is low. I have heard from so many sources that orthotics are really necessary for people with flat feet. My foot is by no means flat when there is no weight bearing on it. When I stand on it, the arch does flatten, but does it flatten enough to call it flat footed? I think I need to do some research on this issue over the next 2 weeks and determine for myself if this will help reduce the chance of injury as well as the overstriding. I do not want to fork out $450 for something that is not going to help or maybe worse, cause more problems, because it modifies something that is incorrectly diagnosed.
Today I ran with some people from the local running store. My Garmin says we ran 6.4km and 2 others said 7.3 to 7.4km. Strange. The time was about 47:19. Very slow, but good, because again, there is no inflammation in the shins. It's funny how the tape was suppose to help prevent the shins from flaring up, and now without it, they really don't. Even though I feel like I am not going too fast at or just below 5:00/km pace before, it's becoming very obvious that it was, right now at this stage. Tomorrow I will stick to the plan and do some pool running.
Today was my last physio appointment. There are no signs of sore shins. One of the tests my therapist performs every time I see her is to lift my toes up, this time they went up far and easily. She looked quite surprised. I think that the pool running helped. Now I will continue to try and go it on my own, as she suggested, I did not request it. I will continue the strengthening, stretching, massaging and x-training, while I SLOWLY increase my mileage.
One of the things that I am puzzled about is the orthotics issue. A podiatrist that I see in London and a Sport Medicine doctor that I have been seeing in Toronto both indicate that orthotics are generally more necessary for people with flat feet. What they do not agree on is the type my foot is. The one says it is a medium to high arch and the other says it is low. I have heard from so many sources that orthotics are really necessary for people with flat feet. My foot is by no means flat when there is no weight bearing on it. When I stand on it, the arch does flatten, but does it flatten enough to call it flat footed? I think I need to do some research on this issue over the next 2 weeks and determine for myself if this will help reduce the chance of injury as well as the overstriding. I do not want to fork out $450 for something that is not going to help or maybe worse, cause more problems, because it modifies something that is incorrectly diagnosed.
Today I ran with some people from the local running store. My Garmin says we ran 6.4km and 2 others said 7.3 to 7.4km. Strange. The time was about 47:19. Very slow, but good, because again, there is no inflammation in the shins. It's funny how the tape was suppose to help prevent the shins from flaring up, and now without it, they really don't. Even though I feel like I am not going too fast at or just below 5:00/km pace before, it's becoming very obvious that it was, right now at this stage. Tomorrow I will stick to the plan and do some pool running.
Monday, May 01, 2006
A Good Run
Today was a good run. There was no inflammation in the shins afterwards. I ran exactly 5km at 28:06, (5:37/km) much slower than I like, but that is the point of it right now, right? Another good thing, I ran without taping up the shins.
Saturday: 45 minutes, elliptical
Sunday: 1:15 elliptical
Plan for the week:
Tuesday: Pool running, 45 with hard 2 minutes, easy 2 minutes after 5 minutes warm up
Wedensday: Running, 5k
Thursday: Pool Running, steady 30 minutes
Friday: Jog, or off
Saturday: Elliptical 1:20 minutes
Sunday: 5k on Toronto Island
Saturday: 45 minutes, elliptical
Sunday: 1:15 elliptical
Plan for the week:
Tuesday: Pool running, 45 with hard 2 minutes, easy 2 minutes after 5 minutes warm up
Wedensday: Running, 5k
Thursday: Pool Running, steady 30 minutes
Friday: Jog, or off
Saturday: Elliptical 1:20 minutes
Sunday: 5k on Toronto Island
Saturday, April 29, 2006
One Long Week
Work has been crazy lately. It requires much time than I care to spare.
Here is what I did for the week.
Monday: Ran 5k: 27:39 real easy
Monday PM: Bike 10k 26 minutes.
Tuesday: Bike AM/PM 20k, 53 minutes
Wednesday: Run 4.3k, 22 minutes
Thursday: Pool Running 30 minutes
Friday: Off
When I run, there is no pains or strains in the shins. On Wednesday after the run, I massaged the shins. This is a deep massage. There is some tightness and soreness along the bone when pressure is applied. I think that this is to be expected. I don't think that this is something that should keep me from running. However, my therapist suggested I wait until Monday to run. Either way, not running yesterday, will not really cause any harm or good. I just worked late.
I continue to do my usual strength exercises as noted in previous posts. The one good thing I think I got out of this week is the pool running. It was not as boring as I thought it would be. The pool had these float belts that can be strapped around the waist, at least that is were I think it was suppose to stay, it rose up to my chest. I stood in the pool and then tried simulating the running motions. At first I was trying to move the legs fast, but I felt that this was not working the areas that need it. With pool running, you can choose the position of your body relative to your head. Lean a little more forward, lean a little back or pull your legs up higher at the rear. When doing this you can choose to work other parts that you may not work as much while running on the ground. I think that my gluts are somewhat weak, and if I concentrate on using those muscles to move my legs they may get stronger and reduce the amount of effort needed by the hamstring. One thing is for sure, pool running does feel like it will help more than biking.
Today and tomorrow will be elliptical days with some running on Monday. I am going to try it without the tape.
3 more weeks until the rebuild, really begins. I look forward to running outside more.
Here is what I did for the week.
Monday: Ran 5k: 27:39 real easy
Monday PM: Bike 10k 26 minutes.
Tuesday: Bike AM/PM 20k, 53 minutes
Wednesday: Run 4.3k, 22 minutes
Thursday: Pool Running 30 minutes
Friday: Off
When I run, there is no pains or strains in the shins. On Wednesday after the run, I massaged the shins. This is a deep massage. There is some tightness and soreness along the bone when pressure is applied. I think that this is to be expected. I don't think that this is something that should keep me from running. However, my therapist suggested I wait until Monday to run. Either way, not running yesterday, will not really cause any harm or good. I just worked late.
I continue to do my usual strength exercises as noted in previous posts. The one good thing I think I got out of this week is the pool running. It was not as boring as I thought it would be. The pool had these float belts that can be strapped around the waist, at least that is were I think it was suppose to stay, it rose up to my chest. I stood in the pool and then tried simulating the running motions. At first I was trying to move the legs fast, but I felt that this was not working the areas that need it. With pool running, you can choose the position of your body relative to your head. Lean a little more forward, lean a little back or pull your legs up higher at the rear. When doing this you can choose to work other parts that you may not work as much while running on the ground. I think that my gluts are somewhat weak, and if I concentrate on using those muscles to move my legs they may get stronger and reduce the amount of effort needed by the hamstring. One thing is for sure, pool running does feel like it will help more than biking.
Today and tomorrow will be elliptical days with some running on Monday. I am going to try it without the tape.
3 more weeks until the rebuild, really begins. I look forward to running outside more.
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Keeping Positive
Yesterday, I was thinking that I would never be able to run without the shins flaring up. Then, this morning I finally updated my exercise log. It is a spreadsheet were I keep track of my time, distance, pace, type of workout and comments. I also keep track of events that I wanted to enter this year. Most of those have been deleted. I have not updated this for about a month. I was surprised to see how much I have actually run. It shows that I have only been off my feet without running for 10 days straight. I must say that this isn't really that bad, even though I have not been running over 5.5k. I have been running a small amount for the past 4 weeks, as you can see from the graph below. It is suppose to take 8 to 10 weeks for the damaged tissues to heal. I think that it would be good idea for me to give it some more time. It appears that running 3 times a week at no more than 5k at one time is not causing any problems. This morning there was no tenderness along the shin bone while massaging it.
The following graph shows my time in minutes and distance in kilometers per week for this year.
The plan for this week:
Elliptical, 70 minutes
5k run, 25
Bike, 50
5k run, 25
Pool Running, 45
5k run, 25
Elliptical, 50
Yes, I am going to try running in a pool. Yesterday, I read that you can turn pool running into more than just going for a certain amount time. I will try and simulate a "Tempo" run next week. This week I will just try a steady rung and see how it goes.
Friday I ran 5k in about 26 minutes.
Yesterday, I made the elliptical training a little fun. I warmed up for 20 minutes and then went fast for 1.5 minutes, then slow for 1.5 minutes repeated 6 times. I guess you could call it an "elliptical fartleck".
The following graph shows my time in minutes and distance in kilometers per week for this year.
The plan for this week:
Elliptical, 70 minutes
5k run, 25
Bike, 50
5k run, 25
Pool Running, 45
5k run, 25
Elliptical, 50
Yes, I am going to try running in a pool. Yesterday, I read that you can turn pool running into more than just going for a certain amount time. I will try and simulate a "Tempo" run next week. This week I will just try a steady rung and see how it goes.
Friday I ran 5k in about 26 minutes.
Yesterday, I made the elliptical training a little fun. I warmed up for 20 minutes and then went fast for 1.5 minutes, then slow for 1.5 minutes repeated 6 times. I guess you could call it an "elliptical fartleck".
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Bike More to beat the Gas Prices
I drove to work yesterday with half of my bike hanging out of the trunk of my car. I followed the same route that I would normally take with my bike. It took me about 35 minutes. On my bike it normally takes about 26 or 27 minutes. I rode the bike back to the house last night and I really enjoy it with this nice weather.
This morning I ran about 4.5km at 5:18/km pace with the shins tapped up. It was nice and relaxed, but I can tell that my conditioning is coming down, it's not as easy to run 5k. There was no pain in the shins during or after. The right one is a little tighter than I expect, but OK.
I also rode my bike into work this morning and will ride the bike back to the house this evening.
The shins were a little sore at Physio though... Take another 2 days off of running and see how they feel. Just gotta keep it easy and do the strengthening exercises. I might look into doing some pool running.
This morning I ran about 4.5km at 5:18/km pace with the shins tapped up. It was nice and relaxed, but I can tell that my conditioning is coming down, it's not as easy to run 5k. There was no pain in the shins during or after. The right one is a little tighter than I expect, but OK.
I also rode my bike into work this morning and will ride the bike back to the house this evening.
The shins were a little sore at Physio though... Take another 2 days off of running and see how they feel. Just gotta keep it easy and do the strengthening exercises. I might look into doing some pool running.
Monday, April 17, 2006
Fun with Kids
When someone has an injury, they should probably take extra precautions to handle it with care. I did 2 things this weekend that may not have been so good for my shins. I first was asked to "race" by my niece in the back yard. I did a small, very small warm up. I ran around the back yard, hoping that she would follow. Then my nephew got into the "race". He is about 11 years old. I thought that I would control my speed enough to just kind of nudge him on, but oh no I had to give myself a burst of speed, because it was fun. That was on Saturday, and I think that I started to feel a little bit of inflammation then.
Yesterday, I ran another 5.4km, in about 25 minutes. I tapped up and did not feel any inflammation after that. However, later in the day I got on the trampelene with my boys and they wanted me to jump as high as I can. I was definitely using my ankles in a springing like motion, thinking this will be a good strengthening exercise. The shins are definitely inflamed from this. This is so frustrating!
Yesterday, I ran another 5.4km, in about 25 minutes. I tapped up and did not feel any inflammation after that. However, later in the day I got on the trampelene with my boys and they wanted me to jump as high as I can. I was definitely using my ankles in a springing like motion, thinking this will be a good strengthening exercise. The shins are definitely inflamed from this. This is so frustrating!
Friday, April 14, 2006
Not A good Start
It looks like the 2 months of reducing my mileage and finding that my shins were still getting sore, and going for 2 to 3 weeks of physio therapy and the shins are healed. I ran on Wednesday, 5.1 k in about 26 minutes. This felt great. The shins were tapped up to prevent any re-occurring injury. Later on through the day my hamstring go sore and was still sore Yesterday. It was sore when walking in my worn out shoes (at the heel) that I wear for work. If I walked in my bare feet and it felt about 10 times better. What the $%^&!
It could be the change in my stride. I reduced my stride length and increased the rate (from 170 to 180/minute). I would have thought that a longer stride length would have increased the risk of hurting the hamstring, but it appears to be the speed for me. I am hoping that it is just not used to it. Work has still been keeping me very busy!
As far as my diet is concerned, I never even read one more page out of the book. However, I did buy some milk, more vegetables and trail mix. It is difficult to find seeds that sell without shells that you have to spit out.
I think I should list my Physio treatment exercises:
Happy Easter.
Training since last entry has been pretty crappy: 20 minutes on eliptical on Monday and 20 minutes of running on Wednesday.
It could be the change in my stride. I reduced my stride length and increased the rate (from 170 to 180/minute). I would have thought that a longer stride length would have increased the risk of hurting the hamstring, but it appears to be the speed for me. I am hoping that it is just not used to it. Work has still been keeping me very busy!
As far as my diet is concerned, I never even read one more page out of the book. However, I did buy some milk, more vegetables and trail mix. It is difficult to find seeds that sell without shells that you have to spit out.
I think I should list my Physio treatment exercises:
- 4 foot movements using theraband for resistance (down and in with a curl, down and out, up in/out)
- butt raises with the legs strapped so that the knees goes over the feet (work the gluts)
- balance with one leg on the trampelene and move the foot from the rear around the outside to front and then back through to the starting position and repeat
- another glut exercise while lying on your side, raise the leg behind you and kind of up from the floor, keeping your hip forward, trying to use ur glut and not the hamstring
- calf raises with a twist, stand on a step and quickly move up and then slowly (10sec) move down until the heel is below the step
- working the abductors, stand in front of a step, move your leg straight back, then pull the leg forward and turn your leg at the inner thigh and tap the edge of the step. You can bend your knee before the tap.
- wall squat, using a big ball against the wall and a small ball between the knees, start standing straight up, then roll down into the squatting position, hold for 10 seconds and then straighten
Happy Easter.
Training since last entry has been pretty crappy: 20 minutes on eliptical on Monday and 20 minutes of running on Wednesday.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Nutrition - Daily intake ?
My legs feel great even after 1 1/2 hours on the eliptical trainer with the shins taped up. I really miss just going out in any weather and just running.
I am reading the Performance Nutrition by Matt Fitzgerald. What's interesting is that it starts off with many parts being similar to what Lydiard is describing in his book. This ranges from Vitamins and there effects on the body to how base nutrients do not exist in foods that are produced for high profit. I wonder if my dietary intake has been supplied with too much grains and carbs and not enough fruits and vegetables. I'll have to start a daily log of what I am eating and analyze it. My normal routine is:
breakfast; yogurt with bran cereal, orange juice, toast with honey, coffee and a banana,
Snack: Apple, bagel and/or nuts, or pretzels
Lunch; leftovers from the night before with a fresh salad (lettuce tomato, carrot, onion, green pepper, croutons, dried cranberries)
Snack; what ever I can find at work, more of the same as the other snack and sometimes I sneak in another coffee or a hot chocolate, or a tea with honey,
Dinner: Ranges from stir fry to spaghetti with sauce and sometimes meat, during the weekend my wife does the cooking and she prepares a large variety of foods. (She is a great cook to)
Another piece of toast or 2 with honey when I get to where I sleep
Let's tally this up:
Meats: 1 or 2,
vegetables: aprox. 4
Fruit: 2 or 3
beans, nuts, seeds: 1 or 4 depending on meals and how many handful of nuts I take
Dairy: 1 or 2
Whole Grains: 4 to 8 depending on the meals.
Doesn't seem too far off. I can see that I should increase the dairy intake by having a couple of glasses of milk. (Ken has already told me this a few times) Add a vegetable or 2 and a couple more fruits and maybe get some seeds. It actually sounds delicious.
Tomorrow I plan to do about 20 minutes on the eliptical without the shins taped up.
I am reading the Performance Nutrition by Matt Fitzgerald. What's interesting is that it starts off with many parts being similar to what Lydiard is describing in his book. This ranges from Vitamins and there effects on the body to how base nutrients do not exist in foods that are produced for high profit. I wonder if my dietary intake has been supplied with too much grains and carbs and not enough fruits and vegetables. I'll have to start a daily log of what I am eating and analyze it. My normal routine is:
breakfast; yogurt with bran cereal, orange juice, toast with honey, coffee and a banana,
Snack: Apple, bagel and/or nuts, or pretzels
Lunch; leftovers from the night before with a fresh salad (lettuce tomato, carrot, onion, green pepper, croutons, dried cranberries)
Snack; what ever I can find at work, more of the same as the other snack and sometimes I sneak in another coffee or a hot chocolate, or a tea with honey,
Dinner: Ranges from stir fry to spaghetti with sauce and sometimes meat, during the weekend my wife does the cooking and she prepares a large variety of foods. (She is a great cook to)
Another piece of toast or 2 with honey when I get to where I sleep
Let's tally this up:
Meats: 1 or 2,
vegetables: aprox. 4
Fruit: 2 or 3
beans, nuts, seeds: 1 or 4 depending on meals and how many handful of nuts I take
Dairy: 1 or 2
Whole Grains: 4 to 8 depending on the meals.
Doesn't seem too far off. I can see that I should increase the dairy intake by having a couple of glasses of milk. (Ken has already told me this a few times) Add a vegetable or 2 and a couple more fruits and maybe get some seeds. It actually sounds delicious.
Tomorrow I plan to do about 20 minutes on the eliptical without the shins taped up.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Doctor, Massage, Physio, Very busy
Monday was a busy day. I took the day off work to get some things done at home, like clean my car, which was neglected for the past 2 years. I also had a doctor's appointment. This was interesting. My Doctor was a runner that also got injured and stopped because of it. He gave me his insight. One of the things he said was that many of the people that continue to run into there later stages of life can do so because they do not get injured. He said their bio-mechanics are naturally perfect for this. He also told me that there are other sports that can be done. Then he remembered how nice the sport of running can be. I can tell he loves it and really wishes he could run. The question I ask myself now is; do I want to be very competitive or run for the long term? For some reason I can't ever picture myself not running when I'm in my old age.
I also had another session of massage therapy on Monday. The calves were still tight, but after the massage they feel much better.
Tuesday I go to work fairly late and had to go to physio therapy as well. I forgot to mention that I have also been getting ultrasound treatments as well. I also was given a couple more exercises to try. One of them was balancing on one foot on a trampelene and rotating the other one from the back around the outside stretching somewhat in front of you and then back. Try it 10 times while keeping your knee over your 2nd toe. Fun.
Wednesday was a 13 hour day at work, with the regular routine of exercises in the morning, massage and ice at night and in the morning.
Thursday was another day of physio therapy. This time I was surprised. While the therapist was pressing hard on my shins she asked do feel any tenderness when I do this. I didn't say anything right away I wanted to make sure, I couldn't feel any pain. So I said no. She said OK, you can try 5k on the weekend, very light taped up. I couldn't believe it. So soon! YES!
Friday was another long day at work.
Wednesday to Friday I biked every were. about 70km in total. (The garmin sure is handy)
Today I ran for about 1/2 an hour with my wife and the kids. The kids were on their bikes. The pace was no faster than 5k/minute. So far there is no heat or tenderness in the shin area. One funny thing; there is a very small hill and my youngest had trouble getting up the hill. We kept on going, thinking that he would catch up, but he got mad and threw his bike down, he said that he thought he would never catch us. I think he really got mad because he thought he would be able to beat us. He seems very competitive, already. We don't push this but he must picking it up from somewhere. :-)
Tomorrow, I'll get on the eliptical for 1 1/2 hours.
I also had another session of massage therapy on Monday. The calves were still tight, but after the massage they feel much better.
Tuesday I go to work fairly late and had to go to physio therapy as well. I forgot to mention that I have also been getting ultrasound treatments as well. I also was given a couple more exercises to try. One of them was balancing on one foot on a trampelene and rotating the other one from the back around the outside stretching somewhat in front of you and then back. Try it 10 times while keeping your knee over your 2nd toe. Fun.
Wednesday was a 13 hour day at work, with the regular routine of exercises in the morning, massage and ice at night and in the morning.
Thursday was another day of physio therapy. This time I was surprised. While the therapist was pressing hard on my shins she asked do feel any tenderness when I do this. I didn't say anything right away I wanted to make sure, I couldn't feel any pain. So I said no. She said OK, you can try 5k on the weekend, very light taped up. I couldn't believe it. So soon! YES!
Friday was another long day at work.
Wednesday to Friday I biked every were. about 70km in total. (The garmin sure is handy)
Today I ran for about 1/2 an hour with my wife and the kids. The kids were on their bikes. The pace was no faster than 5k/minute. So far there is no heat or tenderness in the shin area. One funny thing; there is a very small hill and my youngest had trouble getting up the hill. We kept on going, thinking that he would catch up, but he got mad and threw his bike down, he said that he thought he would never catch us. I think he really got mad because he thought he would be able to beat us. He seems very competitive, already. We don't push this but he must picking it up from somewhere. :-)
Tomorrow, I'll get on the eliptical for 1 1/2 hours.
Monday, April 03, 2006
Lot's of Reading
I am almost done reading the book. It's been difficult to put it down and spend time doing the things that need to get done around the house. Page 105 is the most interesting for me because it describes the first phase in a way that is somewhat different then what I remember from the summary outline that is linked to Mike's web page. I am treating this first phase as a great learning experience so that when I try it again. I will know when to back off.
The best results come when you train to a comfortably tired state, knowing as you finish that the training could have been harder. Keep always in mind that you never run too slowly but you can run too fast.
Many of my first long Sunday runs were with Ken. He is a much faster runner than I am. We would run an out and back on a country gravel road together and he would slowly pick up and pull away from me. I knew that he was faster and that I should not be even trying. I know that I kind of did try, and maybe did not pay enough attention to my own pace. I thought wow I'm not too far behind. By the end of the run, there was no way I could have tried harder. It was only when I started to get sore did I start to slow down on my longer runs.
The other thing that Lydiard states is that "The in-between days are used for runs up to 60 minutes over varying terrain to strengthen the legs and condition generally or for rest. If the legs start to get unduly tired, you must ignore the schedule and lighten the training for a few days until your legs have recovered and you can run again with reasonable comfort.
Sometimes my legs would feel so bad that I thought a good picked up pace would loosen them up. Not so, it undoubtedly made it worse.
I can't wait to get these shins healed and try new knowledge and understanding.
Yesterday's training: More eliptical training 50 minutes,
The calves need to be stretched and massaged, they are feeling a little tight. I wanted to do 90 minutes but backed off because the calves were so tight.
The best results come when you train to a comfortably tired state, knowing as you finish that the training could have been harder. Keep always in mind that you never run too slowly but you can run too fast.
Many of my first long Sunday runs were with Ken. He is a much faster runner than I am. We would run an out and back on a country gravel road together and he would slowly pick up and pull away from me. I knew that he was faster and that I should not be even trying. I know that I kind of did try, and maybe did not pay enough attention to my own pace. I thought wow I'm not too far behind. By the end of the run, there was no way I could have tried harder. It was only when I started to get sore did I start to slow down on my longer runs.
The other thing that Lydiard states is that "The in-between days are used for runs up to 60 minutes over varying terrain to strengthen the legs and condition generally or for rest. If the legs start to get unduly tired, you must ignore the schedule and lighten the training for a few days until your legs have recovered and you can run again with reasonable comfort.
Sometimes my legs would feel so bad that I thought a good picked up pace would loosen them up. Not so, it undoubtedly made it worse.
I can't wait to get these shins healed and try new knowledge and understanding.
Yesterday's training: More eliptical training 50 minutes,
The calves need to be stretched and massaged, they are feeling a little tight. I wanted to do 90 minutes but backed off because the calves were so tight.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Another day another dollar
I followed the regular routine of stretch, massage, leg/foot exercises and icing, then went into to work this morning for a few hours. This is not a normal thing for me on a Saturday, but it was needed. After work I drove for a couple hours to get home to my family.
I finally purchased the book; Running to the top by Arthur Lydiard. So far after reading a few pages, I like his style. The first part I noticed as I flipped through the book is the injury section and especially shin splints. Some of the causes he points out:
- stiff shoes at the heel,
- heel striker,
- tight ankle and calf muscles,
One of the things he suggested is to NOT run fast down the hills, walk or take them slow. First calf raises are suppose to help build the strength and flexibility. I was doing this and found that it would tighten up the calf muscles though. Also Hill bounding or springing will help build the muscles to prevent this injury from happening.
I found that the shins could easily get inflamed after doing the springing routine, even without the fast downhill running. However, I can say that they weren't really heeled so I should not have been doing them anyways.
Are Asics Gel Empires too Stiff? I would think that the Gel and the big chunks on the heal would make them soft like and full of padding.
I know that ALL my muscles got really stiff when doing the conditioning phase. I think I started out going too fast and progressed too much in mileage and this caused my muscles to get stiff. (I have to say though the legs have really formed up nicely) The heel striking thing would line up with the "overstriding" theory as well. It was probably a combination of all of these things that led to my shins getting really sore or I just wasn't healed yet from last season when I started my first conditioning phase. I can't wait to try it all again after getting healed.
I got on the elliptical trainer for 60 minutes around the 85 to 92 rev. / minute, with no tension.
Had supper and took the kids out to fly some kites. What a blast. The youngest was worried a plane was going to hit it. He thought it was too high.
I finally purchased the book; Running to the top by Arthur Lydiard. So far after reading a few pages, I like his style. The first part I noticed as I flipped through the book is the injury section and especially shin splints. Some of the causes he points out:
- stiff shoes at the heel,
- heel striker,
- tight ankle and calf muscles,
One of the things he suggested is to NOT run fast down the hills, walk or take them slow. First calf raises are suppose to help build the strength and flexibility. I was doing this and found that it would tighten up the calf muscles though. Also Hill bounding or springing will help build the muscles to prevent this injury from happening.
I found that the shins could easily get inflamed after doing the springing routine, even without the fast downhill running. However, I can say that they weren't really heeled so I should not have been doing them anyways.
Are Asics Gel Empires too Stiff? I would think that the Gel and the big chunks on the heal would make them soft like and full of padding.
I know that ALL my muscles got really stiff when doing the conditioning phase. I think I started out going too fast and progressed too much in mileage and this caused my muscles to get stiff. (I have to say though the legs have really formed up nicely) The heel striking thing would line up with the "overstriding" theory as well. It was probably a combination of all of these things that led to my shins getting really sore or I just wasn't healed yet from last season when I started my first conditioning phase. I can't wait to try it all again after getting healed.
I got on the elliptical trainer for 60 minutes around the 85 to 92 rev. / minute, with no tension.
Had supper and took the kids out to fly some kites. What a blast. The youngest was worried a plane was going to hit it. He thought it was too high.
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