Running Low - Knowing when to let your body recover

You know that feeling. You've come back from a lovely run and your throat feels a bit scratchy. You think nothing of it so you have a good nights sleep and then in the morning your eyes feel sore, your throat feels sore and you feel generally run down and rough.

Is it a mild cold virus? Is it the beginning of an infection? Is it the change between cold air and heated air in your house? Or is it your body trying to slow you down a bit? Maybe it's your mood - depression/anxiety/anger can affect your health too.

I've been feeling super strong over the last few training runs and then the weekend of cancellations due to weather happened. I was ready for the Oakley 20. I knew I could beat that 4 hour time limit. But the race had been cancelled due to freezing temperatures and snow that would endanger people if they were to travel. All this energy.  All this organising. I was bouncing of the walls with energy. So when the local club - Leighton Fun Runners - organised a Leighton 20 I quickly joined in the frenzy to get out there and run.

Then the cold decided to remind me of an old injury. My left ankle and calf muscle didn't feel right on the warm up jog to the club house. Then whilst waiting for everyone to meet up for the run my ankle and calf started feeling okay again. Hmmm. Just a niggle I thought. Then we all set of for the 20 mile run around Leighton Buzzard.  I got to 1.5 miles and my ankle and calf were screaming with pain.  I stopped to wrap up the calf to keep it warm to see if that would help.  It did but not enough.  It started to tighten which was even more painful.  Dang it dang it dang it!!! 

I had a choice.  Run through the pain and get the muscle warm enough to function.  This would feel stupidly painful for a while and after the run the muscle would need a lot of care and attention to heal.  Or call it a day and walk home now when I’m not far from home.  The possibility of injury to the muscle will be much lower and recovery much quicker. 

What did I do?  I walked home grumbling and ranting at how weak I am and it’s only a little cold and I’ve been able to run in worse and so on.  Completely negative for the whole 1 mile walk home.  Yes I had managed to damage a muscle on the outside of my calf somehow.  Hot and cold therapy with a compression sock helped the muscle heal very quickly.  My mood however was low and by Monday morning I felt rough.  I’m still convinced it’s not a cold or infection it’s my general bad mood that’s affecting my health. 

So how do you improve your mood?  Good question isn’t it.  Sigh.  I found my mood improving by plotting and planning my next few training runs and events.  It’s helped, not much but it’s better than nothing.  I’ve also kept on running.  I’ve been out for my daily 1 mile run to my son’s school and I’ve not felt worse doing so. 

Whats next?  Delepre Abbey – last year it was 10k, this year it’s a half marathon.  I wonder if I’ll be doing the marathon in 2014?

2013 18 mile Marathon Training Run

Was it going to rain?  Was it going to snow?  Was it going to be cold?  Was it going to be windy? 

Three out of four expectations happened on this training run.  Cold, Rain and Snow! 

I was part of a group of three ladies today.  My second attempt at long distance in one go.  I'd managed long runs of over 20 miles now but all of those had been with a break half way.  Even those runs were tough though. 

Today was a marathon training run for Milton Keynes Marathon in May.  We should be able to run at least this distance by now if we're considering running the marathon and boy was the weather going to make sure it was a day to remember. 

I'm glad I took my cheap n cheerful waterproof poncho.  By the time we were all coming home on the second lap we were cold and soaked but the poncho's had kept us from feeling drowned and frozen in today's weather. 

Some lesson's learnt today. 

When you need a pee - go for a pee!!  Find somewhere and go rather than waiting.  Even though it gave me one hell of a boost to get back to the finish on the last mile I was feeling queasy from that experience. 

Cold and wet will slow you down - It was a bit demoralising to keep running through the pain of all those poor muscles being forced to work when cold.  Running when hot is just as exhausting though.  Such fickle creatures we are. 

To dodge or not to doge? - Puddles.  We started by dodging as many puddles as possible to avoid getting wet soggy trainers.  By the end of the run we were splashing through those same puddles we'd dodged earlier to get back to the finish sooner.  Is there a better way of doing this puddle dodging business?  Or should we just get drenched at the beginning and keep running wet?  Tough one. 

Fuel - I've finally found a fuel that works for me.  I've been experimenting with timings on when to take them and I think I've found a good technique now.  I've tried a number of different fuels from High5 to Glu to protein bars and so on.  Some worked for short runs but longer make me feel queasy.  It's worth the experimentation to find something that works. 

Lastly - Running with friends will keep you moving even though you want to stop and call a taxi to the finish.  Even when they run of on the last mile to get to the toilet because they need a pee! 

Keep on running.  Even when it's cold and wet. 
Helen

2013 - What's the next challenge?

Well, last year I completed my challenge of 200 miles of races with fantastic support from my family.  What a slog!  I thoroughly enjoyed every race/event I attended even though I didn't improve my pace much throughout the year. 

So what's next?  What could possibly beat 200 miles of events? 

Could I run more events?  It was difficult enough finding local events so I didnt have to travel far each weekend. 

I want to run a greater distance this year but how do I do it? 

Do I run a marathon?  Or do I run an Ultra? 

In October 2012 that decision had already been made.  I entered the Lakeland 50 Ultra.  A 50 mile trail race across the Lake District.  Earlier in the year I’d also entered the London Marathon.  Then I got carried away. 

My challenge this year feels slightly insane. 

Monday 6^th May 2013 – Milton Keynes Marathon.  My first marathon
Sunday 9^th May 2013 – Cardiff Ultra – 50 miles point to point.  My first Ultra
Saturday 22 June 2013 – Wales Trail Marathon
Saturday 6^th July 2013 – Enigma Summer Marathon
Saturday 27^th July 2013 – Lakeland 50
Saturday 21^st September 2013 – Beauty & the Beast Marathon
Saturday 26^th October 2013 – Snowdonia Marathon

I’ve tied these events to a fundraising page too.  http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Hels205

I’m raising money for Cancer Research, RSPCA, RNLI and Make a Wish.  I wish I could tick every single charity fundraising box.  So next year will be four different charities. 

I’ve not run a marathon before.  I had entered two marathons last year but I was not well enough to run them. 

I have a couple other marathon entries that I’d like to enter this year but I’m thinking this bunch for my first attempt at stupid distance running is enough. 

The first question I suppose is.  How’s the training coming along then? 

Amazingly well.  I’m not fast.  But for some reason I’ve found my inner distance runner.  She’s been there all this time waiting for me to just relax and enjoy the pace. 

My weekend mileage over Friday to Sunday started out at just 20 miles.  10 miles on Friday with a break halfway.  5 miles Saturday and 5 miles Sunday.  The rest of the week was left to running a mile to my sons school on a daily basis if the weather was okay.  Working on my core stability and working out the kinks my body has developed with all this running lark.  You know the ones.  Knees, shins, calf, ankles, back, hips and lastly FEET!!

I’m now up to nearly 36 miles in the weekend.  I’ve increased the mileage little by little and had a very stressful weekend off at week 6.  Oh that was tough.  I’d been enjoying the weekend adventures so much that I felt so lost on my rest week. 

I can’t recommend enough to anyone training up to a long distance gets regularly checked out by a local physio therapist.  The long distance can bring out some strange niggles that only a trained professional would know how to resolve.  Books and blogs can only advise you so far. 

So roll to new adventures in 2013.   

Plus I need to try and keep up my training logs and adventures on here. 

My next adventure for this weekend is and 18 mile marathon training run in Milton Keynes.  Bring it on!