Bedtime Reading

Since I've started blogging about my running I find I'm reading books less at night.  The reason being is the time I would normally spend reading books I now find myself reading running blogs.  There are some great blogs out their full of information, tips and real motivation.

The last book I read was on my holidays at Christmas and is the reason I developed an injury.  It wasn't my fault running through a searing pain while my knee screamed no more, oh no I'm not to blame it was the book I read. The book was "Once a Runner" by John L. Parker Jr.

 (Image from amazon.co.uk)

This book was such an easy read, I flew through it cover to cover.  It helped me reengage with my running that had stopped after the half-marathon in September.  I had been so happy when I finished the half-marathon that I just stopped running for a few months.  I read the book and felt, once again the need to run.  In my wisdom I decided I was still as fit as I was three months earlier and felt I could push myself hard to make up for lost time.  Unfortunately it doesn't work that way.  Three hard runs in three days saw me do damage, which now seems to be on the mend.  As it is on the mend I can look on the bright side, which is the valuable lesson that I learned and I hope I remember.  Listen to my body when I run.  If it is fine and feeling good an extra kilometre or two is nice.  If it is tired and sore be careful and if there is pain that doesn't feel right slow down and stop if necessary, there is no point in injuring yourself because a good day will be just around the corner.

January Round Up

January is nearly over, my first full month on this blog and the first month of my year goal.  I set myself the goal of running 1,500km in 2011.  This is 125km per month.  So how am I doing?

Negative: I got injured on the first day of my goal with the IT band giving me grief resulting in me not being able to reach 3km in my initial runs.
Positive: A foam roller, an IT band strap and a stretching routine later the runs progressively got longer and the last two runs I've been pain free.

Negative: I only managed 40.58km out of the 125km per month I should be doing to reach my goal.
Positive: I ran 12 times this month.  I never ran more than 8 times in a month last year so this is a personal best for me.

In the last three months of 2010 I ran very little.  I'm starting to realise how much I missed it.  I'm not at the level I was in September 2010 but I'm feeling good again and the stress is reducing.  Got to love running.

Joy, Joy and More Joy

I guess the Lisbon Half Marathon is more than a race to me.  About two years ago I, on a night out and half joking, said to my friends I'm going to run the Dublin Marathon and what followed was laughter.  The next day while sober I though maybe it is a big ask but a half marathon is not out of the question.  So I tried to get a few friends interested in the Lisbon half as I thought it would also make a good holiday.  I began running properly in January last year and now there are three of us scheduled to run the Lisbon half.

But during the first run of 2001 I got injured I have not managed to run more than 3.8km without my knee saying "stop, no more, I quit".  With the Lisbon half marathon only 7 weeks away I've begun to get more disillusioned and began thinking that it was just a dream that I would not be able to run across the bridge in Lisbon, until today.

Today I got up asking myself am I wearing the IT Band strap correctly.  I checked out the image on the box and it seemed that maybe I've had it slightly out of position (upside down).  I drove to the Éire Óg clubhouse, which is a Gaelic Football ground with a 1km floodlight track and ran there.

I adjusted the strap to the correct position and began running at a steady pace.  After 1km I stopped and stretched out my now warmed up legs and then I ran some more.  In my head the goal was to reach 4km and hope my knee would be quiet.  When I reached 4km pain free and surprised I kept going.  5km still pain free the legs kept going. Once I hit 6km I stopped but still I was pain free.  I stretched out and drove home for the first time this year happy with my run and feeling that Lisbon is a distinct possibility.

A Little Longer

The goal for today was 4km and to run slower than Tuesday so as not to put too much pressure on the knee.  I hoped that this would get me the extra distance.  The place I normally run was locked up so I parked up the car and ran to the nearest green area.

I ran at a nice easy pace and I kept going until the knee started to ache.  I've learned to stop when that happens (you would think it was something that I should know and not have to learn).  At the end of the run I didn't hit the goal of 4km but i had run 25 minutes, 5 minutes more than the last run which is a big positive.

I used the foam roller today for the first time.  I really hope it it works because it hurts like hell.  The half marathon is now only 52 days away.  The recovery rolls on.