how many times have you heard the maxim - 'no pain - no gain' ? it seems that a certain amount of pain is inevitable if we would be fitter, faster and go further. does building endurance mean enduring pain? The short answer would be yes.
the question then becomes how much pain should we endure? there has to be optimum level. we don't want to injure ourselves, but would like our rate of progression to be as much as possible.
the sensible advice is to add increments of 10% to workloads.
if only it was that easy! being a fairly determined and enthusiastic sort of guy, it's easy for me to overdo it, and spend the next few days recovering in pain.
at least my lifestyle can allow for spending time in bed after a run. and writing this blog is easy enough from my bed.
as I write, the bath is filling with cold water, the idea being that blood will be forced out of the legs, removing lactic acid, later to be replenished with 'fresh' blood. so there's a little bit of pain to reduce a longer lasting pain. I'll let you know how I go.
At the end of week 3 I ran 21.6 kms - an increase of 25% of week 2's run. too much of an increase maybe, but what was worse was injuring my toes in tight shoes.
week 4 was a step backwards as I took a day off for my toes to recover, and had to cancel a run due to inclement weather.
this week began with another 25% increase in running time but a much larger increase in effort. specifically, I joined a running group for a 22 km jaunt in the adelaide hills. I kept pace for the most of the event but dropped behind as we climbed back to mount lofty. the route included 800 metres of elevation - down then up. I totally wore out my ability to run and walked the last 2 kilometres. I was in mild pain. I ended up sleeping for 2 hours, getting up for lunch, then going back to sleep for another 2 hours.
we were running along trails that were generally do-able, and then walking up the hills. some runners were able to run up sections of the hills, but most walked. given that the event I'm aiming for is a 56 km trail through the hills, I will be doing more of this walking up hills.
I picked up a few tips from the other runners. mainly to run 10 kms a day as fast as possible during the week, and run along tracks on the weekend. one runner pointed out that it was easier to walk up hills than to run down them.
so I've had my cold bath - interesting how those goosebumps make the leg hair stand on end, warming the water around the legs, and then you get another cold sensation as you wiggle your legs around. 3 by 2 mins in the bath with hot showers in between. I saved the bath water for next time
today's run was interesting. I was in pain - not an acute pain but a low level pain. the run passed uneventfully with me trying to ignore the discomfort, which didn't subside. the first 5.3 kms took 29.03 mins, with an av hr of 147, max 162. A fair effort with a near normal time, but still slow for the amount of hr involved.
The second lap took 32.38, with an av hr of 150, max 156. The legs were sore and the steps were small to begin with. through the run, the calves were sore, quads ok. I had a slight back pain and was tensing the core muscles to compensate and relieve the pressure. I noticed something told to me by a brilliant swimmer - the step was originating from a point within my abdomen, somewhere in the obliques area. I see this as an improvement in my running. I was also varying the pace by tilting my head further forward.
towards the end of the run I slowed down a bit to reduce the risk of straining quad strings.
on the walk home the legs were still sore!
I guess that training with sore muscles is something that people do. no doubt today's run went towards increasing my pain threshhold.
I like that this program is about running every other day. This provides enough time for recovery, and minimises the chance of wearing yourself out and catching a cold. I have caught colds in the past from training too much, and recovering too little. This is a huge point.
also, my appetite has increased dramatically. I try to make all my meals small serves, and fit in a good salad or vegetacle juice every day.
by the way, I lost a toe-nail this morning, and I've got skin peeling off blisters on my soles. The joy's of marathon training!
My legs are getting bigger, and it looks like I am on track to achieve my target.
I'm looking at buying a Garmin watch - with heart monitor, gps, and much else besides.
Cheers dears!
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