Fourth

Its been a while since my last run, after the epic in Wimbledon my knees decided they werent pleased with me. My left knee, not one I'd had any problems with me ached like nobody's business. I couldnt walk much the following day and ended up seeing a physio on the Thursday (I ran on the preceeding Sunday).
She told me to rest it for a while and gave me some exercises to do. It seems I may have an imbalance between the medial and lateral muscles on my thighs which may have contributed...
Anyway I left it, I did some walking, exercises and other bits and pieces, everything felt fine, even the tight calf on my right side felt OK.
Sunday, in an effort to get back on the tally I went for a run, but not long in my left knee started acheing again. I tried to continue for a bit but it wasnt nice, a brief break and it was fine but when I picked it up to a running pace it kicked again.

I think its back to the drawing board. Anyway this is the course I took

 

Perhaps the hills didnt help, Im going to give it another week or so before starting again, and this time try to focus on flat surfaces and shorted distances... and a knee support I think. I'm 25 and carrying on like a gerry. We shall see....

Final run stats:
Distance: 2.69 km
Time: 13:21

Av. pace: 5.05min/km
Av. speed: 11.8km/h

A bit too far

I finally went on my third run of the year, the recent British weather made things impossible for a while, the ice on the roads were often cleared but the pavements were pretty slick with week old ice.

I stayed at a friend's house in Raynes Park on Saturday and on Sunday morning we got up and went for a run. Considering I was out of rhythm the ensuing 12km was probably a little too much too soon but it was a good run.

There was three of us, of different abilities but we kept an even pace, I once again used my phone's CardioTrainer app and it tracked our run which gave an average pace of 5.47 min/km. I have since discovered I can upload my run to the program's website and look at them in more detail which is pretty sweet, being able to look at the satellite map of the run and see where went went is nice.

The run took us from Richmond Road up to Wimbledon Common which we crossed length ways before looping back on ourselves to run to Wimbledon village then back towards Raynes Park station and Richmond Road. The run took an hour and 15 minutes and we covered 12.86km.

I don't think I have run that distance before and it may be why my right knee is aching today. I run with a knee support on my left knee after wrenching it a few years ago. My running and exercise being intermittent it is not as strong as it could or should be.

It was a fun run with a big hill at the beginning and one towards the end, running on the common was nice, the paths took us through forested areas and across open ground and we crossed paths with a lot of other runners. in places the ground was waterlogged from the recent snow, ice and rain and we jumped over a number of puddles and ran through wet ground ensuring cold wet toes for part of the journey. I was glad to finish and was ready for the end a good 20 minutes or so before we finally finished, running with others does help you go further even if you perhaps shouldn't as the case may be. We ran through Wimbledon village which I don't think I have been through before, it is very middle and upper class with lots of boutiques and the like.


I did spend some time stretching afterwards, not all my usual ones and the fact I spent a chunk of the rest of the day sitting on a couch may have led to me cramping up. I did go for a walk in the evening with my dog and take a few journeys up and down the stairs but there was some pain last night. I think I need to be running regularly starting with more modest 5km and then moving towards 7, 8 and 10km distances as my body gets used to the running. I will definitely be stretching before bed tonight.

Final run stats:
Distance: 12.86 km/h
Time: 01:14:24
Av. pace: 10.37km/h



I'm pretty pleased with those figures but the pain is a drawback, I want to get out on the road again and can't see it happening before Friday at the earliest (due recovery and social outings...)

First two runs

I went for my first two runs of the year this week. Monday i ran around 3km in 18 minutes or so. A run i have done many times before, its half of a 5k route i do from home.
It was pretty cold out I have luckily found a way to keep my face warm, I tuck a tshirt into the collar of my running top and pull the head hole up over my nose and mouth. I also wear a beanie. The tshirt keeps my neck and face warm, you do end up with a wet patch on the tshirt from your breathing but its better than having a cold face.

I bought a new helly hansen base layer from runners need which twinned with a fake long sleeved boca juniors top and a running tshirt from the 2008 nike 10k seems to be doing the job. I also wear a pair of adidas running trousers. They are quite tight and colleagues have joked I might need to warn the local neighbourhood before running through but they are not that bad. My leagues are kept warm though my bum still seems to feel cold.

I last went for a run in December when, despite stretching afterwards, my thighs and lower back seized up the next day and left me pretty stiff for a few days. That in mind I went for a run last night too and i feel pretty good today, my thighs have the slight ache of upset feelings at having to start working again.

I've just got an android phone and got the cardio trainer app which was sweet as, it used the gps on the phone to track my run, and measured distance, time speed, calories (though the 288 seemed low). Last night my official figures were:
Time: 17.12
Distance: 3.5km
Av pace: 4.45k/h
One thing I didn't know about was the male voice which gives you updates on your time and distance, quite funny having a deep male voice coming from the back pocket of my running trousers was quite funny.

It was during last night's run that I set myself the goal of doing 100 runs this year, it's just under 2 a week which allows for periods of sloth or holidays which don't afford any running. I have run on and off over the last few years, once I had used a treadmill for 20 minutes and realised how far I could run in that time, it was 4 or so clicks. I have ran two 10k races, the first I did in 53 minutes i think and the second I did in 50.01 seconds, last July.

I would like to do some more races this year, some 5 and 10k races, maybe some 15 and 20 with an eventual look at running a marathon. I hope this blog helps chart my progress, for myself if no one else, to help keep count of the runs. 2 down 98 to go