All in the Hips

After 1 week of rest it is time to try running again. All goes well for 10 minutes or so and then my left hip starts to hurt and soon I get shooting pain down my leg and into the knee, almost the same as a week ago. I therefore think it is not my knee this time but more my hip that is the route cause of my issues.

I have studied some strengthening exercises for the hip that I will do during the week and may swim or cycle a bit for a few days.

A Busy Week of Rest and Pain

After a very busy morning in the Gym at the spa where I ran for 30 minutes and cycled for 20 i had aching legs so decided to rest for a few days.

This went well and on Friday I even played a round of golf. Last year i suspected that golf may have played some part in my knee injury, I think I can now confirm that it does. I had tired legs after golf but next morning I felt well enough to go for a little run with Bee to get legs going before a long run on Sunday.

Well that was the plan, Bee and I got about 100 yards as I was thinking my hip felt a bit odd and worried I had an uncomfortable running stile I got a sharp pain in my knee and it reminded me just how much my knee hurt 1 year back. I stopped instantly and hobbled home as Bee carried on.

I have now spent the whole weekend with a knee in ice and taking lots of tablets, and fingers crossed I stopped quick enough this time with only having done a small amount of damage as I would be so sad to have done long term damage again just as I was getting back into running and enjoying it so much.

I am away this week so plan to do no running for teh week and will try the treadmill next weekend.

To Basildon and Back

A long easter weekend and we were down to my parents in Essex for 2 days and I was very disciplined and ran both mornings on the way to get the paper.

The first morning was a good pace 7km with a record 5km of 29:11. The second day was a bad weather morning but a solid 5km was completed before meeting up with Bee to do another 2.5 as she is improving every time we go out. But I must admit to being a bit tired so not too encouraging with her run.

Now we are back home on Easter Sunday and a partial rest day but I did accompany Bee on the start of a new week, 5 minute run and 2 minute walk.

Run to the Pub

between work and going for a night out with a bunch of old colleagues I thought I should squeeze in a run. As Christelle was also going to be out for the evening we met up by the river in Maidenhead just after 5 and set off down the footpath. It was a nice sunny but cool evening and the first time I had run off tarmac. We set off at a nice leisurely pace that we kept up for the whole run.

At one stage the path becomes single file and so I took the lead with Christelle close behind or so I thought. After a short while i was wondering why she was no longer answering me so I looked back to see an empty path going into the distance. Turning round and making my way back to check she had not fallen into the river i found her coming along after having to take a quick rest - she blames the big lunch she had not to many hours earlier.

We then headed back to the car doing an extra lap of the housing estate for luck and come to a stop after 40 minutes and just over 6.2km. Not too far in the time but doing at a constant speed and without any complaints, maybe my body is starting to get used to this.

Two Laps Two Runners

Tonight was the first night of Bees structured training plan as taken from the Bob Glover book aimed at the beginner runner. The plan is a 10 week plan with the single aim of getting her to be able to run for a solid 20 minutes. last weekend we did 15 together but it nearly killed her so something more structured and gradual seemed good. After reviewing the plan we decided to skip the first two weeks that a routine of run 1min walk 1min and repeat 7 times as she is fitter than that. So we ere going to start at week 3, run 3minutes, walk 2minutes and repeat 4 times.

Whilst Bee was getting home and ready I went for another quick 2km to warm myself up and get back home in time to go out with Bee (almost under the 11 minute mark at 11:01). The first 3 minute run was quite tough as it was all uphill, and the walking time in between does seem to go much quicker than the running time. Luckily the next two repetitions were easier and down hill. the plan says starting easy you will get no injuries, I am not so sure I found the constant stopping and starting hard on the legs with a sore shin and a knee that felt it on the front.

So after 4 repetitions and the last one being up the hill back to home we completed day 1 of Bees training, as my watch did not show pace for this exercise I can only guess we were running much faster than her usual 8.1 km/h and covered 2.45 km in total - not bad and roll on the two of us going out again on Saturday.

If at First

So after the bad run at lunch time I spent the afternoon feeling a bit angry at myself for being rubbish so went for a quick morale boosting run when I got home. As I thought resting should be what I was really doing I just went for a 2km lap at an OK pace, completing in just under 12 minutes.

I got home feeling tired and much happier in myself.

Not the Best of Runs

After a great week last week it all had to go wrong at some point, and that was today. I went for my first run from work at a lunch time, after getting changed in the vacant ground floor I headed off to the river. I was not gone far before i realised I never drank very much before leaving and had no water with me. I also think my mind was not as focused as it could be and was trying to convince myself to run a shorter and shorter distance than that I had planned on setting out.

Within 1km I was at the river and by 2 I had reached Boulters lock with the plan to turn back after 3km, at just over 2.5 I found a road running away from the river and took that as my loop back towards work. Then by 3km my calves were so tight and in agony I had to stop. I spent 2 or 3 minutes stretching out my legs until I could walk again and then slowly jogged my way back. At the 5km mark I walked back to cool down a bit.

I am now feeling quite low as the run had been hard and not very enjoyable, but to look on the positive I did run for 30+ minutes even if in 2 chunks and did give myself a workout and if I look back just 1 month none of my runs were over 3km. lets hope for better tomorrow.

The Running Robins

Today, was a firs as I found myself with the company of Bee this morning for her first road run of 2km. We found a nice lap starting from our house of exactly 2km, but I am sure Bee did not thank me when we see a nice steep hill round the first corner that had us both breathing hard at the top.

We completed the 2km without a need to walk for Bee that is a great achievement as she has only run on the treadmill in the last few months. I had planned on doing an extra lap after we completed one lap but my legs were a bit tight as I think they have not forgiven me for the extra run I did on Friday or the bike ride I took yesterday as the weather was so nice.

Since we got home I studied the excellent Bob Glover to get Bee a beginner training program which should be 3 days a week alternating walking and running with the goal of a solid 20minute run.

No Stopping Me

After 1 day rest Friday rolls around and I had booked to be doing body pump at 6pm, but after my first week back at work I could not stay at work that late, combining that with a sore knee when walking into town I decided to go home at 4 and take a second rest day.

But, this is were I got naughty after a small rest at home I fancied a run so tried the same route as Wednesday but at a slower pace. Oh bad me not only did I complete the run quicker than Wednesday I also added an extra km to get me up to 7km in 42 minutes. And spent the night with sore legs as punishment.

April Fool

Today is the first of the new month and I finished march with a good pace 3.5 run around the block to keep my legs going only taking 20 minutes, and bringing my march total to 48.2 km, not bad considering the 12 i managed just the month before in about 10 more runs so Feb had an average distance of 1.73km and march 2.8km per run. So it is starting to go in the right direction.

The new month came in with another after work run with Christelle that due to one small wrong turn lasted 6km rather than the 5 we had planned, but it was a record for both distance and time on my feet - and in one run 50% of the total distance of February.

I am now starting to think that I will be able to complete the 10km run at the end of May, but I must not try to run before I can walk and slowly increase the distance.

One other thing of note was that in March I signed up for the royals park half marathon just 3 weeks after the Great North Run so it looks like my initial goal will not be the end of my running. I also helped out the birthday fairy today by ordering my gift from him that should help me reach my goal but as it will be a surprise next week i will talk More about that then.