advertisement


The runners' thread...

Status
Not open for further replies.
Since you live in the UK where it won't cost you an arm and a leg I'd go see your GP if you're having that much trouble - you may or may not get help. You could also ask a local running club / triathlon club for physio recommendations if only to get an evaluation and figure out how to heal as quickly as possible. You could probably get a private evaluation and maybe some exercises to do (and ones to avoid) for less than the cost of a pair of running shoes.
In the mean time to keep spirits up and belly fat down now is the ideal time to work on your swimming and / or cycling, within your limited abilities to be ready for the next tri. season ;-)

Best wishes for a speedy recovery - inability to exercise has a really negative effect on my mental health.

Two weeks until my first 5k race since August - the goal is under 19:30. I just hope the weather isn't bad.

I know what you say makes sense - especially as I live in a country with an NHS that's free at the point of access. Good luck for the 5K :)
 
Bognor Regis 10 mile road race done on Sunday ,then on work trip to Madrid early this week so some early morning miles around the city. A good week for running
 
I just saw my GP and she reckons I've strained my left groin. I'm now on a waiting list to see an NHS physio, although that could take up to five months - yes, FIVE months! She also said I should take it easy for a while; not necessarily doing nothing like sitting on my bum all day long watching Netflix or whatever, but just trying not to overdo things like trying to run before I can walk - metaphorically and literally speaking. All in all, this is good news as I should be able to get back to running sometime next year as long as I take my medicine as it were... perhaps just in time for sunny Spring :)
 
I mentioned in my post about the ultra that I have a knee injury - patello-femoral irritation. In my case it is mainly caused by a muscle imbalance round the knee. On my left leg (sore knee), the vastus medialis (the inner branch of the quadriceps) is visibly weaker than on my good leg. It is involved in stablising the kneecap. I have been going to the gym while wait for the irritation to settle, and recently tried the leg extension machine, to see if it hurt my knee.

Result!

From more or less the first attempt, my knee feels better - I guess the muscle strength won't have changed, but the tone responds straight away. I have done 20mins of run/walk this morning, without problems. I am doing some other specific exercises to build the muscle up, and only wish I had tried this earlier.
 
I strained my right groin in May preparing for a series of fell races. I was given some exercises to do and slowly built my strength back up but for a long time I couldn't go any further than 5k. I've also been going to the gym for a couple of months concentrating on strengthening knees, hamstrings etc and I've felt the benefit from it and I'm back up to 12k runs. I've signed up to the Sheffield 10k Percy Pud in early December which will be my first race since March.
 
Good to hear people’s running tales and some optimism from Windhoek and Pigletsdad about injuries.

I’m now 8 weeks into my ‘get back into running’ programme. My weekly mileage varies - 20 -25 miles depending what else is going on. This week has been good:
- Sunday track session with my son. 10*400m, nice sustainable pace for me around 1min 24s. I absolutely love the track - running at its purest.
- One recovery / shopping run around 3 miles.
- One long run - these have increased about 10% per week starting from 40 mins. Now doing 10 miles in 1hr 20, comfortable pace.
- Today I really enjoyed the Parkrun. Quicker than weeks ago but felt completely different - so nice to not want to stop half way!

I need patience now I’m older (mid 50s). It takes an age to warm up and noticeably more days to recover. Loving it though.

Next week - hills, etc.

Ian
 
Last edited:
Private physios are not too expensive in the UK. I would hazard a guess that for somewhere between £50 and £100 you could get an appointment and be evaluated and come away with a set of exercises to do at home to help the injury heal faster. Perhaps ask around local running / tri. clubs for a recommendation. I know it sounds like a lot a money when you're used to the UK NHS, but it's less than a pair of running shoes, and might get you back on your feet a little quicker than waiting for the NHS physio. (My wife's physio charges $400 an hour here in the US !!! Fortunately our insurance negotiates the rate down to just over $100 an hour.) Good luck with the recovery

There are also some good youtube videos from physios - if you can find one to match your injury you might find some exercises to do.
 
Missed my first Parkrun in ages this morning due to carpet fitter appointment at 9.15, feeling quite down about it bizarrely. I did do a midweek 10k at Battersea Park in the Run In The Dark for the Mark Pollak Trust charity. Did not really train specifically for it, just turned up and ran with half a mind to just do the 5k version but my time was so bad at 5k I decided to push on for the 10k and matched my 1 hr 1 min time within 10 seconds which I was quite pleased about. I feel I have a much better 5k about to come shortly so looking forward to the next Parkrun.
 
Well done Gareth, and I know what you mean about feeling a bit down when you can't run; I almost felt as if my running days were numbered and my own personal meaning of life was over when my injury didn't fix itself within a week or two. I wasn't chronically depressed, perhaps not even depressed at all, but I definitely felt quite down about running and things in general. I just had a thought, maybe having to suddenly stop running is a bit like going cold turkey from drugs or whatever as the 'happy feeling' drug-like endorphins suddenly stop. I'm a lot more hopeful now though as I know I can help my injury heal by avoiding the things that aggravate it - things like taking stairs two at a time, running for buses, bending forward and generally putting an unhelpful load and/or strain on my left groin.
 
The very good private physio I went to charges £40 for a 1 hour appointment. Not only diagnosis /exercises and advice, she also taped my knee up (helped a bit by lifting the patella) but also used ultrasound and weird electrical treatments.
 
Good to hear people’s running tales and some optimism from Windhoek and Pigletsdad about injuries.

I’m now 8 weeks into my ‘get back into running’ programme. My weekly mileage varies - 20 -25 miles depending what else is going on. This week has been good:
- Sunday track session with my son. 10*400m, nice sustainable pace for me around 1min 24s. I absolutely love the track - running at its purest.
- One recovery / shopping run around 3 miles.
- One long run - these have increased about 10% per week starting from 40 mins. Now doing 10 miles in 1hr 20, comfortable pace.
- Today I really enjoyed the Parkrun. Quicker than weeks ago but felt completely different - so nice to not want to stop half way!

I need patience now I’m older (mid 50s). It takes an age to warm up and noticeably more days to recover. Loving it though.

Next week - hills, etc.

Ian

The pattern that works for me at a comparable age is to have two harder weeks and one easier, rather than 10% increase week on week. I found with a steady increase I built up tiredness and never got on top of things. I also ran more days per week as I wanted the higher mileage. My typical week was:
  • Saturday, long slow run, off-road if possible. In the build up to my long race I would take my pack and food and water, and go out for up to 4.5 hours, at very gentle pace.
  • Sunday, medium length, faster than Sat. Learning to maintain form with miles in the legs.
  • Tuesday lunch time, run with group at work. Distance / speed depend on who is there.
  • Wed night, run with my club, about an hour. Off-road in summer, under the streetlights at this time of year. Usually went out with either the fast or second fastest groups, depending who was there.
  • Thursday another lunch time run.
Obvious deficiency was no speed work! But for first ultra that was far from my mind..
 
The very good private physio I went to charges £40 for a 1 hour appointment. Not only diagnosis /exercises and advice, she also taped my knee up (helped a bit by lifting the patella) but also used ultrasound and weird electrical treatments.

It sounds like you got good bang for the buck there. I don't know what I imagined a physio would do - maybe give you some controlled extension and contraction exercises to assist recovery - but it seems pretty good value to get all that for £40. I might just look into a private physio myself.
 
Did a 'just-under-5K' night-time race on Friday - running across the beach at more-or-less low-tide, into the sea, around a rock and back. In the dark. Howling gale. Very cold. With head-torches. Magic :) Did it in 24 minutes, which isn't quick for the distance, but running on wet sand, into the wind, in the dark, through the sea. No wonder I was a bit hurty yesterday. The faster guys were doing it sub 20. Nutters, all of us!!!

Today took part in a relay race - 10 miles total, team of five, each person runs 1 mile twice. Put in a 6.44 and a 7-minute mile. Not blistering by any means, probably lower-end of mid-pack, but great fun and a fantastic spread afterwards! Speed isn't my thing - I need to work on that....

Really ought to sort my groin problem out - I still hurt when running any distance, albeit not enough not to run. Was sent for x-rays, at least no stress-fractures evident. Probably a groin strain or a mild case of osteitis pubis (matron!)...

All that said and done, I really ought to do a long slow run this coming weekend if I get the chance.... I have my next marathon in February and I really should start training for it...
 
19:18 in today's 5k. That's 25 seconds faster than last year but 20 seconds slower than my PB on that course. Hmm - not sure how to feel about it. I went through the first mile in about 5:55 and knew I'd gone too quickly - it's so easily done, especially in a fast field. 8am, -1C but dry and sunny with a light breeze so decent conditions.

The winning time was ...... get this ..... 14:47. I think that guy is a different species !!! 1700 people braved the cold to run - it was a good occasion. Next up is the New Year's day 5k - hopefully no snow and ice for that one.
 
Well I was right!

Smashed it today with a 28.06 pb taking 50 seconds off my previous time at parkrun. There was a 28min pacer which really helped but I have been running intervals recently which is helping my leg speed. Sub 28 next target!
 
Great stuff!

I went out for a (cold!) 5 miler this morning. Thought it was cold enough to venture off the roads and across the fields...big mistake. Cold wet feet and just finished washing the shoes..
 
I had a really good Parkrun today - I was worried as I'd had a very slight hamstring twinge in the week but decided to go for it anyway after a couple of days rest. Surprised myself with 20:17 - nearly a minute improvement over 4 weeks and gets my age grading to above 75% again. The course was new to me - a bit rough and muddy in places so I was really happy and the run felt short and snappy. What a great movement Parkrun is. I also had a pacer in sight - 20min - and that really helped me too.

Sean - nice run!. Was it on road? I think I'll try and target a flat road 5k soon - and get some new shoes for that.

This week - track (probably 1km intervals or something). Long run midweek and cross country race next Sunday plus some noodling around.

Great to hear about the pb's , fast 5ks , injury battles and other running adventures.

Ian
 
Ian - age grading of 75% or higher is very good (I've just scraped 75% on a couple of occasions), and 20:17 is a great time on grass/mud. I ran a parkrun in about the same time in August. Thursday's run was on road with just some mild up and down and occasional icy patches. Over this winter I'll concentrate more on the running (summer is tri time) and see if I have another sub 19 minute 5k in me before I'm boiled down for glue.

Gareth - congratulations on the new PB - it sounds like you'll be sub 28 very soon, and probably sub 27 not long after that.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.


advertisement


Back
Top