Insane in the membrane

Amazed that my sanity remained intact through a surprisingly enjoyable hour on the cross trainer where I worked up quite the sweat. Did the XC workout on the machine which broke the hour up nicely, pushing the HR up to 194bpm on the steeper climbs. Was very happy with the fact that the HR recovered quickly between the harder intervals. Followed up the hour with the 20 min yog on the T-mill. Found this a nice way to finish off the workout, gradually bringing the pace down from 7:45 per mile to a slightly more respectable 6:58 to get the 2.75 miles in for the 20 mins. Legs are feeling decent, but I'm bloody knackered, and am looking forward to a good nights kip.

And repeat

Treadmill, 20:00, 2.8 miles

Got crazy and mixed things up by hitting the bike before getting on the treadmill. Life is wild sometimes, you just gotta roll with it. Feeling good on the runs, still some very minor niggling going on up and down the shin but seems to be stemming from the calf muscle. Working on loosening it up as I speak (or type?) 

Trinners life

Treadmill, 20:00, 2.8 miles

I hate the treadmill. But I also want to get fit, which isn't going to happen on 20 mins running. Hit the cross-trainer for 40mins hard effort prior to jumping on the T-mill. Will only have to do this for another 2 weeks before I can head straight to the cricket fields for the run (only allowed following May 1st). Just as well as the T-mill has a pre-programmed max time limit of 20 minutes; convenient for this week, total balls for in general.

Quickies

Pats Field, 2.75 miles, 20:00

I don't like posting numerous days at once (take note Jokin) but I've been both periodically busy and lazy since Sunday so here we go. Hit the football fields again to take advantage of the soft surface and really enjoyed the run. The lungs are strong as expected from the gym work but the legs are probably only at about this level of fitness for running. Happy to have the legs feel good and feel fresh post exercise.

No run Monday as I was wicked hungover. Sunday night was spent in Kells (Not an Irish hotbed of entertainment) as a group of us headed down to check out a band that are now playing at the brother's wedding next summer. Monday was spent travelling home/resisting the urge to puke/travelling back to Dublin.

Put it on the board

20:36, 2.75 miles

1st day back out and it wasn't too bad. One or two twinges from the shin at times, but from varying locations and no tenderness post run was all good. Plan is to run this type of length 5-6 times this week, supplemented with gym work once I get back to the big schmoke, followed with increases of 5 mins per day each week, with the 4th week of each segment a recovery week. While its not an ideal plan, it should (hopefully) keep me healthy. Was good to get back out there, hoping to do it more often.

Love for the Blogs

No running since last Wednesday, but plenty of good gym work to help (slowly) get this mass of a man to a more reasonable level. Felt motivated to post despite the lack of running material to post because of a convo with Coste and reading Keith's blog post for today. Basically I haven't run for 3 years. I've been dabbling, building up, getting injured etc etc and tried (at times, not always) to cross train through the injuries without much success till this year. This most recent shin trouble has arisen after around 3-4 weeks running following the last injury. The insight I'm drawing from Keith and Coste is that when I started running a month ago I jumped straight back into 4-6 mile runs (nothing special, but about as much as I was doing pre-injury) because the cardiovascular fitness was there but the legs were clearly not. So the next comeback will start from scratch. I need to re-train my legs to run 5-6 days a week, so will be starting slow, and will continue to supplement with gym work until I (hopefully) reach a point where the body can handle running a reasonable amount. I have 28 weeks till the Dublin marathon, of which I hope 12 will be the re-training time and 16 weeks of decent enough quality running to get me home under 2:50. The shin has been feeling a lot better in recent days, and given that gyms and all shut down for Easter here, I may venture out for some yogging this weekend. 

biablyzi: The future star of the 2010 World Cup

So I have now not run in a week, although I have managed to get some gym work in pretty much everyday. The disappointing news is that even with the week off my shin is still pretty tender and at times sore to walk on. Wait, I think I've done this before. Weird thing is the shin is much sorer post-icing, which makes me not want to ice. Because the gym work is going ok, and because college is now kicking my ass, I'm pretty much certain I won't be running for at least another week. At which point I'm hoping my shin has worked out its issues, and if it is a s.f. (you're not supposed to say it out loud) then I'll already be 2 weeks into recovery mode. On the plus side its 28+ weeks to the Dublin marathon which is plenty of time to get in shape. On the negative side, if I'm getting a s.f. on 25 miles a week then my chances of running sub 3 for the marathon are about as good as me shagging Jessica Alba.