Wednesday medium long run

What a massive relief that was!!! 20km (4 laps of Queenscliff to Shelly Beach and return) holding sub-4:00 minute/km pace feeling great! This was on the back of a horrible day previously as the cynic in myself predicted a worse case scenario of a right-sided fourth metatarsal stress fracture. I could barely walk following Tuesday's run, the dorsal surface of my outer foot was swollen like a balloon, and I had focal point tenderness right on top of the bony shaft of the metatarsal. Experience tells me that one way to differentially diagnose between a metarsal stress fracture vs. a lower grade bone stress response or metatarsalgia is to determine how the symptoms play out up one attempting to run. If the pain 'warms-up' and improves as the run progresses, the latter is more likely. Alternatively, if the pain deteriorates, a stress fracture could be 'on the cards.' Luckily for me today, the pain on my right foot disappeared (almost) completely after the first 5km. Surprisingly, I was limping less post run than on Tuesday - which is encouraging.

However, like any overuse injury - the essence is to determine the underlying cause - or the 'culprit.' If you have been following my blog, you would note that I have recently completed the majority of my speed work around an anti-clockwise circuit at Passmore Reserve. This means that for the majority of these sessions, my stride length is longer on my right side. This, I believe, put an excessive amount of stress through my peroneal muscles (the muscles on the outside of your lower leg and ankle). In a subconscious attempt to unload these tender muscles, which are responsible for subtalar eversion (i.e. turning your ankle to the side so that the sole of your foot faces away from your body) - and therefore allow you to push off the ball of your foot when running ideally off your first and/or second metatarsal (i.e. closer to the big toe) - my central nervous system compensated by forcing myself to push off on the outside of my foot to propel myself forward. This would likely cause a significant increase in stress towards the outside of the ball of my forefoot - leading to a likely bone stress reaction through my fourth metatarsal bone.

Now that I am aware of this, I ensured that I resumed to the ideal biomechanics of pushing off through the inside of the ball of my right forefoot (like how I always have, and similar to my left side). This obviously relieved the excessive loading through my poor fourth metatarsal!

Who said running related injuries are boring! No two injuries are ever the same, and this is why it is vital to take a comprehensive patient history backed up by a thorough physical examination that considers every single factor that may have played a part in the current clinical presentation.

Tuesday morning session - Mona Fartlek

I've been meaning to try this session for a long time. I have only heard good things ('good' is the correct term if you are saddistic like most endurance athletes) about this workout - popularised by the legendary Australian distance runner Steve Moneghetti. On paper, the session sounds quite easy and basic. 2 sets of 90 seconds 'on,' 90 seconds 'float,' 4 sets of 60 seconds 'on,' 60 seconds 'float,' 4 sets of 30 seconds 'on,' 30 seconds 'float,' finishing with 15 seconds 'on,' 15 seconds 'float.' This accumulates to a total duration of 20 minutes. The trick to this session, however, is the term 'float' - which is definitely not 'recovery, rest or jog.' In fact, it is suggested that this should only be about 10-15 seconds per km slower than the efforts.

I headed out from home (now back at Manly) for an easy 3km warm-up to the top of North Head. I completed the session on the 5km undulating loop - getting a total of 6.02km with an average pace of 3:19min/km. Not really too impressed with the time or pace, but nevertheless established a baseline for which I can strive to improve on next time. The session itself is gold! After finishing the second 60 second effort, the legs went heavy and started protesting. I hung on for the back half of the session (psychologically it is slightly easier as the duration of the efforts decreases - but so too do the floats). I can definitely see why it was used on a weekly basis by Steve and his training group - as the session itself offers so many benefits. It teaches you how to respond to surges in races, how to recover between bouts, and a longer term adaptation should see a rise in lactate threshold.

Completed a nice 8km cool down along the Manly Beach front, and was again treated to another stunning morning. I have noted some marked pain on the top surface of the head of my fourth metatarsal on my right foot - so will keep a close eye on this. May have to ditch the 8km easy run this afternoon.

Monday morning run - something different

Got up earlier than usual, partially due to the fact that my body has not yet adapted to the extra hour we added on the previous night. Ran a steady 15km from South Curl Curl to South Narrabeen SLSC and return. Averaged 4:25 min/km on the hilly course, didn't feel too hard either. Another beautiful morning, made better by the company I shared at breakfast after driving up to Mona Vale beach for a coffee with my mother and her swimmg group (the 'Dawn Busters') following their daily 1km Ocean swim (crazy - they will go out rain, hail or shine - all year round). It was fantastic to catch up with everyone again!

Sunday long run - 30km solo

I really needed a solo long run to come to terms with the disappointment of the previous day's race. I'm fact, I actually went for a 40 minute run Saturday afternoon (which may not be good advise for those reading - but it was great for my head space). No GPS today, which is typical for me on a Sunday - especially as I know all the distances off the back of my head. Ran from South Curl Curl to Turrimetta headland (the southern end of Warriewood Beach), returning straight into a headwind for the next 15km all the way to Shelley Beach, finishing the last 4km back to South Curl Curl with a nice tailwind. It was a beautiful morning, especially after the gloomy previous two days - and made even more so by the fact that we all wound our clocks back an hour with daylight savings ending. This is fantastic for all us early risers, as we now get our mornings back (well, at least for a month or two anyway).

Lane Cove 10km Sydney Striders

Not a great day at all. Woke up to pure darkness and pouring rain, which had well and truly 'set-in' for the day. Registration was completed with the volunteers wearing head torches - another first for me. Felt half decent in the warm-up, but nothing amazing. Saw Alex on the start line, so my race plan then became to stay with him for as long as possible. Noted Tom unusually staying three rows back from the starting line, suggesting that he was not up for racing today either (but never count him out)! The gun went off, with Dave and Barts making a break for it, with Chris gradually gapping myself and Alex. The course itself is unusual - as it is approximately 5.3km out (and mostly uphill), with a 4.7km return (and mostly downhill - but always feels less so at the back half of a 10km race). I glanced at my GPS a few times, but didn't really take much notice, as I have raced here before and it always seems totally unreliable due to the dense tree covering inhibiting the direct line of sight between my watch and the satellite. I stayed with Alex until we turned around, and then he absolutely bolted downhill - leaving me solo for the next 3km. Tom came past me at this point, and slightly towed me towards the finish line, gradually catching Alex - but not quick enough in the end. Ended with a PW (personal worse) time of 34:39. Just didn't have it at all today, and really just capped off a forgettable two weeks of training following a fantastic previous fortnight. Oh well, back to the drawing board in preparation for the State 10km Road Championships in early May. Still deciding whether to travel to Canberra next Saturday for the Australian Running Festival 10km.

Thursday morning session - another DNF!!!

I'm at a loss. I can't believe it - two times within the space of a week I have pulled the pin on a session. This is the tricky part where your mind plays tricks on you. You need to be able to differentiate between 'being soft' and actually listening to your body's internal signals hinting that something is not quite right. Of course, pulling the pin on a session always leaves you feeling like the former! But being more analytical, there are definitely signs that the latter was true. For those of you who know me, I have a tendency to train too hard (which essentially ended my days as a kayaker), and have been on the receiving end of 'overtraining syndrome' (yes, it actually is a recognised condition) more times than what I would like as a runner. However, overtraining is not simply just a condition that rears its head simply by training to hard and/or insufficient recovery. The latter term here is important - recover. Performance = training + recovery. Training is the variable that we can easily measure and quantify. The second variable, however, is where things can get tricky and more subjective. Recovery is more than simply not running in between sessions. It can be compromised by many variables, such as psychological stress, work commitments, family, etc. I remember back to my university days - running around exam times was terrible, my paces were horrible, and I felt heavy and sluggish no matter how good my diet was. But as soon as I finished my last exam, I felt like Mo Farah again (ok, probably not quite as quick)! Looking at the present tense, perhaps I expected too much this week on the back of being sick last week. Perhaps I was lured into a false sense of security following my return to running last Saturday with a great session! In hindsight, Tuesday's session was relatively poor - yet I stubbornly attributed this to the fact that my lacing was out and was attempting a newer, harder session than previously. Today was my attempt at my typical Thursday speed/fartlek session - 15 x 400m with a 200m float between. I actually felt horrible getting out of bed this morning! Warming up I felt my mind wondering and really dreading the first rep. Nevertheless, I pushed ahead an commenced the session - hoping that I would dust off the cobwebs within the first few efforts. No - it wasn't happening today! 71 seconds for the first rep, 72 for the second, deciding to stop after the third rep which was a sluggish 74 seconds. All with sub-4:00 minute pace 200m floats between. Perhaps the floats were too quick, but I just wasn't feeling it today. Repeating my opening line - sometimes you need to differentiate between being soft and being fatigued. I am adamant that the latter was responsible for today. More rest??? But I rested last week!!! Yes, whilst this is true, it was enforced rest secondary to being sick - not an ideal type of rest. Nevertheless, I will take the rest of today off (training that is - not working), as well as Friday (which is traditional for me anyway) in an attempt to be ready to race on Saturday! Happy Easter everyone!

Wednesday medium long run

Late night working last night meant that I missed the early start with the Manly guys this morning. I casually set my alarm for 6:50am and strolled out for a leisurely 18km return run from South Curl Curl to North Head. Saw Tom and Justin on way out - looking strong as always in their last few km's. Beautiful sunrise once again, and even better - by starting later I totally missed the rain.