Posts Tagged ‘pain’
Posted in North Bay, Paris Marathon, Scarborough, South Bay, marathon, non-linear periodisation, training
Tags: carbo-loading, carbs, Music, North Bay, pain, Paris Marathon 2009, Scarborough, Scarborough Spa, South Bay, strides, tapering, tired, training
This is my final week before the big race itself. In less than a week I’ll be joining 37,000 other runners in the largest running event I’ve been involved in.
So this week is about continuing to taper and about carbo-loading until the big day itself.
My training got off to a tiring start on Tuesday when I ran one mile easy, followed by two miles at my fastest pace, another two at moderate pace and then a final mile at easy pace.
The fast miles were tough and very tiring, as my legs felt remarkably stiff and heavy and took a long time to warm up. Then my MP3 player crashed in the middle of one of my favourite running songs, which was helping me push on through the pain. So I had to stop and fix that, which interrupted my rhythm and which really annoyed me.
By the end of that run I was really tired – I had probably over-exerted myself if I’m honest. So I was glad my next two runs are fairly easy runs at a steady pace.
On Wednesday, I did four miles, with five “strides” – which basically means running at a fast pace for thirty seconds at different points during the route. I felt a little bit more flexible, but still heavy and weighed down by all these carbohydrate stores I’m building up.
Even though I’m running fewer miles now than at any time during the last four months, it doesn’t deel easier at all – in fact it feels like a bit of a drag to get going and slip into a steady pace.
It felt just like that again on Thursday when I ran one mile easy followed by one and a half miles at moderate pace, followed by another mile easy. The moderate lap was really tough because, once again, my legs felt like lead.
Still I managed to finish the last training session for this marathon in a respectable time, slightly faster than I predicted.
So that is the end of training. No more sessions before the big day. I can only hope it all pays off on the day. Wish me luck!
Posted April 3rd, 2009 by Simon
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Posted in North Bay, Paris Marathon, Scarborough, South Bay, marathon, non-linear periodisation, training
Tags: energy gels, exhaustion, headland, marathon, North Bay, Northstead Manor Gardens, pain, Paris Marathon 2009, South Bay, training
After last week’s better than expected performance on the Sunday long run, I was actually looking forward to this Sunday’s long run – a leg-busting 22 miles.
Unfortunately, whatever helped me fly around last time wasn’t there this time. From the outset my legs felt really heavy and my muscles ached from the start. I had to stop about six minutes after starting to remove a stone from my shoe, so I took the opportunity to do some extra stretches as well. I warmed up after the first three miles, but my muscles never totally stopped aching.
The lap system worked well again. I split the run into two nine-mile laps followed by a third four mile lap to bring me up to 22, around the South and North Bays. Running this kind of distance reminded me of just how demanding distance running is. At the end I was racked with aches and pains, which continued all right through the rest of the day. It took me all Sunday, Monday and Tuesday to recover from the effort.
Finally I must comment on the weather. I’ve been rather lucky this year with the weather, with each long run falling on relatively mild Sundays. After completing my first lap, I took the decision to dump my running coat, hat and gloves at home and the bright, constant sunshine rewarded me. The chilly breeze reminded me it was still technically Winter, but it was what I needed on this long run.
Posted March 30th, 2009 by Simon
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Posted in Paris Marathon, marathon, training
Tags: Friday, interval run, mp3, mp3 player, pain, Paris Marathon 2009, Thursday
I was not impressed with Thursdays’ run. I don’t know what made it run so hard on my feet, but it wasn’t pleasant. By the end of it my feet were killing me. Usually I don’t get such bad foot pain after a run, but today was an obvious exception.
On Friday I did my usual interval run. I wasn’t looking forward to running five miles, then doing 6×30 second intervals, but somehow I managed to drag myself out of bed at 5:20am to do it. I was in a bit of a bad mood as well as I managed to drop my MP3 player before I left the house, so I couldn’t take that with me because it started acting strange.
I needn’t have been so pessimistic however. The foot pain which had dogged me on Thursday was barely noticeable this time around and after running my five miles at easy pace, I didn’t feel half as tired as I thought I would, or as I was on yesterdays’ run. Which gave me more than enough energy to complete my interval session without any fuss.
Posted December 19th, 2008 by Simon
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Posted in Dublin Marathon, marathon
Tags: Dublin, Dublin Marathon, Dublin Marathon 2008, Edinburgh Marathon 2008, energy stations, exhaustion, pain, the big one, the finish, water stations
As I gradually slowed down, the mile markers came slower and slower. I was still confident I could make my target time, though I realised that it would be close. Any thoughts of a faster time than that evaporated.
Running on what dwindling dregs of energy I had remaining, I made it to the next water and energy station between miles twenty and twenty-one. By now I was close to hitting the wall. I took on two bottles of water at this station, because I felt like I desperately needed it. This station was also giving out small packs of gummy sweets, so I took a pack for energy and as a distraction. I also took two bottles of water; I drank one straight away and held onto the other one to drink between now and the next water station. The fact I felt I needed to take on extra water in between stations was an indication of my condition at this point.
From that water station on Fosters Avenue, it was a short distance to the next turn left onto Stillorgan Road. Stillorgan Road is a major artery into the city, with two lanes in either direction, so once again I was unnerved by the roar of passing traffic. The marathon only followed that for a short while before it followed the slip road onto a flyover. I ate some of my gummy sweets at this point to try and distract me again, but it wasn’t really working. I did feel strange again running up a road where usually I’d be run over in a second.
On the bridge crossing over Stillorgan Road, there was a St John Ambulance station offering Vaseline, but I was already greased up enough. The marathon followed the slip road back down onto Stillorgan Road but I didn’t feel quite as disconcerted running on a main road this time, possibly because I was so tired and possibly because the traffic was coming towards me, rather than from behind me.
The next milestone was a water station on Nutley Road. I needed water and a toilet break, but I really didn’t want to stop, because I knew it would be extremely difficult to get started again. At this point I noticed the first rumblings in my stomach and bowels. All was not well down there, but I wouldn’t really find out about that until after the race.
Like I thought, I was in such pain, that I didn’t start running again immediately after leaving the toilet. I took a short walking start, turning the corner onto Merrion Road, then, to the shouts of encouragement from bystanders, I pushed myself into starting running again. I wasn’t tempted to take a longer walking break because I knew if I did, it would slow me down overall so much I would probably not be able to make my target time.
Whilst I was running the marathon, I didn’t take much notice of what road I was on, I just followed the markers which indicated the direction of the route. I believed that concentrating on running the marathon and monitoring my own condition was more important than precisely knowing the route. However, the disadvantage of this approach was that I was unaware of just how close I was to the city centre and thus the finish line. Had I known that, It would have been a fantastic boost. What it did mean however was that the marathon was working it’s way back north towards the city centre and the finish.
Merrion Road seemed unending. It was partly due to the fact I was so tired and in so much pain and also, like Crumlin Road earlier on, it was just a long, boring stretch of road to run along. I continually asked myself, “We must be getting close to the city centre by now”, but still the surroundings told me we were still in the suburbs and (I presumed) nowhere near the centre. I didn’t really realise that the marathon was closer to the centre than I thought until it turned onto Shelbourne Road. The road was lined with fewer trees, there were more shops on each side of the road and it was clear we were leaving the leafy suburbs behind.
Running along Shelbourne Road, I felt a small boost from knowing that we were definitely getting closer to the city centre. The closer the marathon came to the centre, the busier the streets became and the more the atmosphere changed to that of a bustling city centre.At about mile twenty-four, Shelbourne Road led onto Grand Canal Street, which led the marathon into the city centre, at last.
At the last water station, I grabbed a last bottle of water, but I think my body had had just about enough water as it could take, so I kept the bottle to sip along the last mile. A mile later, at the twenty-five mile marker, I passed Hollies Street, which I had run down some five hours earlier. I was so lost in concentration that I didn’t even notice that I was retracing steps from that morning.
I did have enough presence of mind, however, to look out for my support team. We had arranged to rendez-vous around the twenty-five mile marker on Fenian Street, so I was trying to keep a look out whilst not looking too far ahead. In the latter stages of the marathon when it was painful, I ran looking straight down at the road, because looking ahead I would feel overwhelmed by the remaining distance and get an unbearable urge to stop and start walking.
Running up Fenian Place, I caught sight of them lined up across the wide road. They all fiddled with their cameras and cheered me on. This was a massive boost as I was really feeling a bit low at this point. Catching up with them also meant that I was tangibly close to the finish line. Whilst they had a five-minute walk down Merrion Street to the finish, I still had a gruelling mile and 385 yards to run before I would allow myself to stop.
The marathon turned right onto Westland Street then left onto Pearse Street, which now seemed vaguely familiar from this morning. When the route curved around the grounds of Trinity College, I began to feel the worst effects of my last-mile push. I developed a throbbing headache which made my temples pound. I really just wanted to stop and collapse, just to give my feet and muscles a break from the constant pain.
There was a slight gradient on Grafton Street, but I was so tired and in so much pain it took a disproportionate amount of effort to get to the top and turn left onto Nassau Street. I knew I was so close to the finish now, but this street was deceptively long. Not just that, but my stomach trouble from earlier returned with that headache. I felt like the water was drinking may have been adding to the problem, so I threw away the half-full bottle and just kept running. Just before the final turn onto Merrion Square West, I had some stomach cramps, which would usually have stopped me from running, but I decided that being so close to the finish, I would just try and ignore them and deal with them after the finish.
I turned the corner and headed for the finish. Right up until a few metres from the finish line, I was scanning the crowds for my support crew and trying to get myself in a good position for the finish-line photographs they would be taking.
A few metres from the finish line, I looked at the clock on the timing gantry and it was ticking close to my target, so I mustered an absolute, desperate, last-minute dash across the line. I would have been gutted to find out, after all that effort, that I missed my target by such a close margin, but I needn’t have worried. I crossed the line as the clock struck exactly 5h30m00s.
As soon as I crossed the line I stopped running and started walking. I noticed immediately how soon I cooled down and I noticed again how cold it was. The worst thing I could have done at this point would have been to stop or collapse from exhaustion, not least because it would have been an obstruction but mainly because my muscles would have locked up and I probably wouldn’t be able to move at all.
I moved through the finisher processing on Merrion Square South, posing for my finisher photograph and then picked up my finisher’s goodie bag. Then it was time to attend to my stomach trouble. I think I may have drunk too much water during the marathon, which is what I suspect gave me the headache and stomach cramps, unlike Edinburgh where I felt I drank too little.
A good fifteen minutes later I left the finisher’s processing area and rejoined my support crew. They took some more photographs, then we decided to walk back to the hotel. Walking back along Clare Street, watching the rest of the runners finish, we saw the pint of Guinness pass us by. As for the Toucan, he and the pint became separated and the Toucan finished in a respectable sub-four hour time. Later I read that the man in the Toucan outfit was none other than the heir to the Guinness brewery fortune and the pint was his friend. Which is nice.
A few days later the official chip times were released which stated that I had met my target by completing the marathon in a time of 5h27m47s. I’m very pleased with that. It is also exactly one hour and one second faster than my previous personal best, set in Edinburgh.
Without doubt, the Dublin Marathon was one of the best, most enjoyable things I’ve ever done. It is the best marathon I’ve ever run, in terms of time and strategy. More than that, however, was the atmosphere. Dublin is called the “Friendly marathon” and after running it, I can definitely see why. At every stage of the race, there was always someone prepared to shout some words of encouragement, even if it was just someone who was passing by.
I was so impressed by the marathon and I enjoyed it so much that I think I may do it again next year. Perhaps I might even try to break my PB again.
If you’re wondering about doing a marathon, just get out there and start training. The high for me didn’t come until a day or two afterwards, after my achievement sank in, but when it does, it’s an incredible feeling.
Posted November 16th, 2008 by Simon
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Posted in Dublin Marathon, marathon
Tags: Crumlin, Dublin, Dublin Marathon, Dublin Marathon 2008, energy gels, energy stations, exhaustion, half-marathon, Merrion, Milltown, pain, Terenure, the big one, Walkinstown, water stations
Miles fourteen – eighteen were probably the highlight of this marathon. The running was mainly through pleasant tree-lined suburbs with plenty of supporters and onlookers. I was pleased to see how some Dubliners had taken the spirit of the day to their hearts and made the event into a kind of street party, bringing their hi-fis out into the street and pumping out “motivational” songs like Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger.
Another person further along had done the same thing but he was playing some rousing classical piece which I didn’t recognise.
Passing the water station at mile fifteen felt like a proud moment. even though I felt a bit tired, I still felt like I was powering through the miles and the more I compared my performance to Edinburgh, the better I felt.
Running down Kimmage Road West, the Toucan and the pint of Guinness caught up with me. The toucan appeared to be in fine shape, but the pint of Guinness was looking a little more worse for wear. Taking a sharp right-turn onto Fortfield Road, the toucan overtook me and charged off. “We’ve been overtaken by a toucan!”, another runner quipped. The pint of Guinness fell behind me again though and I didn’t see him again until I was walking back along the finish line.
The marathon reached it’s most southerly point at the bottom of Fortfield Road, then took another sharp turn onto Templeogue Road. This was another rather nice section of the race, running through plenty of greenery opposite Terenure College. I had been taking my energy gels regularly and so far all that training I had done was paying off in spades. However, the furthest I had ever run in my training was fifteen miles, which I passed on Fortfield Road. I was into unknown territory here.
Between miles sixteen and seventeen, I started to get a nervous, empty feeling. It was basically my stomach telling me that I was running out of energy. I felt like I was free-wheeling, running on empty, until the next water station. What I needed was to take on more energy, but I was still a fair way from the next water and energy station.
It wasn’t until I was half-way down Milltown Road on mile eighteen that I got to the energy and water station.I didn’t realise how tired I was until I slowed down to pick up some water. Since they were also giving out energy drinks here, I decided to take one of those too. I had my hands full trying to take my energy gel whilst also holding onto two bottles, but eventually ate and drank them all.
From here the hard slog began. From this point I felt like I was really flagging and my tiredness seemed to be washing over me like waves. It was relentless. I knew I couldn’t just run through this like earlier though because I didn’t feel like I had the extra energy to give. There was nothing left over, none to spare. I felt like I had just enough to get my round. The relative “easiness” (and I do mean relative, because marathon running can never be described as easy) of the past couple of miles was a thing of the past.
From here on, it just got harder and harder and harder. I only had six miles to go, which was a standard easy distance during training, but now it seemed like someone had asked me to run another thousand miles. My feet were starting to burn and my leg muscles were starting to ache so badly it was difficult to distract myself from the pain. I couldn’t ignore it by eating sweets or anything else, it was a constant reminder, always there, nagging me.
The worst thing of all was that I knew none of this would be getting any better until way beyond the finish line. I was actively punishing my body, pushing it beyond its limits and it wouldn’t let me forget it until at least a few days after the marathon.
Posted November 16th, 2008 by Simon
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Posted in Dublin Marathon, marathon
Tags: 13.1 miles, 8 miles, Chapelizod, Dublin, Dublin Marathon 2008, Edinburgh Marathon, energy drinks, energy gels, Inchicore, mobile phone, pain, River Liffey, tired, tiredness, Walkinstown, water stations
I was a little disappointed as the marathon left Phoenix Park. It was very pleasant to run through the greenery of the park in mid-autumn just as the sun was coming out. There was another water station here which I availed myself of, then I noticed they were giving out larger bottles of energy drink as well, so, in a rather decadent move, I threw away my bottle of water without even opening it and just drank the energy drink instead. I decided not to have one of my energy gels as well, as I thought the energy drink would be enough and I didn’t think I needed it either. Looking back, I think I was a bit over-confident here. I also decided to take a toilet break here as I really needed it. There would be no urinating in the street for me.
Running down Chapelizod Road, the route crossed the River Liffey again then took a sharp turn left onto St Laurences Road. There was a slight incline, which I took in my stride, almost not noticing it. That can’t be said of the hill that greeted me after running underneath the Chapelizod Bypass and seeing it in front of me was a little daunting at first, but I just ploughed into it and climbed it as a matter of course.
The next three miles took the marathon back east and steadily southwards. I was still a little unsure about speeding up to my “normal” pace, but I felt that, running between miles nine and ten, It was high time to really start running this marathon like I meant it.
My Edinburgh Marathon experience meant I was fully expecting to start tiring around this point and I thought this hill would be a precursor to that. Fortunately, it didn’t tire me out or come anywhere close. In fact I was feeling so good at this point, I didn’t want to admit it to myself, lest I somehow jinx it. I was rewarded at the top of that hill with the nine-mile marker.
At this point in the race it was just a case of putting the miles in. It did cross my mind “who would ever voluntarily run a marathon?” and I suppose the answer is it takes a certain type of madness. Not just to do it the first time, but to enjoy it so much to do another! I was going at a steady pace and I felt like I had more than enough energy to get me through, so my confidence was steadily increasing. The subtle mile markers caught me out again as I missed the eleven-mile marker, which was annoying. Instead I just had to guess at my true pace. This also had the psychological effect of feeling that miles ten and eleven were longer than mile nine, because I didn’t have an accurate idea of where one started and the other finished.
It was during these core few miles that I experienced the best that Dublin hospitality has to offer (at least when running a marathon). There were plenty of bystanders and supporters, spread out all along the route, clapping us runners along. Some even offered sweets like jelly babies (extra sugar = extra energy). It was little things like that which told me why this marathon was called “the friendly marathon”.
The route then turned onto the busy Crumlin Road. Running down this road I felt a bit exposed as only the right-hand side of the road was closed to traffic and there was plenty of that coming down in the opposite direction. It was nowhere near me, this being a very wide artery into the city, but running like this on main roads always unnerves me.
Another thing which didn’t bode well was that I started to feel the first twinges of pain start to come through in my legs and feet. I was feeling so good about my progress however, that I confidently ran through it and just ignored it. A kind woman on the side of the road was offering boiled sweets and she gave me the last ones she had. They helped as a distraction, both from the pain and also from the boredom of running along this rather long uninteresting stretch of road. I ate one and stashed the rest in my arm-wallet for later.
At mile twelve there was another water station, which was also offering energy drinks, so I decided to take both, because I felt like I needed it. I felt much thirstier than when I left the last water station outside Chapelizod Gate. one thing that particularly annoyed me at this point was that my mobile, which I was using as a stopwatch, started complaining about a low battery. I knew from experience that it was only a matter of time before it died on me. The only way to complete the distance with enough battery power and to keep my mobile usable was to stop using it as a stopwatch. This really annoyed me, because now I had no precise means of measuring my pace – just rough calculations in my head.
What must have been a good half-mile after, the route finally took me off Crumlin Road onto the much quieter surroundings of Walkinstown Road. This change in direction also signalled the half-way point of the marathon: 13.1 miles. Everyone was congratulating the runners on reaching the half-way point, but I was more impressed by the fact I was only just starting to feel tired. The next couple of miles would be some of the best and most challenging I’ve ever run in a marathon.
Posted November 11th, 2008 by Simon
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Posted in Dublin Marathon, North Bay, Scarborough, South Bay, marathon, training
Tags: 11 miles, aches, agony, Dublin Marathon, energy gels, exhaustion, headland, marathon, North Bay, pain, pains, Peasholm Glen, Peasholm Park, Sea Life Centre, six miles, South Bay, The Royal, tiredness, training
That might seem a tad over-dramatic now, but I assure you my Tuesday training run was, literally, agonising. After a days rest from my Sunday long run (of 11 miles), I began the weekday schedule by doing the usual six miles. The first mile was hard, but then it always is, as my muscles warm up to optimal operating conditons.
Then the second mile was just as hard. Usually, it gets a little easier, the aches and pains wear off and I can concentrate on running the distance. Not today. It just got harder and harder. I was running my normal route of going round the headland, around the South Bay, back around the headland and along the North Bay and through the parks. When I reached the Sea Life Centre, I almost stopped as I turned around to head towards Peasholm Park, but I knew that if I stopped it would be twice as hard (and painful) to get going again.
So I struggled on, plodding away trying to ignore my aching leg muscles. By the time I was a short distance into the Peasholm Park leg, on the final mile of my route, I gave in and started walking instead. It wasn’t just my legs that were being tortured – my feet were on fire!
From there I walked the rest of the route. As I emerged from Peasholm Glen, I was started by a tremendous BANG! from the other side of the lake. It took me a few moments to realise that it was a television crew who were filming an episode of The Royal.
The exhaustion of this run has once again made my doubt my ability to run the marathon in my target time of 5h30m and rudely reminded me of just how hard and difficult running a marathon is.
Posted October 2nd, 2008 by Simon
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Posted in Edinburgh Marathon, marathon
Tags: Cockenzie, Edinburgh Marathon, energy, exhaustion, Longniddry, pain, Port Seton, Prestonpans, the big one, tiredness
At mile sixteen, the prospect of still having ten miles left to run was crushing. The marathon seemed to be entering the hardest part now as well – We had passed the cheering crowds, so no support from them, the main body of runners had passed, which left me alone, strung between one or two runners ten minutes in front or behind. A right turn at Longniddry played a cruel trick on me, as I thought this was the point where we could turn round and head for home. However, it was just a detour. The course continued along the quiet stretch of country road gradually climbing towards Gosford House. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted May 29th, 2008 by Simon
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Posted in Edinburgh Marathon, Scarborough, marathon, training
Tags: 11.5 miles, Edinburgh Marathon, Effort, energy gels, exhaustion, marathon, pain, Scarborough, tapering, training
It’s been a while since I posted but I’m back. I’ve been very busy recently and haven’t had much energy to do anything extra-curricular. The main news is that last sunday I reached the high-watermark of my training. I completed an 11.5 mile run around (and on the outskirts) of Scarborough and it was remarkably tough. It was the longest I’ve ever run so far and was also the hardest training run I’ve ever done as well.
I was supposed to have run a half-marathon by this point, but that cold I had a few weeks back has robbed me of two weeks of my schedule. However, 11 miles is only 1.5 miles away from half-marathon distance, so it’s not like I’m drastically under-prepared. My main concern is that the level of fitness I have attained by now is what I will be starting the marathon with. There are no more longer runs planned in my training schedule; Now the focus is on tapering, gradually winding down and scaling back to build up a reserve of energy.
This has also brought me to a realisation that my initial estimate of completing the marathon within 5h – 5h30m is looking too optimistic. I think a more accurate target would be around 6h – 6h30m and I think a lot of that time will be eaten up by having regular walking breaks. Trying to run an entire marathon non-stop seems to be something I will have to look forward to in the future, my priority in this race will just be to get around.
To try and mitigate the point where I will eventually hit the wall, I plan to take full advantage of the drinks stations along the marathon route and i am working on a plan to see how they fit in with my training at the moment. The only thing I can be sure of at the moment is that running this marathon is going to be a gruelling achievement.
Posted May 8th, 2008 by Simon
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