Day 4 Starting to feel the strain

Today's run: Evening - Long(er), slow(er) and steady - pavement - 8.12km - 42.33mins

First off I must say I am loving this runstreak at the moment! Although I am only just starting off I am really enjoying the continued focus of running everyday and it is having a great affect on my running and I am probably enjoying my running as much if not moret han ever!

Today's run I was expecting to be tough after yesterdays morning run and evening boot camp session but in actual fact it wasn't too bad at all. 

Although I felt a bit stiff this morning I felt I had recovered well from yesterdays exertions. The double session yesterday definitely made me feel the strain, the early morning run was a drain having to run so early in the morning and my energy for the evening boot camp session was pretty drained. 

Boot camp last night consisted of a lot of skipping, I am not a great fan nor actually a great skipper. Although it is a great cardio exercise I unfortunately do not possess the right levels of coordination for it to be a particularly effective exercise and I tend to usually both look and feel like a hyperactive spider in a constant state of half running, half falling in a perpetual cycle of almost tripping over all of his legs. 

The main circuits of last nights training was a split circuit of two sections, firstly using an exercise step, 30 seconds of tappers, bomb jumps and side lunges (all leg intensive exercises designed to build dynamic power) followed by alternate skipping sets repeated 4 times. The second circuit was then again using the exercise step this time a combination of 30 seconds of incline pressups, tricep dips and decline pressups again intersected with skipping and again repeated 4 times. 

So all in all 8 sections of skipping! I was sick of holding the damn skipping rope come the end!

My energy levels particularly in my legs were clearly diminished on my usual performance and I could feel my legs at times just not having anything left to give. I know its all good as pushing tired legs to keep going when they have had enough will only make them stronger. 

I started off aiming to progress slow and steadily but soon warmed up nicely and felt stronger as the run went on. 

My route was planned to take me around 7 or 8km and in the end I completed 8.12km with a decent pace of just over 5 minutes per km with a strong and fast finish.

As well as the obvious physical challenges running for so many consecutive days posses there are also the more practical implications such as needing a high amount of kit.

Earlier this week I was forced into doing an emergency batch of washing made up almost entirely of running socks! Almost 50 socks all washed and ready to wear most of which to be fair have seen better days!

So thats day 4 done and I am already feeling the benefits of my more intense training as I feel stronger, faster and fitter.

Big toe injury update

A nightmare I am sure most of you have experienced at some point, an injury in a build up to a big event. It’s a pretty dismal time especially when there is uncertainty of the severity of the injury and what affect it us going to have on your running from one day to the next.

On Sunday I was due to run around 30K as one of the three big long runs I had scheduled into my training plan. I was really geared up for it and eager to see how I coped with the increased distance as my previous long runs have been between 22-25K. The run was also pretty imperative as I had missed my previously scheduled longer run due to illness. I was also planning to practice my race strategy, my pre-race preparation as well as trying out my new hydration pack for the first time.

Disappointingly I only managed 3.5K (run report here) as pain struck in my big right toe.

I instead took my bike out for a spin and covered a similar 30K distance on my wheels instead. 

Sunday was spent trying to RICE as much as possible and I am hopeful this will have a positive affect.

Monday and Tuesday I then decided would have to be non-running days, two days is usually long enough to assess your injury and rest a minor ailment and I could then figure out how the injury would affect my training plan so I could adapt accordingly. 

So Monday and Tuesday I hit the gym for cardio and circuits in the mornings as well as going out on my bike again in the evening. 

I also continued to ice my foot and created myself a little ice bath.

I tried researching my injury and came up with the liklihoods of it being sesanoiditis or possibly a small fracture to a metatarsal or even a tendon strain. (If anyone has experienced any of these injuries or has any advice on my injury I would be grateful to hear your experiences.)

Wednesday it felt somewhat better and I also decided to take some ibuprofen to help with the pain and hopefully help heal the injury. I was reluctant to take any painkiller as I hadn't taken any for a running related ailment in a long time following a realisation I had become a little bit too dependent on painkillers (you can read the article here). 

Anyway Wednesday I felt alot better and managed to complete a breezy 10K in 50 minutes with no pain. 

Thursday though the pain returned and my strategy now turned to resting the injury as much as possible in the hope of still being able to make a long run on Sunday. 

Not running in Thursday evening proved benefical as I was able to do some much needed maintenance on my bike and was able to successfully adjust my rear derailleur to give me a full range of gears again, I was pretty pleased with myself on this achievement! 

Not running on Thursday, Friday or Saturday is not going to limit my marathon run too much but missing my third scheduled long definitely will.

So fingers crossed I can complete a good long run on Sunday and coupled with some gym and circuit work on Friday and Saturday I will still have kept in good shape.

Boot camp cardio circuit workout

I thought I would share the main part of the workout from my boot camp session last night as I loved it so much! 

It was a great session for working on cardio fitness and will have real benefits on my running as it worked on leg strength and speed.

On top of these circuits outlined below we did a full warm up routine to start, a pyramid circuit of press ups, dips and crunches as well as a plank/ab session to finish with.

Hope this article gives you some ideas and motivation for your own workouts. I have included descriptions and video links for all the exercise but I am sure you will be familiar with most of them if you have done any kind of circuit training or boot camp before. 

Cardio circuit – all for 1 minute with a quick changeover into the next exercise

Jumping jacks/starjumps 

High Knees – jogging on the spot bringing your knees up in front of you to around waste height. 

Fly jacks – The same as jumping jacks but instead complete a 'fly' or 'chest press' movement with your arms to work your chest muscles. 

Bum kicks – jogging on the spot with your legs coming up behind you with your heels trying to touch your bum. 

Jumping jacks

Mountain climbers – in a high plank/press up position, keeping your hips low drive your legs one at a time forward towards your chest keeping your abs contracted, think high knee movement with your legs. 

Fly jacks

Twisted mountain climbers – The same as mountain climbers but this time twisting the knee of the leg you are driving forward towards the opposite arm working your oblique and side muscles. 

Jumping jacks

And rest! 
________________________________________________________________________

Running circuit

Run x 1 minute

Kettle bell full body squats x 1 minute – Gripping a kettle bell to your chest squat all the way down, as you come back to a standing position thrust the kettle bell upwards above your head extending your arms.

X2

Run x 1 minute
Kettle bell lunge x 1 minute -  Gripping a kettle bell to your chest squat, complete lunges with alternate legs keeping the kettle bell still and firm in your grip. 
x2

Run x 1 minute

Kettle bell rockets x 1 minute – Again gripping the kettle bell to your chest squat down and as you get to the bottom of your squat drive upwards jumping vertically off the ground.

x2

Twosday Training

I have started upping my training by doubling up a few days a week to training in the morning and evening.

Tuesdays sessions yesterday were great.

1st morning session

In the morning I went to the gym before work and did a bit of cardio mixed up with a little weights circuit and a quick abs blast.

For cardio I did a couple minutes warm up on the xtrainer, 30 stroke sprints on the rower and 10 minutes pushing as hard as I could on the bike.

I then put together a couple of upper body free weight exercises and did three circuits.

For abs I did the same 5 different exercises done 3 times each.

I then finished off with a cool down and stretch.

Needless to say this all left me feeling really pumped and energized for my day ahead.

2nd evening session

My evening session I had planned to be a sprint session. I don't look forward to these and generally don't do enough of these in my training I think because they are hard and they hurt! 

To start I did a 3.5K warm up jog at a gentle pace.

Then on a bit of grass I marked out around 50-60m and did the following drill x2:

30 star jumps

50m sprint

50 rep lunge walk

50m high knees

50m bum kicks

30 star jumps

These were all interspersed with a 50m jog back to the start.

I am planning to get back into doing some interval work on the treadmill but I am loving training outside so much.

This is the view I had while training:

One side:

And this was my impressive back drop:

Pretty impressive isn't it? Much better scenery than most gyms I am sure you will agree?!