16 of 16: Now

Melbourne Marathon 2015 - Week 16 of 16

And so it is race week. My whole year has been working towards this week and the race which caps it off. I've dreamed, I've planned, I've sweated. I've given it everything. And in the last few weeks I've battled a hamstring tendon injury which has threatened to unravel all of this hard work. The time is now. All that matters is what I do now. It all comes down to now.

Tuesday 13 October

Tonight I went to see Rob for my last physio session and he taped up my hammy to try to lift the pressure off it. It felt a bit like getting a butt-lift with some tape and felt completely weird. After this, as it is daylight savings and was a lovely night, I went for a 5k run around home.

This was my best run in ages. I'm clearly not nearly 100% but I could run semi-comfortably at about 4.37 pace, including a couple of km's at 4.33. This was the fastest speed run I've done in weeks and was a bit of a confidence boost!

Thursday 15 October

This final short run has usually been a bit of a celebration, the pace and distance being neither long enough or hard enough to cause any kind of stress. Today, as with most of the last few weeks, it as been another test. A time to see how my hamstring is repairing itself and trying to work out what kind of race I can expect.

After Tuesday's reasonably good run I was optimistic here for another good one. The weather was quite warm (over 30 degrees) and it was a bit windy. My hammy had not felt great all day and I ran accordingly. It was not as fast or as comfortable as Tuesday night and I finished this 5k with a slow 5 min last kilo up the small bridge where on Sunday we will begin the race.


Training Program:
Full session details for my whole training plan here.

Strava links for the week:
Tuesday - Steady As She Goes 5k @4.37; good run after physio
Thursday - One Last Run 5k @4.46; last run - hot

Summary:
Week 16 of 16 (this week): 2 runs, 10.0 km, 0:47 hrs
Week 15 of 16: 3 runs, 27.5 km, 2:18 hrs
Week 14 of 16: 2 runs, 31.6 km, 2:47 hrs
Week 13 of 16: 5 runs, 58.9 km, 4:55 hrs
Week 12 of 16: 5 runs, 65.1 km, 5:19 hrs
Week 11 of 16: 6 runs, 76.1 km, 6:58 hrs
Week 10 of 16: 4 runs, 48.8 km, 3:57 hrs
Week 9 of 16: 5 runs, 65.2 km, 5:30 hrs
Week 8 of 16: 4 runs, 59.0 km, 4:57 hrs
Week 7 of 16: 5 runs, 55.9 km, 4:35 hrs
Week 6 of 16: 4 runs, 44.1 km, 3:31 hrs
Week 5 of 16: 4 runs, 53.3 km, 4:21 hrs
Week 4 of 16: 5 runs, 65.8 km, 5:38 hrs
Week 3 of 16: 4 runs, 58.3 km, 4:46 hrs
Week 2 of 16: 4 runs, 52.4 km, 4:30 hrs
Week 1 of 16: 4 runs, 50.1 km, 4:11 hrs
Total: 66 runs, 812.8 km, 69:07 hrs

15 of 16: Hang On

Melbourne Marathon 2015 - Week 15 of 16

After a reasonably disastrous last ten days I am just trying to get everything together before race day. I was back at the physio on Tuesday and am on a regime of exercises and light running only. My assessment is that running long or hard causes pain and break down, so I'll keep it to 5-10k runs only at an easy 5m/k+ pace. I just need to hang on and hope that i can give it one incredible effort during the race. I'm not sure that hanging on is the same thing as 'peaking' but this campaign has been reduced to this. Que sera, sera.

Wednesday 7 October

With easy running only on the plan I gave Tuesday's session a complete miss and so started off with Nike Run Club as my first outing this week. I asked to go into a shorter and slower group so was pacing a 5k team at 5.30 pace with one of our new leaders, a young Canadian guy, Jeff. With daylight savings upon us it was fantastic as we could see our whole way around and were able to stop wherever we wanted for our team photo!

Onto more important matters, with an easy pace my hamstring had no concerns. To be honest, this was as good as it has felt on a run since the injury. That said, this was the slowest pace I've run at since then too. But I was hanging on. And it felt ok, so that's encouraging!

Friday 9 October

Another cracking day in Melbourne and a perfect afternoon for running. Today, as with all my runs at the moment, I am not following my original plan and am instead running pretty easy, just trying to keep the legs ticking over without causing undue stress on my hamstring. I did a 7k run which took in just over 5k of the marathon course - the bit around the Tan deep into the race where it starts to get really tough.

The first kilometre was uncomfortable as my body sorted itself out. The little niggles took a bit to settle down, but I was into a rhythm after a mile or so. After this I turned left onto Alexandra Avenue and onto the marathon course.

I felt ok - not bad, not brilliant. The hamstring was noticeable, but not very bad. Of course, I wasn't stretching it out at all so I expected good-ness! I made the decision to test it out just a little on the run down Domain Road and for a kilometre I upped the pace from 5.10's to 4.40. Thankfully everything felt good, but after less than five minutes I reverted to my slower pace to see out the run back around onto Flinders Street.

So a good run done, with a little mini-test, and I passed. Of course, this is a long way from running 42 km's at a pace faster than this little test but it's a start!

Sunday 11 October

Today was my last chance to get in a decent long run prior to the marathon next weekend. It's a distance and pace (16k @4.30) that I have run many times during this preparation, but obviously with my hamstring still misbehaving, today I had quite different aspirations. All I hoped for was a run relatively free of pain, at a sub-5 min pace with hopefully a few kilometres in there at close to race pace.

I set off in the afternoon from Elwood at the bottom end of the marathon course. It was sunny and a south-west wind greeted me, meaning mostly tailwind. The first four km's were quite fast (relatively) with 4.36, 37, 40 & 40. The fifth km along Fitzroy St up the small incline was only slightly slower (4.44), so I went through 5k with an average pace of just under 4.40. This is not fast by any stretch but it is better than I have run in the last couple of weeks and I was pretty pleased.

After a pair of 4.41's a combination of not wanting to push it too much as well as some general hamstring tiredness caused me to slow up and I completed the back 8k of this run at only 4.59 pace. This included the harder section around the Shrine and some slower parts through Southbank and to Port Melbourne with a headwind. I finished the 15.6k at a 4.50 average pace which is my fastest in some weeks.

That I am writing about split times at all says that this was a good run. I was conscious that after about 1h15m my hamstring has become quite fatigued the last couple of weeks so I wanted to keep to no longer than this time. I got to test out a little pace and it wasn't too bad. This is not the run I would have expected a month ago, but it is a run that I am now happy with.

I am keeping optimistic that with another week of rehab and easy running, on race day it will be even better!


Training Program:
Full session details for my whole training plan here.

Strava links for the week:
Wednesday - Nike Run Club 4.9k @5.29; easy run
Friday - Mara-Easy 7k @5.10; easy run with one faster km
Sunday - Last Chance Saloon 15.6k @4.50; ok run over part of marathon course

Summary:
Week 15 of 16 (this week): 3 runs, 27.5 km, 2:18 hrs
Week 14 of 16: 2 runs, 31.6 km, 2:47 hrs
Week 13 of 16: 5 runs, 58.9 km, 4:55 hrs
Week 12 of 16: 5 runs, 65.1 km, 5:19 hrs
Week 11 of 16: 6 runs, 76.1 km, 6:58 hrs
Week 10 of 16: 4 runs, 48.8 km, 3:57 hrs
Week 9 of 16: 5 runs, 65.2 km, 5:30 hrs
Week 8 of 16: 4 runs, 59.0 km, 4:57 hrs
Week 7 of 16: 5 runs, 55.9 km, 4:35 hrs
Week 6 of 16: 4 runs, 44.1 km, 3:31 hrs
Week 5 of 16: 4 runs, 53.3 km, 4:21 hrs
Week 4 of 16: 5 runs, 65.8 km, 5:38 hrs
Week 3 of 16: 4 runs, 58.3 km, 4:46 hrs
Week 2 of 16: 4 runs, 52.4 km, 4:30 hrs
Week 1 of 16: 4 runs, 50.1 km, 4:11 hrs
Total: 64 runs, 811.8 km, 68:19 hrs

14 of 16: Get Healthy

Melbourne Marathon 2015 - Week 14 of 16

I am into my taper now and my focus for this week is stunningly simple - get healthy! On Monday morning it was off to the physio, my very good friend Rob O'Donnell at Southern Suburbs Physio Centre who suspects I may have a case of hamstring tendinopathy. He is optimistic and so am I. He has me doing a series of back arches, a bridge and self massage (to 'annoy the tendon') and we'll see later this week how I am going.

Importantly, there is no running until Thursday when I am permitted only to do an easy effort. So this means the Tuesday interval session is out as is Nike Run Club, which will be the first Wednesday I have missed since I began last April. I'm actually pretty sad about that but it is the right thing to do. If I am lucky then I may be back running ok by the weekend. At least that's my plan!

Thursday 1 October

I have rarely been as nervous ahead of a run as I was today. After doing my exercises and NO RUNNING for three days I was desperately keen to see if the rest and treatment was working. No matter f this was having a positive effect or not I knew I'd be apprehensive. I was under strict instructions to run only at an easy pace, so for me I decided that meant do my usual 10k route at just over 5m/k.

My first steps out of the office building were tentative. I wanted to run but I didn't want to run. Maybe knowing would be worse than not knowing .... I took it very easy and it felt ok. I could still feel the twinge, though it was nothing like on the weekend. Of course, after being home yesterday and spending a part of the morning weeding and cleaning (ie, doing lots of squats) I was actually a little sore from that and so found it hard to work out what was causing the sensations.

But it was positive. Certainly an improvement. A couple of times I resisted the temptation to stride out just to see if I could. I'll leave that for the weekend. I remain optimistic that magician-Rob will sort me out. He's good like that. Tomorrow morning - a public holiday here in Melbourne - he will see me again. More good stuff.

I'm looking forward to the weekend run and hopefully being able to stride out again! (Now, if I could just rid myself of this chest infection I've picked up from my family!!!)

Sunday 4 October

Only two runs this week and I had very high hopes for this one. After some rest, exercises, good treatment and promising signs on Thursday I was optimistic that I might be able to run at or very close to my target pace of 4.30 for this half marathon effort today.

It was the start of daylight savings and with a good night's sleep I got out at just after 7am while it was not too warm and the wind was calm!

As has been the case with this injury, I tend to know fairly quickly what kind of run it will be. Unfortunately today the sensations were not good at all. Oddly enough, at first the pain was around on the upper front of my left thigh - not at the back in the hamstring. Go figure! A few times in the first kilometre my leg almost buckled underneath me and I crawled a 5.23 to being with. I kept going, hoping that it work work itself out. After all, last Thursday I had run and felt much better than this.

I gradually tried to pick up the pace on the slow incline up East Boundary Road, covering the next three k's in 4.57, 4.50 and 4.38. My form felt ragged and it was not easy but I wanted to get down to something like my target pace. But it quickly faded and I slowed to near 5 m/k pace then to 5.10's and by 14k I was shot.

It was as if my right hamstring was out in sympathy with the left. I had absolutely no drive through there and it became a struggle just to put one foot in front of the other. The journey up South Rd was horrific, no quicker than my super long and hot 37k run a few weeks back if I allow for time at lights.

This is so upsetting. I wish that the race had been two weeks ago when I was in great form and feeling wonderful. Now I'm just a bit of a physical wreck and, to be honest, am not quite sure how to get right. My goals have rapidly slipped away and I'm staring at just my final goal - finish - to motivate me now!


Training Program:
Full session details for my whole training plan here.

Strava links for the week:
Thursday - Tentative Steps 10.4k @5.08; easy run
Sunday - Going Backwards 21.2k @5.22; very sad run

Summary:
Week 14 of 16 (this week): 2 runs, 31.6 km, 2:47 hrs
Week 13 of 16: 5 runs, 58.9 km, 4:55 hrs
Week 12 of 16: 5 runs, 65.1 km, 5:19 hrs
Week 11 of 16: 6 runs, 76.1 km, 6:58 hrs
Week 10 of 16: 4 runs, 48.8 km, 3:57 hrs
Week 9 of 16: 5 runs, 65.2 km, 5:30 hrs
Week 8 of 16: 4 runs, 59.0 km, 4:57 hrs
Week 7 of 16: 5 runs, 55.9 km, 4:35 hrs
Week 6 of 16: 4 runs, 44.1 km, 3:31 hrs
Week 5 of 16: 4 runs, 53.3 km, 4:21 hrs
Week 4 of 16: 5 runs, 65.8 km, 5:38 hrs
Week 3 of 16: 4 runs, 58.3 km, 4:46 hrs
Week 2 of 16: 4 runs, 52.4 km, 4:30 hrs
Week 1 of 16: 4 runs, 50.1 km, 4:11 hrs
Total: 61 runs, 784.3 km, 66:01 hrs

13 of 16: Finish Strong

Melbourne Marathon 2015 - Week 13 of 16

This is the final big week of training before the three week taper to the race begins. Everything so far has held up ok and I'm optimistic about having another week of good runs. My focus this week is on finishing strong - especially for my two main runs - a 13k marathon paced tempo and a very important 32k @4.39 pace on Sunday. It is very important to go into the race knowing that I can run it out strong until the end. Last week's half marathon was a great example of doing this ... some more this week please!

Tuesday 22 September

Another week begins in Melbourne and more of the up-and-down weather which typifies Spring. Today began with rain and even some hail; though by lunchtime the weather was just super-windy (!) but fine and even sunny. Consequently I was over-dressed with a warm undershirt on for my interval run today. The plan was simple: 10x 400's with 400m RI. In past campaigns I have run these at the track or on a measured section of street. Today I ran them over my usual 10k loop beside the Yarra River.

From early steps of the run I didn't feel great. My back was in some degree of pain which was really impacting my stride and form. It was about 3k into the run before this settled down which meant that my first two repeats, though I was pushing hard, were relatively slow at 1.35 apiece. The third was my quickest at 1.26 along a flat if somewhat exposed section of the trail. I think this one is closest to the pace I might have run on a regular track, but who knows!

The remaining seven intervals were all remarkably even in 1.31-34, despite the terrain ranging from flat a super-windy to solidly uphill. The effort was all very similar too with my HR reaching low 160's on each rep. When I look back a year too I can see that my 400m recovery this time round was much quicker (around 2 mins vs around 3 mins last time). So whilst the times are so-so I think this is actually a pretty good set.

And to make things even better, I scored a free six-pack of beer in a promo too. All you had to do was connect up your Strava account and run 6k or more to qualify. Easy-peasy!!

Wednesday 23 September

Another cold evening at Nike Run Club tonight and I was leading a "compact" group of 10k runners with Claire at the royal pace of 6.30m/k. Oddly enough, sometimes a slower pace can make you feel sore as it is not your normal stride. The toenail on my left foot had also cut my toe again (aargh!) so it was an up and down run for mid-week.

Thursday 24 September

Onto Thursday and the morning dawned still and sunny - a perfect start to the day. Of course, by the time I was running it was cool, overcast and windy. Have I mentioned how sick to death I am of this wind!!! The distance and pace (13k @ 4.30) held no fear today. In the last month I've run 2x 16k runs and last weekend a half marathon at this pace. No problems there. But today I woke up with a really sore lower back. It is a weak spot for me and is normally stiff and uncomfortable in the morning, but this was way worse and I took a couple of pain killers to deal with it. So I wasn't really feeling physically great.

The plan for this week is to finish strong, but from pretty early on I was really struggling. My kilometre times were all pretty even, but they felt laboured and hard. None of the relaxed zip I had on Sunday was with me and every step was forced. On the return leg I really noticed the wind, although in retrospect it was probably no worse than most days when I run here.

As for finishing strong, I ran the last 5k in 22.31 (so right on 4.30 pace) compared to 22.22 and 22.19 for the same stretch on my longer 16k runs recently. Not much of a time difference, but it was slower and definitely not much fun.

Tonight I am sore and walking slowly. I am also extremely tired. I really need this rest day tomorrow so that I can have a great final long run on Saturday.

Saturday 26 September

In my thoughts, today is the climactic run of the whole training program. It is the fastest long run at just 9 sec/km slower than marathon pace and everything has been building to this. Unfortunately, on Friday morning, I woke with the worst back-ache I can remember in a long time. My lower back which normally doesn't feel good, was terrible and I was on to the drugs immediately just to be able to function. I was barely making my way around the office on Friday and when I had my customary run the the fish and chip shop with Keira to collect dinner I almost buckled over as nerve pain shot through my left hamstring. This was bad; and I took another wad of drugs that night to try to be right for Saturday.

Come the morning and I could tell that although it felt better it was far from right. I had a choice - run now, or wait it out for a day and hope it improved. I decided to run. Within 100m I could tell this was not going to be great. The nerve pain meant that I could not stride out with my left leg and I was kind of shuffling; each step causing a ripple of pain through my hammy.

My first couple of kilometres, as I tried to work through the pain and hoped that things would 'click' into place, were just off target pace at 4.42. As I began to head down South Rd I tried to gradually pick up the pace but it seemed stuck at around 4.41 or so - occasionally just under, mostly just over. Conditions were ok, a slight headwind (not much) and a fog too until it cleared up after about 90 minutes.

By the time I got to 15k I was at Point Ormond and turning back to start a 17k section on the marathon course. Up to this point I had tried several times to lift the pace, but could not muster anything. My legs just did not want to work, even though my heart rate was very relaxed mid-high 140's. The next 2 km's told the tale for me. Up to this point I still believed I would be able to pick it up and recover my lost seconds. But on this section down to Head St and back that disappeared.

4.40's became a pair of 4.50's and then my back just gave in and I could barely run at all. The final 3k's of my run before I pulled the pin at St Kilda were a 5.05, a 5.42 and finally a crawling 6.00. I was totally broken. I felt miserable. My legs were fine. I had energy, but I could not run. I briefly tried to get going again but it was no use. Around me I could see other runners looking like they too were doing course recce with their runs. I was heartbroken and caught the tram into the city and then home.

This is not how I imagined my preparation would go and is bitterly disappointing at this time. I've made a physio appointment and am off to see my mate Rob O'Donnell on Monday morning. Hopefully something can get sorted out in short order so that I can be running again soon!!

Sunday 27 September

That part of me that hopes miracles happen wanted to run today. I resisted in the morning and rode my bike instead which was just as well as even that caused me pain. By the afternoon, with the sun once again shining brightly I could no longer resist the urge and I packed my runners so that I could run home from Port Melbourne after we visited my dad.

That attempt only lasted ten steps before the pain screeched me to a halt and I, sadly, climbed into the car for the ride home. We stopped at North Rd so the kids could go the the playground there and I once again tried to get into some kind of stride. After a couple of false starts I managed to get going a little. Make no mistake, this was still pretty lousy and a long way from actually running for me, but I was moving.

I got to Brighton Baths then decided to continue on so I could do 5k. I turned at Dendy St, picked up a slight tail breeze and gradually began to wind up the pace. There was nothing fast here. The injury stops me from running freely so I just kind of hobble along, but each km got faster and the last few were in 4.55, 4.50 and 4.46. It was so good to do something, even if it wasn't really running.

This week I need to get it right!

Training Program:
Full session details for my whole training plan here.

Strava links for the week:
Tuesday - 10x 400's Beer Run 10.4k @4.41; 10x 400m with 400m RI
Wednesday - NRC Pacer Home Run 10k @6.25; easy Nike Run Club session
Thursday - Tough 13 13k @4.29; hard marathon pace
Saturday - Broken 20k @4.52; pinched nerves suck
Sunday - Tester. Nope, really broken 5k @4.58; wanted to run long, still in pain

Summary:
Week 13 of 16 (this week): 5 runs, 58.9 km, 4:55 hrs
Week 12 of 16: 5 runs, 65.1 km, 5:19 hrs
Week 11 of 16: 6 runs, 76.1 km, 6:58 hrs
Week 10 of 16: 4 runs, 48.8 km, 3:57 hrs
Week 9 of 16: 5 runs, 65.2 km, 5:30 hrs
Week 8 of 16: 4 runs, 59.0 km, 4:57 hrs
Week 7 of 16: 5 runs, 55.9 km, 4:35 hrs
Week 6 of 16: 4 runs, 44.1 km, 3:31 hrs
Week 5 of 16: 4 runs, 53.3 km, 4:21 hrs
Week 4 of 16: 5 runs, 65.8 km, 5:38 hrs
Week 3 of 16: 4 runs, 58.3 km, 4:46 hrs
Week 2 of 16: 4 runs, 52.4 km, 4:30 hrs
Week 1 of 16: 4 runs, 50.1 km, 4:11 hrs
Total: 59 runs, 752.7 km, 63:14 hrs