Month: November 2024

So between having the flu, then a couple of nights out, my running this week was pretty poor.

You may have read in my last post if you should run with the flu or a cold. My advice was of course not to, and only when I started feeling better did I manage to lace up the shoes and go for a run.

When I did get back out there I did a pretty solid 8k, which I was happy with. I felt I could have done more, but as I had not ran in about 5 days I decided to take it easy.

Then a few very cold icy nights hit my area, so this delayed me getting out for a few days. I may do a post about running in icy conditions, but my short term advice is to limit it to grass or trails, wear appropriate shoes, and stick to day time excursions.

This meant I did not get out again until Wednesday, so in 8 days I only managed 2 runs…

Not at all at my previous standards and I could feel it too. I just wasn’t at my preferred pace, but not to worry. No point in dwelling on it, ill just keep it to shorter more consistent runs until I reach my pace and distance goals again.

By Thursday I had a party to go to, so I was a bit worse for wear on the Friday (My own doing :() . Neither my running or my wife were too pleased with the results of this calamity. Saturday was postponed as my wife asked me for a favour, so Sunday was the next run. I was not feeling it. Ireland was hit by storm “bert”, and I got to say, my legs were stiff, Bert was blowing cold wind in my eyes and I was just not at the races. A pretty poor 6k was all I could muster today.

I am confident for the week ahead though. I have a clear straight of running days ahead of me and I plan on making the most of it.

I will start tomorrow with a very easy 7k, followed by a gentle run with my dog on Wednesday. On Thursday I will go to my running club to do some interval sessions, and Saturday I plan on heading out for a 12k.

I am optimistic for the coming week 🙂

So I was travelling last week in Denmark with my wife. It was just a little pre winter break before the holiday period to celebrate her birthday. I of course did not bring the running shoes with me as it is generally impractical for a short city break as a couple. Some nice days were spent touring the city, tasting their beer and wine. On the Monday morning I awoke with a bad sore throat just before our journey home.

I was quite infuriated because my running routine was now broken. I was asking myself should I just go out for a run, “it will probably make me feel better , right?” WRONG! . No it doesn’t make you feel better and you should take the time to take the rest. Your body will thank you for it later, and running will only hamper your recovery process.

The key is to listen to your body. If it is only mild symptoms running could be possible, but as was the case for me on a previous occasion, it actually made my mild symptoms more severe.

If you have the worst of the cold over and done with, and are still experiencing mild-ish symptoms, then a light jog wont do you any harm. Keep it light though, no sprinting, and even try a running slash walking routine. I brought my dog along with me. Whilst he stopped, it gave me a minute just to relax also.

The next run I went for a consistent slow paced 5k. I still had a slight sniffle, but no sore chest or throat.

After a week, my symptoms were as good as gone. I treated my runs like a recovery run and my first real run was today. I kept it to a mild pace 7k. I think sweating the remaining symptoms that were lagging was just those lethargic toxins leaving my body for the final time.

Im looking forward to getting out there again tomorrow. Treat the runs like you would after an injury, until you have done three consecutive runs.

Hope this is useful .

So, for those who may follow the blog (not many) will know that I was training for a half marathon and also a sub 50min 10k. I’m happy to say I have completed the half marathon distance just last week. I have not completed the sub 50min 10k as of yet, but this is a work in progress over the next couple of months.

I successfully ran it in2hours, 12 minutes and three seconds. I know, not exactly ground breaking speed, but my goal here was to simply run the distance and not obsess over the time too much.

I did the run on a cool Saturday morning along my local canal. I had done long runs previously with my furthest being 19km. I never thought that just an additional 2.1km would be so difficult. I mean, by the end of it my legs were burning and I actually felt dizzy. It started well and I kept my pace above 6min per km for nearly the entire session. I knew it was going to get tough so I just concentrated on maintaining a slow pace and ease my way through it.

By 10km I was building up a bit of a sweat and the phycological barrier of knowing that I was not even half way through was playing on my mind. I changed the music to try and rezone my thoughts and hope that a few km would just fly past before I broke out of my trance. This did not really happen however, as I had a turning point in a nearby town. I mean a literal turning point where I physically turn my body the opposite direction and start running back. I’m not sure I like this type of track, and I think I prefer loops or even just one direction that loops me back to my starting point.

Although I had run long distances before I mostly feel it was phycological battles in my head I was having trouble with. I just could not enjoy the run, and even started to imagine pains and injuries. Work was playing on my mind also as I battled through it, and I wasn’t even enjoying the music. In hindsight I’m sorry I did not choose a nice podcast to listen to.

There is a lot to be said for events or running in groups or races. Sometimes you need other people to just get you through these hard sessions.

By kilometre 20 I was constantly looking at the watch. My calves were on fire and I just could not wait to stop. My pace was a crawling 7km per minute at this stage and I was struggling like I had just started running for the first time ever again.

Overall, I am pleased with my accomplishment and I actually look forward to doing it again in a couple of weeks. More rest on the build up and hopefully a better week at work will combine to provide better results. I am not aiming to do it much quicker, but I definitely want to do it more gracefully in the last two km. I will be happy with that achievement and will post it afterwards to let you all know 🙂