sub 40 or 45 min program?

[TheEd]

Hi rook, have you looked at the link that deals with

Achilles tendonitis

as that could be helpful

good luck with the recovery

TheEd

[rook]

Thanks Ed. Yes I did have a look at that page. I did some physio last year when I had the same injury so I know more about it now. The most important thing I learned about it is that it can take a long time to heal and it WILL come back if you don't take care of it! :yikes: If anybody else finds this and needs some info, here is what I gathered from doing my own research about it:

- Use the RICE technique and take anti-inflammatories at first to reduce inflammation until the pain is gone. Stop using ice once the inflammation is gone.
- Do eccentric exercises to strengthen the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles. The recommendation is 3x15 reps (with knee straight + knee bent) twice per day (180 reps in total). Stretch before and after exercises. You should feel some pain in the tendon when doing the exercises (not when stretching), if you don't you can hold some weights. You should keep doing these even after all the pain is gone.
- Take more protein and amino acids. Tendons and scar tissue are both made of protein fibers, so you need them to heal.
- Return to training gradually. You should avoid the longer runs, shorter times with more intensity are preferable.


I'm feeling pretty good today but I'm taking another rest day just to make sure the cold is gone before I start training. Tomorrow I'm thinking of doing the 6x1K workout with slightly slower times. Friday I will do easy cardio on the bike and then Saturday I will get back to the schedule with a 5K paced run. Hopefully the last week of the cycle will be just enough to get me ready and pumped up for the race next week! urf:

[TheEd]

rook make sure to be cautious as the achilles doesn't respond too well to quality when slightly niggly, so administer with caution

please keep me informed

Good luck

TheEd

[rook]

I did the 6x1k training yesterday with times between 4:10 and 4:20. I rested 90-120 sec instead of 60. My HR peaked at about 185 and went down to 110-120 during breaks. It went surprisingly well considering how sick I was. The best thing is that my Achilles tendon didn't hurt and it was still ok this morning! :great:

Still I can't say my health is back to 100% yet, and I still need to be careful with the tendon, so I decided to take a full rest today and then get back on the program tomorrow with the 5K. Hopefully I can get a good enough time to get some confidence for the race.

[TheEd]

rook, if you have an achilles niggle you should not be running hard with any 'niggles' as it may make the problem chronic

so try your best to clear it up

good luck

TheEd

[rook]

I haven't felt any pain in my Achilles tendon for about a week now, so I think it is healing well. I'm still being cautious by warming up very well and I'm still doing the eccentric exercises (with much fewer reps), but I think I should be able to go through this last week of the cycle. I will probably take a week off from running after the race before I start training again.

I did the 5K run yesterday and it was really hard. I did it in 21:10 (last one was in 20:40 3 weeks ago). I was also struggling a lot more than past races and I started to slow down in the 2nd half. I think the 30C heat added another degree of difficulty. Hopefully it won't be that hot for the race next week. :please:

[rook]

Hi Ed,

I did my 10K race yesterday. I got the exact same time as my last 10K run 3 weeks ago, which was 42:55. :p Overall I'm pretty happy with the result. My pace for the first 2K was much slower in about 4:30 because it was hard to pass all the slower racers (the race had over 8000 people!) After about 4Ks I was able to get in my groove and I followed a comfortable pace of 4:15-4:17, then I gave it all I had in the last km and did it in 4:09. The last week of the cycle was just enough to get me back in good condition, but for sure I would have done better if I hadn't been sick the week before. Most important is that my injury seems to be healed and I'm feeling good today! :great:

I will do my recovery run today and then take a break from the program for the next 3 weeks to do some weight training at the gym. I'm thinking of doing some sort of build up in the 2nd and 3rd weeks with some easy runs a few times a week. I will probably join a group to do 1hr trail runs on Tuesdays and 1h30-2h trail runs (easy pace) on Sundays. Do you have any recommendations for other runs in between?

After that I'm planning to do 2 cycles on the 10K program for a race on July 31st. Then I want to train for a marathon on October 10th. I should already have a good base from the 10K training, but do you think 2 months is enough to train for the marathon?

Thanks Ed.

[TheEd]

you should look to do the progression towards the marathon in more cautious and smaller steps

of course you would be able to simply finish a marathon however considering your current development building up in the correct manner may just be more rewarding

let's see how you go once you return to running and then you can gauge how the marathon slots in

Cheers

TheEd

[rook]

Do you think it would be good to include some longer runs during the 10K training?

[TheEd]

That you can, every 3 weeks, but certainly do not jump in at the deep end too quickly

TheEd