Sunday 2015/11/15. Leeds Abbey Dash, which is a 10k on a fairly flat course. (Or at least, flat for Leeds!) After torrential rain all night and early morning, it miraculously stopped shortly before the start (and started again not long after I finished!) The conditions were actually really good, but I felt thirsty very soon after starting. I must start taking pre-race hydration more seriously, because getting thirsty within the first mile is inexusable! I also felt the lack of 'sharpness' due to having done no speed work beforehand. However, my legs felt strong throughout and best of all, I experienced no back pain whatsoever. I concentrated throughout on 'running tall' and maintaining good form and posture. I realise now that the way I've been running for the last couple of years has actually been harmful. This is something I've learnt from a book about the Alexander Technique which I received as a late birthday present, and was very clearly illustrated/reinforced by what I learnt on a Leadership in Running Fitness course which I attended on Saturday. I didn't expect 'instant results', so right now I'm delighted, and really excited about where I'm going right now. In a nutshell, I was focussing on relaxing while I ran, and my torso was slumping down, which was compressing my lower back. I would only 'run tall' when I was going up steps or crossing broken ground. Then I would feel very light on my feet, but was concerned that I was holding to much tension in my chest and shoulders, so would relax downwards again ASAP. Now I'm learning to run 'tall' and up on the balls of my feet. The key seems to be to stay relaxed at the same time, and Sunday was my first chance to really pressure-test this. And it seemed to work very well. Every time I started to feel a bit tired, I simply concentrated on my form and posture, and let the pace take care of itself. And every time, my tiredness seemed to recede very quickly. Okay, I didn't do the PB that I had hoped for, but I did take nearly two minutes off it, and it's the first timed 10k that I've done since this event last year, so I'm content with that. I'm far more focussed on improving my running style right now, rather than pushing hard for PB's. If my form improves then the PB's wil follow in due course, but the important thing is that I will (hopefully) be free of back pain.
Tuesday 2015/11/17. Running club, group 5, backmarker. The GPS on my phone once again failed to detect that I was moving. It really is becoming a complete waste of time even bothering to try and use it. :bang: According to other people, we did about 6.25 miles at an average of slightly over 8.5 mpm. Did a number of pretty steep hills, so I'd say we averaged a lot closer to 8mpm on the descents and on the flat (such as it was!) This was just the kind of run that I could have done with to build up some speed before the Abbey Dash. For some reason my back was rather sore by the end of work in the afternoon, and it hurt again when we started running. I concentrated on 'running tall' and keeping good form, and after about three miles the discomfort eased. Came back a bit later, but by the end it was OK again. I think this is going to be quite a long road to getting myself completely pain-free. But at least I seem to have found a way of making sure that the running doesn't make the problem worse. I'm still thinking about going to the doctor, but my gut feeling is that it will be a waste of time.
Wednesday 2015/11/18. taiji class. We di dthe long form once, then spent some time on pushing hands. Then did a some sabre form. ---------------- Saturday 2015/11/21. Parkrun. It was freezing! And muddy! Not ideal conditions for a PB really, but I fancied trying to at least get as close as possible. Had a really good warm-up beforehand, and managed to get a nice quick start quite nearthe front so I didn't get boxed-in by people jogging. Tried to strike a balance between running a fast pace and running 'tall' with good form. Was disappointed not to get under 24 minutes, but I wasn't much over it and was within 30 seconds of my PB. I'll try again next week.
Tuesday 2015/11/24. Running club. We did 7.5 miles at an average pace of 8.5 minutes per mile. I was backmarker for the group. (RR's first time leading, shadowed by JB.)
Saturday 2015/11/28. parkrun. Ten seconds quicker than last week. No back pain. All pretty good, really. I still don't feel as 'quick' as I was six months ago, but my priority is to keep improving my running form to eliminate the back pain. And hopefully the times will improve in due course as I get better at running with a lighter step.
A quiet week in terms of training. Due to problems with the car and having to work late I missed Tuesday's hill session and Wednesday's Taiji class. Saturday 2015/12/05. Did something that has been on my agenda for a while now, and ran to parkrun (and back again afterwards.) It's basically a matter of going down a long hill, along a flat road, then climbing another very long hill - and doing the same thing in reverse on the way back. I didn't bother trying to record it on Strava since everywhere I go seems to be a 'black spot' for my phone's GPS. But having plotted the rote in advance, I know that it is a fraction under three miles, so the grand total including parkrun would have been a shade under nine miles. It was extremely windy all the way through, but with only very light rain squalls, so it made for quite an exhilariting run. Right now I'm torn between doing this every week to put some miles back in my legs and keep me in good fettle for half marathons (and maybe, just maybe doing the marathon again this year) or just driving to parkrun and chasing PB's.
Tuesday 2015/12/08. Running club. Backmarked group 5. DW lead the group, and took us up just about every steep hill he could find! He also averaged 8 minutes per mile, when this group is supposed to average 8.5, so a few people who were making the step up from group 4 found it rather tough going. They weren't the only ones finding it tough though. I've had rather bad sciatica for the last couple of days, and the first couple of miles were very painful. I almost felt like quitting, but it did ease off a bit - then returned again towards the end. So not the pleasentest of runs for me, but seven miles at that pace with hills galore was a very good workout!
