Running 28-Sep-2015

That felt like hard work. Pace wasn't great, not in pain and humidity was up but not that far. Just not a great run, even though it felt like it should have been. PRE put me closer to my 8mph target than this.

7.35 miles in 57:38 speed 7.7mph pace 7:50 min mile

Running 25-Sep-2015

Starting to cool down again, still warm for me but getting there. Increased the mileage slightly to max of current route flexibility and quite pleased how it went considering how worn out I was feeling before starting. Want it to get quicker of course, current target is back to consistent 8mph and I am not getting that so I have work to do.

7.36 miles in 56:36 speed 7.8mph pace 7:41 min mile

Rowing 24-Sep-2015

Well I guess not everything can go well. Running and weights are doing OK this week so it would have to be the thing I am not used to that suffers for this success.
Really wanted a 30 minute row this week and totally failed to get it. Not only that the pace wasn't great today either, slowest so far in fact. I could feign shock or surprise but inn truth I am still aching from Tuesday's row so wasn't expecting anything great, I still wanted that 30 minutes though.
A lot of work to be don on the rowing for sure.

4.606km in 20 minutes would mean taking over 2 hours 40 to cross the channel at that pace

Rowing 22-Sep-2015

I was determined today would be the full half hour I had planned. Work had other plans and I had no time to do it. I then switched to determined to do 5k row, so did that instead.
Pace means I was slightly slower than last row, but likely due to faffing with foot straps early on. I'll get there.

5km in 20:36

Squats 21-Sep-2015

Well a combination of stupidity, careful foresight and on the spot judgement. I was considering not using the hip support in this session and decided to play it safe, which was the careful foresight. I decided to go for the whole session including something requiring full balance, coordination and control, which was the stupidity, but when things got dodgy I stopped the set short rather than risk another set back, hence 10, 9, 10 on overhead squats.
After the session I felt sore and like I may have gone too far, but a night of sleep and it feels like I got away with it. I think I would probably be less stupid like this if I got away with it less, my judgement is based on history of finding the line of what is too stupid and staying as close as I can without totally disabling myself. Means one of these days I will get it very wrong and totally deserve it.

Squats 10 x 70kg, 90kg, 110kg

Squat jumps 3 x 10 x 70kg, getting more height out of the jumps

Overhead squats 10, 9, 10 x 40kg

Running 21-Sep-2015

Cool, wet and virtually no pain from the hip at all. Recipe for a vastly improved run, possibly even on target, though that could be pushing it even with my arrogance. Final result a 2 shower run, cool and natural during and warm after, and 5 seconds a mile off pace. Happy enough with that for now.

7.09 miles in 53:46 speed 7.9mph pace 7:35 min mile

Running 18-Sep-2015

Heat and humidity are back again, more humid than hot but enough to make this a bit harder work. Hip was a lot better today, still reminding me there was repair to do throughout but this is just muscle, ligament and tendon now, the joint is back in place fully. Started to hurt properly just coming up to 6 miles but was able to ignore this and there was no slip at all based on how easily I could walk pain free after my stretching and shower.
Pace is a bit lower than I wanted, but that is the whole point of training to want more.

7.07 miles in 55:03 speed 7.7mph pace 7:46 min mile

Deadlift 17-Sep-2015

Last night's deadlift session means my first complete weight training week in far too long and I am aching very nicely from it. Crazy as it may seem I miss that all over ache from my body being worked in various ways over the week.
Quite nice as well to come back to being able to get a nice clean set of 10 deadlifts with fat gripz and 90kg on the bar without feeling like it is going to drop at any time. Still taxing the grip well but not feeling like there is imminent failure at all.
Whole session was still using hip support, but in truth I should only need this for another week or 2 now, feeling pretty solid, if a bit sore at times.

Deadlifts with fat grips 10 x 70kg, 80kg, 90kg

Wide grip seated row 10 x 30kg, 40kg, 50kg last set reminded my how heavy the pulley makes weight feel on my rack.

Alternate single arm kettlebell swings to shoulder height, release and switch at shoulders 10 x 20kg, 24kg, 24kg

Rowing 17-Sep-2015

Improvement is good, I know initial gains are quicker and I need to gain a lot in terms of pace and distance to be any good but this is still good for me.

4.893km in 20 minutes

Means I would take just over 2.5 hours to cross the channel at exactly that pace.

Bench 16-Sep-2015

Hectic so logging last nights bench session just before hopefully going off to do lunchtime row.
Still light due ot time out of training. Remembered hip support to allow for plyo work meaning I ache today rather than properly hurt.

Bench press 10 x 40kg, 50kg, 60kg

Standing shoulder press with plates 10 x 10kg a side, then 2 sets with 15kg a side

Plyo push ups with clap 3 x 10

Rowing 15-Sep-2015

Wow what a few years not rowing does to you. I was never anything dramatic anyway, but that was quite depressingly difficult.
Water rowers are apparently more comparative to real rowing because there are no bearings to warm up etc. just water behaving like water, so staying constant rather than starting stiff and getting easier.
I didn't know what to expect, but I didn't expect to get to 20 minutes and feel like that was enough. Not out of puff etc. just body saying it wasn't used to this and didn't like it. It will have to get used to it anyway.

4.692km in 20 minutes

The trip across the channel will however be just over 37km and at that pace would take over 2.5 hours, so allowing for fatigue and conditions at least 3 hours. I have work to do getting ready for this.

Squats 14-Sep-2015

Well this session contained what fortunately was good news but with my rather risk happy nature could easily have been a disaster.
I am still on remedial for hip slipping out and knew it was working it's way back in, so stuck with nice light start on squats while wearing hip support. 2nd set 50kg bar and the hip reset itself on one of the upward movements, nearly sending my knee totally out and challenging my balance to the utmost to ensure I stood up rather than relying on the safety rack to catch me. I was over 70% sure this was it resetting properly but knew there was a chance it had slipped back out, in the support the slip out could have been concealed a bit. I did some simple squat movements without weight and went back in at the next weight, knee hurt a bit but it eased during the next 2 sets and was then fine.
Final set was just me needing to know I could do a heavier weight. I deliberately didn't max out stopping as soon as I felt any real load effect, not sensible remedial style at all, more of a kill or cure test I wouldn't advice for anyone who isn't intimately aware of how their body feels in different states.
Finished off by reintroducing plyo jump squats with a good bit of height, so all in all very happy with myself. Could have gone wrong but with a mix of luck and good judgement, totally reasonable to argue what the proportions are, I am well on the mend again. Next challenge is to make sure I don't reinjure straight away as I have on a number of occasions.

Squats 10 x 20kg, 50kg, 70kg, 100kg, 2 x 120kg

Jump squats 3 x 10 x 70kg

Running 14-Sep-2015

Relatively pain free run. Still not fully recovered but more of a niggle than pain now, suggesting hip has pulled back in and connective tissue is repairing nicely. I have no doubt a bit of rest would have made it happen quicker but I don't care, it happened, or at least has started to happen.
Wet run day, nice and cool but humidity was still there. Felt good though. Nearly back to pace as well. Didn't add distance to be sure I didn't mess myself up, probably could have gone further, I'll see Friday. Rowing tomorrow.

5.75 mile in 43:56 speed 7.9mph pace 7:38 min mile

Running 11-Sep-2015

Well today I signed up to something that is not going to help my running to get back on track one bit. Next June I will be rowing across the English Channel and having seen the others who will be in my boat I am going to need to train hard to be able to compensate for them.
In order to do this I will have to switch out some of my running for rowing. I don't have time to do it any other way. Plan is to run 2 days, row the other 2 at first and see if I need to add in a third day of rowing.
Heat and humidity are back with real vengeance at the moment. Hip started hurting a bit earlier in the run just under 4.25 miles rather than just before 4.5 yesterday, but wasn't as intense. Pace was slower overall, at least in part due to spending more time in pain running because I am still finding a 7 mile + route. This one will be easy to add anything up to 1.6 miles to so I have my future route nailed.

5.73 miles in 45:23 speed 7.6mph pace 7:55 min mile

Running 10-Sep-2015

Well I hurt my hip again last night and it came back to let me know at the start, which I expected and around 4.5 miles which I didn't. I was toying with doing my full 7 miles today but decided that would be a bit too stupid so cut short, glad I did now. In fairness I know I am recovering faster than I deserve, as I tend to, but a history of doing so has made me impatient and I want to get back to full distance and pace again.
To add to the fun the heat and humidity have mad a bit of a comeback, which won't have helped but the slower that target pace was more to do with bodily movement than breathing.

5.28 miles in 41:30 speed 7.6mph pace 7:51 min mile.

Bench 09-Sep-2015

Back to light again after more time off is annoying, but it beats adding another injury. That's what I'm telling myself, anyway.

Bench 10 x 40kg, 45kg, 50kg

Standing shoulder press with plates 2 x 10 x 10kg a side last set 10 x 15kg a side

Plyo push ups with clap 3 x 10, each set hurt my hip, but only to acceptable level.

Intervals 08-Sep-2015

Ow! That was the general theme of today's interval training. I was expecting it and wasn't surprised but it still hurt. Started off hurting due to still recovering from slip. Every time I tried giving it 100% on sprints I had to back off a bit, which was annoying but inevitable. Made up some of the intensity by keeping the recovery sections at a higher pace, but that is the opposite to how I want these to happen.
Pretty sure these weren't particularly consistent, the intensity was high enough for me to tire over time. Still did it and that's the main point.

Meaningless summary, except that the overall distance was lower than normal.
3.81 miles in 32:41 average speed 7mph

Squats 07-Sep-2015

Well I did my squat session last night as planned with hip support. Had to modify the session because I knew doing jump squats with hip slightly out of place was beyond stupid.
My theory was that doing the front squats on flat of bosu would force my body to pull the hip into line a bit to keep me stable.
I am aching a bit, not as much as I would like, but hey it's moderation to aid recovery, side of hip hurts a bit more than before so not sure if this is good from it being forced back or bad because I have made it worse.
Have intervals at lunch today, that will be fun!

Squats
10 x 20kg, 50kg, 70kg, 9 x 90kg, last one I felt myself favouring my left hip for power on rep 9 so decided that was enough

Front squats on flat of bosu
10 x 20kg, 40kg, 40kg

Running 07-Sep-2015

Hip was starting to feel better over the weekend. Started my run and it decided to remind me it was far from recovered. Good news is this didn't last too long and soon moved from foreground pain to background niggle on my run. This inspired me to be slightly less stupid and go for a shorter run, thus allowing better recovery and giving me the chance to get my pace up a bit while my hip wasn't hurting too badly. I think I may even have helped it back into place a bit which would be good, side of my hip is still tender to the touch letting me know the damage to tendons, ligaments and muscles is still there but that is an improvement.
Planning to do squat session with hip support this evening to help the process along a bit more.

4.41 miles in 34:13 speed 7.7 pace 7:45 min mile

Running 04-Sep-2015

The stupidity continues. My hip was starting to hurt less so I decided, hey let's sort out a 7 mile road route for winter while the woods are being a quagmire. There are various reasons things can start to hurt less, one is partial recovery, which I always assume it is, another is the body becoming used to the sensation so taking less notice of it, which considering my hip still hasn't pulled back into place yet is evidently today's case for me.
I got the 7 miles, with a phone call part way through not doing my time any good at all but in fairness even without this I would have been looking at 7.6 rather than 7.5 nowhere close to the 8mph I am supposed to be running. I ignored a lot of pain to keep my time under 8 minute mile, it probably wasn't worth it but felt like the right thing to do at the time.
In reality even though this is the slowest speed I accept, I do understand that in the circumstances it was good going. Now I have the weekend for my hip to recover a bit ready to damage it more next week.

7.02 miles in 55:58 speed 7.5mph pace 7:58 min mile

Running 03-Sep-2015

So you have a history of injuries which include putting both your hips out to the point you are told you won't walk again let alone run, you know pushing it too far will bring back the effect of some of these injuries, you also know that it is only training that keeps the effects at bay. You ran and were barely able to walk due to your right hip sliding out of place slightly, you also know if you push it too far your wife will either kill you or be wearing a new set of less than pretty earrings, what do you do?

A. Be sensible, take some time out, preserving your life and testes.
B. Organise professional care and get this sorted out.
c. Go for a run anyway and consider that it being a bit shorter makes it moderate and therefore remedial, even if giving all you can, then get upset because you feel it was too slow.

If you can count above your IQ and aren't used to getting away with being stupidly arrogant by ignoring injuries and pushing through regardless, you would have chosen A or B.

Below is the summary of today's run, where I decided to investigate a bit of road I haven't run on before as a way of extending my normal road route.

4.1 miles in 32:17 speed 7.6 miles pace 7:52 min mile

Running 01-Sep-2015

Well I took a couple of weeks off work, running, most weight training and was generally quite lazy. This week will make fitting weight training in difficult but I should be able to get at least 3 runs in.
The woods section of my route was so slippery I had to slow to almost stop a few times to avoid breaking limbs due to recent rains. Drainage in this area is known for being dreadful so need to find a decent road route again. don't really want to drop the distance, which i had to today when changing the way back to stay safe.
2 reminders of why I can't really stop training today. First I was the slowest I have been in some time without it being stupidly hot and humid, 19 C and 100% so still more than I like but melting not evaporating level. Second the effects of the damage I caused my body in the past is kept at bay by my training, so the run sending signals saying my right hip wasn't happy is a good reminder I can never give up, even if I wanted to.

6.84 miles in 54:14 speed 7.6mph 7:55 min mile.