Day 115 - Turbo time

Back on the turbo today and it felt good. Managed to bash out an hour of training and even managed to run from the garage to the back door a massive 5 metre brik session!!! - mammoth!!
I don't know how I managed a three hour turbo session before because they are so so boring.

It felt good to be back on the race bike down on the tri bars and pushing a 85rpm and over 20mph. The sweat was dripping down and it did feel good but was ready to climb off by the end of the hour.

All in all good to be back and knee felt really strong.

Day 114 - On the bike

I rode to work today to get myself in gear - literally! The ride in was lovely and really enjoyable but as the day went on the rain came down which made my ride home a mud pit. I decided to skip Graces Walk on the way home and come via the ford. Ha what a mistake! the waters were high and the little path to get over it was further in the water than I expected so i decided to ride in and risk it but it got past the point of no return and suddenly when i was on the down stroke of the pedal my foot was going under the water. Cold feet and still about 2 miles from home.

On the plus side my knee was good and I also did a bit of running today as I had to referee a football match at school. I could feel it but it was far better than it was but not good enough to go for a proper work out yet.

Day 113 - Day off

Feels odd writing this as i feel that I haven't trained that hard to deserve this. I was planning to get up and swim but I haven't been sleeping all that well but this morning there was no hope of getting up early. I was zonked, out for the count, wasted, in the land of the nod. So no hope of swim.

Day 112 - Bloody BST

Got up and out on my bike real early - or was it? The answer is of course no. I thought I was starting at 6 but it was really 7am. Not so much gutted about that but Mum and Dad were staying the night and were wanting to go to my sisters for 9.30ish and I knew my mum would have remembered about the clocks so my planned 3 hours had to be cut to 2 hours.

All in all looking back it was a good ride but the first hour + was bad. I thought my chain needed oiling, my brakes were catching all the the classic blames rather than just poor legs! I was convinced I was cycling into a strong head on wind but couldn't see any trees move when I looked. It wasn't until a was by the side of some fields and I saw the wind chimes spinning like mad and realised there was a breeze and it was a strong one and it was in my face most of the time. This became all the more evident when I turned off and was protected by high hedges, suddenly I was zipping along. But there again I had just downed a packet of sports beans so maybe that was the cause of the good legs and not being out of the wind!

So I know I haven't trained all that hard but it is good to get back out there and ride and as a Brucie bonus absolutely no pain in the knee today at all. Try some running next week and start to build it back up again - slowly slowly does it.

Day 111 - Late Night = No Chance of Early Morning

Today I was all set for an early morning ride, but since I didn't get to bed till 1.30am there was no hope of me waking at 5.30 for a quick breky and be out by 6am. However, Freya started to wake at 5am and climbed into bed and started to move about. This was me being booted out really. But boy was I so tired there was no hope of donning the lycra and getting my arse on a saddle. By 6 I was wide awake and so was Millie.

So all in all no bike riding but an early morning all the same with the girls!

Day 110 - Feeling Better Every Day

Man alive do I feel so much more positive than I did this time last week and the week before that and the week before that! Haven't done any running on solid ground or any biking but have been swimming again and also ran in the pool.

The swim was the best one I have done so far and feel so much more fitter for it. Felt like I was gliding and each stroke was a glide with a hard pull rather than my usual splashing windmill and collapse under water.

Am really looking forward to getting out there on the bike early doors tomorrow. It's meant to be a sunny day so fingers crossed. Got spare inners ready and bike got cleaned on Thursday night so ready to go.

Feel so happy as I really have to think hard of when I had pain in my knee rather than trying to remember what it was like to be pain free.

Just noticed on the countdown clock that under 100 days to go and I'm on day 110!!

DAy 107 - 109 - On the mend

Physio on Tuesday turned out to be a major turning point in my knee problem and my attitude towards he injury and getting better.

It turns out that when I stand naturally my left foot turns slightly to the left and is not straight and this turning out problem increases when I've been doing the effort sessions at the club and has caused the knee pain. Apparently lots of the quads, ligaments and tendons all attach just below the knee join on the inside of your knee. There is also a small 'pad' called a bursar there as well. If I have understood this correctly due to my increased speed on efforts which causes my foot to stick out has caused a twist in my shin bones which is causing a pulling of the muscles, tendons, ligaments etc away from where they are attached on the inside of my knee. Now this is not a problem but the problem arises from me not stretching out these muscles properly and therefore they have been getting tighter and tighter and tighter, hence the pain every step, every hour, every minute in my leg for the last 2 weeks. So once CJ (the physio) worked her magic in some key, and very painful, places the muscles began to relax and within the hour I was walking pain free for the first time in 15 days!

Since then I have been concentrating on keeping my foot aligned and and gently exercising the knee. On Wednesday I went swimming and even managed to have a good run in the pool. It is not deep enough to do proper vertical aqua running so I had my feet on the floor and pushed and slid my feet backwards. Running lengths of those soon got the lungs gasping for air and the heart pumping.

Today, Thursday, I was going to turbo but didn't instead I took the opportunity to fix my puncture and clean the bike ready for an early start on Saturday to get out there for 3 hours.

Tomorrow I'm going to swim straight after school and run even more lengths for trying tentatively to run on soft ground on Sunday.

So all in all a good positive approach. I'll just keep telling myself that this lay off has done me good and not bad. Time to pick it up again next week though and then keep it going till the end.

Day 103 - 106 - Getting there but slowly

Friday started with a non pupil day but more importantly was my knee was in agony with every step and and every angle it seemed to hurt. A driving pain on the inside of the knee. However, throughout the day it started to loosen and work better. I went for a lovely long swim in the evening and tried to do a bit of aqua jogging it felt ok but whenever I go to lift my knee up that is when the pain started it felt really tight all through the inside of my knee.


Saturday morning and got up at 5.30 breakfast, change and out on the bike by 6am. Riding nicely I really enjoyed it at 52 mins i hit the 15 miles mark and was out towards Good Easter. The wind was driving me sideways and the light rain was lashing into my face but I loved it. My knee was strong and no pain and my cadence was good. Then the ride felt not as smooth as it was a quick glance between my legs confirmed my suspicions - a puncture.

A quickish change latter and after checking the tyre and pulled out loads of glass and a quick squirt with a canister the tyre was ready to go. I decided to text Susan, just to let her know that I would be a bit longer after fixing a puncture. All of a sudden their was a massive bang and a puff of talc came from my tyre. My initial thought some farmer had not liked seeing a bloke in lycra and shot my tyre. God knows what had happened but the inner tube had blown up and shredded, shooting the tyre off the rim. I couldn't believe it. So from texting to two seconds later to being on the phone to come and rescue me.






It was freezing waiting there, but the cavalry came and the soon I was in the car with the heaters on full.

So that's it for me - two weeks enforced off but plus side really enjoying my swimming and it is fine on the bike. Down side no running and before this knee went I was really enjoying it.

Physio tomorrow so we'll see what they say.

Day 94 - Day 102 - Knackered Knee So Frustrated

Well I have been so slack with the updating of my blog but i have also been so so so frustrated. The night of the last efforts session the inside of my knee started burning and getting really hot. Even the sheets knocking my foot sideways slightly caused masses of pain shooting in my knee. The next day it was so sore when ever I tried to lift my leg, I had to use both hands behind my leg to lift it up without shooting pain.

Basically all I have managed to swim and swim. But this weekend I am going to try and get out on my bike and see what it is like riding. Hopefully it will have recovered enough for that. But I did run the sports relief mile today in school and it hurt non stop all the way around.

If it is still bad on Monday then physio it is then. Trying to think positively but finding it hard.

Hopefully another good swim will do the trick and cheer me up tomorrow.

Day 93 - Stirders Effort Session.

Well it was running club again tonight and efforts on Humber Drive they are .37 of a mile long and my 9th effort was my quickest at 2:15 min before that the 3rd was the slowest at 2:23 min and all the others were completed between 2:18 and 2:20 min. All in all I'm really happy with the effort and my timing of the efforts. Once again nice and consistent. Left knee hurting a little bit on the inside sure it will be nothing but will monitor it just to make sure.

Day 92 - Day off

Happy days, despite missing yesterday I have still trained hard this week and really enjoyed it.

Day 91 - Sunday Blooming Sunday

Well I was going to go out first thing, then that drifted to morning, then that drifted to afternoon, then drifted to an evening turbo but finally ended as doing nothing but having a lovely time with the family and eating a lovely roast. Ah well.

Day 90 - New Route Run

Well I went on a new run this morning. It was so nice to out in the sun and wearing shorts. The new route was lovely but mainly up hill for a long time, so I think next time I will try and go the other way around to see what it is like.

Lovely run, lovely day.

Day 89 - Friday Night Alright

What a busy Friday night I've just had. It started at 4 when I went for my massage on my legs to make sure they are still tick-a-dee-boo. Straight after that I headed to the gym. I know you are not meant to exercise after a massage but the 'Don' said we must run for an hour so that's what I did. My legs were all over the place and I was really thinking it is not a good idea but carried on. After 45 min had to do a zone 4 effort for 5 minutes. Found this easier than I thought and was ticking along nicely. Looking back at my watch when I got home and found my average speed was 7 mph but my max speed was an impressive 1,533.7 mph - eat your heart out Billy Whizz! a glitch me things!

One other amazing thing happened tonight. I started my swim training and managed a nice and steady 1000m. I can hear the gasps from here - what only just starting now? you mad? etc. Maybe but to be honest with you the thought of getting wet in those dark early mornings used to turn my stomach and especially if I had been up in the night to the girls. I needed that extra hour in bed. But now the warmer weather is peaking around the corner it is time to start and dedicate myself to the pool.

Day 88 - Turbo Tastic Thursday

Bike on the training today and straight back on the turbo. It was a really good session and felt really strong. It was great to turn the old legs and blow the old cobwebs out of the joints. Need to start taking cod liver oil and other bits to ensure the old legs don't start giving up as the training cranks up. But tonight was really good and really enjoyable. Just need to suss out how to get the Garmin to work with out the GPS working so I get true speed, and distance data to add to my geeky spreadsheet.

Massage time again tomorrow then a swim.

Day 87 - Day Off Mid-week - Lush

My legs were tired after Tuesday's Striders session and following the weekend and Monday brick session so a day off was well in order. The only problem was I had to travel up to Birmingham for a conference. So it was an early start and a longish drive. Good day there and then a long drive home. Home by 8.30 and asleep by 9pm.

Oh yeah forgot to add a photo yesterday of bad toe nail management - OUCH!!!

Day 86 - Striders Industrial Estate Efforts

I know what the 'Don' had planned for me today but I went to running club and completed 5 long efforts of 0.65 miles with an average speed of 6:48 minute per mile. Pleased with that in fact very pleased with that. The short efforts were 0.42 miles and completed with an average speed of 6:46 minute per mile. Again I am very happy with that.

This session is really boring but it is an effort session that I would not do if I was on my own. What is more pleasing is that I only had a 13 second variance between all my long efforts and only 2 seconds variance with the short efforts. Really really pleased with this. Not only with my own self discipline but with picking off loads of runners on the last couple of efforts who had shot off too quickly and then blew up.

Day off tomorrow and can not wait. Sleep tight all.

Day 85 - Brick by Brick and lots of Stats

Today was meant to be rest day but I trained. The only reason I trained was because on Wednesday I'm in Birmingham for day at a conference so I decided that is the perfect day for a rest. So Wednesday's brick was completed tonight. Despite the heavy weekend of training I didn't really feel that bad and the run section felt really good.

I also decided to have a look at my training so far on a spread sheet and look at all the details of it. I know a bit geeky but I enjoyed doing it. But it did show some interesting facts and proof that the training is working. I trained for 5 hours less in Feb than Jan but managed to complete 13 more miles with an average heart beat 9 beats per minute slower and a max heart beat 12 beats less and my average running speed had increased. Told you it was geeky but an interesting bit of reading I think you'll agree. Well happy with that.