Week 6 | 20.2 - 26.2

Mon - Rest

Tue
5.3k ; 31:42 ; cca 5:50km/min
Legs felt quite fresh, which is also visible on the f pace.aster
Couldn't help myself and went downhill faster than normal.

Wed - Rest
Knees were really sore, so I decided my extended rest would start soon.
There was no running to be done until following week.

Thu - Rest
Knees still sore.

Fri
I went to the gym (after ages) and did very light intensity weight and core strength training.
I would rate it as 20% of what I used to do and I still managed to thrash all the major muscle groups :)

Sat - Rest
Could really feel the worked muscles.

Sun - Rest

Total running distance : 5.3km
 
Well, this was supposed to be a 'break from running' week. Unfortunately, even with 5 days of no running, it didn't seem to help the knees at all, I was as sore on Sunday as on previous Wednesday.
Very demotivating, but I am trying to stay positive.

have a good week everyone

Week 5 | 13.2 - 19.2

Mon - Rest
I felt definitely better this Monday (touch wood) than last week.

Tue
32:31 ; 5.35k ; 6:05min/k 
Legs still felt somewhat tired and heavy after the tough long run so took it easy.
Very nice to be running on packed snow, though.

Wed
47:33 ; cca 7.44k 
Garmin couldn't get any satellite reception in the ongoing snowstorm and I wasn't excited to be standing around for ages.
While it was fun battling the elements, the head wind was a pain. I blame that (partially) for being a full minute slower than last week on the same course.

Thu
Rest. I was still fairly tired so gave body and legs a rest day.

Fri
Rest and had to run errands as well.

Sat
2:12:25 ; 20.15k; 6:34min/k
This one was a real challenge. First, getting myself motivated to actually go out and do it, I gave myself a little pep talk, drank green tea and went for it.
I slightly changed the course for my long run, and now I do 3k loops with 1k approach, which meant doing 6 loops. Part of the loop was completely new area for me, which was quite refreshing. This one is also more flat, therefore I was able to keep decent speed throughout.
Encountered various stages of tiredness, fatigue but in general was mentally with it for most of the time and never had the feeling of having to stop. Two gels were just about ok, I am also experimenting with little chocolate bars of solid food, the one I tried didn't work. Too chewy and hard to eat, will try another one next time.Legs felt quite ok until the very end, of course the last 3k the pain started but nothing 'run stopping'.Honestly, I was quite pleased with how it went.

Sun
Rest
Legs quite thrashed, right knee very sore on that usual spot, calves destroyed. Apart from that, a nice relaxing day :)

Total running distance: 32.94 km

Definitely better week than the last one, I could feel (touch wood) the energy levels raising. Since I will be away coming weekend I decided to give my legs full 4 days rest before the 'monster month' starts.
I am one week ahead of plan anyway, so I figured one weekend without long run will do the legs good and hopefully the knee issue will get cleared.
Next four long runs will be the hard core distance training, I am curious what will happen, since it wil be all uncharted territory from now on. Current focus is rest for legs, loose some weight (that would also help the legs, I am sure) and keep positive.

have a good week!

m

Week 4 | 6.2 - 12.2

Mon - Rest
I felt really awful (like really coming down with something) on the plane in the morning so wasn't very excited about the week ahead. 

Tue
cca 46:50 ; cca 7.5km
As soon as I turned on my Garmin, it signalled empty battery, wth?
I charge it to full every Sunday so my only guess is that it had somehow got switched on during travel and then went flat. Therefore I can only give rough estimates.
This was my first run in the old shoes. I will go into detail below, but I could definitely feel the difference in my gait. Still, based on the numbers it was slower than week before.
As I was still not 100% I took a gamble and went for the longer run on Tuesday rather than wait for any illness to develop and not being able to do anything for the rest of the week.
It was a beautiful run, we had got some snow in Vienna at last, so I couldn't resist to do this after the run:

Hell, sometimes we forget the main reason why we do sports, to have FUN! :)


Wed - Rest
No running, I decided to play it safe.

Thu
29:39 ; 4.75k ; 6:14min/k
Since I skipped the short run in Vienna, I went running in late evening after coming back to Frankfurt. Full moon, little dusting of snow, it was just perfect. I decided to skip the biking as it is way too cold, not to mention snow on the roads. Better safe than sorry.

Fri - Rest
Rest before the long run on Saturday.

Sat
2:00:48 ; 17.78k ; 6:48min/k
Another glorious run on perfect winter day. Sun blazing, blue sky, only the wind was a bit of a bother.
Legs felt light for the first 10k, after that it was a steady decline. The last 3k were a real struggle, I was fading fast, as you can see from the numbers. I will definitely be using two or more gels from now on, as one gel is just about enough for 15k. No real issues with the legs, just overall fatigue.

Sun - Rest
Boy, are my legs stiff today. And yes, both knees hurt on the same spot as usual, interestingly the right one more than the left one. I take it as it comes, assuming that both knees are going through some 'getting used to longer distance' period and it takes a while to get them adapted. That's the only explanation I have right now. Most of other muscles are quite sore today, but I am glad about putting them through the workout as it will only get harder from now on.

Total running distance: 30.03 km

Seriously, my energy levels have been crap this week. I don't know how long it is going to take to get out of this 'funk' but it is no fun, I can assure you. First I think I am going really ill, then I manage to gather some energy over the weekend and on Monday, it starts all over again.
I will patiently stick to the regime and observe how my body is reacting as it has to end eventually. I am never this much tired, even on less sleep and more running, so only external factor makes sense here.
Shoes - The moment I put the old shoes on, they felt right. I am a light footed midfoot striker but somehow with the new shoes I felt a little urge to be doing heel strike, which is very unnatural for me, and my legs. So I was back to my old 'midfoot skipping' and it felt great and natural to me. As an effect, I didn't have any weird pains during running (including up and downhill) and was feeling the correct muscle groups being worked. I would even go as far to say that some muscles had been neglected and therefore felt quite weak during the Tuesday run.
I was expecting some tightness and stiffness during the long run and it was exactly in places I usually get it, so that was ok.
What I didn't expect was the very sore spots in the knees, especially the right one but I will take it as transition period and hope for the best.
I am, however, glad that I did get sore legs, as it shows that it was a good training and I pushed the legs out of comfortable zone, even at such slow pace.

Let's see what the next week brings, have yourselves a good one!

m

Week 3 | 30.1 - 5.2

Mon - Rest

Tue
31:44 ; 5.22k ; 6:05min/k
Solid short run, legs felt good after two days of rest. Quite cold, though.

Wed
46:30 ; 7.44k ; 6:15min/k
Again, legs felt ok including knees, it was below -10oC, bitter cold. It took me at least 20 minutes to warm up and was glad to be done. Hair frozen, gloves frozen, you just have to love winter :)


Thu - Rest
My immune system was telling me to take it easy (slight temperature) so I stayed at home. Wanted to make sure I am ok for the long run.

Fri - Rest
Felt better but decided to play it safe and rest.

Sat
1:39:46 ; 15.14k ; 6:35min/k
Glorious run in perfect winter weather. Clear blue skies, sun blazing, subzero temperatures, it was pure joy. Started to use my running belt including gel bottle with one gel. Definitely less messy than to be wrestling with gel plastic wrap and trying to open it fast! I was worried that the gel might freeze (I use water diluted mix as I hate the gluey stuff), but it was all fine, albeit very cold to drink.
I kept the pace in 'cruising mode', legs felt light and I had no serious issues until very end. The last km or so I felt overall fatigue but nothing serious from the legs, so was glad about that.

Sun
Biking ; 41:51; 14k ; 20km/h
Guess what, when I woke up, BOTH my knees were sore in that same problematic spot. Needless to say I wasn't pleased about that and went biking. Nice sunny ride (as opposed to the evening Thursday ones), it was definitely more enjoyable. Apart from the buggy knees the rest of leg muscles felt ok, if a bit tired. Didn't push at all, was just glad to be outside on such beautiful day.

Total running distance: 27.8 km

It has been a good week, with slightly increased tempo during my shorter runs and solid long run.
Even though I love running in subzero temperatures, my body clearly wasn't pleased so I had to take it easy for two days. Hence the lower total than last week, but with the longer long run done, I am fine about that.
I have been doing little thinking about this knee issue and will try a little experiment next week.
For the next week I will do all my runs in the old shoes.
Why?
Since the only thing that really changed between last year's 20k run and this year's running are the shoes, I would assume that they might be contributing to this problem. I mean, I have never had pain at that part of my knees and I am not doing more mileage than I used to.
While it is the very same model (the old ones are one year old), when I put them next to each other, the new shoes are definitely 'higher' in cushioning and maybe even higher heel drop?
The old shoes are still in good condition and I think I shouldn't do more damage than there is.
Let's see.
Being an IT consultant, if a system breaks down, the first question we ask is 'what has changed since it was operational' ?
The same method is being applied here, and I know my weight or running habits haven't changed much, if at all.

Wish me luck and have a good week!

m