Adaptations

Starting a new training phase can often be tiring while the body is adapting to the new stressors. I find it quite hard to gauge the correct level of work required. Right now I'm tired and my right hip is hurting a bit. Have I done too much too soon? Possibly. Monday will be an easy day, after that I'll see.

I was quite tired on Friday and the legs were sore. However, it was a different kind of sore to the usual one. I think it was a direct result of the hill drills working different muscle groups than the usual running. If that's the case I guess the soreness is a sign that the drills are working. Let's hope that's not just wishful thinking. However, a very easy Friday left the legs feeling a lot better on Saturday morning.

On Saturday I fulfilled a longstanding promise and ran my first parkrun. The Killarney parkrun had opened at the start of June and I tried to persuade my daughter, who already does a little bit of running without my prompting, to run this. She agreed and we headed for Killarney on Saturday morning. Getting a teenager out of bed before 8 o'clock on a Saturday morning can be hard work and I was surprised how willingly she got up - she really must have been looking forward to this! Since there was a 10k race on that day only a few miles away (we even passed it on the way!), all the fast local runners were absent, every single one of them. I had told Lola that I would run with her and she initially agreed but after a quarter mile she told me to go away - I got the message the third time and at that time headed off on my own. I chased after the leaders, caught the last guy with about 1k to go and actually won this one, though it really was a case of not a single competitive runner being there. I never went into the pain cave, which tells its own story because a well run 5k would be a sufferfest of the highest order. Anyway, Lola finished as well, was nowhere near last and there was one proud father, I can tell you!

Once we got home I was very surprised to see that the HR during the parkrun had climbed all the way to 181, even though it was nowhere near full effort, but the race day adrenaline must have been flowing nevertheless. I did add a few more miles at home and noticed a rather high HR, which I attribute to the parkrun.

Tired legs were obviously still an issue on Sunday morning and I was a bit apprehensive before heading out. I took it very easy but the long climbs on the road around the lake are never that easy, no matter what. Looking at the splits I seemed to have fallen apart a bit after 14 miles when the pace dropped from about 8-minute miles to 8:30ish, though I wasn't really aware of that while running. The legs had been tired, alright, but they had been tired all along and there didn't seem any real change. The worst thing about the run, however, was that little insect that flew into my right eye and which kept being uncomfortable for the last couple of miles and afterwards. It took me a couple of hours to get the thing out! Ouch!

I did acquire a new niggle on Saturday, almost certainly during the parkrun. My right hip started hurting on Saturday afternoon and kept bothering me for the rest of the evening. I could still feel it this morning when I set off, though the discomfort mostly went away within the first mile. It did start hurting again once I had finished, though now it's more the right groin rather than the hip. Sitting down for too long seems to aggravate it, so I make sure to get up and walk around a bit every now and then. I don't think it's more than one of those usual niggles you invariably pick up on occasions and I'll do what I always do: I ignore it and keep running.

26 Jun

am: 8 miles, 1:05:58, 8:14 pace, HR 138

pm: 5 miles, 38:11, 7:38 pace, HR 144

27 Jun

1 mile, 8:00 w/u and c/d for parkrun

Killarney parkrun, 20:20, 6:34 pace, HR 167

6 miles, 47:21, 7:53 pace, HR 149

28 Jun

18 miles, 2:31:45, 8:25 pace, HR 146

Weekly Mileage: 90+