Life's A Beach

Things are continuing to improve but I’m still a good bit off from where I could say that I’m over that injury. After the hip had felt so good on Monday I thought I could start trying to run on consecutive days again but Tuesday was a big disappointment in that respect. From the first step I could tell that this really was not going to go well and after one mile of hobbling along I turned around and hobbled back home. Just to show how bad this had been, I had not even managed to average 10-minute-miles! I went cycling for an hour instead – we have the use of some bikes here, though they were clearly not purchased with the intention of cycling fast or long. However, for the week they’ll do.

Maia's gone native again

After that new setback I was a bit apprehensive on Wednesday but it was so much better! I could just about feel a tiny twinge in my hip at the start and even that went away completely after a mile or 2 and I was running completely unencumbered – well, apart from the fact that the temperatures were over 30 degrees, even at 8 o’clock in the morning! I managed to hold it all together for 10 miles but noticed a lot of ups and downs - in my fatigue levels that is, the road around the lake is entirely flat.

I went cycling again on Thursday but spent more time cursing at that bike than enjoying the ride. I also got a bit lost and was completely parched over that last few miles and suffering badly over one last hill, small as it may have been – exercising for over two and a half hours in that heat without bringing water was probably not my smartest idea ever.

I had recovered from that ordeal by Friday morning and once more the hip seemed in perfect condition, so I drew the run out a little to 12 miles, my longest run in what seems to be a very long time. I noticed the same highs and lows but figured they were closely coinciding with whether I was running in the shade or directly under the sun. Thursday had been incredibly hot, the temperatures had reached 38 degrees; Thursday was slightly cooler at 36.5, but that was still hotter than anything encountered in Ireland, ever! Well, I guess it will give me a fair amount of heat adaptation, which will only help. It probably also explains why my pace is only around 8:30, even when I could have sworn I was running faster than that, and the rather high HR is a bit of a concern. Obviously my lack of recent training and the subsequent loss of fitness has something to do with it as well.

Early morning visitors

Even though my hip had felt great all day, it was bothering me once more on Saturday morning, so another cycle was on the cards. This time I fulfilled a very long dream of mine – over 30 years ago I had learned about the Leithagebirge (“Leitha mountains”) and wondered how the flattest part of Austria could have a mountain region – well, even the hills around Caragh lake are higher and steeper than this but a 38 mile cycle through the country side was great and the mere fact that they have a network of cycle lanes going through the country here makes things so much easier and better – Ireland could really do with someone having a look how infrastructure works in other places, but I won’t be holding my breath.

I’ve actually done a ton of exercise this week, with the long cycles and the running supplemented by a fair amount of swimming and rowing as well as my exercises from Derek I must have done close to 3 hours a day – hopefully that will kick-start a last-gasp bout of training that may still get me back to a reasonable level of fitness. I have 6 weeks left.

11 Aug

2 miles, 20:05, 10:02 pace, HR 128

12 Aug

10.1 miles, 1:26:11, 8:32 pace, HR 146

14 Aug

12 miles, 1:43:00, 8:35 pace, HR 153