So, after a long, cold winter, the realisation finally hit that I'm
running Edinburgh Marathon on 27th May - only 2 months to go and I've
done no real training except 60-minute treadmill sessions a couple of
times a week since beginning of February!! Better than nothing, but
definitely not marathon training!! So it's time to pick my training!! I won't be running a PB for this race, but I don't want to die before I reach the halfway mark either!
Since I haven't had the time to blog every run (I tried, but eventually the backlog got too much), I'm going the summary/review route). April
marks the start of my 'serious training' mode - couple of times a week,
after work, though I'm still struggling to get back into weekend mode,
especially now that I'm so far from the city centre and my regular
running mates, and Phoenix Park.
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| Monday 2nd April 2012 |
I started the month on a high note - I didn't get lost!! I'd learned my lesson well from the previous week's well, let's just call it 'interesting' route. I did my homework, plotted out my route, and even followed it using Google Street View for the areas that I hadn't gone through in my earlier 'explorations'. This was a slow, relaxing, uneventful run. Some nice scenery. Some not-so-nice scenery. But a good run nonetheless. Route bookmarked, mentally - it's easy to adapt to add/cut distance, depending on my time and the state of my legs. Busy enough to be safe. Easy enough to remember. Pleasant enough to enjoy.
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| Wednesday 4th April 2012 |
Following the discovery of a successful route from 2 days earlier, I decided that an encore was in order. Same route, same pace, but this time I was able to focus more on my surroundings from a scenic point of view than concentrating purely on where I was on the map, as with the previous run. There are some great sights along this route: St Stephen's Greens Gardens; Aviva Stadium (not exactly what I'd term 'pretty', but scenic all the same); Herbert Park (always popular with all sorts of people, from dog-walkers, mother-and-baby strollers, boot-camps, football practice); Grand Canal; Dolphin's Barn/Crumlin (definitely not the 'pretty' scenic!) which includes the 'Women & Infants University Hospital'; St Patrick's Cathedral - quite a sight!!
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| Tuesday 10th April 2012 |
After a lazy weekend, and a lot of runner's guilt as a result, I set out on Tuesday for another loop of what was quickly becoming my 'regular' route. But what's this - my shin (of all places!) is cramping up so badly before I've even hit 1km!! I've had muscle cramps before, but nothing remotely like this monster - OW OW OW!! The shin-bone feels bruised, like a case of instant shin-splints! My calf is cramping out of sheer sympathy for my abused shin. Tendrils of cramp are even reach up all the way into my glute. Bad idea to run on this, but I can't turn around now, not after a lazy, chocolate-filled Easter weekend just past. So, take it slow, the cramp will let up, they always do. But when I'd stopped to stretch 5 times in 3km, I knew it was no good. I was all but crawling along, stopping every few minutes to let the cramp ease. Since I'm about halfway through the first 'loop' of my 'butterfly' route, might as well complete the loop and head back. Bugger. Oh well, can't win 'em all...
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| Thursday 12 April 2012 |
So, a day's rest, my shin has been behaving during my regular daily motions, lets test it out - slowly. The silly leg wants to cramp, but as long as I keep my pace slow and relaxed, and don't think about the cramp, it's okay. Stopping every few minutes to wait to cross a busy intersection seems to help too - get the blood flowing through the muscle. A slow 11km later I was back without any issues - and around 8km the wanna-be-cramps had finally let up completely and I was able to enjoy the last few kays.
