Dore road loop

I was rather unsure about doing a run this evening as my knees (both) had felt tired and stiff through the day. Not sore, just less than ideal. Ultimately I had to adopt the approach that I'd only know by getting on with it. I tried hard to have good form and on a level 1km section I was very aware of a fore to mid foot strike with my heel barely touching. The pace was smooth and I felt I could have gone for ever. The speed was not great, just a 5minute km but I approached the ascent to Hathersage Road feeling fresh. I was able to pace it so I stayed running and kept my heart rate around 140bpm.

Heart rate on 140bpm after initial weirdness

I wonder if the lack of a Monday swim and an easy saturday has given me a good cardiovascular recovery even if my legs started off a bit iffy. During the run my knees behaved and really did loosen up with use. As soon as I got home I was on the roller as my calfs especially were rather tight - all that fore foot use!

Tired knees

This nominal rest week has been a little harder on my knees that I expected. Perhaps unwisely, on Tuesday I did a fairly fast run which was inevitably stressful. This was followed by circuits where I managed some squats and small lunges and collectively that was quite a load on the knees and quads.

Therefore today I limited myself to a loop of the woods and included some of the running drills. I didn't have any twinges during that 7km and pain hasn't developed during the evening which are good signs, but I can tell that they are 'tired' at the very least.

Short and (a little bit) faster

This is a rest week, it's also best part of 4 days since my last run. So the idea was to not go far but make a bit of effort. Last winter I did intervals along the park and now I'm feeling stronger I thought I'd try that out.

After a warm up from home I attacked the 1km straight with fair intensity but not as fast as might have been possible. After all I didn't want to set off any of my recovering injuries. My pace for that was 4:17 min/km which is my 4th best time. The average heart rate was 182bpm. The last third of the segment was at a heart rate of around 155bpm which suggests that I could go a little faster. Conversely at the start at was over 220bpm. Is this possible or is it misreading?

Links like this and here suggest that the band and the chest contacts might be too dry until a good sweat builds up. That's good as I'm sure 50 year old myocardium can't move that quickly!

After the 1km effort I headed home with some streetlamp and tree fartlek both on the level and uphill.

That'll do

I had half planned to run 5km this evening but it's not going to happen. I'm tired after a very long return journey last night and I think I have done enough this week; I feel it could be junk miles. Although some argue that distance is crucial I feel that the overtraining demon is near my shoulder and this week has been relatively hard for me.

I'll make do with some rollering and stretches.

Guadalest half marathon

My pre-holiday planning had highlighted the valley of the Rio de Guadalest as a potentially easy, but interesting long run. Although it's a day or so early it seemed madness to postpone a long run until back home.

The hotel arranged a taxi for me, which whilst not cheap, was a lot quicker thsn taking 2 buses. Cost wise it wasn't much more than the entry fee to a recent 10km race in Sheffield, so on that basis I justified it as a reasonable holiday expense.

During breakfast I had niggles from my right knee and my stomach and did my best to dismiss these as 'pre-event' nerves. The taxi dropped me in the village at Guadalest ready for me to descend into the valley. From a previous visit I remembered that the swimming pool is on the road to the reservoir and so followed signs to that. I walked much of the road, mindful of the earlier niggle, the gradient and the absence of a warm up.

The tourist hotspot I didn't visit today

Close to the dam the route took md through an open gate where warnings about security were less than welcoming. Side routes were locked so it appeared that access to the main track was tolerated. At the river this was supported by a distinct path passing around a fenced off facility.

Thereafter navigation was simply a sequence of lucky guesses to stay on the track trackng the river optimally. Around the halfway point near Callosa I made the wrong gamble and had to retrace my steps past many snarling dogs locked into small holdings. The route lacked variety being lined with bamboo and passing through agricultural land mostly.

At 23km I reached the beach just to the north of Altea and was pleased with a time of 2.5 hours. The forecast of 23degrees felt a little conservative and I would have been pleased to have a sun hat with me. Considering the run was a mere 'half' my legs feel worn but I suppose I have done 2 long runs within 6 days with Tuesday's steep run to the cross in the mix. My plan is to do an easy 5km or so on Sunday and then it's a rest week. I will need it.

To the cross

Tuesday is road day so I headed off along the promenade to do 5km or so. Above me I was tempted by the cross on the southern aspect of Serra Helado which didn't look 'too far'.

Working my way up the road the cross was getting closer but time was passing. The sunset over the bay cast lovely colours, accentuated by delicate clouds.

At 31 minutes I achieved my goal, meaning that I could be back to the hotel within the hour. There was a handful of other sightseers who had walked, run or driven to the viewpoint.

Although I agree with the sentiment I can't agree with painting the roadside.

Once at the cross I had to descend as I didn't want to be on the road after dark. I was just in time as night had clearly fallen when I was back on the promenade. I'm not sure if it was the steep descent, gastritis or a substantial lunch in Alicante (reviewed here) but something made me quite queasy!

I was a little concerned about my knees after the descent but in the short term they seem fine. I did try to be careful.

Terra Mitica

As we flew to Spain yesterday my 'long run' was postponed until today.  I'd designed an 18km loop from the hotel and round over Serra de Cortina and back into town. I set off after a medium-sized breakfast and progressed slowly towards La Cala and then turned inland to Finestrat. My goal was obvious as the lowest of the hills inland of Benidorm.

All of this was on road but eventually, after a total of 6km, I headed up a stoney path.

It was a 1.3km walk to the summit, I'd have struggled to try any sort of run but it was off limits on a long run day. The ridge was runnable amd gave good views back to Benidorm. At the northern end of the ridge there was a view down to the theme park and I wondered how it was possible to get permissions to excavate a hillside.

Bright sunlight spoilt this image a little

The descent to the road was shorter than anticipated and didn't upset my knees. This was followed by a long shallow descent on road. I cut through the theme park to stay off the main roads and that worked well.

After more food and a wash I was walking along the promenade.