To Oxstones

As my ankle started to be irritated after 20km last week, it seemed wise to stay below that threshold. Today's run was 16km up to Oxstones and back. Actually I think it's harder than some routes of similar length as it is very much up and then down. This does give quite a strong training effect as the ascent is slight, but basically continuous for over 50 minutes. Then there's the eccentric loading all the way back.

As it's a slow run day I watched my heart rate closely and the chart shows that I did a good job of staying in the zone.

The good news is that my ankle is fine; this might have been helped by the change of shoes too. Time will, or might, tell.

First open water swim

I was already booked on an introductory open water swimming session in July, but the promotion of the Great North Swim and ongoing mild weather made me itch to have a go. Luckily a local organisation, SwimYourSwim, had a session today and I was able to get time off work to leave early.

The traffic to Doncaster was terrible, to my inexperienced eye, and made the journey rather stressful. At least this confirmed to me why I live within walking distance of work. There was a bit of a delay in starting the session even after we'd filled in the usual forms and disclaimers. This made sense as  it enabled the regular swimmers to get in the water as quickly as possible but really there was no need to arrive 30minutes early, as advertised.

Alistair got us to think about his 'pool' and how it differed from the local tiled, chlorinated swimming spot. This useful exercise highlighted the dangers and opportunities as well as the chance to relish the deceptively rural location of this 24m deep gravel path. After instructions on the wetsuits we were told about cold water immersion and how to acclimatise to the water. Actually, at just below 20°C the water was pretty mild.

Initially I certainly felt the reflex and could appreciate the danger but the process (and wet suit) were effective and eventually submerging my face didn't seem so bad. Gradually we made our way into the water with a few easy strokes to a buoy and then the next until I felt confident enough to get a good rhythm of freestyle. We'd been told to try lying on our backs, using the buoyancy of the wetsuit, to have a rest, or call for help if need be, and I was surprised at how easily I floated.

The water was reasonably clear and certainly in the shallows it was possible to see pond weed and the sandy floor of that part of the lake. Naturally along the way I had a mouthful and although I endeavoured to spit it out it tasted fine.

After completing 1 lap of the 200m course in sections we set off to do a second lap. Straightaway I went face-in for freestyle and only stopped at the halfway point whilst we regrouped. Sighting was a bit of an effort as it broke my rhythm. It wasn't clear that my unilateral breathing made me veer off in any particular direction as sometimes I was tending to the left, others to the right.

The session came to an end all too soon, really I could have gone around again, and that's a great way for a training session to end. Far better than to feel you've been pushed too much. Alistair and the club swimmers were very supportive and made us newcomers feel at home. I'd recommend the course but do remember to take some flip-flops along.

Back to old shoes

As last Saturday's run seemed to fatigue my peroneus muscles to the point of pain; I've decided that this week I shouldn't do a long run but aim to do equivalent distance over several runs. I've also been reading about the importance of tempo runs to develop VO₂max an thus work towards a faster pacing. Those things suggested that 7km around the woods would be a good idea the evening.

I've also been thinking that some of my ankle pain is due to shoes with low heel drop and so I rescued my Ultra290s  from the loft. My suspicion is that a year ago their claimed 8mm drop was to extreme for me on the Canalathon and initiated the problem. Then for the Peak District Ultra I trained in shoes with 6mm drop, as noted here, and that set things off more. I'm using those shoes now as my regular trail shoes. So, if I return to 8mm will I help recovery?

I don't know, but the Ultras certainly felt easy on my feet this evening. Importantly the heel counter didn't rub either. My legs had a number of tight spots that the roller helped and now I need to massage my ankle and then get some recovery done.

April 2016 Week 7 Session 1

The data from today's session are much the same as those from last week although psychologically I feel these long sessions are getting easier.

I'd hoped that by being laid back in the first set and making effort towards the end that the pace would be a little more uniform. In fact, I faded from an average of 2:14min/100m for the first 800m to  2:23min/100m for the last. As before, the power I exerted per stroke reduced to as the strokes/length increased by 1 or 2.

Even slower...

I thought  that last Saturday's run was slow, but today I was even slower! I mentally constructed a 25km loop, setting off through Endcliffe Park. After Rustling's Road I met one of the Saturday morning group who was moving quite slowly. I stayed with him and chatted until the Norfolk Arms, content to have a companion and an excuse to take a sensible pace.

Just above the pub I found a unofficial path leading into Lady Canning Plantation that joined the bridleway up to Oxstones.

I suspect that this route is used by bike riders and preceded the development of the Blue Route.  In any event it served well to keep me off the road. After Oxstones I continued along Houndkirk Road and then turned for home over Totley Moor. This was easy going until the steep descent on the Byway.

Just before the 20km point my right ankle/calf started to cramp and this was irritating on even gentle ascents. I tired to massage it but it wasn't effective and with a general feeling of fatigue I had a slow last few km home.

 I'm not sure why I'd found the run so hard and excessively slow. Perhaps I was generally fatigued as I'd woken with a 5% increase in my heart rate or perhaps the sore calf was affecting my gait?

April 2016 Week 6 session 3

The spike set data this week are very similar to those from last week although there is a hint of greater distinction between 'fast' and 'slow' lengths. It is very slight though as the average and peak paces from both weeks aren't significantly different.

If anything the SWOLF data are a little worse which might be explained by fatigue from yesterday's circuit class. A few lengths were at 2:00min/100m or better so overcoming that threshold is an ongoing goal.

A number of lengths around 2:00min/100m pacing

A wet trip to circuits

This June has been terribly wet, and although I believe that it always rains on Wednesday evenings, tonight was unusually wet. I think the cold air and rain encouraged me to go a bit faster as I even managed a PB on the fast straight of Psalter lane.

I knocked 5 seconds off my previous time even though I took care to slow down to check crossings. The return journey home wasn't so speedy as the circuits session was reasonably tough.