This may seem like an odd time to do an end of season review given that
I've still got several races to do before the end of the year. However,
my season was meant to end with the RAT on 17th August. And so I thought
it would be useful to explore why that ended up being my first (rather
than last) race of the year.
My number one learning is that I should have never ever ever thought I
could keep up ultra training while moving house. Especially when that
house move involved selling a flat, buying a house that needs a not
insignificant amount of work, moving to an entirely new area, extending
my commute by about 25 mins in each direction and meaning I no longer have
the option of running from home to work. I massively underestimated the
huge impact this would have in me.
We did decide not to do any racing until after the move and our first
race wasn't until 2 months after the move. But that was a 20 miler and
with a 50k scheduled for a month after that and my first 100k a month
later it definitely added an extra layer of stress that I didn't need.
I've also learned some useful lessons about training for long single day
events. Knowing that long training runs are key we scheduled a lot of
these. So many that there were points when we were running around 30
miles every Saturday. During the heat wave I just don't think this was
sensible - I took myself into some very dark places and don't think I
helped myself psychologically as I didn't enjoy many of these sessions. I
also had to dig so deep that I struggled to get good consistent
sessions for the rest of the week. Next year I'll schedule a long run
every 3-4 weeks rather than every weekend. And follow it with a rest
week.
Consistency has been the main issue for me this year. I've been ill
quite a bit (mainly due to stress) and with time needed for admin
related to the move this means I've never really got to the point where
I'm in a consistent routine. I believe that this sort of consistency
(e.g. 3-6 months of averaging 50-70 miles per week) is key to ultra
running success. It also helps me to keep my weight down.
My main objective for next year will be consistency. I definitely feel
more settled now in terms of our new home and my commute. And I've had a
rethink in terms of how I structure my week. I've recently realised that
I can get off the train at Clapham Junction and do a 9 mile run to work
through the parks and along the river. It's a nice route and that's
important to me. My plan is to do it Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
mornings. Then on Friday I'll work from home and have a rest day before
the weekend which will include an hour of yoga.
That's been a good learning from this year - I've bought some yoga DVDs
and have been using them whenever I can. Being able to do an instructed yoga session at home and in my own time has made this much easier to fit
in than going to a class.
On that note, we're buying some gym equipment for our front room. I did
quite a bit of leg work over the winter this year and aim to get to the
gym at lunch time for 30 mins 2-3 times per week to do core exercises.
This helps me to maintain my form over the longer distances and builds
my small stabilising muscles (e.g. knees and ankles). By having some
basic weights and a wobble board at home it'll be easy for us to do this
together in the evenings.
We're also looking at buying mountain bikes. This is something we always
promised ourselves we'd do when we moved out of London. And we're both
keen to start cycling again. It should be great cross-training, prevent
us from doing massively high running mileage year round and will also be
a good way of recce-ing running routes - for example the South Downs
Way which we've entered as our "A race" for next year.
One of the main reasons for picking this race is that it's close by and we'll
be able to train on terrain that's the same as we'll be racing on. We both loved the
transalpine run but will be hard-pressed to "race" any of the big
mountain races as we just can't train on similar terrain where we live.
While we'll definitely look to spend time abroad training, we realised
this year that we both got enjoyment from being able to race the RAT and
be competitive.
We've now got a couple of marathons scheduled before the end of October
and then we'll be buying our mountain bikes and doing some shorter
faster runs over the winter before we start ramping up for the South Downs Way and hopefully learning some of the lessons from this year...
I've spent quite a few years juggling work, family, friends, admin (usually ignored!) and a mild obsession with doing too much exercise. Now I've decided to share some of what I enjoy and what I've learned. Over the past few years I've realised things generally work out best when I go back to basics - with what I eat, how I train, what I wear... And most importantly that it’s all meant to be about going out there and having fun! Please follow me on Twitter - @hannahkeartland
Wednesday, 11 September 2013
2013 season review
Wednesday, 4 September 2013
My lower leg injury - sporting the one-calf-guard-on-one-calf-guard-off look
It started on day 2 of our Isle of Wight run. Early on in the day, before I was properly warmed up, I suddenly experienced an intense muscular sensation in the top right of my right calf. It was totally different to any injury I'd had before.
Looking back I'm 99% sure that the cause of the injury was a long steepish descent at the end of the first day. The hill also sloped off towards the sea so it was a really awkward camber to be running on. The lack of training in my legs probably meant I was too fatigued after 35 miles of running to stabilise my leg effectively on that downhill.
Something I did on the Isle of Wight (and which I've done on long training sessions ever since) is put a Compressport calf guard onto the offending leg. I've worn these for recovery for years and swear by them. They're a great fit and seamless which means they don't rub / leave unsightly lines in my legs like other brands I've tried. I also find that compression gear massively speeds up my recovery - something pretty key with the amount of running I'm doing. I mentioned it previously in this article on the Transalpine.
I've not tended to actually run in compression gear though. To be honest this is largely cos I overheat and so in the summer I don't want to cover up my legs, I'd rather feel the air on them keeping me cool! But this summer I've been sporting a fetching one-calf-guard-on-one-calf-guard-off look. I've not overheated and the calf guard has kept my offending right calf warm and supported.
Finish line of The RAT - the one-calf-guard-on-one-calf-guard-off look |
In terms of recovery, I've been using all my tried and trusted methods. I've been seeing Martin for regular sports massage, particularly focusing on my glutes and then the band down my right itb / quad and into my calf. Charles has been using acupuncture to get deeper into the muscles of my right glute and leg to release specific areas of tightness / muscle spasm. And I've been seeing Paddy for osteo treatment. I've got a twist in my pelvis which he straightens out. He's also been doing a lot of work on releasing tightness in my lower right leg - it looks like the location of the pain is where everything feeds into the top of the fibula and that this has become all gummed up. So Paddy's been manipulating my leg to get everything moving smoothly again.
When I headed down to Cornwall for The RAT, the good people at MudCrew were good enough to put me in touch with Tim Saunders in Liskeard who gave me a couple of sessions of shockwave treatment which seemed to work a treat at reducing inflammation and releasing unhappy muscles / soft tissues. I'm going to see if I can find someone nearer home who offers this...
On more of a DIY front, I've been doing all the usual - stretching, loosening exercises for joints, rolling, glute trigger point release with a tennis ball and using hot wheat packs. Paddy's also given me an exercise where I lie on a couple of strategically placed books to realign my hips.
I've got a couple of marathon distance races lined up in the next couple of months but I'm keeping my mileages pretty low at the moment and just letting my body recover. It feels like I'm gradually improving so fingers crossed that the second half of the year will be injury free...
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