Wow, first post for over a year!

In summary, 2019 was a bit hit and miss for running in general.  I wanted to take a long rest to give my knee a chance to recover but most importantly there were some major life changes too with a new baby and moving country a couple of times!!

Will be looking to be much more consistent in 2020.  I only have a year a bit left to hit a sub 40 minute 10k, I reckon I'm somewhere just under 50 minutes at the moment.  A long way to go!!

18th August 2018

It’s been a couple of weeks since finishing the Gobi March in Mongolia,  it seems like a long time
ago already. I’m keen to get back up to a decent volume of training again but the knee injury I
had before the Gobi and an ankle niggle I picked up along the way have held me back a little.

I had my first physio appointment on Thursday who suspects that I have an over-use type injury on the
tendon at the front of my ankle.  There’s a couple of knots and the tendon itself is a bit enlarged. She
did a bit of release work and dry needling and it felt a lot better straight away.  I will need to work to
a structured plan to allow my knee and ankle to heal properly now. Been told to take it a bit easier
on the running. Apparently eccentric squats are really good for the rehabilitation of knee tendons
so will be doing them a couple of times a day.

Today I just went out for a very short 5k run along the river.  Even going out at 10am makes a big
difference in Singapore weather terms, it was roasting hot already and the sun was shining.
 No real niggles from the knee, I’m not sure if this is because the cortisone is still effective or
just that it is genuinely getting better.  The ankle felt much better than a week ago so hopefully
that is relatively minor.

Next week is going to be a busy one with work again so finding time to get out for a run is going to
be tricky but will do my best.  At least with the strength programme I can squeeze that in first thing
in the morning or last thing at night.

Training Update - June

Well, the Gobi March is fast approaching (around 6 weeks to go) and safe to say that training has not gone completely to plan.  I have been suffering with a knee issue which I have still not got to the bottom of as yet.  The physio initially diagnosed Tendonitis and prescribed strength and stretching exercises.  6 months later the problem has actually worsened albeit I have not helped by not resting!

My training volume is around half of where I wanted it to be, with around 60k a week rather than the 100+ I had planned at this stage.  Cardio-wise I feel fine but the knee has really reduced my confidence particularly over the longer distances and affects my form which leads to pain in other areas (hip and glutes).  

Really trying to get to the root cause and so this week I have gone for an MRI which hopefully will shed some light on the situation.  Both the doctor and the physio seem to pointing toward a cortisone injection a couple of weeks before the race which should significantly reduce the pain and inflammation.

On a more positive note, my kit is really coming together.  I learned a lot from the Marathon des Sable a few years ago and my pack weight will be close to 7kg (excluding water) at the start of the race.  Food as always is the trickiest part, I will update my equipment and planned rations on the equipment page in the next couple of days.  Going lighter will really help reduce the load on the knees particularly over the more technical terrain.

Building up the training

It's only just over four months until we will be on the start line of the 2018 Gobi March.  I remember when I initially signed up, the date seemed an age away.  Now the date is approaching at an alarming rate!

The year so far has been incredibly busy with a lot of travel for work and family visiting us, my training volume is nowhere near where I had planned it to be so far.  I was intending on being up at around 80km a week about to start adding weight on my back.  I find myself at just under 50km a week but I will still start to add the weight in order to get my strength up and practice the technique.

Along with the lack of volume, my left knee is proving pretty problematic with the physio diagnosing tendonitis.  I'm my own worst enemy in the cause of this, lack of stretching, foam rolling, and strength training will have contributed to this.  I don't really have a choice but to push through the pain and start to stretch and strengthen in tandem.  The pain is bearable but really noticeable, particularly after a long run.

The excitement of the Gobi March is starting to build and I will soon be starting the final planning which is one of my favourite bits.  I remember the prep for the Marathon des Sables and trying to save fractions of a gram off every piece of kit!  Nutrition is still a bit of a question mark but I'm speaking to a few people about their experiences and getting some really good advice.

This is a bit of a punctation point in the build-up.  Hard work really starts now, I'm hoping for some big gains. Every kilometre in the bank will make the race easier, at least that's the idea!

 

Welcome to the blog!

Welcome to my first new blog post!

I'm posting here mainly to hold myself accountable to training for the Gobi March which is taking place in Mongolia later on this year.  The blog will mostly be updating on my progress but I also intend to publish some race reports and equipment reviews along the way.  Hopefully this will be interesting to anyone in a similar position or perhaps those diagnosed with insomnia!

So far as running goes, I would consider myself pretty average with lofty aspirations.  I've always had difficulty in being consistent with training so have never managed to get to anything even near competitive.  That said, I find running enjoyable and it's most definatley not about winning medals or trophies for me or the majority of people that run.

The training plan is still a work in progress and I will publish a draft when I have balanced out the numbers properly.  The distances per week start to look pretty intimidating once they start to stack up.  I managed to complete the Marathon des Sables a few years back which was much more of a chore than I would have liked.  I put this down to a lack of preparation in my base fitness which I don't really want to repeat.

Well, I think that's enough of an introduction post.  I will tidy the page up as I go along, I'm not a particularly techy sort of person so I'm sure it could look a lot prettier!

Hope you enjoy reading, please do leave me comments if it takes your fancy!