Running with horses: Week summary (2-8 April) - Learning a valuable lesson in running

Monday

Rest

Tuesday

Am - 7.8km tempo run. (110m) 0:32

Pm - Mt Tibrogargan trail run 8.5km. (440m). 1:15

Wednesday

Am - 7.8km tempo run. (110m). 0:31

Pm - 12.8 km easy run. (144m). 1:06

Thursday

Pm - Speed work. 2 x (5x400m). Each 400m is ~1min20sec. Total is 4km.

Friday

Pm - Stationary exercises & 1050x skips

Saturday

Am - 14.5km easy run (210m). 1:18

Pm - 7.8km easy run in vibram five-fingers (110m). 0:38

Sunday

Pm - 30km long slow distance (656m). 2:56

Total distance: 89.2km (excluding speed work distance)
Total elevation: 1780m
Total time spent: 8hrs16mins
Average speed: 5.56 min/km

It's been a week with up and down for me. I started the week strongly, perhaps too strongly, with two attempts at running a sub-4 min/km pace. The first time I ran with a backpack and finished at a time of 0:32 for 7.8km, the second without my backpack with a time of 0:31. Good timing. Just when i thought i had it, i started to feel the familiar demon in my shin. It's shin splint! Ahhh... How frustrating! Why does it come at this stage of my training when i am supposed to increase my mileage?! Maybe i am just not meant to be able to run fast. Run long yes, but not fast.

Discouraged and frustrated, I asked God what i should do. Rest, He said, and trust Him. Well, not that i have any choice, do i? That night i came across some articles by sock-doc (I have included his webpage link in my blog list) about training safely and injury-free. Dr Gangemi (aka Sock-doc, because he only wears a pair of socks when working), is the author of the site and he is one of most unconventional, all-rounded persons/coaches/therapists (all-in-one) I know in the world of running. His understanding of injuries, training principles, nutrition, general lifestyle habits, are some of the best i have ever seen.

I read a lot of his articles. Basically the take-home message from his wisdom is that - the most important rule for long distance training is building your aerobic base/threshold. This means running at a comfortable pace, at about 60-70% of your max heart rate most of the times. It's only from this aerobic base which is built over a long period of time that you can start to incorporate anaerobic training, i.e. tempo run, speed work etc. In his many years of working with sportsmen, he has seen way more injuries which a result of starting anaerobic training too early or too much without a good aerobic base than the other way round. Aerobic training, if done in a proper way, hardly ever results in injuries. Anaerobic training, should only be limited to one or max two in a week, and no back-to-back anaerobic training, which was the mistake that i made.

So in midweek i scaled down my training a lot. Was basically spending time massaging my anterior and posterior tibialis (shin muscles), looking for tight and sore spots and applying circular pressure on them. (Shin splint - as opposed to conventional theory of a stress fracture in the shin bone, is actually due to imbalances between anterior and posterior tibialis which result in pull of muscles at their attachment site to the shin bone. This pulling of muscles results in excruciating pain on the bone, where the muscles attach, which is commonly mistaken at micro-fracture in the bone). I also spent some time building up leg strength by doing some plyometric exercises and skipping.

As time progresses, my shin pain slowly abates. On Saturday when i did my easy long run, i could feel the pain there but to a much smaller extent. On Sunday when i did my long slow distance, the pain had disappeared. Thank God. Thank God for teaching me a valuable lesson here without me suffering from long-term injuries.

Training requires a lot of patience. A lot of trail and error to know what works for you and what does not. You need to start off slowly, gradually build the distance over time, and just being comfortable at the run. I remembered all my training in university day as hard-core intensive kind and I hardly enjoyed the process at all and i was always down with injuries (notably shin splint!). Now i don't run hard as often anymore (only occasionally), instead i learn to run at a comfortable, conversational pace, as if i am running with a buddy. This buddy, of course, is none other than Jesus Himself. I run and talk to him at the same time, all the times. It's also about understanding our body, understanding how it responds to speed, impact, and pain. When you have run long enough, you learn to distinguish the kind of pain that only lingers for a while and the kind of pain that is a red-flag to a more serious injury.

Today in my long-slow distance run, i thought about people who had made a significant difference in my life in the past, and how God placed them at a crucial time to guide me and love me. These people, I really thank God for you, for your sacrificial love and guidance. I wouldn't be here if not for you guys. You all are my heroes. :)