Miracle worker

Since I started running I have always had pain in my Achilles tendon on my left leg. It is something I have managed since sustaining the injury on the 8^th February 2012.

This injury stopped me running for three months in 2012 and severely hampered my running progress before my first appearance at London Triathlon.

Since June 2012, I have been managing the issue myself using my trusty Achilles strap (which stretches the tendon) whenever I felt it tightening. Up until recently I had completely forgotten about it apart from the lump which has been there for over two years.

A couple of weeks ago however, the pain returned. It wasn’t anywhere near as bad as it was in 2012 when I could barely walk let alone run but when I was running I had started to feel the familiar niggle. Worryingly I was also starting to feel it in my right leg.

After my race at Goole it was really painful and I was having problems walking down stairs in the morning. I decided enough was enough and I needed to see my physio Jenny of Blizard Physio. For those that don’t know Jenny is a miracle worker. I really can’t recommend her enough. Jenny's knowledge of the human body astounds me.

So last night I made my way over to Blizard Towers and mentally prepared myself for 30 minutes of pain, good pain though as you know you are being fixed.

After explaining the problem to Jenny she started manipulating my legs and back to work out the knots. Immediately the difference I could feel in my left Achilles was amazing. It didn’t feel so tight or painful and when it was being moved there wasn’t as much resistance. What I wasn’t prepared for however was that when I got off the bed, my lump had gone (some part of me will miss my lump :o( bye lump). This has been something I have lived with for the last 32 months and half an hour of work by Jenny had made it disappear.

I was over the moon. I wish I’d known Jenny when I initially had my Achilles problem. She could have fixed me 32 months ago.

If you’re in need of physio help around Doncaster then get in touch. She is brilliant at what she does. Yes she might make you wince with pain but afterwards the problem has gone.

Jenny is that good at what she does that the patient before me travelled from Skegness to see her. That’s a 4 hour round trip for a 30 minute appointment.

You can’t put a price on the value of a good physio and I am lucky to have one of the best (in my opinion).

Thanks for reading,

Michael

Getting back on track

I find writing things down quite therapeutic and I guess this is one of the reasons I enjoy blogging. Over the last couple of months I have not felt myself.

Surely a combination of #ironmanblues and losing my Grandma and a few other things that I can’t even be bothered to mention.

However in those couple of months I have found my favourite distance in triathlon which is a major plus. I have exhausted myself this year by trying to race at every distance with little to no transitional period between different distances. I had my reasons for this and they were mostly due to me wanting to do an Ironman before this ticking time bomb in my hip decides to appear, but it was a huge mistake. I wouldn’t change anything I have done but I have learnt what not to do and plan on using this. As I stated next year is all about sprints for me. Where this will lead I have absolutely no idea. What races I will do I don’t fully know. I need to sit down with my coach and work that out. I have a few ideas but until these have been approved, I am not announcing anything.

So now the season is over. No more swimming in lakes as quite frankly I am too soft. This means my faithful Archimedes has been put into winter hibernation. The season closed with my best result to date. I finished 28^th in the Drax Goole Triathlon and despite me feeling my bike let me down (for the second race in a row) I was pleased with my placing and how the race went especially as it was the first race where I raced by feel rather than with my trusty HRM.

Unfortunately the close season is here and after a period of recuperation (after Leeds Abbey Dash) I plan on spending the coming months working on my bike and my run and just ticking over with my swim. I know what I want for next year and it will only be achieved with significant improvements to my biking and running.  Plans are afoot to make gains with biking and running, in fact at one point I even considered a duathlon for all of three nanoseconds. What was I thinking? Run, bike, run is just madness to someone who is better at swimming. Those plans will become apparent over the coming weeks but I can’t say too much right now...........

Sorry for the lack of blogging but I have had a lot going on recently. I’m also sorry for not really writing any race reports. I just haven’t been in the mood. I’ve had some real fun racing in London, Leeds, Relays, Brigg and Goole but putting those to paper has proved very difficult for a variety of reasons.

Thanks for your patience and thanks for reading,

Michael

Learning to race

Over the last two and a half months I have really enjoyed racing at shorter distances and I mean really enjoyed it.

Since I wrote this post (http://smoker2triathlete.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/whats-next.html) I have raced at the following events.

Doncaster 5k where I set a new "official 5km PB

Hatfield Sprint where I set a new course PB

London Triathlon Sprint which I had a really good race at and finished in the top 10% of all racers

Swim With Other Teams Championships which Doncaster Triathlon finished 4th at

National Club Relay Championships where I beat all my times from 2013 and finished as the quickest member of my team

Leeds Triathlon Relay (swim) which we won again and where I was #firstoutthewater

Doncaster Parkrun where I set a new PB by nearly 4 minutes


Brigg Sprint where I set a new course PB by 11 minutes and finished 37th overall and 7th in the 30-34 age group.

At Brigg I came to a realisation that maybe I am capable of racing so I have decided that in 2015 I am only going to concentrate on sprint triathlons and running 10k road races.

The aim is to learn how to race properly and see what I am really capable of.

I have three races (one sprint tri, one 7 mile off road run and one 10km road run) left this year before I plan on putting in a good winter's base training ahead of 2015. Who knows what will happen next year?!?! I need to come up with a plan for which races to enter and with the help of my new coach and #runboss, I am sure it will be a good year.

I am going to learn to race as I really enjoyed pushing myself at Brigg. The fact that I was only 32 seconds off my 5km run PB in a triathlon shows how much I have improved in recent months. I'm really looking forward to 2015.

Thanks for reading,

Michael

A public thank you

About five weeks ago I contacted #runboss of Blizard Physiotherapy about my increasing weight (following Ironman Austria) and the fact I had lost my running and training mojo.

We sat down (via the medium of Facebook Messenger) and formulated a plan to put an end to my weight gain and help me rediscover my running and training mojo,

The plan revolved around structured training and a structured diet where I have been monitoring what I am eating.

Fast forward to today and my weight has started to come down, in fact recently I have weighed less than I have in as long as I can remember. People are even commenting on the fact that I look thinner.

And as for my running. Wow!

My running has improved so much in the past five weeks.

Five weeks ago today, on a recovery run, my pace was 10:30/mile, tonight on the same duration recovery run my pace was 9:04/mile (which is quicker than I have ever run for such a low HR).

In the same time my threshold run pace has reduced from 9:23/mile to 8:25/mile.

No amount of words can truly express my thanks to someone who is not only my coach but also a good friend, someone who believes in me when sometimes I don't even believe in myself.

The gratitude I feel can never be repaid in full, this man has helped me improve so, so much with his encouragement and belief in me. Yes it has been hard work but it has been worth it. I am starting to really enjoy running.

If you need some help with running you could do a lot worse than look into the services provided by Blizard Physiotherapy.

Thank you Dave.

Michael

TomTom Cardio Runner - My first impressions

Last month Running Bug ran a competition to review and keep a TomTom Cardio Runner. I entered and thought nothing of it until a few weeks later when I got an email confirming I had won one to trial, how exciting.

When my watch arrived I was like a kid at Christmas as I tore open the packaging to be greeted by my new TomTom Cardio Runner in all it shiney glory.

I had done some research into the watch but could not get my head around how it could monitor heart rate using light. I was baffled by the technology and was thrilled to be able to try it. I had read the DC Rainmaker review of the watch in an attempt to better understand the pros and cons of the watch.

I couldn't wait to get home to try out the watch for myself to see if it worked as accurately as what I have become used to when using a chest strap.

In the interests of science I decided to go for a run wearing two watches so I could compare the HR's between what I (and most other people) have become accustomed to and the new tech in the TomTom Runner Cardio.

On that first run the maximum difference I noticed between the recorded heart rates between the two units was 3bpm. I would love to be able to show you the data to back this up but had a technical malfunction and can't upload the data from this first run off my new watch.

As you can see in the above photo the difference in 1bpm. I was amazed that the difference was so little.

Since that first run however I have been able to upload the data from the watch to Strava and other fitness tracking services.

I haven't been for anymore runs wearing both watches. It just feels weird running with two watches. The plan is to complete another run wearing two watches so I can categorically state that the new technology is as accurate as the traditional technology.

Since that first run I have found myself reaching for the TomTom to log my runs. It is oddly liberating being able to run without a chest strap.  The weight of the TomTom Cardio Runner is also less than I have become accustomed to, which is a nice bonus

I love the fact that you can set HR zones to run to and it lets you know if you are training in the right zone. I find this really helpful and motivational as it is constantly there to remind you if you are working too hard or not hard enough.

I am looking forward to working with the other features of the TomTom Runner Cardio over the coming weeks to see what other niceties I can find in there.

I am not going to lie, I was sceptical about the tech but form my first couple of weeks with the watch, I am mightily impressed by it.

Thanks for reading,

Michael