Why a runstreak doesn't work for me

What did the twelfth day of Christmas bring me? Sore shins and tight Achilles it seems. What started as a way to catch up on missed runs turned into a run streak and has ended with me jettisoning the idea. It has at least confirmed something that I knew already, I need rest days. 

Run #1

The weekend started with a bit of parkrun tourism. We were due to meet with Paula's folks in Southwold so I wanted to take in some tourism en route. We originally thought we were meeting near Thetford Forest so a bit of replanning led us to Ipswich instead. 

It turns out this was the penultimate Saturday at the current location for the Ipswich team and they were met with a lot of parkrun tourists and a record attendance. The course was two laps, with a 30/70 split between gravel path and grass. It would be fair to call this my least favourite type of run, soft and heavy grass!

I started reasonably well, expecting a 25:00 on this course due to it's nature & no faster. My first kilometre was around the 5:00 mark, four more of these & I'd hit my target time. The course then started to go around a watery area, with some nice big puddles to avoid, single file traffic almost & I could feel myself slowing to the pace around me. Once out of that section I realised the rest of the lap was off road. An up & down to get to a lap of a football field, followed by another up & down to get to the same point, then a lap of the cricket field.

Struggling through Ipswich parkrun

I already felt like toast before the first lap ended & despite a downhill start to lap 2 didn't have any great momentum. My five minute splits were now up in the 5:20/km range & although everyone around me appeared to be struggling, I felt like I was going backwards. By the off road section of the second lap both Achilles were painful. The only slight bonus being less shin pain due to running on grass.

Ipswich parkrun - A weak finish

I could barely muster a sprint finish & crossed the line in a resigned fashion, 26:34 being my worst result since February & probably the most disheartening given I'm only one month removed from a PB that was 2:35 quicker. I've had a good year with parkrun, 19 events more than doubling my total to 35, but this was not the way to sign off a year.

Slower & Slower & Slower.....

The course was unforgiving, probably quicker on a dry day, but not one for an attack on a PB. Despite all of this the event was well managed & run. Will be worth a return to the new course at some point to see how it compares.

The Eat #1

From Ipswich we carried on up the A12 to Southwold to meet with Paula's folks. This meant that at least two seaside staples would be ticked off: chips & ice cream.

Billionaire's Shortbread from Two Magpies

Chips were scheduled for lunchtime at the pier so we marched up to the town centre itself. We stumbled upon The Black Olive Deli & acquired some cheeses, olives & scotch eggs for consumption in the evening. Two doors down was the Two Magpies Bakery, where I decided immediate sustenance was needed in the form of a festive sausage roll & cakes for afternoon tea were picked up.

Two Magpies Bakery, Southwold

Of course one of the reasons to visit Southwold is pay homage to the Adnams brewery & distillery. They have an excellent shop local to us, but the one in their native town boasts an even wider selection of goods. I'm not an overly keen pint drinker, but the Spindrift blonde ale is always worth picking up. Mrs H added some Cider to the basket & then we found the World's best gin. Although Santa had been kind enough to add 3 gins to my collection, it would be rude not to sample the gin & perhaps make a purchase.

Gin before midday is always an interesting prospect, but you could taste straight away why it had medalled so well. This meant a bottle had to be added to the basket & with some Chorizo Jam  to be saved for a later occasion.

Fish & Chips on the pier, followed by ice cream made for an excellent day, shame the run at the start had to spoil it.

The Run #2

Sunday was going to be a day for simply maintaining the run streak, getting an easy mile under my belt. We were staying at the High Lodge resort near Southwold & to wake up to a nice frost made me a bit nervous about the lack of layers I had packed.

An early morning frost at High Lodge, Suffolk

I threw on an extra t shirt underneath my long sleeve top & decided to run from our lodge to the entrance of the golf course. My father in law had told me it was only half a mile......

After 1.4km & with the entrance at least a further half kilometre away I decided to turn back! Although I was running easy, I had not intention on it getting out of hand! Despite the easy pace my shins were painful throughout & that pain stayed with me throughout the day as we headed up to Norwich to take in the delights of Alan Partridge's home town.

Even after a mustard bath (courtesy of the Colman's shop) to ease my pain I still felt wretched in the evening.

A mustard bath anyone? Known for being anti inflammatory

The Conclusion

On the drive home (was going to include a lap of Norwich whilst singing to Roachford but Paula vetoed this!) I pondered my current situation. My run streak stood at 11 days, yet the easy days weren't worthwhile. Getting out for just one mile seemed like a lot of effort for little reward. If anything I was getting reduced returns as I went. My legs feel more & more tired, both Achilles are displaying signs of tendinitis & both shins are painful. The fact that every injury I experience points to tight calves should be a message.

At first the run streak was a means to catch up on lost runs. Then it became something to do over Christmas to keep the festive calories off. Given that my weight has gone up 3lbs in a week I think it would be fair to say that as plans go, it was a poor one!

So with all of that in mind, this run streak is done. It was worth trying, always nice to change up training a bit, but this change has turned out to be negative. I'm now going to take a couple of days off until the NYD parkrun in Chelmsford, ice & stretch regularly. I've learnt what I knew already, that I need rest days to allow for everything to recover.

This isn't sitting in a field waiting for Paula to pick me up, but it is a realisation that when something doesn't work, it's better to change it than risk further injury.

The 7 days in a row achievement from Nike+, for the first & last time!