These were originally individual posts, now combined as a single page and the originals deleted.
A BEGINNING.
Posted on by Jonathan Russell
First, don’t worry, I’m only going to blog on the first of each month, not a daily update. Anyone can follow my Strava page if they’re interested seeing what I’m up to day-to-day.
I have an ambition to run long distances, but it is definately something in my head, a fantasy, not reality. I have been going out reasonably regularly, but my furthest distance so far is a miserly 673m, or four-tenths of a mile. So definately not an ultra-athelete yet!
Very much an act of faith, getting out. It is a struggle. My running feels lumpy, laboured and unsustainable. Progress in terms of distance has been negligable. A few years ago I tried a bit of running, getting up to eight miles in continuous runs in just three months from memory, but stopped after developed a painful lump on the bottom of my left foot. After a couple of weeks went for a scan and was told, “It’s a cyst, a little fluid filled sac. Harmlesss. Funny place to get one! You could have it chopped out if you want to, but it probably wouldn’t be worth the trouble. It’ll probably disappear eventually.” It hasn’t, but I rarely notice it now.
Back to the plot. I have been running every other day, with occasionally two days off, but I’ve decided I’m being too gentle on myself. I know it would be a mistake to over do things, but I need the stimulus of seeing and feeling progress. After doing nothing practical all day, will go out – a couple of evening miles walking and running somwhere. There! I’ve written it and posted it. I’ll have to do it now!
Oh, and down to one FKT (Fastest Known Time). Technically still hold two, the Knightly Way double and, the Harry Green Way male FKT, although I’m happy to say someone else, one Sue Harrison, has done a proper time of just over five hours. I took 8½ hours, walking. OK, it isn’t about being the fastest, it’s about the journey getting (or not) there – but it’s was nice to be first for a while, even if it was because I was the only one to have recorded a time on the FKT web site!
Maybe next year I’ll run 100K. For now I’ll be happy with 1K, and I’m two-thirds of the way there.
WHERE AM I GOING?
Posted on by Jonathan Russell
THE STORY SO FAR
In the forty-three days since I resolved to run, I’ve gone from being breathless at a couple of hundred metres to, on Friday 26th May, running eleven kilometres (seven miles), and not feeling particularly exhausted at the end. I stopped really because of awareness that over-doing things can backfire, which they may have done a bit – see below.
I never intended to follow a sensible training plan, but to push – and perhaps find – my personal limits. Passing the ten kilometer mark in such a short time may well have been too far, to soon, but it was very satisfying to achieve.
I’ve discovered I like running. I like the consistency. I like the steady effort and the positive emotion felt when reaching a particular distance, time or waypoint. I’ve cycled a bit, sometimes long distances, but cycling is an uneven business, one moment blissfully rolling down a hill, the next having to laboriously peddle up another. I’m not against cycling, it’s just a different kind of thing. I find running a more physically and emotionally harmonious affair.
Mimi Anderson, a long-distance runner who’s books I’ve enjoyed, swiched to long-distance cycling after developing knee problems. While her first love was always running, she has now taken to long-distance cycling and comments how she doesn’t miss the constant pounding on the body that running entails.
WHAT NEXT? WHERE AM I GOING?‘
‘What next?‘ … for me is buy some better street-cred T-shirts and maybe some more comfortable shoes. The ones I’ve got were bought with an eye to mountain trekking, so they’re a bit clunky.
‘Where am I going?‘ … is a harder question to answer. Now capable of longer distances, I’ve more or less decided to be a countryside and canal towpath runner, so will have to explore the local environment better. Without car (recently got written off in a minor accident) things take a bit more planning, but that is not a big issue.
Road running is nice, but not with the traffic. Even on country roads, there is always someone – is it my imagination or is it just male drivers? – who make only the barest minimum of allowance for pedestrians and cyclists, whooshing by with only a couple of tens of centimetres to spare when they could have pulled across effortlessley.
(The image above is from Strava, a phone app and web site which cleverly tracks activities in the field and links with the watch I bought. Have quickly become an addict.)
Behind all this effort is a wish to improve myself physically, so that when trekking in the wilds I’m not set back so easily by fatigue. I.e., the running is not intended as an end in itself, but a building block that links in with other interests. There is also a curiosity about trying something completely new – long-distance running – and seeing just how far I can take it.
But now a setback – knee trouble. Just my left knee. Ligament trouble I think. I had a plan to run twenty-five 5K distances daily to build stamina, but this will have to be paused while things mend. Discipline needed! 2K a day, if that, until things feel stronger and more stable.
So, that is May 2023. Where I will be at the end of June is a mystery to me. In spite of passing the 10K mark on the 26th and even the regular 5Ks, I’d only call myself a ‘2K fit’ runner, that being the distance I can currently cover reliably without any sense of difficulty.
[Additional note, 1st June: walked eleven miles today, no running, to test the legs and work out really what’s going on. Left knee uncomfortably tender at times, around the kneecap generally, and feint symptoms right kneecap – to cut the story short, patella tendonitis, AKA ‘jumper’s (or runner’s) knee’. Treatment is avoidance of high shock activity for several weeks, along with strengthening exercises, so that’s what I’ll be applying myself to during June and early July, then starting the running again with shorter distances and increasing at a much more sensible pace. My career as an ultra-athelete is on hold!]
POSTSCRIPT: MY FKTs.
I now have only one official FKT (Fastest Known Time) on the FKT web site. My Harry Green Way (33.2 km, 20.7 miles) record has gone – I walked it in 8:37:58, but someone else has run it in 3:34:39. I’m still the only person to hold a record for the Knightley Way Double (walked in 9:17:15), but I guess that will go when somebody notices and chooses to run it in a third of my time!
NOTE ON SPELLING AND ABBREVIATIONS: I’ve opted for the British ‘kilometre’, rather than the American ‘kilometer’. The proper abbreviation for kilometre/kilometres is ‘km’ (never ‘kms’), but like may runners I often use a capital ‘K’ or ‘Ks’ instead, as incorrect as it is.
NOT JUST A WOBBLY BLUR.
Posted on by Jonathan Russell
I’ve fallen in love with running, and have rarely missed a day recently without clocking up a couple or more kilometres. It feels good to be out in the countryside, witnessing the seasons, noticing the changing agricultural practices over the months and the progression of the flora. Before I tried it, I wondered what runners were going on about by saying how much they enjoyed being outside. Weren’t they missing everything? Wasn’t it all going past in a wobbly blur? Not so. In some ways I feel more connected than when on one of my long hikes, even more physically involved in the landscape and noticing just as much.
After my 11 km (7 mile) run on 26th May, I developed knee problems – patella tendonitis I believe, also known as ‘jumpers’s knee’ – over the next few days. I rapidly scaled down my running efforts and ceased entirely from 1st June.
My plan was six weeks of complete rest to allow the cartilage to settle down. I believed that it was not damaged, just strained and maybe a little inflamed, warning me that I was not proceeding at a sustainable pace. With a bit of research I learned that while muscle heals relatively quickly, cartilage takes a lot longer, so a period of weeks of rest from running seemed advisable.
So, that is what I did, sort of … I did go on a three-day backpacking trek in Scotland in early June, plus did the 22 miles of the Harry Green Way the week after, then a 48 mile, two-day hike across central Wales the week after that, but no running, and interestingly no patella problems.
Well, I did actually take one careful 1K test run on the 1st July, with no sign of trouble, but then decided to stick to my plan and make it a full six weeks off, starting again on the 16th of July with one kilometer runs. I read somewhere that a sensible rate of increase is 10% a week, although the NHS-approved ‘couch to 5K’ program is roughly double that. So, I made my rate of increment 15% a week with a little variability, Started at 1K, now approaching 3K.
There is a difference between walking and running. In running, every pace is actually a little jump, with the foot landing back on the ground with a jolt, hence ‘jumpers’s knee’, a bit like ‘tennis elbow’ which results from the constant impacts of the tennis ball on the racket ricocheting up the arm. I came across this concept in a book called The Lost Art of Running by Shane Benzie (which was commended by Damian Hall in his book, In It for the Long Run). I’m not totally convinced by some of Benzie’s arguments, although I do recognise he and Damien are vastly more knowledgeable on the subject than me. Walking, so long as one is sensible, does not involve the repetitive impacts of running.
I’ve since discovered a book called Training Essentials for Ultrarunning by Jason Koop, published in 2021, which is a fascinating and educational read – not just for his tips on running, but about healthy lifestyle choices in general and relevant to anyone, would-be runner or not. I think his three best pieces of advice are:
- Remember that the time spent not running is more important than the time spent running – the recovery period. Give your muscles and whole body time to recover, repair and strengthen after all the stress you’ve been placing them under. Don’t ‘overtrain’.
- Prioritise time active over speed and distances. Don’t intentionally go chasing personal bests – that just invites stress injury. They’ll come naturally if you just concentrate on running comfortably. (Hence I’ve changed the header of these posts to prioritise time spent running rather how fast or how far I’ve done.) If training for a particular event where you do need to consider distance/time, increase your efforts slowly, but vary them as well, not least to avoid training getting boring.
- Measure progress and maintain a self-awareness by something Koop calls ‘perceived effort’, not by data from wrist-worn pulse monitors or suchlike. If you felt relaxed and comfortable on a run, score it low on a scale of 1-10, higher if it was more difficult. Heart monitors have their place, but can be misleading as a training guide because heart rate is affected by mental state, hydration, nutrition, lung capacity, humidity and a whole load of things. Look after all those other things.
I have been running in slightly chunky things which were a cross between running shoes and hiking boots, which I originally bought with mountain walks in mind. I’m now the owner of a pair of Mizuno Wave Daichi 7 trail shoes – ‘trail’ means they’re for cross-country rather than road running, which needs a different kind of shoe. Immediately felt the benefit, unexpectedly running a near-five minute kilometre (5:09.7 to be precise) straight off.
So that’s the story so far – minor injury, lessons learned, new shoes, more recovery, focus on time instead of distance or speed – I have been running almost daily, but have some discomfort around my left knee again, so am going to take a short break. I’ve a holiday coming up so will be off walking again anyway.
It may be I’ve already reached my personal limit in the amount of running activity my knees will tolerate. My dream is to manage a 100 kilometre route which joins the southern and northern tips of Warwickshire, my home county. Theoretically it could be done in 12 hours at an easy pace. A tall order, or course. At my current rate of progression this could be achievable by spring next year, theoretically – my knees may have something else to say. My only goal right now it to build the hours.
Jonathan Russell (www.strava.com).
SLOW.
Posted on by Jonathan Russell
Just a short note this month. A slow month. In spite of managing ten miles on the 8th, have been getting some awkward, perculiarly uncomfortable twinges from my outer left knee. Not like the tendonitis I had before, this followed a fall running by the canal first week of the month, that knee clouting the rock-hard, sun-baked mud of the path. Got straight up and carried on running, but evidently a little bit of damage done.
Decided to take things easier for much of the month, then a few days ago just felt ready to get out again, and have been doing 5Ks every other day since. Knee issues fading.
So, a slower month. Did treat myself to some road shoes – very similar to the trail shoes, but without the chunky grips on the bottom, and they do feel really nice. The plan is a few more 5Ks, and – all being well – 10Ks from the middle of October, or if the mood takes me, sooner.
AM I A RUNNER?
Posted on by Jonathan Russell
Day 199 (week 29). Longest distance run 21.1K (13.1 miles), longest time running 2:09:12.
When will I consider myself a runner? Not yet although I’ll drone on about it to anyone who’ll listen, willingly or not. I remember how pleased I felt managing my first 1K (one kilometre). I then got to the 5K – seems ages ago now. Comfortably reaching 10K was a joyous moment. But am I a runner?
I can run 10 kilometres (6.21 miles) comfortably and 10 miles (16.1 km) confidently, although this is close to my current personal limit. After being deliberately cautious last month querying tendon issues, the knees now feel fine and starting the last week of October I intend to push the limits and have already managed a half-Marathon on the 28th, up at Draycote.
The longer distances are proving a self-management challenge. They require recovery periods of a week+ to allow the muscles and body tissues to restore, meaning days spent not running, which I miss. Perhaps I should limit the frequency of my longer runs while the body builds strength and stamina. I’ll work it out.
I feel all this has done me good, helped me become a calmer person, and now wish to develop on the social side. I took part in a ‘parkrun’ for the first time ever on the 30th, the Royal Leamington Spa one, finishing the 5K in a respectable time – not that time matters at these events – and look forward to participating as a volunteer in the coming weeks.
Got to admit I do like being a loan runner, but this brings back memories of a couple of lone fell runners I met when walking in the Lakes years ago. One, permanently dressed in running shoes, shorts and shirt, described how it was all he did and how it had ended his marriage. He seemed to have no fat, just skin stretched over bone, muscle and cartilage, looking like one of those preserved anatomical models.
The other was a young man of a similarly uncomfortable appearance plus unkempt long blonde hair, who I came across late one evening on some backroad in the hills, staring like the proverbial startled rabbit into my car headlights. I wondered if he was alright, thinking he might be lost. He just stared at me and then was gone. The expression was one of obsession-compulsion and at the same time the look of someone who was indeed rather lost. Doubt if I could ever achieve such a level of exertion, but not the direction I wish to travel anyway.
My next goal? To run for three hours, maybe 25-30K (16-19 miles) – I do like kilometres, there’s more of them, but they’re shorter! – and then it will be hunting down that first Marathon.
This will be my last running post. It’s become a more personal thing now. The Strava account has become a private log, not a public thing with ‘kudos’ (the Strava equivalent of Facebook ‘likes’). I may quit ‘e-running’ completely and get a simple mechanical stopwatch. If I keep all this up for a year plus then I’ll consider myself a bit of a runner. For the moment, I just like to go out for a run occasionally.
This is a draft post which I never put online, included here just for the memory:
JOURNAL OF A WOULD-BE RUNNER – ONE YEAR IN.
It’s been an adventure, a time of discovery. Having decided on April 17, 2023, that I was going to run, I can happily look back and know that from being able to manage just a couple of metres, I now regularly and easily manage five kilometres (‘5K’, or 3.1 miles).
I see from my records, I ran my first kilometre on the 1st of May (day 14), 5K on the 18th of May (day 31) and 10K on the 26th May (day 39). I then went through a period of knee and back issue, plus summer holidays interrupting, finally reaching 10 miles (16.1K) on the 9th September (day 145). I managed a half-Marathon (26.2 km/13.1 miles) on the 26th of October (day 192), the first of four. My longest run was on the 17th of November, 25.25 kilometres (15.7 miles, day 214).
I’ve most enjoyed getting to physically experience the countryside through the seasons, feeling even more connected with outdoors than when I’ve been on one of my multi-day rambles. Also, it’s nice being physically fitter, not getting out of breath or feeling over-exerted easily. I don’t feel physically stronger or especially athletic, it’s more a case of not feeling as taxed as previously.
I’ve enjoyed the bumps along the way – one the 19th of May 2023 clouting my ribcage on some baked ground that I wondering if I’d actually cracked a rib for a while, 7th September gaining bloody grazes tripping on a canal path (could have been a lot more interesting!), on the 27th December dunked myself well in it in a very muddy and stinky field and on 18th January gained some right hip deep tissue bruising trying to run across a bit of sheet ice.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Posted on by Jonathan Russell
Short answer: persistant stress injury meaning I’ll have to take a long break from serious running.
Long answer: for the past couple of months I’ve been aware of lower leg discomfort, the right leg in particular. I put it down to muscle or ligament strain, but wasn’t too concerned, yet it didn’t seem to go away. I thought I might be ‘overtraining’, but even after toning down my running activities the pain remained – an unconfortable bruised or tense feeling mainly on the inner side of my right shin, It felt like the bone itself was tender or bruised.
Doing the occasional 5K the pain would disappear after the first few hundred metres, but with hindsight that was just the body and mind fooling itself, switching off to the symptoms during the activity, a bit like blister development can go unnoticed when walking but become painfully apparent when resting with the feet up.
Googling the symptoms, I came across the term ‘shin splints’ or ‘medial tibial stress syndrome’ – “repetitive stress on the shinbone and the connective tissues that attach your muscles to the bone“.
The descriptions I found matched what I had very closely. It is caused by inflammation of the membranes around the tibia and even the tissue of the bone itself and is a common amongst runners who over-do things. I’d (almost) always been sensisible increasing my times and distances, but evidently my leg can’t take the pounding.
The cure? Only one, unfortunately – stop running or any other heavy impact activity for a period of weeks. If and when returning to running, pay much more attention to warm-ups, graduated distances, recovery periods and cross-training. Looks like the 10K race I’d signed up for on 7th April may be out the window – I’ll know by the end of March. Ambitions to run 100K are on an even longer hold!
Looking back, I’m really happy with what I’ve managed. From couch to five half-Marathons in eleven months, a good few 10Ks and regular shorter distances. One needs to find one’s limits in order to get beyond them. Have really enjoyed the time outdoors and noticing the changing atmospheres of the seasons, and discovering the parkrun community. Even enjoyed the four falls which added a bit of spice to the mix, thankfully nothing serious, probably partly induced by my naturally ‘suppinate’ feet which naturally turn and roll inwards, rather than outwards like most people.
Anyway, I’ve used it as an excuse to buy a bike – a ‘gravel’ bike – with a view to getting outdoors and taking it into the mountains. I won’t be engaged in ‘mountain biking’, I’m not really a fan of that, but using it as a means to access remoter areas. The idea of a bike was partly inspired by reading Mimi Anderson‘s books. She’s a record-breaking long-distance runner who succumbed to permanent knee damage, so took up long distance cycling instead. One comment she made was that although she really loved running, always her first love, one thing she didn’t miss is the constant pounding.
A long way to go and a lot of kit to organise. Really intimidated by the idea of coping with punctures, wheel changes, general maintainance and so on, not to mention expense, but I’ll learn. Still a would-be runner, but resting. Wish me luck.
A MARATHON ON MY 60TH BIRTHDAY – DID IT, WITH QUALIFICATIONS.
Posted on by Jonathan Russell
Success. My goal was sub-six hours, and managed it in 5:39:54 according to Strava. Ran three circuits of Draycote, 14.3 miles (23 kilometres), but then reduced to a mixture of walking and running, managing to run most of the final two miles. I estimate I ran about 65-70% of the total distance.
I was surprised how moving forward at a run became so much more difficult after the halfway mark, and (writing this two weeks after the event) remember how afterward the lower half of my body felt pretty beaten-up. There was even discomfort in my biceps. Swinging the arms backwards and forewards for such a long period obviously had an effect.
So, learned more about what a Marathon is all about. With hindsight I really needed a month or two of practicing longer distances, but unlikely to ever get another 60th birthday, so just had to go for it. No shin splints, which I’m really pleased about – put this down to making sure having longer periods of rest between training runs, especially the longer distances, and also balancing (or not) for a few minutes each day on a ‘wobble board’.
I’m writing this on day fourteen of my recovery period. There’s general advice in running literature to have a day’s rest for each mile run, at least no prolongued ‘impact’ activity. Given that I ran a little over seventeen miles and have done nothing since, that brings me neatly to the coming weekend when I have a couple of days off – back to Draycote, and it’ll be interesting to see what my body allows me to do. Can I manage three circuits without feeling all done in?
POSTSCRIPT, 6 April 2025.
I haven’t run for a long time now. Over Christmas started getting pain in the back of my left leg, right at the top of the thigh muscle. It’s as if I’d pulled a ligament, but don’t recall ever doing anything to cause that. Also have what I suspect is repetative strain issues in my right arm which I’ve got to work on. The knees also feel slightly dodgy, but I’m hoping that’s just in my imagination – time will tell.
I do miss the feeling of general fitness from regular runs. With the warmer weather maybe I’ll start up again. That’s it for now.
JONRUS.COM 