18 weeks, 4 training days and my first bout of hematuria

This week was tough. I normally have at least one training run I enjoy each week and it doesn’t feel like I’m having to force anything, but this week every session has felt like I’ve had to fight tooth and nail to get even a reasonable result.

I started the week with a chest workout followed by a mile and a half of 400m sprints. The weights has been something I’ve dodged for quite a while now. I had certain numbers in my head I presumed I could still get near even considering it had been a few years since I’d done them properly. My friend who I was training with certainly didn’t go easy on me on account of this and I spent the next few days putting shirts and coats on with considerable difficulty! The sprints were a nice default back to what I was used to but I struggled through them more than usual as my chest was dead

I returned to the gym later that evening and did 4 miles on the treadmill at a reasonable pace that I found difficult to maintain. I was pleased that I managed to keep my pace as there was people on adjacent treadmills trying to match it for their workouts. Anyone who says theyre not racing the person on the treadmill next to them is lying most of the time!

I did my usual 5.4 mile loop on Thursday morning which I found OK compared to the 2 a day I had done on Tuesday. This was good as I had used my GPS watch for the first time in a while and I have a habit of setting off too fast when I wear it as I feel like I’m under a time pressure due to the stopwatch part of its features.

After this I did 2 laps of my usual route at 5am on Friday. I managed to get into some sort of rhythm for lap 2 but the first of these was diabolical! I own 2 thermal base layer tops that were nice and warm in my wardrobe while I froze outside! I felt OK by the time I got back but really struggled to get round on the first lap.

On Saturday I did 20 miles on the treadmill which was OK for the first 10 miles then a whole new world of hurt for the second 10. One of my favourite running quotes about pain is that

“Top results are achieved only through pain, but eventually you like this pain”
Juha Vaatianen

The unusual thing was I had ran 18 miles a few weeks previously which didn’t feel anywhere near as hard as this did. I genuinely felt a bit faint when I got off the treadmill and I think if I hadn’t ran that distance so many times in preparation for marathons in the past I wouldn’t have finished. I did sort of enjoy the last 2 miles as I knew I would finish and that I hadnt let the fact it was harder defeat me.

I did have something very unusual happen when I went to the toilet after I had finished. I noticed a rather large amount of blood in my urine which apparently is common for endurance runners if the body redirects blood flow away from the kidney which causes it to leak into the urine. I’ll be perfectly honest I was happy being blissfully unaware of all of this!

The initial aim for this week was 50 miles and although I haven’t reached that total I’m happy I forced myself to get through my long training run and that I have managed to increase this distance since the Skiddaw race. I honestly feel this is the first time since I would have been able to finish 20 miles and am optimistic about managing 23 as my long training run next week.

The gradual building back up of my weekly mileage is something I’m warming to and I like the idea that the events I train towards take that much out of me, that I almost need to rebuild from scratch. At least the next time I’m at this rebuilding phase following the Last One Standing race, I’ll be running in a more seasonal time of year!