Long Run - the elusive distance

This Sunday's long run was planned out for 30k along the Dandenong Creek to Jells Park and back. The same track that I ran last Sunday but this time with a bunch of splits worked out to major intersections at a 5:30 pace.

The first 12k went to plan then as I headed up to the 20k mark at around two hours, give or take, I started to cramp up in the back of my legs. I pushed through the next 5km with some very reduced patches with the last 5km being pretty much a disaster with just as much walking (hobbling) as there was running, well shuffling more like it. I finished in 3:30 hours with a not very respectable 7:14 pace overall.

Hmmm, only a couple of weeks to go and I need to find another 15km. This is going to be very interesting. Next Sunday is the Puffing Billy race which I plan to run out to Emerald and then at the end of the race turn around and run back to Belgrave. The hills in this run should be good training for GOR and if I feel ok at the end I will head up to Grants Picnic ground and do some trails.

Training - 4 weeks to GOR

Only 4 weeks to go!

At lunch time on Monday I went for a 10k run that I was telling myself was a "recovery run" after Sunday's long run. Yeah well, not really I was a bit tried and sore afterwards and later that night. By Tuesday night I was still a bit tight in the calves and thighs but went along to MMA training anway.

We had a traditional night which was good for a change, just and hour and a half of Goju style kata. Fairly tired when i got home so I had a good dinner, a wash and hit the sack.

Belted out a 10k run at lunch time today at a 4:54 pace. Not too bad for a training run and I've got to say that I'm feeling great now. Think I'll go out to the shed tonight and do some more kata training.

For the rest of the week it will be 2 hrs of MMA on Thursday night, 10km Saturday morning followed by some kata practice, then a 36 km run on Sunday morning. The plan for next Sunday is to do that long run at 5:00 or faster pace.

Hanging Rock 10k

It was a lovely sunny morning at Hanging Rock with about 500 people lining up at the 10k start line on the horse racing track. Although planning to run in a pair of Vibram Sprints I was unable to tie the timing chip on with the small ties that were supplied so I ended up running in my Mizuno Wave Ronins.

The course itself had two short stretches of sealed road with the rest consisting of open paddock, the grass horse track and a dirt trail around the base of the rock. A very enjoyable course with a nice mixture of surfaces, it sure beat the standard 100% road courses in Melbourne.

At the start I managed to get a great spot right up on the start line, in fact there was a noticable lack of pushing to front. This led to a cruisy start with no josteling, dodging and weaving for the first two kms :)

I hit the 5 km mark at 21 minutes and was feeling great for a sub 45 and at about that point I hooked up with this guy who was travelling at a nice steady pace. The plan was to run with him to the end and the group of 15 or so runners behind us seemed to have the same plan.

Another 1500 metres on and my plan fell apart when I started getting some gastric action happening and had to slow down for fear of blowing chunder. Once I got going again I was about 50m behind that pack and had no hope of catching them especially after another gagging episode another 800m down the road. I managed to pick up my pace again for the last km or so and finished with a respectable 45:41, which was about 4 minutes slower than what was possible due to the untimely gagging.

There was a little tightness in the hammies on Saturday afternoon but that was pretty much gone by Sunday morning. After a little sleep in I put the VFF Sprints on and headed off for a cruisy 29k run. All went well untill about 2:30 into the run. By that stage I got it into my mind that I wanted food and my water had run out with nowhere nearby to refill. Over the next 50 minutes or so I struggled along and had to keep motivating myself to continue. Something I haven't had to do for some time. Next week I'll take some money with my and/or food and more fluid!

Over all I felt pretty good Monday morning with slightly sore thighs and a little tenderness in my left heel. Went for a nice 10k recovery run at lunch time and all feels exceedingly well.

There is no more pain in my Plantar fascii and the achilles pain is just about gone, certainly it is manageable. My calves and feet feel so much stronger since I started wearing Vibrams - unbelievable!

Run 4 the Kids 2010

Ok, my first race wearing the Vibram Five Fingers Sprint was on Sunday in the 14.5 km Run 4 the Kids. The only other person I saw wearing Vibram was my buddy and I never saw a single barefoot runner. A couple of people asked, quite a few others started, but for the most part the majority paid no attention. Especially when the race was underway and the other runner's focus was primarily on their own pain.

There were a couple of spots where I did slow down which were made up for with a few quick spurts, overall I found that I ran with a nice consistent pace. My overall time was 68 minutes which averaged out to a 4:41 pace, my buddy ran at a 4:16 pace (or therabouts).

Today I feel good. A little tightness here and there but nothing out of the ordinary and the feet in particular are fine. I did have a minor concern that I might have been coming down too hard in my footfalls but it all seems to be A-OK today. The next race will be a 10k job at Hanging Rock in April and I plan to do plenty of kms between now and then with a few very long hill runs thrown in.

The Plantar Fascia pain I had earlier in the year is completely gone and the Achilles are both getting better and are not far off being cherry ripe. To think that only 4 months ago I was starting to worry that I might never be able to run again without pain. Changing to a forefoot running style and running in the Vibrams has been the saviour for me.

Vib strong

My feet are getting stronger, I can feel it, it feels good :)

A nice little 11 km run today down the Yarra and around the Tan a couple of times.

The first lap was at a steady 4:44 which help me end up with 5:16 for the whole run.

Didn't push it hard to max although that one lap was steady.

I'll be more than happy if I can do R4K on Sunday at faster than 5:00 pace.

Opinions

....are just opinions

If you don't agree with one, no problem just move along

If someone doesn't agree with yours, no problem just move along

No point arguing when neither side will change their mind. Especially when there is money and/or career choice involved.

Blood Letting

Fantastic run this morning with Wheatie up at Sherbrooke Forest. We had a massive storm yesterday afternoon and rain all night which left the rainforest trails nice and soft and the forest smelling more alive than I have ever seen it. Well all except for the two cracked and splintered mountain ash we found that had come down over one part of the path. That slowed down our pace as we had to climb through the debris.

During the run I was thinking about how I can get some balance in my running and martial arts and I've come to the conclusion that I should give up the short runs during the week and concentrate on a Wednesday long run and a Sunday mega run. More than that and I am just exhausted.

The "mega run" was not so mega today, only about 11 km as I am still breaking in my calves and getting used to running in the VIbrams, which by the way felt awesome on the damp trails today. It is so much nicer being able to feel the earth under foot as you run. Not so much that I was prepared to go barefoot. Whilst I am into the whole barefoot philosophy of gently treading and feeling your way through, I am not so open to the idea of exposing my bare feet to unpredictable trails. We'll give that a bit more time.

When we got back to the car park I noticed that I had picked up a little leech, so I gently flicked him off so that he could go and find some other runner to have a snack on :-)

Floating moments and slices of time

I was just driving into my street last night when my daughter called and asked if I could pick her up from work, which is across the road from the carpark I had been in just a few minutes earlier. So I continued back and a few minutes later turned right into the side street, continuing on for another 30 metres and stopping outside the coffee shop.

I turn the ignition off, open the door and stand up outside the car whilst looking forward and across the road towards the coffee shop. Right at that moment I hear the unmistakable screech and impact of a car hitting something. Immediately I look over my right shoulder and see a car airborne and then smash into a power pole at the intersection I had just turned down.

Hot on the tail of this car was a police car, which stopped before the driver got out and arrested two men from the crashed vehicle.

So its a bit like, ahhh yeah, I was there driving through the crash spot about 30 seconds before it happened. When I collected Pais she pointed out that if I hadn't come back to get her she would proably have been walking around that corner at about the time of the crash.

Really, its the sort of thing that I've seen before, but it was interesting to think of the timing and how close it all was. Also interesting to think of the participants and the strange lives they have created for themselves.

How do you help people who choose criminal behaviour?

The coffee shop owner was telling me that the law doesn't work and that there should be more social input. I'm not sure about that. The law is effective enough in helping to keep the majority of people safe. As far as the criminaly inclined go, well they get some punishment but the only way for them to change their life is if they choose to do it.

Return of the hump

Just me and Rob for a hump day run. Really I was a bit worn out from my lunchtime run and probably went too far with Rob. We did a lap of the Tan with about 8 km all up at a nice steady pace.

I was exhausted after having a shower and went and got some dirty bird to fuel up. It filled the spot - all fuel for the fire :)

Achilles cured??

Maybe, just maybe....

After a week of semi-detox the pain in my achilles is all but gone and I have noticed that my toes even look better. Hard to explain, but they look trimmer which means they were probably a bit swollen before, especially the big toes.

My weight has also dropped by a couple of kilos which isn't great. But it was most likely a couple kilos of sugar that had been dropped!

Today's run was awesome. A short knock down the Yarra River at a nice pace that was coincidently my best race pace in a 10k and a 21.1k race.

Generally feeling good and now thinking about knocking up some serious kilometres again. I'll see if Bob will do 8k tonight :)

4.4 km @ 4:45 pace

Shit Creek

Took Taj for a pleasant Sunday morning amble along the Dandenong Creek this morning, well pleasant except for the smell coming from the creek. It deadset smelt like a sewerage and I noticed that someone has put some of those rubbish collecting pontoons in there. It smelt so bad that it took about 10 minutes before Taj finally made the plunge. He's usually in there straight away.

So the run was 9km with about one third on a nice gravel trail and the rest mainly on paths. The Vibrams felt wonderful when I first headed off. Later I felt a little tightening in the right calf and some minor soreness around the left ankle, otherwise all was good.

Sawing planks

"He who plants a forest in the morning cannot expect to saw planks the same evening" - Chinese proverb

Everything takes time, patience, perserverence and determination. Don't give up and don't be too hard on yourself when you make mistakes.

Back on the horse

Went for a light 5k run yesterday afternoon and then MA training later in the night that for some reason went for two hours rather than the normal one. Very nice to be running again and my legs are a bit tight today! Meh, running again after a break and spending half the night in horse riding stance and cat stance - it all adds up after a few weeks of limited action.

no run nowhere

Well its now been just over two weeks since the last time I have been for a run and that was a very slow 3km on a bike path in Wantirna. Whilst I have been caught up with moving into a new home, it has also served as a timely break to allow my sore feet a rest.

After a chat with a friend who has been studying TCM it looks as though it might be time to give the liver a bit of a cleanout. Over the next couple of weeks I will start changing my diet and some habits to get this moving along.

So far coffee, alcohol, black tea and dairy products have been dropped from the menu. Water intake has been increased and I am drinking herbal tea, green tea, white tea. Last night the wonderful Nic knocked up a massive bowl of fruit salad for breakfast. It was supberb topped with vanilla yoghurt.

Today I will venture out for a light run. I'll be running in runners.

Training with Hanshi

last night we trained with Hanshi Tino. These are the main areas we went through.

The pushup

Hanshi showed us a push up where you stretch your body out straight and use your core to push your body up to your hands and feet. I'm not sure that anyone was able to do it without using their elbows for leverage.

After we all spent some time groaning and straining on the ground, Hanshi dropped down and easily did a few just to let us know that it can be done!

Seiyunchin Kata

We spent some time learning the first quarter of this kata and generally I felt that we picked it up quite well, due mainly to the wonderful instruction :) This is a Goju Ryu kata and not one that we would normally do in our style.

Switch with three punch combo

Jab, then set up a switch on the reverse and then fire into the second jab with a full switch for added power. Most of us mad a complete hash of the switch, I know that this is something for me to do heaps of work on. We did a similar thing with Shihan a couple of weeks ago and I don't think that I am any better at the moment.

Soft blocks and hooks

After some demonstration of the damage you can do with a knife or other small weapon such as a hair brush, we worked on blocking with our hands and arms. The emphasise here was to take a soft approach with smooth movement. This was pretty much the "wax on - wax off" stuff.

It was a fantastic night and a real treat to train with Hanshi. He is a super guy and moves like lightening - simply amazing.

Take it easy

Up early Sunday morning for a light 3km run with Naomi. She hasn't done much running she struggled with her breathing after a couple of km's and refused to run any further after 3km. It was a very easy pace so my achilles were not too bad although the calves still felt like they had a couple of little rocks in them...very tight.

In the afternoon I took the dog for a 10km walk. He went barefoot and I went in the Vibrams. There is one nice little stretch with a grass/dirt track along the creek so I moslty ran that at a very light pace, probably 3-4 km all up. The rest was a walk as the calves were really starting to bother me.

Iced up the calves in the afternoon and that made a fair difference but the left achilles is starting to be a bit of a worry. I'm going to back off and do no running this week with some more ice application to see how things go. I'll see if I can fit in some more long walks barefoot and in the Vibs to see if these help.

I'm sure that the change in running stride is helping, its just that I haven't got the stride right yet and I think I need to give the existing injuries a rest. They were way overdone especially as I had implemented such a dramatic increase to my running volume. So far this year I have run about 25% of my total kilometers for 2010. Yep, there needed to be a gradual build up rather then a blind dive into excess.

I am Jack's stinging blisters!

That wasn't too smart.

Barefoot for 6km on a very hot day equals soles that feel like they are on fire.

Ouch.

6 minute pace.

Ouch. (did I already mention that?)

Inside the box

Bashed out a steady 6 km on the treadmill for 32 minutes. Just having a bit of fun and then a good stretch and some work on the rollers. Feeling pretty good.

Had an MMA class last night and went home feeling a bit flat, which is unusual as I'm normally pumped after a class. My technique has been a bit average of late, probably due to a lack of practice over the Christmas break.

Monday recovery run............

Did a cruisy 6km down the Yarra today. After the first km or so, I was feeling a bit sore and a bit weird wearing runners, so I kicked them off and did the next 4 km barefoot. Pretty much from St Kilda Rd to Anderson St and back.

All in all it was nice running barefoot although the front pads felt a bit sensitive at times and I think I might have a few blisters.

Put the Mizunos on when I got back to St Kilda Rd and then just flew home over the last kilometer. Running on the toes and feeling incredibly awesome. It is amazing how spongy the runners feel after going barefoot for awhile.

6 km @ 5:50 pace

To shoe or not to shoe...........Part 3

My first run in the Vibrams was a very slow 6 km at around 7:30 / km pace. The next day I had some heal pain and sore toes otherwise everything was ok. Over the next few days I had a couple of short runs in the Mizunos and then a couple of days later had a very interesting session at the Tan running track.

The Tan is a 3.86 km track that consists mostly of a hard sandy surface with about 600 m of sealed bitumen. The first two laps were in the Vibrams and generally felt good although I did start to notice rubbing on the inside arch of the left foot which predictably developed into a small blister. After the second lap I decided to go barefoot to dry my feet out a bit. This lap felt fantastic and straight away I noticed that I was naturally implementing a softer landing. The Vibrams went back on for the fourth and final lap and once again they felt pretty good.

This was my longest continuous run for 2010 and afterwards I felt fantastic. It was the most enjoyable and fun run that I have had for quite some time. Now the big test was going to be how I felt the next morning.

The report card for the next day was pretty good. A bit of tightness in the calves but generally the Achilles and Plantar fascia felt ok on both feet. Early indications are that I am now heading on the right track and I am starting to get excited by the possibility of some pain free running.

There is heaps of info on the web about barefoot and minimalist running, there are the converts who preach like they have just found a new religion and there are the podiatrist naysayers who believe that barfooters are deluded. On top of all that there is questionable research from both sides and creative interpretation to promote certain arguments.

For me the only thing that matters is whether or not I can be rid of tendon pain and continue running. I’m not looking to convert anyone and really couldn’t care less how others choose to run or even don’t run. If it is helpful for someone else to read through my ramblings, that is great, if not, well I’ll still be running anyway.