That's the phrase used by well-known gameshow host Roy Jenkins (amended Carroll!) of catchphrase. Although I'm sure only my British readers will know of him and his funny Northern Irish accent as he tells one contestant who'd given up hope of getting something right to discover that he's got a chance.
Last night was the Narrabeen 12 hour ultra/100km, which consisted of running around a lake on a 2.5km out and back course - as many times as you could. I entered the 12 hour race with a view of staying on my feet for 12 hours and to also, if things went OK with the leg, knock off around 80kms. Things went better than expected, covering 91.25kms (57 miles) in the 12 hour time limit. The plan was to initially walk the whole thing, but after a brisk start and 10kms, I got bored so thought I'd see how the 'Sahara Shuffle' would work. This is a mix of running/walking, but as time went on, it's fair to say that I gradually ran a fare old chunk of this. Indeed from 10kms onwards I pretty much ran to 65kms. However I was suffering from blisters pretty badly. Not being a walker, within those first 10kms I could feel the blisters coming on, and this was to be my downfall in not reaching 100kms.
I started the race with a full pack of around 9kgs, which felt pretty good until about 35kms where I decided that I was potentially on for a 100km in the 12 hour time limit, so made the decision to discard it after I'd gone through marathon distance. After that, running was good, but every 10-15kms I was having to stop and make running repairs to the blisters. By 75kms I ha resigned myself to walking the last 2 hours as the leg was hurting, but walkng because a little too painful on the concrete, so I went back to the shuffle. This was fine, and into the last hour where the 5kms loop was reduced to 1km loops, I burned off 6kms in 45mins, celebrating my 90th with a sub 5 minute kilometre, having bet my crew that I could knock it out!
Overall, it went better than expected and was a good mental test. Never once did I want to quit or had I had enough. I think after the DNF at GNW, I was very focused on this one. The only way I was not doing this one was if the injury took over. Thankfully the leg seems 'OK' - but we'll have to wait a few days I think to see what its likes. I don't think it's done it any good if I'm honest, but it's not in a really bad way at all. I needed to do this one to see how the leg would cope with a hard 90kms and it seems to have come through, even with a 9kg backpack on for the first 42kms too. I'm a little stiff now, and the blisters aren't too hot, but they'll go in a few days. I'll rest up now for 3-4 days and then see how I'll structure training now for the next few weeks. If I can carry on training at a shuffle then so be it I think!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Friday, January 9, 2009
Always thinking...
So another 20 laps of the pool last night and then another 20 this morning, just 10 hours later. All in a day's work. Nothing much more to report. The leg seems to have held up well after that 26km power walking on Wednesday - no adverse affects, although I'm still nervous about it. It's been nearly a month now and whilst it's definitely eased up, there is still pain on the bone. It's certainly stronger, but how much longer will I need? If it's still like this at the end of January I'll be quite concerned going into the MDS. I at least want to be able to run the majority of it, and not have to walk such a big distance, but if I have to then so be it I guess. It's a shame as I will feel like there's unfinished business as far as the MDS is concerned, but with such a long prep and lead time, the timing of this injury is pretty darn awful and exactly what I feared going into this. I have 15 months of good quality training and then bagn, with three months to go something goes wrong.
I'm looking forward to Narrabeen, but by the same token, I don't want to over do it on the leg and screw it over some more. Walking I think will be OK, but what do I do post Narrabeen? Do I rest for 2 weeks and hope that things improve, or do I carry on training/walking and doing what I can in a bid to keep some sort of fitnees ahead of April 1st? February was going to be my big month of back-to-backs. I can still do those, albeit walking them, but still... it's not how I wanted things to be. Oh the turmoil of friggin injuries. This one is strange. I can run up and down hills, but running on the flat hurts (good idea to do a 12 hour flat ultra then tomorrow!). I guess I'll know a bit more if and when I come through Narrabeen. Should I be doing this race? Probably not, but I have to at least try - it's not in my nature to not at least have a go. Sometimes that's to my detriment, but that's just who I am. Will I look back on all this in years to come and laugh? Probably. But I'm not laughing at the moment. When I think of the money and the time commitment I've made to this, it staggers me that I spend probably the best part of $15,000 in preparation and spend thousands of hours training for one week, and I can't even do it the way I want to do it. But still, be positive that's what they say. I'm not very good at that - I'm a realist not an optimist. I know when things are good, and I know when they're not.
I'm looking forward to Narrabeen, but by the same token, I don't want to over do it on the leg and screw it over some more. Walking I think will be OK, but what do I do post Narrabeen? Do I rest for 2 weeks and hope that things improve, or do I carry on training/walking and doing what I can in a bid to keep some sort of fitnees ahead of April 1st? February was going to be my big month of back-to-backs. I can still do those, albeit walking them, but still... it's not how I wanted things to be. Oh the turmoil of friggin injuries. This one is strange. I can run up and down hills, but running on the flat hurts (good idea to do a 12 hour flat ultra then tomorrow!). I guess I'll know a bit more if and when I come through Narrabeen. Should I be doing this race? Probably not, but I have to at least try - it's not in my nature to not at least have a go. Sometimes that's to my detriment, but that's just who I am. Will I look back on all this in years to come and laugh? Probably. But I'm not laughing at the moment. When I think of the money and the time commitment I've made to this, it staggers me that I spend probably the best part of $15,000 in preparation and spend thousands of hours training for one week, and I can't even do it the way I want to do it. But still, be positive that's what they say. I'm not very good at that - I'm a realist not an optimist. I know when things are good, and I know when they're not.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Swimming and walking - now there's a variation
Walking seems to be absolutely fine for me (fingers crossed ahead of a 12 hour event!), but last night consisted of just 20 laps of the pool. Only 20 because I forgot my water bottle, and not drinking water when you're swallowing galons of pool piss water makes the mouth a little funny, so I limited it to 20 laps, but it was 20 laps non-stop, which was good. I find it funny when I go down to the Ian Thorpe pool. Admittedly I don't think I'm the fastest guy around, mainly because I can only swim breaststroke, always have been, can't really do that front crawl malarky. Anyway, I'm actually pretty nippy for a breaststroker (I think there's an innuendo in there somewhere), so I park myself in the middle lane. Now you get two types of people in the middle lane. Those that shouldnt be in there - and you know you shouldn't be in there when someone like me, a breaststroker, catches you up after giving you a 15 metre headstart. I end up having to almost tread water whilst these idiots finish their laps. The thing is that they actually look like they're giving it their all, but the reality is that they should really move down a lane to where the slow people take their swimming strolls :)
Next you have those that like to blast out the blocks. They hurtle past you, but then after two laps, they're screwed and rest at the end for 5 minutes after each 100 metres. Invariably they're Chinese as well. I have nothing against the Chinese at all, but they always seem to be hanging about at the end of the pool recovering from a 100m blast - very strange. anyway, I go about my business as usual.
Next up was a walk to work this morning. I thought it was just over 11kms from Balmain to work in St. Leonards. so I was a little disappointed when I clocked 1hr 39mins just now. However measuring it on Mapmyrun.com tells me the true distance is in fact 12.25kms - so I feel much better about that. That works out to 8min 5sec kms, with a 7kg backpack on as well. Given there are quite a few hills to negotiate along the way, that's pretty pleasing. I'll walk back again tonight as well. The only thing that concerns me about this 12 hour walking malarky is not the distance or time, but the fact that i heel trike when I walk, whereas I front foot strike when I run. This means I'm using totally different parts of my feet, and when I walk in my Asics, I invariably get some pretty major deep blisters in the heel. I think the foot scrub is coming out tonight to get rid of excess skin and there will be lots of pre-taping before Narrabeen. However today was a step in the right direction. The pace was good and the pack felt comfortable. However whether I can keep that pace for 12 hours is another thing. Realistically I think that I can keep that pace for 6-8 hours - the last 4 could get ugly, but we'll see.
It makes you realise how much of a legend someone like Jan Herrman is. He's a bit of a local legend over here in the ultra community. Apparently running ultras since he was 15, but later in life has to walk them now. His PB for 12 hours is 90kms, that is seriously going some. He also beats quite a few 'runners' in the big ultras over here. I haven't met him, but lots of people talk about him - fair play is allI can say. He's walking on Saturday, I'll use him as my incentive and try and keep up with him. However with 7kgs on the back, it will be tough going, but hey, I'll give it a go and what will be will be.
Evening update: So tro complete the 7 Bridges route as its known over here, I walked the back way home from work tonight, doing another 14kms, and a total of 26kms walking today. I knocked off the 14kms in 1hr 53mins. Not bad going again and a very similar pace to this morning. One thing that concerns me though is the heels and the potential for blisters there. As I mentioned, because I dont usually use the heel, it so susceptible to deep blisters and after 26kms today I was coming close to some. I think on Saturday I'll do a mixture if running and walking and aim to get through the 12 hours. My crew and I were talking about a power walk of 80kms in 12 hours. I think this will completely wreck my feet, so I'll do mini runs combined with walking, a kind of shuffle if you will as that will help ease up the heels and will also see me go a little quicker. Nice and easy for Saturday. No heroics, just simple easy run/walk with the aim of getting through and using this as a chance to do a nice distance again and time on my feet :)
Next you have those that like to blast out the blocks. They hurtle past you, but then after two laps, they're screwed and rest at the end for 5 minutes after each 100 metres. Invariably they're Chinese as well. I have nothing against the Chinese at all, but they always seem to be hanging about at the end of the pool recovering from a 100m blast - very strange. anyway, I go about my business as usual.
Next up was a walk to work this morning. I thought it was just over 11kms from Balmain to work in St. Leonards. so I was a little disappointed when I clocked 1hr 39mins just now. However measuring it on Mapmyrun.com tells me the true distance is in fact 12.25kms - so I feel much better about that. That works out to 8min 5sec kms, with a 7kg backpack on as well. Given there are quite a few hills to negotiate along the way, that's pretty pleasing. I'll walk back again tonight as well. The only thing that concerns me about this 12 hour walking malarky is not the distance or time, but the fact that i heel trike when I walk, whereas I front foot strike when I run. This means I'm using totally different parts of my feet, and when I walk in my Asics, I invariably get some pretty major deep blisters in the heel. I think the foot scrub is coming out tonight to get rid of excess skin and there will be lots of pre-taping before Narrabeen. However today was a step in the right direction. The pace was good and the pack felt comfortable. However whether I can keep that pace for 12 hours is another thing. Realistically I think that I can keep that pace for 6-8 hours - the last 4 could get ugly, but we'll see.
It makes you realise how much of a legend someone like Jan Herrman is. He's a bit of a local legend over here in the ultra community. Apparently running ultras since he was 15, but later in life has to walk them now. His PB for 12 hours is 90kms, that is seriously going some. He also beats quite a few 'runners' in the big ultras over here. I haven't met him, but lots of people talk about him - fair play is allI can say. He's walking on Saturday, I'll use him as my incentive and try and keep up with him. However with 7kgs on the back, it will be tough going, but hey, I'll give it a go and what will be will be.
Evening update: So tro complete the 7 Bridges route as its known over here, I walked the back way home from work tonight, doing another 14kms, and a total of 26kms walking today. I knocked off the 14kms in 1hr 53mins. Not bad going again and a very similar pace to this morning. One thing that concerns me though is the heels and the potential for blisters there. As I mentioned, because I dont usually use the heel, it so susceptible to deep blisters and after 26kms today I was coming close to some. I think on Saturday I'll do a mixture if running and walking and aim to get through the 12 hours. My crew and I were talking about a power walk of 80kms in 12 hours. I think this will completely wreck my feet, so I'll do mini runs combined with walking, a kind of shuffle if you will as that will help ease up the heels and will also see me go a little quicker. Nice and easy for Saturday. No heroics, just simple easy run/walk with the aim of getting through and using this as a chance to do a nice distance again and time on my feet :)
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Swimming and running
I'm still not 100% confident about the leg, but I'm going to carry on with 'light' training and put up and shut up. Last night was another 30 laps of the pool at a pretty brisk pace, followed up by 10 reps of the hill outside my house. The aim is to do these as quick as possible. The previous record for me on this was just a shade under 25 mins, but I did take quite a few water breaks in that, so I knew that if I went pretty much non stop on this, it would be beaten.
The leg still didn't feel quite right whilst doing the reps, and I've reverted back to the heel strike for now. It's easy to do on the injured leg, but quite hard on the other leg as it naturally wants to front foot strike now. The heel strike action also feels so laboured compared to the front foot action, so things were tough. Anyway, I got through the 10 reps on 22mins and 50secs, not bad for an injured guy. That's 200m up and down, so that' 5.45km pace up and down the hills. It was hard work as well. I can tell that I've lost a bit of fitness and put on a few kilos as well. Need to sort that out, as I tucked into chocolate pudding and ice cream last night :)
Anyway's I will be sensible about running in these first two weeks back now. Slowly build it back up, running every other day to get the leg used to running again, and then hopefully get some bigger distances in February. The good thins is that I think running on the trails will be good as it's merely a wobble on the flats and downhills, followed by a walk uphill - easy peasy!
I'm still a little nervous about Narrabeen and walking for 12 hours. I really dont know how I'll hold up. Should I wear a pack, or should I just focus on getting a good 12 hours walking in?
The leg still didn't feel quite right whilst doing the reps, and I've reverted back to the heel strike for now. It's easy to do on the injured leg, but quite hard on the other leg as it naturally wants to front foot strike now. The heel strike action also feels so laboured compared to the front foot action, so things were tough. Anyway, I got through the 10 reps on 22mins and 50secs, not bad for an injured guy. That's 200m up and down, so that' 5.45km pace up and down the hills. It was hard work as well. I can tell that I've lost a bit of fitness and put on a few kilos as well. Need to sort that out, as I tucked into chocolate pudding and ice cream last night :)
Anyway's I will be sensible about running in these first two weeks back now. Slowly build it back up, running every other day to get the leg used to running again, and then hopefully get some bigger distances in February. The good thins is that I think running on the trails will be good as it's merely a wobble on the flats and downhills, followed by a walk uphill - easy peasy!
I'm still a little nervous about Narrabeen and walking for 12 hours. I really dont know how I'll hold up. Should I wear a pack, or should I just focus on getting a good 12 hours walking in?
Monday, January 5, 2009
More physio
It's an expensive business this running thing. I thought you only needed a pair of trainers! Anyway, more physio, and I'm more comfortable around the notion that I haven't got a stress fracture. If I did, I don't think that running would be an option. I remember when I had one in my foot, it was agony! Having chatted some more, the issue lies in the fibula not tracking correctly and why it's started now I don't know. We may need to go back to heel striking as an action instead of the pose running. I can run when I heal strike, it hurts when I pose run.
However the time for rest has now passed, if I can't run I 'll be walking, pretty much everyday from now on and swimming too. I can't lose fitness, I've worked too hard in the last 15 months to get myself to a 3hr 30 marathon pace and I'm not prepared to lose that now. Looking forward to Narrabeen now, bit scared as I don't want to injure the leg, but the walk yesterday was positive and quick. If I can keep a 6.5km - 7km pace throughout, who knows I could post a good distance, but one step at a time me thinks!
However the time for rest has now passed, if I can't run I 'll be walking, pretty much everyday from now on and swimming too. I can't lose fitness, I've worked too hard in the last 15 months to get myself to a 3hr 30 marathon pace and I'm not prepared to lose that now. Looking forward to Narrabeen now, bit scared as I don't want to injure the leg, but the walk yesterday was positive and quick. If I can keep a 6.5km - 7km pace throughout, who knows I could post a good distance, but one step at a time me thinks!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Power Walker!
So my running days are over and I'm now relegated to the walkers! Not quite yet I hope. This morning was about getting the Aarn pack sorted, and after fiddling around with it for an hour, I'm still not 100% certain that I've got it right yet. It feels like I'm carrying too much on the shoulders, but after endlessly messing about with it, it's still not there yet. Some more tinkering needed me thinks.
However after getting it as best I could, I went on a power walk. Not as far as I wanted to (time pressures), but enough for a 6.5km blast around Balmain, knocking that off in just over 45 mins. I was surprised at just how quickly I went to be honest. But that is only a quick 6.5kms.
I'm now almost certainly going to do the Narrabeen 12hr ultra, but it's likely I'll be walking the whole thing with backpack. It will be good for me (I hope!), and hopefully I'll get by 'sans injury' - or worsening what's already there. If it starts to feel remotely dodgy, I'll pull the plug. I have to remember the end goal here, which is at least get to the MDS startline! Anyway's Xmas is now over and it's back to work now, and in the absence of running I'll be doing a lot of walking and swimming. I'm hoping that we're only talking about another 7-10 days or so before I get back into running again - we'll see what the physio says tomorrow.
However after getting it as best I could, I went on a power walk. Not as far as I wanted to (time pressures), but enough for a 6.5km blast around Balmain, knocking that off in just over 45 mins. I was surprised at just how quickly I went to be honest. But that is only a quick 6.5kms.
I'm now almost certainly going to do the Narrabeen 12hr ultra, but it's likely I'll be walking the whole thing with backpack. It will be good for me (I hope!), and hopefully I'll get by 'sans injury' - or worsening what's already there. If it starts to feel remotely dodgy, I'll pull the plug. I have to remember the end goal here, which is at least get to the MDS startline! Anyway's Xmas is now over and it's back to work now, and in the absence of running I'll be doing a lot of walking and swimming. I'm hoping that we're only talking about another 7-10 days or so before I get back into running again - we'll see what the physio says tomorrow.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Dare I say it.... I went for a run today!
Yes, it was an actual run, but for the record I did a quick 20 laps of the pool on NYE (my running excel spreadsheet is at work, so I'll have to update when I go back Monday as this blog is the only record of the last 2 weeks swimming).
Anyway's I felt confident enough to go for a run - I did 5kms and it was hot this morning. OK, so it's not mammoth, but it's a start. It felt OK to begin with but to be honest gradually got a bit worse as the run went on. It's still not 100% ready yet - I reckon another 7-10days before we're really talking. I'm paranoid about losing fitness though. Those 5kms this morning were actually quite hard work, but I'm not sure if that was hard work due to the leg not being 100%, or just lost fitness - I suspect the former at the moment.
Still... I hope we're in the right direction. I won't do anything tomorrow, but will try 10kms on Sunday I think and see how we go before a physio appointment on Monday. I also think I'll do the Narrabeen 12hr ultra as well, but will probably walk it - at a pace. I think 70kms could be realistic for this - but I will do it with a near enough starting pack weight of about 7-8kgs I reckon too.
Anyway's I felt confident enough to go for a run - I did 5kms and it was hot this morning. OK, so it's not mammoth, but it's a start. It felt OK to begin with but to be honest gradually got a bit worse as the run went on. It's still not 100% ready yet - I reckon another 7-10days before we're really talking. I'm paranoid about losing fitness though. Those 5kms this morning were actually quite hard work, but I'm not sure if that was hard work due to the leg not being 100%, or just lost fitness - I suspect the former at the moment.
Still... I hope we're in the right direction. I won't do anything tomorrow, but will try 10kms on Sunday I think and see how we go before a physio appointment on Monday. I also think I'll do the Narrabeen 12hr ultra as well, but will probably walk it - at a pace. I think 70kms could be realistic for this - but I will do it with a near enough starting pack weight of about 7-8kgs I reckon too.
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