#And I started running again. My goal is to be able to run 5km and I'm almost at the half point of my exercise program already

[artlory]

Hi beans I'm back from my mega hiatus, hope you all are doing well while I've tried to recover from the super stress episode. I'm doing much better, have started new hobbies and life overall is better at the moment. My creativity is flowing back to me finally and that means I can focus more on drawing again. I'm so excitedly looking forward to share my art again ;u; ♥

[normalsdotheolympics]

Events 1-3: Badminton Singles, Doubles, Mixed Doubles

I definitely forgot about this blog. Oh dear...

I'm glad to be resuming after a couple of months away. It's been a hectic time, as we got back from our long vacation and were way out of shape. It took us a long while to get back in form. We subsequently moved, both of us got very sick, and it has taken us a few weeks to recover from that enough to have the lung capacity to resume our training in earnest. All that is to say, there have been a few setbacks over the last couple of months. I thought that by this time, we'd be easily reaching 50% of our triathlon distance, which would put us in great shape for the upcoming sprint, which is now only a few weeks away. But of course things haven't gone quite to plan.

So where are we? Well, finally in the last week or two, we've been able to get back to fully training again. I'm still working towards being able to run the full 5km, which Katy has done a few times by now. I think I did about 4km over two run segments with some short walks in between, so I'm getting close. I'm cautiously optimistic I may be able to hit the goal by the sprint triathlon date, which is coming up in the 3rd week of June. We probably need to start running outside, and I may start that in the next week or so, just to get my body more accustomed to the ground. And I guess it probably feels different not having the ground providing the momentum? I dunno... On the biking front, we've been diligently using our Peloton, and I'm not all that worried about the 20km distance for the sprint. We should be able to easily knock that out in 40-50 minutes. However, that's on a Peloton. So we finally got out real bikes out a few weeks ago tried to get out and ride. It's been a LONG time since I rode a real bike and this thing feels like nothing I used to use, with much slimmer tires, no kickstand, a much higher seat profile. We also ran into some technical issues that needed fixing with our refurbished bikes, so there were a few trips to the bike shop. We also had to get bike shoes as we had opted to try clip-ins. The challenge there is that you have to get really good at clipping in and out quickly if you need to stop or slow down for any reason. Katy has taken a few falls as she's been getting used to that process. It really is nothing like the biking we did when we were younger. Once we're riding, things have gone OK, though the gear shifting has been a bit of a learning curve, and we've been trying to find good bike trails that aren't super hilly, which is also a challenge in our area. I had to get a more comfortable bike seat too, since the original one was pretty painful. As for swimming, well we went and bought our wetsuits the other day and our tri-suits. Basically, you wear the tri-suit, which is a one-piece suit you wear as your underlayer. You wear the wet suit over that, and you strip it off when you get out of the water, and you wear the tri-suit alone for the bike and run. We thought about renting the wet suits, but it ended up not really being worth it. We've booked an open water swim practice session the week before our race so that we can get accustomed to the water. But in the meantime, we've been working away in the pool. Much to my delight, I hit 750m consecutively in the pool for the first time! Now, that was using the buoy, but to be fair, the wet suit will do a lot of the same. I'd like to try and get to that distance without the buoy though, just to make it feel that much easier on race day. So, lots of preparations going into getting things ready for the big day. Then, once we reach our sprint goal, we can keep pushing forward for the full distance, which is scheduled for the end of August.

So that's the story for our triathlon. But what else have we been up to? Well, we started skateboard lessons! I'm gonna be honest. This is hard. I think our center of gravity is too high now... this would have been easier when we were younger. Maybe it's helpful to just be more reckless too. I think there's an element of that. Being afraid of falling makes it really hard to skateboard effectively. After our first three lessons, we can now ride and pedal, and we can navigate around obstacles with some degree of ease. You pick up a lot of speed on minimal slope, and you have to sort of protect yourself from going too fast. It's sort of like with skiing that if you start getting too fast, you reach a point where it becomes really hard to stop. We've moved on from the basics to actually trying to go up and down some very small ramps. And I do mean VERY small. It's crazy how terrifying it feels to go up the ramps, even just like 1/5th the way up. It feels like you're going to immediately fall over and that you should turn back at once. A lot of skateboarding has to do with weight control, shifting your weight front and back on the board. We've still got another 9 lessons left, so hopefully we can keep making progress towards completing some real tricks. This one seems really hard to achieve if I'm honest. We also feel super self-conscious at these skateparks, not only because we're terrible but also because we're generally the oldest people there and look very out of place. But we have found quite a few places near us, so we just need to get out and practice more to get more comfortable.

What else? Well, we started our softball league last week! Now, I played softball when I was younger, so it hasn't been too hard to get comfortable with it, but I was pretty awful at it back then. Katy, on the other hand, I've learned has never thrown a ball (or so she tells me), so this has been pretty rough sledding for week one. She's on a coed team, and I'm on a men's team that has a much more competitive vibe. The original plan had been for me to play baseball, since that is the men's Olympic event, but we actually couldn't find a recreational baseball league. All of the baseball leagues in the area (I think I actually only found one) were competitive, and required tryouts, primarily being made up of former high school and college baseball players. So that idea went out the window and I had to settle for softball instead. It turns out all the adult leagues are slow pitch, which is SO much easier to hit than the leagues I played in as a kid, where the pitchers were really chucking it in there. But I need to work on my fielding, which is subpar to say the least. We'll be playing all summer and we'll consider the event completed by the end of the summer when we're hopefully at our peak skill level. We may go out to some batting cages and throw the ball around a bit to get some more practice in.

And it seems I buried the lede, because - fanfare playing - we completed our first events! As you know, we had been practicing badminton for the last several months. We signed up for a tournament in our area, which took place two weeks ago. Suffice to say that we were badly outmatched, but that's ok. We knew it was going to be brutal. The mixed doubles event actually went better than expected, as we lost 21-13 and 21-14. We also lost our consolation match similarly. Katy participated in the women's doubles draw as well, pairing up with another girl, and well, it didn't go great. To be fair to Katy, the other girl wasn't very good either and they were badly outmatched by their opponents. But singles was the real tragedy. So we had never played a singles match before because they don't let you do so at the local club, since it wouldn't allow for as many players to participate. So I watched some of the singles matches as they started to get a sense of the strategy, which helped a bit, but my god is it a different game. I mean, the court is just too big. The effort it takes to get to each shot is just astronomic. I learned quickly how badly I was outmatched. I think a lot has to do with footwork and court positioning, just reacting quickly after your shot to anticipate the next shot. I was dying. I actually thought I might pass out. It doesn't help that they don't turn on the fans or AC in the gym because it can affect the shuttlecock movement, so it's sweltering in there. The results were grim, but I felt accomplished for having done it. My opponent was also quite good, having played badminton for many, many years. The events there were incredibly competitive. Katy did get a silver medal in the Women's Singles C event! I mean, there were only two people signed up for it, but still... Can't complain about the results! All in all, it was a fun day, and we were able to check off the first three events of our Olympic dreams. 1) Badminton - Men's/Women's Singles 2) Badminton - Men's/Women's Doubles 3) Badminton - Mixed Doubles Reflecting on our badminton experience, it was a fun sport, but way harder than we expected. It's nothing like tennis, much more fast-paced, requiring incredibly quick reactions. You just have less time and the court is much smaller. The skill level of some of these players is incredible, with how much power they can generate. I definitely have a different appreciation for the sport, and I look forward to watching it when the next Olympic cycle comes around now that I know how impressive it is to see them do what they do. I'm not sure it's a sport either of us would necessarily continue with. It's good cardio for sure, but pretty hard on the knees and ankles. I was always very sore after our game days.

What's next? Well things are pretty busy right now with our swimming, running, biking, skateboarding, and softball. I think we'll probably try and do some golfing this summer, but not sure how aggressively we'll push that just yet. I'd like to really start pushing the bike distances so that we can do the two road biking events by the fall, and I'd like to try and do the track races this summer too. We should be able to do all of them if we reach our goal of 10km runs, since that's the longest track race. Same goes for swimming. If we reach the 1500m we need for the triathlon, then we can do all the swim events. We found a 50m pool to use for the summer, so we're going to try and check that out soon, and hopefully can start completing some events there. I don't think I'll be ready to complete some of the other strokes by the end of the summer, but we'll see. I've been working on my breaststroke and backstroke, but haven't really dived into butterfly yet (pun intended). The only other thing I might push for at some point this summer would be to try and find someone to train us on hurdles, so that we can do those events as well. I think I've found someone in the area, but I'm not sure it's even possible to do the Olympic height. I mean, the men's hurdles height for 110m is 42 inches, which is frankly insane. I mean, I'm only 5'5". Hurdles is a tall man's game I think. I guess we'll see what we can do.

The next couple of weeks are going to be focused on pushing hard on our triathlon training to make sure we are well and truly ready for our sprint race in mid-June. So, I'll check in around then!

Event Tally: 3/158

[rufusdawes]

Running high

It's not an exaggeration to say that my birthday is my least favourite day of the year. There are myriad reasons for this probably best explained to a pyschiatrist than shared online however, for the first time in my memory, I came through this most recent one unscathed. Dare I say it but maybe even feeling good? There is perhaps one leading cause of this unmitigated success and it's running. This piece is going to be an ode to running!

I didn't even mean to start running regularly again. My fitness has had more reboots since the glory days of the late noughties than a Windows 95 machine. I've tried running with friends in Brisbane and Melbourne quite recently and on both occasions largely failed to keep up. I've tried running solo in Alice Springs and mostly just failed. In February however, I went and ran a 5km social event and got around in a time best represented by the phrase 'well, at least he tried'. It did however result in me reconnecting with a friend, Simone, recently returned from a few years in Darwin who was training for a half-marathon. Her pace much more to my liking and someone who I could join on training runs of increasing weekly yardage and with a local half-marathon in July as a goal. We had increased to 11kms before I boarded a plane and left for three weeks in the UK. Unlike previous holidays back to Blighty, I surprised myself by actually continuing to go on runs and even increase to 15kms. I was getting fit again.

I continued running on my return to Australia, getting in a 16kms run in Perth and two 18k'ers once back in the Alice. Sim meanwhile had been overseas in the US but had seen illness and injury scupper her half-marathon ambitions and she was forced to withdraw from the race.

In mid-July, I ran the Simpsons Gap half-marathon on the windy out and back bike trail that would ultimately had led back to town if not for the turnaround point at half-way. I clocked a very respectable time for this first genuinely concerted effort to regular running since before my beard was more pepper than salt. Even more suprising is that I went for a long run the week after, and the week after, and the week after that I signed up for another long distance run only three days away.

This one is known as a Backyard Ultra and follows a standardised set of rules the world over. It is a loop of 6.7kms with the idea being that on the hour, every hour, you run a loop. The time you have back at the start all your own until the start of the next hour. And the hour after that. The race ends when only one runner remains and are able to complete one final lap alone. All other competitors classified as non-finishers! Our local event is known as the Red Centre Wringer and is held on the rocky trails around Telegraph Station to the north of town. Of course, very few entrants were intent on winning and the pre-race favourite (and former GeoQuest teammate), Rod, took line honours running his 25th lap after the final opponenet retired after his 24th. I, a man who had run 21.1kms for the first time in fifteen years two weeks prior, was happy enough with six laps and a total of 40.2kms.

Notably, this attempt came the day after my birthday. A birthday that fell amongst training runs, taper days, days of morning runs, of post-run granolas, of pre-dinner runs. It followed runs in the wild countryside of northern England and of the Highlands of Scotland, of a run at the base of Uluru. This run came the day after my least favourite day of the year except this year it didn't. It came after a day when I was excited for tomorrow and honestly, isn't that just the best way to live.

[runnersnz]

“Running is my vehicle for self-exploration. 

I’ve run in some shape since I was a kid, nothing competitive really, just ranging from cross country, local kids running events and track at primary school. From Intermediate and High School, it was more directed towards fitness for football in the winters and tennis in the summers.

However, there was a period in those early teenage years at school where a particular teacher would make our class get sent out for a 3-5km block run for no particular reason. It was, in their eyes, a good excuse to get us focused and fit. In a sense it seemed to be a punishment for some reason. We were required to be back in a set time. If you were late or took too long, you had to either do it again or the next time extra kms would be added on. As a result, this took the fun out of running for me. It was no longer an enjoyable thing to do.

Fast forward to now and so much has changed. 

I’ve always tried to keep a reasonable level of fitness and maintain some form of good health over the last decade, whether it was through playing football or tennis or going through spurts of attending a gym. Funnily enough running was not on this list at all. However, I wasn’t getting any younger and injuries from the past came back to haunt me. This resulted in having to face reality and end my competitive and social footballing and tennis days. I became lost. I needed to find something to fill the void that ticked the boxes in a fitness and social interaction sense.

My father-in-law is a runner and he started to get into trail running, something I had never heard of. When I started to research what it encompassed, I thought, ‘No way! Why would someone run up rugged, uneven tracks and basically put themselves through so much pain in running incredibly long races and events?’

Next thing I knew, my amazing wife Katie, signed up to run the Tarawera Ultramarathon 21km in 2020. She was on a journey and I drew inspiration from her taking on this challenge. She graciously let me join her on this journey and together we completed the 21km race at Tarawera. We had a blast. What I did not anticipate was that 10kms into that run I would be hooked! From that moment on the trails and ultramarathons are always calling my name. The rest is history.

A quote I like to use is “you are never too old to dream a new dream”, and with this I had a new dream to run a 50km Ultramarathon. To achieve this, I wanted to go back to where it all started – the Tarawera Ultramarathon. I enlisted the guidance of some experienced running coaches to give me structure and guidance as I had no clue how to train for a distance like this. Despite Covid I was able to achieve this goal in 2021.

Together, Katie and I completed another couple of events, supporting local through the Manawatu Striders. This was fun to do as a couple and at the same time keeping healthy and fit. As a whānau, with our son, we would go to our local parkrun and either walk or run. It was really inspiring to see and meet other runners and whānau who were there too. We made new social connections with other local runners and walkers.

I have been so fortunate and grateful with my most recent challenge and goal in completing the 60km Kepler Challenge. It was an amazing and unforgettable experience and a big tick on my adventure list.

With running, and the trail running community, the people are just fantastic. There are always opportunities to connect with likeminded, passionate people who challenge their mind and body to achieve extraordinary things. These people do things many only dare to dream and it is inspiring and just awesome. 

I am someone who tries to give back in everything I do and running is no different. I am fortunate and grateful to now be part of the Achilles New Zealand Manawatū chapter. I have become a guide for our local people with disabilities and will be able to help them participate in events. The work here and the effort these athletes put in is truly inspiring and hugely rewarding. 

For me, running, and the trails, is now my happy place. It’s ‘my time’ in escaping the daily grind and hustle and bustle of everyday life. I have nothing but gratitude for being with the whenua, the sights and smells that greet me, the fresh early morning run in the bush as the sun rises, the mist or fog untouched in the hills, the newly formed spiderwebs from the previous night lie in wait. Being present in the moment and emerging out of the trail feeling revitalised, reenergised, and clear-headed sets me up for what lies ahead, ultimately helping my mental wellbeing.

Another reason why I love to run is to challenge myself, set a goal, face all the highs and lows, and then smash it! Three years ago, I started out small with goals that I wanted to achieve and did achieve. This gave me the self-belief and confidence that over time has now given me strength to have bigger goals that give me the drive and determination to go for. Some of these goals are scary to me and that’s okay. I remind myself that I get to be alive, I get to be here, I get to do this, I get to feel my physical weakness and I get to overcome it with my mind. It’s my determination and mental fortitude that gets me through it and to the start line. 

My son is one of my biggest motivators. For the majority of my races, he has always brought me home through the finishing shoot. One thing that drives me and pushes me not to quit in a race is the thought in my mind of him standing there waiting for me after being told, ‘Daddy’s nearly here – get ready’. These are priceless memories I’ll cherish forever. As he gets older, I want him to see the determination and drive I have for my training and running, doing the mahi to get the job done. I’ll look forward to the day when he wants to join me, and we run together and me trying to keep up with him. 

Running has become a regular part of life for me. I run for fun, I run for the social connectivity, and I run for a purpose as well as for my mental and physical wellbeing. By pushing my limits in the endurance sport world, it challenges and drives me on how far and how high I can go.

For me, It’s always one foot in front of the other. And to go one more.”

Brad @b.rad_and_run (Palmerston North) Photo taken in Te Anau – Portraits of Runners + their stories @RunnersNZ

[therovingrunner]

The Return Of Jan Snow

It’s been a while. Hell, it’s probably been more than 2 years (pre-Covid) since I’ve actually taken the time to write down my thoughts and trail tribulations.

Why? There’s probably a few reasons I could give, from not having time due to work, being fat, lazy, injured or just not motivated to run. Basically LIFE happened.

My last competitive race was the Tankwa Trail in 2021, somewhere in between Stage 2 or 4 of Covid (and stage 6 loadshedding). Covid lead to little or no racing and only social runs with the Wolfpack.

Then events started coming back, and my weekends was spent either marking routes, managing them and then clearing them. Not a whole lot of “me time” to run, other than with my group of mainly primary school learners I started coaching in ‘21, and hell, coach can’t keep up with them unless we do LSD’s (no, not the drug, I don’t need WADA rocking up at my training sessions)

I must confess that the joy I get from coaching, and seeing these youngsters reach their goals, improving or just finding a love for running and trail in specific, has outweighed my own personal needs to some extent.

Have I missed the trail running community? Yes!

Have I missed running & summitting a mountain peak with the Wolfpack (Jon, Jamie, Sam & Colleen)? Yes!

Have I missed reaching that said mountain summit before sunrise and enjoying a cold beer before 9am after a proper trail run? Hell yes!

So let’s back track a little bit. Although I’m lucky enough to play a part in the biggest trail running festival our beautiful country has to offer, UTCT, and got to run a few of the recce runs exploring the route, there has been no major races on my horizon. You get sidetracked by things if there is no real goal race to run. The Otter African Trail Run has been such a integral part of who I am as a trail runner, and the reason I even started running trail, but when that chapter closed in 2019 after Otter number 5, nothing really drew my attention again, other than the Tankwa Trail which is an amazing event with the perfect combo of racing/socializing and having one heck of a trail bash weekend in the Koue Bokkeveld!

With my trusty steed Cole Stanton! We'll be back racing in Nov (or at least attempt to)

Sept ‘22 my running world came crashing down! From harmlessly kicking a soccer ball to hardly being able to walk 50m pain free 2 days later, I underwent back surgery a week later! It felt that my whole being, or that, that defines me as a person in the running community (runner/coach) imploded, and I was house/bed bound for the next 7 weeks.

Coaching happened via preset plans sent on Whatsapp, with the mom’s having to lead sessions and give feed back on times and progress. I’ll forever be thankful for my family (having to deal with old grumpy) and my athletes (having to deal with their mom’s who are apparently much stricter than I am) for sticking with me through this time. We made it out the other side, and they delivered PB’s, records, gold medals and provincial colors the following season!

Rehab followed, and I promised myself I would run one more time before year end! On the 31st of December I laced up my shoes and went for a 5km trot at my happy place down in Cape Agulhas (just don’t tell my physio), a week or to before the set given.

Slowly but surely the running got easier, the pain less and the enjoyment returned, although I still lacked motivation.

Fast forward to May ‘23 and on our way to our annual hunting trip, I bumped in Carel Heroldt, from Dryland Event Management. Over a Karoo thorn bush fire, in a dry riverbed, just off the N1, with a brandy & coke in my hand, a new goal was set! The 2023 edition of the Rhodes Dryland Traverse!

I’ve been lucky enough to run a few Dryland events, 2 Tankwa’s & 2 Traverse’s, so convincing me to run their events is easier than stealing money as a government official or finding dollars in couches at Phala Phala!

So over the next month and a bit I’ll be sharing my “Almost Complete Rookies Guide To Stage Racing”! You can use it if you want, I certainly will be again!

[metaldragoon]

2020 wasn’t that bad of a year for me.  I had to make a couple sacrifices; no basketball and no swimming, but otherwise my life was pretty un-disturbed.  I wasn’t able to visit my family but I don’t even have a good relationship with them so “missing holidays” with them also meant “not having extreme anxiety about not being a disappointment.”  I like going out to eat at restaurants and obviously couldn’t do that either, but it also meant “you have a lot of money saved up now.”  So I don’t even consider either of those negatives.  Swimming is a bummer though, I had a bit of an ambition to start triathlon training and I really suck at swimming.  My goal was 750m in 10 minutes, but it was a struggle to even swim 750m a day and it’d take me about 20 minutes.  I think I was down to like 17 or 18 minutes when the pool closed down but I still had a long, long way to go.  My best friend is a lifeguard and he said 10 minutes isn’t that hard, and while he’s obviously a little detached from what a normal swimming time is for an untrained swimmer, I was mind-blown by him doing 50m in 25 seconds with literally never trying to time himself once in his life.  750m 10 minutes is also the minimum requirement to be a lifeguard where he works he said, so that’s why I made it my goal.  But that will take a little while longer before I can ever get back in to it.  Transitioning to the subject of basketball, I used to play quite a lot in my youth and as a 6′5″ guy with some good athleticism you know I don’t need any sort of skill to still be good.  But having the knees of an 80 year old make it an issue with basketball being like the most loading-all-your-weight-directly-in-to-your-knees sport in the world.  I believe it was around 2014 when I stopped playing in leagues and this year I was planning on reuniting with my old high school friends to enter some tournaments this year and terrorize northern BC and AB.  I’m not as explosive any more so I was hoping to hit the gym and work on my outside shot ‘cause I at least know I will always be a good defender with my size and intelligence, and I went to one single pick up game this year, the same night Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID.  It went okay, I had 0 stamina and even trying to rebound a basketball felt awkward much less lining up a jump shot, and then the guys I met up with were like “okay that’s the last game of the year��� and I haven’t been able to ball since.   But there was a decent amount of positives.  I rolled through year 3 of my marriage and I think it’s going pretty swimmingly.  No children yet though I’d still like some, but every year I kind of keep thinking “wow I’m so much more knowledgeable and in a more stable position in my life, thank god I didn’t introduce a child in to my previous environment.”  Not that I’m a toxic shithead where no child can thrive, but I just think the more I wait the more super-father I can become.  It’s always been like a life ambition to be a parent for me, like it felt important that my life is incomplete if I’m not able to do this and a lot of that also meant procreating and y’know, my child being a tall white quarter scottish/norweigan infant, but I’ve definitely been coming around to adoption and now don’t really care about having a child who has the same genetic information as me.  I guess that’s all I have to say for now, wife and I are still discussing it and I’m sure it’ll be a few years, but, just a change of perspective I’ve had. I hopped back on to my Tetris grind recently as I’ve had four weeks off of holidays all packed in to the end of the year, I think it’ll be a trend that continues, but I don’t know for sure or anything.  I made sort of a break through in controls that helped optimize my play a lot, and just last week I was able to get PBs in APM and 20/40/1000 line sprints from about a year and a half ago, so I’ve already adjusted to the changes that took me a while to get used to.  My 20 and 40 line times are 30.626 and 60.708 seconds which is a little frustrating how close I am to clearing those rounded number milestones, but that’s a goal for 2021 I suppose.  I could probably break them right now but just haven’t gotten lucky.  I question if my fingers can really get any faster though, I think hand speed is a hard thing to develop as an old man, but world record is almost 4x faster so at the same time it’s a little foolish of me to think I’m near any sort of physical limit. My other last tangible success is running.  I haven’t run since mid November because of winter in Edmonton ain’t worth it to me, I literally took all my holidays in winter simply for the sake of not having to drive to work as often.  But yeah, I was definitely in the best running shape of my life.  I’d been tracking my PRs all year, I’ll just quickly list them 100m: 13.8 200m: 33.3 400m: 1:08 800m - 2:48 1000m - 3:31 1 mile - 6:19 2 mile - 13:23 5K - 21:12 10K - 43:36 15K - 1:13:58 10 mile - 1:19:29 20K - 1:38:54 Half Marathon - 1:44:04 A lot of these I didn’t particularly work on setting, they just happened to get recorded by my watch while I was running longer distances.  I’m not a sprinter at all as my times clearly indicate, I think anything under 1KM times are all pretty accomplishable by anyone who wants to work on them.  I used to be run low 12 for 100m but I think I’m too old for that these days, the 200m was literally the first time I ever ran it, I just was never interested back when I was in track as a kid, 400m is kind of disappointing too because I was running 1:21 when I was 10 years old and I’ve only managed to shave 13 seconds off.  800 was just on the way to some other run so I don’t even really count it as a time, I think I could have definitely been 2:35 if I tried.  3:31 for the 1KM I did once to try and pace my friend for 3:45 and then I sprinted the last 200m so I coulda been quicker there, 1 mile I never attempted to run but I really wanted to get sub 6 minutes, I think I could but I’m not sure why I never attempted to run one.  2 mile is something I actually did run a lot, my neighbourhood is 2.5 KM, 3.2 KM is 2 miles, so I would quite often run it in the morning.  My ultimate goal for a pace is 4:12/KM so once I hit that with my 2 mile run (4:10/KM pace) I didn’t push it further.  5KM and 10KM were both done on track where I actually spent the few surrounding days prepping for my run and are the two I’m proudest of, particularly the 10 KM, and the longer distances were all just set while I was trying to run a half marathon.  My goal is an hour and a half for the half marathon, so while 14 minutes doesn’t seem extremely far it still is quite tough for me, I need to shave 45 seconds every KM 21 times in a row.  I signed up for my first half marathon since 2014 for September 2021.  My official PB is only 1:51 so I’m already better than I ever was, but I hope to train all year to shave off that last 14 minutes.  My tangible improvement on a weekly basis with running was pretty comforting for my mental health.  29 has always been the age of physical peak for men, everything beyond is a decline until the end, but I never really felt plateaued throughout this year.  I ran over 1200 KM last year, the last half of the year I was going for 50KM a week which I’m hoping to keep up again this year while also pushing even further as long as my body can hold up.  I still get a lot of stingy injuries that cause me to miss a couple days here or there, but for the most part it went pretty well.   Uh, I don’t even know what the point of writing all this was I guess.  Just wanted to share that I continued to progress in life, which I guess is the only purpose I have in life, continue to better my life, and I can definitely say I’m better now than I was a year ago, and looking forward to continue an upward trajectory for 2021.  Happy New Years.

[aveganmermaid]

What running every day for 7 days did for me (personal and fitbit data):

Lowered my resting heart rate from 68bpm to 55bpm

Raised my cardio fitness score from the low end of 32 (average, leaning towards poor for women my age ) to 36 (low end of good)

Barely ran 2.4km at a 6'39" average pace to running 3.11km at a 6'12" average pace

Cardiovascular control greatly improved, greater stamina and less tightness/struggle to take a full breath, no longer need to use an inhaler before a run

Run on Sept. 2 had me at 13 minutes in my peak zone (168bpm+), 2 min cardio (134bpm - 167bpm) and 1 min fat burn (113bpm - 133bpm), run on Sept 9 had me at 1 min peak, 11 min cardio, 5 min fat burn

Basically I have run inconsistently since April because gyms were closed. I never ran before this, however I was very active - i just focused primarily on weight lifting and got my cardio from walking up hill on a treadmill, or the stair master and occasionally, interval training. But my cardio was still bad. My first run in April, I barely made 1.5km running at a 6'30" average pace & I had to take my inhalers. I was on and off running, going 1 - 2 times a week to once every few weeks. As a result my fitbit stats plummetted. I was only going on walks and doing yoga (my cardio fitness score used to be up to 39, which was good-very good for women my age & my resting heart rate was down to 53). Not that there's anything wrong with low scores but I was just not feeling my best, I was very stressed and was struggling with depression. So recently I've decided to genuinely put effort into running because I am NOT good at it (never have been) and it's a new challenge for me... and this month I started with just committing to doing it every day as long as I could just to see how much I could improve those numbers & I'm honestly very impressed. I'm hoping to continue running every day the rest of this month to see how I can improve, assuming no extenuating circumstances mean I cant (but i wont beat myself up!! I just want to do the best I can)

If you, like me, think you arent a runner but you've always been envious of people who are, honestly just try it. Just run as far as you can as long as you can (genuinely try to push past your discomfort for as long as it feels safe, because it WILL be uncomfortable at first). If it gets too difficult, walk & then run again when you feel it's safe to do so. Map out a goal for yourself close to your home (maybe it's run a 1km loop without stopping - that was mine! i ended up being able to safely push to 1.5km on my first run with positive encouragement from my bf even though it was hard!!!) & keep running it until you can do the whole thing - then set a new goal. Dont worry about pacing right away, that can be improved with time! Just run at a comfortable speed!

My current big goal is to run 5km without stopping. Once i hit that maybe I'll be content or maybe I'll want to run longer! I'll have to see how I feel.

But yes, just wanted to share my success! Also to be transparent, I've been incorporating other workouts every couple days (either light dumbells if I'm at my bfs, or body weight/interval/band circuit workouts if at home). So improvements are not SOLELY from running but the stuff I'm doing takes no more than 30 - 60 min including stretching.

Running really is just putting one foot in front of the other, running to the end of the next block, finishing up that last 500m, until you genuinely can't anymore. I really encourage you to try!!

[stressedspidergirlsfitnessblog]

First run in all of march. I did great for 3km. Even with the dogs being their usual tragic selves.

And then you can tell I pretty much gave up running on the last 2. We ran almost 7km.

It was in the 60s when we started. Closer to the 70s when we ended. Sun got intense. I usually have found day runs ruin my running. It warms up and I warm up and all is bad.

I do better running in 100 degrees at 10pm than 65 at 8am. I don't know why. I am what I am.

Either way technically season 2 is complete. I have a lot of side missions to go. And then the races. Either way, I think if I can get back into running and not being sick or burning myself so I can't run or finding excuses.... I should be able to PR my ZR spring race.

Even my slowest 5kms are faster than my first 5km PR. So. I'm running around 40min/5kms rn which isn't great cause my "slow" used to be around 36/37min.

My fast was closer to 33/34. So basically... I need to start running again. Here's to hoping my body cooperates and I get to run tomorrow too :) I would love to run daily for the rest of March. I won't make my 25mile goal. But I'm at 4 now, and it's the 25th. If I can run a 5km a day for 5 days .... That'll put me cloooossse to 20 miles.

And then I can kickstart April and get caught up on my miles goals to beat last year. I ran 20 miles last April. So April alone I need to run 23. And then I'll owe another 10 -15 miles on top of that to get back on track. Which is fine. :) Help me get in shape for my race.

If you're a fellow 5 I tag you to post about your most recent workout/run/walk whatever.

[hyphypmic]

HypMic at the Gym

Ichiro Yamada

does weights, but not as heavy as what Samatoki does, though he does try to outpace him, but it never works

Posts on IG about his workout

Lives when he’s tired

Raps while jogging or running

That one treadmill battle, he won (samatoki just doesn’t want to say it)

Wears tank tops to the gym and basketball shirts

since he’s also a crimefighter, he can’t be scrawny, he also has to maintain his fitness level

more on function than appearance, though having abs and definition doesn’t hurt

Follow’s sabre’s workout plan diligently and it actually works out

bicep curl kills the gurls

does running a lot… and cycling… and basically he trains for endurance

The only way he can motivate himself is by hearing characters from his anime screaming motivation

Jiro Yamada

wants to maintain that look because he’s a delinquent

Gym is love, gym is life

Need for speed

started going because he was called scrawny once and he was never going to hear that again

does sports in school, but likes to hit the gym for that extra definition

The goal is to be able to surpass ichiro, or at least be at his level, so jiro is ichiro’s gym buddy (though samatoki and riou are on a completely different level)

Takes mirror selfies when he sees good lightning

Ichiro makes him rap while running

Saburo Yamada

gym? who’s that?

i only know my books

Makes the workout plans according to his research (ichiro follows these, and so does jiro, but he never admits it)

Also makes the meal plans if jiro has a specific goal (saburo enjoys it, but he doesn’t admit it)

he went one time with Ichiro, but once he saw the weights Ichinii was lifting, he vowed to never come again

Mental gym

Waits for his brothers outside

If he is going to exercise (because ichinii told him too) he isn’t going to the gym, he’s just going to walk or jog around the park (there was no way he’s gonna jog next to his brothers, or for that matter, riou)

Samatoki Aohitsugi

weights junkie (favourite is the bench press)

Has a fitted black under armor tank top

At one point goes shirtless because of practicality, though some people faint after that happens (oof that glistening back and those back muscles)

Has an actual bench press at home

Loves working his shoulders and chest

needs to look intimidating. no one is going to take him seriously if he looks like a weak shit

also tries to lift heavier than riou, but ever since the ex-navy picked up the weight he dropped on himself like it was nothing, he figured it was a lost cause

Got into that one treadmill fight with ichiro and they both ended up flying off their treadmills (while riou kept the speed)

Tries to out rap ichiro

Treadmills away from ichiro lest the treadmill fight happen again

Hits auto when he’s flirting with the girls and makes judo apologise

Juto Iruma

literally the water boy between the two weight junkies

He works out so he can maintain his shape, he doesn’t really have a specific goal

Is happy with his police academy body, so that’s what he strives to maintain

The definition of flirting at the gym

Wears his police academy shirts and hoodies

Wandering eye

Everyone’s gym crush

Gives samatoki tips and helps with weights

Is now scared of riou ever since he picked up that weight off of samatoki

Riou Busujima

Lifts weights regularly

Takes a lot to get him to break a sweat

Does the reps he needs to

Has a workout routine memorised

Literally Chris Hemsworth level workout

Always wears his military hoodies, t-shirts, shorts

Literally enjoys all and any physical activity

Is the type of guy to do a 6 hour gym day

Has protein shake with actual protein

Does that scary thing with weights where there’s just so much

Power lifter

He loves doing his cardio outside, like a 5km run before going in, but sometimes will do the treadmill or other machines

Jakurai Jinguji

Goes to the gym because he’s a doctor and he can’t look unhealthy

He realised he looks good if he has good shoulders under his coat

Actually enjoys fitness

Goes with hifumi and doppo when all three have a simultaneous day off

Works out at weird hours because he’s a doctor

Goes with doppo every two weeks as doctor’s orders

Pretty chill with working out

More of a chill workout guy

High ponytail!!!

Hifumi Izanami

Has the best workout clothes (literally he and ramuda try to outshine each other)

has to maintain body because he is a host

Has the best shoes

Has a “suit” for working out because there are girls in the gym

Very showy

Not too much muscle, but everyone drools when he takes off his shirt

Has the best ass and he knows it

Posts his IG fitness videos

Shirtless gym pics

Cute group gym pics with jakurai and doppo

Kannonzaka Doppo

Gets dragged to the gym by Jakurai

Has to go because there are girls working out, but only on their days off

Technically part of the saburo club of gym who

Cries when asked to gym

Wants to leave as soon as possible

Though he likes staring at hifumi… hmm…

Helps hifu,i when he can

Is caught staring

Apologises for hifumi, for not working out, for wasting time etc.

Ramuda Amemura

Goes to the gym in the best workout clothes

Neon pink, neon orange, neon green

Wears Adidas tracksuits and hoodies

But doesn’t actually do anything

If he’s going to do anything, he’d do cycling

Distracts jakurai from his repetitions

Takes selfies and funny pics

Is literally there for only an hour

Dice Arisugawa

he can’t pay for gym membership

Honorary member of gym who just because he can’t pay

Is dragged by ramuda, and when he does, he does a lot of shit because he be athletic that way

Had run ins with several people, so he’s pretty athletic

He just

Can’t

Pay

Tries to gamble for a gym membership and fails

Gambling, drinking and crying are his workouts

Yumeno Gentaro

in the saburo club of gym who?

Lies his way out

Hello books

Pays for dice sometimes because dice actually goes to the gym

just, he can lie his way out of a workout 

actually makes up workout stories 

[wispywarbles2]

my plan to be pretty

i deleted the Tumblr because my partner wanted me to but they have still been using it and i recovered at bit.

But then I went back to my old ways like years ago when I was literally eating thousands of calories a day and doing no exercise. It has been binge after binge after binge for the past 3 week and I say no more.

My old account got terminated and I'm so sad because it had hundreds of follllwers but I'm going to get to that again.

I was doing so well before I deleted Tumblr I had a fully flat stomach, I was always dizzy and I was successfully fasting for days. I will do that again this week as there are only 4 left for me to do this and I have to hardcore start this this Monday. If I don't I won't be able to succeed in my goal and then I will probably die or combust.

My plan for this week

Week 1:

Monday

Fast

Run 5km

Drink 2 literes water

100 crunches

100 squats

Tuesday:

Fast

Bike 6km

Drink 2 literes water

Wednesday:

Soup only

drink 3 liters water

Run 4km

Thursday:

Fast

Drink 2 literes water

Bike 6km

Friday:

Soup

Drink 3 literes water

Free to choose

Saturday:

Fast

Drink 2 literes

Run 5k

Sunday:

Under 500cal

Drink 3 liters water

Run 5km

Week 2:

Monday:

Only eat when fully forced

Drink 3 liters water

Run 5km

Tuesday:

Only eat when forced

Drink 2 literes water

Walk

Wednesday:

Fast

Drink 2 literes water

Run 4km

Thursday

Only eat when forced

Drink 3 literes water

Walk 7km

Friday

Only eat when forced

Drink 2 liters wster

Run 6km

Saturday:

Fast

Drink 2 literes water

Walk

Sunday

Fast

Drink 2 liters water

RULES:

Vegan diet

no milk product

No eating after 6pm

Always drink at least 2 liters a day

Remember why we are doing this, to spite, remember how close you were before you ruined it

[toakley]

The Brighton Half Marathon 2023

Today I ran the Brighton Half Marathon. For some people that is a big achievement, for others it’s no big deal. For me it’s probably somewhere halfway between.

Training

I’ve run two proper half marathons before, and I did something new with this one. I actually had a training plan. I set off on the 1st January and ran 15km but in addition to this I did tempo runs, interval runs, recovery runs. It was going great and I was happy I was in great shape to run.

I just want to take a moment to shout out the Nike Run Club app. It actually made me enjoy the whole process. Sure, it tracks your runs and gives you a plan but the bit that I looked forward to was the coaching, especially from Chris Bennett who managed to be motivating without being too over the top. Best of all the app is free, no subscription.

I learned so many things, not all of which were about running.

Measuring goals in as many ways as possible to give you as many chances to recognise success

Knowing that the bad days, and the runs that suck actually help you in the long run

Being patient: we’re often in a hurry to get to places quickly but running slowing down isn’t being slow, it’s being smart.

When it doesn’t go to plan…

So far things have been peachy, but that doesn’t make for a good story does it? About 3 weeks to go and I started to feel a niggle. That’s okay right? It’s just a niggle. A bit of discomfort in my right calf. I ran through it over the next 2-3 days but it wasn’t getting better.

I went to get a sports massage thinking that would fix me and the person I saw was also trained as a physio. Uh oh. He confirmed what I was most worried about and that it was a strain. A strain is where the fibres of your muscle have torn. They can be of different severity; if the fibres are completely torn that’s the worst, thankfully mine was apparently mild. I’d convinced myself it wasn’t a sprain as I hadn’t lost power but it was just uncomfortable.

Long story short the physio suggested no running for 3-5 days and then slowly build up. But what about the plan? It’s okay, I rationalised: I would be tapering off anyways as I get closer to the run, right? So I was good and didn’t run for a week, then managed to get a cold and went for a first run again to test the water.

It was bad. I couldn’t breathe but worse, after just a kilometre things felt worse then they had before my break. I wasn’t sure if I was even going to be able to run the distance anymore. I did a few more runs in the week leading up and the most I managed was 5km. If I can do a quarter of the distance I can just do that three and a bit more times and run 21.1km. Right?

Race Day

It got to the day before and I actually felt alright. I made the decision to go for it. After all, I’d done the training, and even spent the past week drinking beetroot juice chasing marginal theoretical gains. The thing about beetroot juice is it tastes awful and has to come out the other end making everything a delightful shade of reddy-pink. It’s just not worth it, but I digress.

All I wanted to do was finish the race. I’d previously wanted to do sub-2 hours but that was out the window now. I made my way to my starting pen, feeling like I’d made a mistake saying I could do the distance in 1:45-1:59 but I was stuck here now, feeling like a fraud. I popped my earbuds in and hit play on the guided run, the first thing Chris does is tell me that even making it to the starting line is a brave decision and I’m that moment I realised that I was proud for even making it here today. Even if I didn’t finish, that work wasn’t wasted as I learned so much along the way. I’d even ‘run’ with Eliud Kipchoge, remembering how the world record holder for the marathon had told me that ‘No human is limited’ and just to enjoy running .

The Race

So you want to know, right? How did it go? I started by running fast, too fast I thought. I need to slow down, I can’t keep this up. Every time I checked my watch though the pace was the same; 5 minute kilometres. Maybe my watch was broken? It doesn’t matter, don’t look at the watch. I felt good, sure I didn’t feel perfect but being with the crowd, the other runners, it’s an indescribable feeling and before I knew it half the race had gone! I finished the race with a new personal best. I then had to walk what felt like almost another half marathon just to find my family who had got delayed and didn’t see me finish as it was quicker than we all thought I would be.

So what’s the lesson?

My family now no longer believe I was injured in the first place, but the thing I want to remember from this is not that I finished the run but how worthwhile the process was to get there. Training is not always about the destination but about the journey you have to get to your destination.

[sweet-apples-and-cinnamon]

Mt Fuji, The Conqueror Virtual Challenge, and Recovering from a Gastrocnemius Tear

Before Christmas, my sister and I signed up for The Conqueror Mt Fuji virtual challenge. Over the last few months, we slowly knocked out the 74km distance. I finished my challenge last week and I’m super chuffed about it for a few reasons. 

Back in 2016 - only a few entries ago because I haven’t been using this Tumblr much - I tore my gastrocnemius muscle. The years in-between have been really tough on my fitness. Summer 2017 saw me completing a geology mapping project where I could walk as little as 5km in a day to as much as 25km, all on a barely healed leg and a newly-sprained foot. In subsequent years, I’d go snowshoeing or do something equally strenuous and I’d tear my muscle again, leaving me struggling to walk for weeks until it healed again. I tried running but a 20 minute interval run also tore my muscle and I had to dial it back to 10 minutes total. Honestly, I was in so much despair thinking I’d never be able to hike or run again.

I’ve got quite chubby over the years due to my work in mining. I couldn’t cook at all because everything is provided by the mining camps. Miners seem to like fatty fried foods so I’d gain weight in the month at camp and then lose 5-10lb in the two weeks at home. Working out was impossible because of luggage limits for helicopter flights preventing me from bringing equipment, working in -55C temperatures preventing outdoors exercise, and physically demanding 12+ hour shifts that left me drained. My good work during my two weeks at home was never enough and my weight slowly climbed. When I finished that job, I completed the first three weeks of Joe Wick’s 90 Day Plan but that was cut short with an international move back to the UK and a major life change.

This last year I was doing an MBA and was often out of the house between 7.15am to 9.30pm so a lot of the food was grabbed on the go. I tried so hard with meal prep on Sundays but the stress levels with long class hours, hours of readings and essays, and networking sessions with employers got too much. I actually managed to maintain my weight for a lot of the MBA but the situation with covid and being housebound saw a bit more weight gain.

So the challenge represented a huge effort to try to get back into fitness. My leg was agony for the first month during runs. My calf muscle would be a tight ball and it would pull on the shin muscles and I’d lose control of my foot. Eventually, and with some prolonged weeks off for injury recovery, it improved. My final run of the challenge was 8.2km of intervals with 2 minutes of running and 2 minutes of walking. I still have to be careful with my leg and not push too hard. It also really hates the smallest of uphill inclines and sideways cambers. But back in December, I wasn’t sure if I’d finish the challenge and now here I am looking back having succeeded. 

And it feels good to finally succeed at a fitness-related goal, just like I used to. 

Did I lose weight? No, which is weird. I’m going to be following up with my doctor in the next few weeks, covid allowing. My sister said I appear slimmer around my hips so perhaps I’m just recomping, though my clothes feel tighter than ever. I started Joe Wicks’ 90 Day Plan again today so we’ll see how the next three months go.

I thought the Old Me was dead but no, she’s in there somewhere trying to get out.

[initforthelongrun2019]

A Different Type of Challenge

I have a ganglion cyst.

That wasn’t the way I had imagined starting my first blog post since completing my challenge at the end of last year, but it would be out of character if I told you that I am completely injury free.

It seems like a lifetime since I completed the ‘In It For The Long Run 2019’ challenge; where I aimed to complete a distance of 7,500km in 365 days by running and hiking. Those of you who have read my blog before will know that this didn’t quite go to plan; for those of you who are new to my blog; well, read the previous posts to find out exactly what happened.

When I first set out to do this challenge, I thought that I would never want to run again. However, towards the end of last year I was running way less than I wanted to, so once my injury started to heal, I didn’t want to stop! I completed a trail run in Moc Chau in January, and after that I was happy to continue running a good distance every week. I had a good feeling about the year ahead, so I signed up to two more trail runs; the Da Lat Ultra in March (100km) and the Chiang Mai Ultra in August (100km), with plans to sign up to many more throughout the year. I also set myself a goal to gain a spot back on the podium (it feels like a long time since I’ve had one of those) and made a pact with my friend Ajay that I would achieve this by the end of the year. However, Covid-19 put a stop to those plans, and I shared the frustrations of many runners around the world as race after race got cancelled.

Lockdown in Hanoi was a strange time, with lots of uncertainties, particularly in terms of what we could and couldn’t do. It was unclear whether or not we were allowed to exercise outside and on the first day of lockdown when I headed out for a run – alone and wearing a mask – I got yelled at by the police and instructed to go home. I went in to a slight panic about how I would cope without running for the next few days, weeks, or months; however long it might be. It was bad enough not being able to run due to my injury, but being able to physically run and restricted from doing so felt even more frustrating. So I took to running secretly; going out very early in the morning – even earlier than normal - to run around my block, time and time again. I wasn’t actually breaking the law; I saw many locals out exercising and running in a morning, and they weren’t being sent home. But rather than risking any further hostility, I decided to keep my runs short and sweet, which led to me running my quickest 5km ever; finishing at 24:44 with an average pace of 4.49/km. Those of you who know me – or have read my blog – will know that I am the first to put my hands up and admit that I am not the fastest runner; especially towards the end of my injury I was running at a pace of 7.5/km or slower. So this was quite an achievement in itself, especially as it was compulsory to wear a mask outside; I was breathing so hard I almost inhaled it. I ran a couple of 10kms as well, at a slightly slower pace, but at 50-55 mins, each time I was still way faster than my usual 60 plus mins.

The short runs were great, and it was delightful to run without feeling that familiar niggling pain in my heel, but I had no idea how lockdown would last and I was worried I would start to lose my endurance if I kept up with these distances. So I took it upon myself to run 30km on my rooftop and was featured in the Vietnam Trail Series newsletter; my claim to fame, at last! As expected, completing such a lengthy distance in such a small space (one lap wasn’t even 0.1km), was both a mental and physical challenge. Mentally, I knew this would be extremely good training for when I was able to get back out on the trails, for those moments when I question what I’m doing, why I’m doing it, and everything is telling me to give up. In terms of the physical aspects, 30km isn’t much compared to the distances I was running last year, but my body took more of a battering than I thought it would and my heel pain flared up due to running around in circles; the twisting and turning was playing havoc with my muscles and by the end I was in agony. I completed in around six hours, and then treated myself to a nice big lunch and a cider or two.

After lockdown was eventually lifted, I was happy to be back out running again, without feeling like I was doing something wrong, and my first time running without a mask felt so free. However, this feeling was short lived; as the heat and humidity of Hanoi’s summer approached, I started to run less and less. I remember a time when I wouldn’t even entertain the thought of going out for a 5km run, but I found myself opting for this distance more often, with the occasional 10km here and there. Lots of time passed and I didn’t seem to be able to pass the 10km barrier; the heat was a killer and I was also suffering from a general lack of motivation. I cursed myself; I complained so much when I wasn’t physically able to run, and now I had the strength back, but I just didn’t want to. However, this was a good learning curve for me; I realised I had turned in to a bit of a running snob, and that all distances should be credited. So I stopped being so negative and actually started to praise myself for going out in the crazy hot temperatures, despite the distance, and then when I did complete the longer runs, it felt like even more of an achievement.

But right now, back to the present, with me and my ganglion cyst. Up until last week, I was looking forward to more races towards the second half of the year, but once again, Covid-19 has put a stop to this. My 25km trail run in Sapa last weekend was cancelled, right about the time I got stuck in Hoi An (Central Vietnam) due to a lockdown in neighbouring Da Nang. I had plans to sign up for 100km at the VMM race in Sapa in September, and was considering VJM in Pu Luong in October, but with the second wave here in Vietnam I’m not sure if they will be going ahead either, and I already have way too much money tied up in cancelled races this year, so I may just keep an eye on the situation and see how it goes. I have now relocated to Hoi An; ironically, the very place I started my running challenge back in January 2019, and I’m thrilled about my new home and running location. I am also very happy to be writing this blog again, albeit after a very long hiatus, and I have lots of exciting running plans in the pipeline.  

[runnersnz]

“I would describe myself as an active person and little explorer since a young age. Being a representative sprinter and netball player during primary and secondary schools gave me a joy in life. Then I lost it temporarily while focusing on my medical degree and subsequently busy with full time work as a healthcare professional.

In 2018/2019, I decided to take time off from work and travelling. Having more control on my life and working schedule, I started joining parkrun and local fun runs in Wellington and Palmerston North. Easy enough, I found my passion in running that I had lost for past 10 years. I enjoy challenging myself, from 5km parkrun to 10km fun run events.

When I decided to move to Hamilton to resume my professional work again, I was looking for a running club that could help me out for social running. I found out about Hamilton Roadrunners when I visited Hamilton Lake parkrun and quickly enough was convinced to join the club. But soon after that, Covid pandemic hit the world and we can only meet up for unofficial parkrun, with almost all the running events cancelled in 2020-2022.

I enjoyed hiking as well and with the encouragement from the club members, I got the taste of trail running and now I am addicted to it – having a few 50km ultras under my belt, I am preparing for my next challenge – the Tarawera 102km this coming February 2024.

I do not run to empty my head or just to feel happy. But I frequently feel good after most of my runs. Sometimes I do not feel too good after running – either physically, mentally, or both and that is fine too. Running gives me a time to reflect on myself, relationships with people around me, work related issues, and I try to process them – not necessarily being able to find the solution but ‘filing’ them in separate boxes in my mind. This coping strategy helps with my well being in a fast-paced life and high stress job.

I keep challenging myself to push my distances out, as I feel that a longer run especially on the trail gives me an insight that in life, as long as we are moving forward one step at a time, either ups or downs, fast or slow – we will reach our destination or goals, just at different timelines. Everyone has their own stories, journeys and hardships. Getting to know other runners via clubs and groups, race or events, or social media provides me with a sense of whanaungatanga – human connection. This certainly adds an extra flavour to my running happiness.”

Zilah @drz_lah (Hamilton) Photo taken at Tekapo – Portraits of Runners + their stories @RunnersNZ

[beginningnow]

30/06/2019

I accidentaly deleted the whole text and I don’t feel like writing it all again, so I will be brief.

Yesterday I ate around 4000 calories. I ate a looot at the party, and I also drank a lot. I did dance a bit, but hahah, nothing to pay off the calories. Today I also did not have a great diet. I had potatoes at lunch, with duck, and for dinner pasta with fried egg (no oil) and some pepper sauce (been craving pepper). The pasta is the leftover of Thursday's lunch and was the only thing easily available to eat. 

Today I also ran on the beach (not on the sand, tho), as a part of my running training. I ran for 11 minutes, which did not seem much but almost kills me. I suck at running. I absolutely cannot run for long. After 9 minutes my legs were already burning and I felt like I couldn’t do it anymore. I was not at my greatest place physically, since I had a really crazy night (got home at 6 a.m., slept till 4p.m.) but, anyway. I’m still pretty bad at this. I ran 1,65km in 11 minutes, which gives me a 9km/h pace. Not too bad. My goal is being able to run 5km in 30 minutes (10km/h pace) and I’m working towards it. I’m still embarrassed to talk  about my running with my friends because I pretty much still suck at it. But by the end of the year I won’t. I have to keep training. Remember this when you don’t want to leave your bed for training: you will get better, keep going. Today I almost didn’t get up, but I knew that little rectangle on excel had to turn green, and it did!

I’m not too excited about next week. I’ll have to walk for 2 minutes then run for 8 minutes (3x) on the treadmill. I’ll start with a running speed of 8km/h because during this week, whilst doing my 3rd repetition of 5 minutes at 9km/h, I was almost dying. But anyway, this is the problem for tomorrow. Today, my goal is completed. It was hard, but I made it. In some months running for 11 minutes will be extremely easy, and new goals will be set.

[evolutiosportsphysioblog]

Jacked Calves and Running through COVID

So here’s what’s up with me. I reckon I’ve touched more calves in the last three months than in the preceding five years.

I’m not mad about it - it’s a really cool area to treat. It isn’t, however, usually among my clients’ favourite areas to get treated. If you’ve ever had a firm massage to the lower leg you’ll know what I’m talking about.

As usual, I’m kind of talking myself out of a job here, but I’d like to intervene a few weeks/months before you get to the point where we have to demolish your baby moomoos on the treatment table. Even if you’re already at a point where massage feels “necessary”, here’s a secret : it won’t make the hurties go away for good. 99.99% of the time, if you don’t also address the root cause of a problem, massage is only ever going to be a temporary solution.

So what is the root of the problem? To grossly generalise, lately it’s got a lot to do with running.

With gyms closed and team training’s off, a lot more people have taken up jogging as their primary form of exercise - which is awesome. However, some of us are pulling up with particularly sore and tight lower legs, and I think a lot of that comes down to a few main trends I’ve noticed lately in my calf-based clientele.

Increasing volume (or intensity or load) too fast.

The age-old rule with volume is that you shouldn’t increase by more than 10% each week, and your program should include regular deloads. I would add another principle to that : just because you can doesn’t mean you should*.

For example: if your longest run of the week is currently 5km, it should take at least eight weeks to work that up to 10km. You’re probably already more than capable of 10km, but if you up the volume up in one step, you risk overloading the system without giving it enough time to adapt. And that can equal cooked calves.

I get the impatience to get to a goal ASAP, but honestly, you will get there faster this way - rather than making the jump too soon and spending six weeks injured, only to have to start again from square one.

It can be harder to quantify, but the same principle usually applies to intensity (speed) and load (running with weight/ introducing slopes).

A common trap here is people who come in hot from other types of training, and so are fit enough for, say, a one hour run, but aren’t conditioned to that kind of volume on the trot. Similarly, those who used to do a lot of running, but haven’t for a long time, can have a tendency to forget the process of working up to big runs.

Not using the posterior chain for power

I’m yet to meet a struggling runner who hasn’t benefited from activating their glutes and hammies. Often the main mechanism that overloads the calves during running is a failure to produce the necessary force further up the chain. Ideally, the hamstrings and glutes should be generating a significant amount of running power, with that proportion going up as speed increases.

This is particularly relevant for those of us who find that we spend even more time sitting down than usual during isolation, which can cause the glutes to become ‘lazy’. Activating the posterior chain before runs, and training the hips, glutes and hamstrings for strength at the very least once a week are the keys rebalancing your running engine.

Mindset is also fundamental : do you see distance as your only running goal? If 100% of your training is grinding away at crazy long runs no wonder your calves have given up the ghost.

The faster you run, the more you’re going to recruit your glutes and hammies, so try some shorter, faster sessions and interval running with even more speed. You can even switch up the goal of your whole program - are you just training for a marathon because that’s what everyone does? IMHO, a super fast 5km is a lot sexier - and the program is generally more fun.

One of the best things about running is its “functionality” - all humans should be able to move fast on their feet. I would argue that shorter runs are a lot more functional. I mean, if the zombies do come and you haven’t outpaced them over the first few kilometres, I don’t see you doing it over the next 40.

Calf strength

Sorry, but your gastrocnemius and soleus muscles are probably not strong enough for long distances. Welcome to the club, there’s a few billion of us.

I’ve said it before, but if a muscle isn’t coping with a certain load and we can’t reduce that load, then we have to increase its capacity. To try and exemplify this with completely made-up numbers: if the calf is exerting 1 unit with each stride, but your maximum calf raise is only 10 units, that’s a 10% effort on every step. That muscle is going to fatigue fast. If you can increase the maximum to 20 or 30 units, then each step is only requiring 5 or 3% effort from the muscle, which is going to be a helluva lot more sustainable.

Calves, particularly the soleus muscle, have incredible endurance. Just ask any bodybuilder - they will cop an absolute belting without budging in size. You can train them several times a week - ideally in a program that includes concentric, eccentric and isometric exercises at moderate and high loads. Controlled loading, particularly isometric, is also crucial for tendon/ connective tissue troubles such as Achilles tendinopathy and plantar fascial pain.

Technique, technique, technique

This is a mega huge root of the problem. If you’re getting hurt because you’re not running well, then all the massages and foam rolling and new shoes and compression socks and magnesium supps and recovery machines in the world will not make a jot of difference.

Running often gets approached with an “I already know how to do that” attitude. When you set your mind to almost any other sport, you know in advance that you’re going to have to watch and learn from more advanced athletes, repeat drills, progress slowly and get feedback and follow instruction from a coach. Running, however, involves tying up your laces and heading out the door, right? Yeahnah can do, but not always. Even if you’ve been doing it for years or decades, professional input can be a gamechanger.

Obviously you can do it without one, but if you a) are trying to get into running with an existing injury, b) have a history of running injuries or c) are looking to improve performance in any way, there is nothing I would recommend more than an experienced coach.

Our mate Nathan Fenton, of Run Power Coach (@runpowercoach), Enfer Running (@enferrunning) and the Runner Chats podcast puts it much better than I can:

“A lot of people are averse to getting a coach because they feel their flexibility will be taken away; they will be locked in to do what the coach says when the coach says it.  But it doesn't have to be like that.  A good coach will be flexible with your plan and understand that you're doing this because you enjoy it, not because it's your job.  Get a coach to shorten your learning curve and avoid the mistakes that will cost you time and performance.”

So there you have it - my very incomplete list of things that may be making your calvies give you grief. We love comments, so feel free to add yours below!

*If anyone wants to call me out on calling the kettle black at this point, I hear you.

Peta works as our Head Remedial Therapist and S & C Coach. She’s in the VIC state team for Surfboat Rowing and owns the world record for the 1km Ergo at 30-39yrs Female category. She can also hipthrust 200kgs. You can book in with her at Evolutio here