A bit smarter

And so I woke up this morning with the good intentions of entering the Harrogate 10k firmly put back in place. I could barely stand on my forefoot, let alone run on it. Needless to say, that race has been shelved, and I'm unhappy about it.

Admittedly, I had enjoyed a good night with a colleague and his partner on Friday, but that should not have affected my cardio more than the lack of work that I have done over the past 2-3 weeks.

Many/all of my previous posts allude to my mentality that I want to push myself as hard as I can, and of inclination to sit uneasily with moderation. But I'm sitting here now uneasily with my lack of fitness, and my fat belly, and weakened legs, and I'm determined to do something about it.

Before I rattle off some ideas, I think I might want to ask the fourth wall quite why I'm writing this. Apparently I have a reasonable number of people read this blog from my twitter (public) and FB (private) accounts. Whether that is true, or whether Google are being a bit cheeky to boost their advertising revenues (for when the service is free, YOU are the product), I know at least a few people are reading it, and that is enough.

I am also writing this as a public blog simply because it is far more motivating that writing in my private diary.

Finally, I'd like to think that the times when I've read a blog of someone in a similar position to myself might be repayed by someone stumbling onto this one. It might happen.

So, what I should do:

a) Be a bit smarter and plan my training.
b) Start training from scratch.
c) Reinvigorate my diet again, in particular my portions.
d) Invest in physiotherapy and insoles.
e) Regularly hit the cross-trainer for HiiT.
f) Consider joining Scarborough AC (although they aren't so hot at replying to emails it seems!)

And so!

a) Although I have some patterns to my training, I am fearful of impact training on my muscles. Without having some protection in the form of (expensive) insoles, I refuse to begin any of the running schedules.

b) I want to 'do' the gym 3-4 times a week (if not a bit every day now it's the holidays.) For my mind and metabolism if nothing else. I also want to strengthen my quads and calves and ankles using the exercises and stretches shown to me. Having tried them a few times (such as simply moving onto my toes 12x3 sets) I can feel my calves tightening to the point of pain.

c) I generally eat healthily. I never eat fried takeaway food, and I eat an Indian or a fry-up only once a week. My breakfasts are great. And I never eat an entire pizza. However, two things have seen my weight balloon, and hence make running more difficult and me more injury-prone:
- I am far too lazy when it come to making food for the next day. I enjoy purchasing all my food at school. For breaktime I eat two cheese pizzas that have to be heavy as hell on calories (500-700+?) I now ask for fruit (!) Also, while I used to be smarter about my portions, that has entirely gone out the window. I happily consume 400g of mince, a jar of sauce etc. And I eat cheese with most meals, and more than a few bottles of beer. Quite how I reduce these portions depends on my lifestyle; as a lodger I am very limited to what foods I can store. That should change soon.

d) When I was younger I had NHS insoles for my shoes. Like with all things, I trained far harder than I should, and therefore pulled the muscles away from my shins. It was, frankly, traumatic, and make walking painful. It reduced the strength I had, and made me a 24.6 200m man into something nearer 27 (as I do now.) Now I've got an income, I hope that the investment (of £100s) should give me something that will build up my muscles again and change my gait. I am prepared for them to do near to nothing, though. But I have to try.



e) I am happy to continue to work out on the cross-trainer most days this holiday. But it only goes so far with the fitness.

f) I think joining Scarborough AC is long overdue!

Harrogate 10k?

It is coming to the end of the 'season' for my running. I bit the bullet and paid for some physio. Turns out that, like my youth, the arches of my feet (particularly my right foot) have dropped.



What does that mean? It means that whilst I run my energy isn't exactly working on propelling me forward. My knees being to point inwards. My ankles don't spring back.

It's frustration.

On Wednesday I'm purchasing some extremely expensive insoles. Hopefully, over the space of 12 months or so, they'll reframe my legs so I can run somewhat more efficiently. I'm doubtful, but we'll see.

Of some interest, yesterday there was a cross-trainer in school. I had discussed with a few folk about getting one in, but a TA took advantage of the free time nearer the end of the year to get one in for Help for Heroes (a very worthy charity.) I ended up on it for 10 minutes, but for some reason was determined to cane it.

Some banter meant the incline and resistance was put up a fair bit, while I whacked on a 35kg Bergen. My class of 25 had to come to see me give it a go, and I wore my shirt (as ever!) I must have been a bit of a site, putting 140-160+ steps per minute. As ever, I was entirely unable to do anything other than push myself as hard as good for as long as I could.

A few teachers took photographs on cameras. In this FB'd world that we live I am yet to see or hear of them, but I have little doubt that they now float about in the ether. But that's something for another time.

Back in the classroom, I was (frankly) sweating buckets and barely able to speak. The point I wanted to make the kids, which they articulated impressively, was that to push yourself for no reason other than because you could (and therefore, perhaps, should.)

A lack of training

My waist has hit a buddha-like 36 inches this summer. I managed to drop it to 30 inches last summer with a reasonable diet that allowed me one heavy meal a week. I also did more training than I'm doing. That is, more training than nothing.



In the past two weeks I think I've been knocked by the incidents of Humber Half more than I thought. I've simply stopped training. My ankle thrashed me, hurts every morning I wake up. I've booked into a physio-therapist, but we'll see if that's useful.

In the meantime, I was very pleased that our maths teacher organised a staff Olympics. Unfortunately I missed running the 800m with the staff (due to school commitments, of all things!) and instead ended up running it by myself. Like when I ran the 400m by myself in Aldersley stadium at Christmas, it was tough. Really quite tough. I hit the first 200m in 32 and the 400 metre mark at 70 seconds (which, considering the utter lack of training, wasn't so bad.) As ever, though, I slowed dramatically (not least because I didn't want to collapse at the end) and hit 2:30 odd. My 800m is a reasonably reasonable 2:15 back in the day (U15.)

The javelin was, for me, a great effort. I only managed 9 metres when trained by my Wolverhampton schools PE staff (God bless them!) Our excellent PE teacher, however, had showed me the technique to hit something nearer 20 metres. I am the first to admit that I am SEN when it comes to field events - I am too clumsy and too tense to throw anywhere near where my strength should let me. Even to attempt such throws gives me a refound appreciation for how some of my charges have to struggle with what to others must seem desperately simple.

The 100m was surprising to me. I hit 12.7 in my first go, and barely managed to walk to the start line for the second go (which would have been well over 13 I think.) It was still a faster time than a few weeks ago as my muscles were rested (although my cardio is shredded.) However, it was shocking how my body reacted. I knew I was going to be sick, and my legs would barely let me stand. I had eaten reasonably well beforehand, and I was hydrated.

It was my youth all over again: trying to qualify for the U15 national 400m, coming near last (it might have even been last!) and being entirely exhausted for the rest of the day. The notion that I would have run again that day was ridiculous; I had exhausted everything I had, and everything after that, too.

Right now my legs suffer from my lack of flexibility and fitness, and my right ankle and foot are also in the wars. However, I am still in a position where I can be fitter than ever have been if I:

a) Consider dieting again.
b) Have some smart physio-therapy.
c) Manage to somehow establish some sort of impact-orientated training.
d) Have some sort of realistic running goal.

Some injuries

I haven't run, or even worked out, since the Humber Half Marathon. My ankle was damaged in the aftermath, not to mention my suffering from some slight heat exhaustion.

However, someone else died.

http://www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk/Tragedy-man-32-dies-Humber-Bridge-half-marathon/story-12844078-detail/story.html



I passed this chap near the end. He was wearing a blue top (which looked extremely hot to me.) And, as I said in my last post, he appeared to be stopping and sprinting throughout the end of the race. My marathon effort saw me walking and running near the end, and overtaking some of those who were running at a slow speed the entire way. Truth be told, though, it did feel a little dubious to be stopping and walking.

However, those of us with average bodies do not have a fully free choice in such things. I think that if I had not walked during the marathon, I would have risked not being able to finish it at all.

In that half-marathon, though, I think it would actually have been more difficult to walk and then to run. Particularly if you were passing me. I was posting 7:45 minute miles in a 30 degree course on a gradient. I hit the half-way stage on for a sub 1:40 minute half. However, as I said before, I was suffering from strangely uncomfortable head pains (which, upon some casual research, may have been a lack of oxygen reaching my brain, thanks to the heat.)I slowed to a slower-than-marathon pace in the latter part, and did not feel worried (which wasn't a good sign, perhaps.)

This chap (or at least someone who looked like him) overtook me several times. On the way we both passed fit-looking people who had collapsed. Not least, we overtook a man in his 30s half-way up the aptly named cardiac hill. All semblance of racing the course had, for me, gone at that stage. However, I was determined to not 'walk' or at least to keep a running action.

http://www.marathon-photos.com/scripts/photo.py?event=Sports/CPUK/2011/Humber%20Bridge%20Half&photo=BERB2012&match=1452

This picture of me shows that a slightly serene expression after passing the man. No desire to give it my all - just to finish. Near the end, perhaps 200m or so, there was someone utterly collapsed. "Poor sod!" I shouted as I passed.

In the aftermath I emailed the directors to ask about the water and lack of nutrition at the end. They gave me a reply I won't post, but suffice to say I think that anyone running the race should have known it was going to be a hot day, and should have slowed down to drink water properly (or at least slowed down full-stop!) One man ran with a backpack full of iced water. The poor chap who died seems, from his justgiving page, to have:

a) Been running for a charity for whom he had dedicated a substantial portion of his service.
b) Been running his first half-marathon.

I wonder if he didn't know what kind of exhaustion was due to the heat, and what kind of exhaustion was due to the natural rigors of the race? And that, thanks to his charity, he felt he simply had to finish in a 'good' time? For me, I sought no sponsors for my marathon as I did not want to run it without knowing my capabilities (i.e. in case I ran it too fast and did not finish it.) In fact, I know a lass who runs very fast (not least as that's all she does!) but has simply refused to run a marathon so far as she could run it in any less than 100% of her HM capabilities (and hence risk not finishing it at all.)

Another story concerns a chap I met in the Edinburgh marathon. He ran so fast (6-7 minute miles) for a blistering HM, yet burned out at mile 16. He finished in 6 hours. That's a SLOW walking pace for the latter part. Incredible.

By the end time of the HM, my time was slower by about 4-5 minutes compared to my time last year. I was not so bothered. I felt proud.

However, I do feel that my ankle and my running style leaves something to be desired. I even had a blister on my left foot. A week of no exercise at all has been deliberate. I hope to begin some cross-training tomorrow, and to build up to a 5k in Hull again, and the Harrogate 10k on the first weekend of the summer holidays. But, in doing so, to see if my body needs a different kind of training.