Epic Fail

   After a couple of failed running attempts this past week, I went out to try it again today. I looked at all the likely reasons the past two runs didn't work out and I tried to make sure that all had been rectified.
   They were. There were no issues with rain and no issues with cold. Today what foiled me was snow.

   At least I think it was the snow. A couple of days ago we got about nine centimeters of the stuff and overnight probably another three. The sidewalks were covered but quite passable. Occasionally they were heavy with slush and, rarely, were bare. But I ran out of steam and had to walk three or four times. I have not had to walk for about a month now and I saw this as a major setback, particularly as I have a 5K run fast approaching.
   I'm trying to figure out what part the snow played and what part may have been played by my interrupted run schedule lately plus an extra pound or two of festive food. I never felt that I was going to slip or fall down at any point but what the snow caused me to do was run a little more flat-footed and it also did not provide a totally reliable push-off. It always seemed as though my foot would slide just a fraction of an inch with almost every stride. Whether this caused an extra energy expenditure or not is unclear to me. It certainly was a mental distraction, if nothing else.
   So now I need to figure out how to run in snow. I went out today and picked up a few hex head metal screws and attached them to the bottoms of my shoes. They would possibly be workable in actual snow but on concrete I can feel them pressing through the botttom of my shoe, uncomfortably.
   I'm rather hoping that the race course on New Year's Eve will be well-groomed and fairly bare. In the meantime I will have to look at alternatives and will likely be purchasing some YakTrax to train in, if I continue to do the run thing.
   Just one more reason to hope for an early spring....  

Fail

Stuff I need to pay more attention to.

   Twice in the last week or so I have set out on runs. I bailed both times.
   The first instance, I began to run in what I thought at the time was a light rain. It turned out to be much heavier than I thought and, in fact, ended up blowing sideways. I was ill-prepared for this and began giving myself reasons to abort the run. My principal concern, I reasoned, was that my phone was strapped to my arm in a mesh holder and I thought that it might get wet and therefore destroyed. I'm not sure how real a fear this was but after awhile it became compelling. If nothing else, it became a nagging doubt.
   I have a hard time running while being dogged with nagging doubts and this caused me to cut the run short after slightly less than a kilometre. In my mind I reasoned that even a short run is better than no run at all. It was still difficult to accept this as anything other than a failure.
   In the second run, I once again misjudged the elements. There was no precipitation this time around but there was a biting cold. I simply neglected to check the temperature before heading out. I'd gotten a new pair of earwarmers for Christmas and was eager to give them a try. Well, they kept my ears warm but completely left the top of my bald head uncovered. I thought that as I warmed up so would my head but this did not happen. At some point things up there actually began to hurt and I thought to myself that thirty more minutes of running uncovered like that could possibly cause a frostbitten head. I tried to imagine what that might feel or look like and neither one was something I wanted to experience so, once again, I opted out.

A good idea--Adidas pays me to wear Nike anyway...

   All of this happened in conjunction with the festive season as well. This meant that not only was I missing the odd running day but I was also eating extra sweets and then only doing one kilometer runs in compensation. Just not a good feeling, all-round.
   It has been a learning experience, for sure. This is the first time in my life when I have felt compelled to run in winter weather. To date, the winter in these parts has been fairly mild and I've been getting away with it. It is now more like a true Canadian winter, however, and I need to adapt.
   In three days I'm running in a 5K race so I figure I have one more training run I want to get in before that. Hard to say what the weather might throw at me between now and then but, damn it, I'm going to be prepared the next time I head out!

Breathing

   I happened to be bouncing around from one running blog to the other a few days ago and came across a forum wherein readers were posting running-based questions hoping for expert replies.
   One reader posed the question "How do you breathe?" I know that I and likely the reader were expecting some very knowledgeable and scientific reply. The response we got was, "Through your mouth".
   I kind of laughed to myself when I heard this, there was something very common sensible and almost too easy about the reply.

   I asked essentially the same question early on when I was taking the Learn-to-Run course. The reply I got then was that it didn't matter as much how you breathed as it did how you were breathing. If, while running, you were able to carry on a half-decent conversation with someone then you were running at a comfortable pace. If you were gasping and unable to carry on a conversation, then you were probably running too hard.
   I have to be running pretty damn slow to be able to handle my end of a sensible conversation. When I'm out doing a 5K run, I have my hands full exchanging a "good evening" with people I run across or a "thanks" if someone steps off the sidewalk to let me pass. The thought of being out with a running partner and talking about life, finances or the scenery kind of boggles my mind. Really, about as much as I want to be able to say when I'm running is "okay" if someone asks me how I'm doing.

   I remember being out on a training run with a group of people once and I was labouring quite badly, breathing-wise. One of the more experienced runners came up to me and started to offer advice. They talked and they talked and they talked and I'm thinking please go away, I can hardly breathe, let alone talk to you about why I can hardly breathe! This, I guess, is one of the reasons why I don't solicit running partners (yet), I have no need to be sociable or feel as though I should adjust my pace to suit someone else's and I just don't wanna talk while I'm running!
   I have no particular system for breathing when I'm out on a run, I just get the air in and out as best I can. What I do find is that very quickly into a run I begin a fairly rhythmic system of breathing based on number-counting. I pick a sequence of numbers and repeat them over and over again as I run, usually putting an emphasis on one or two of them. This usually ends up sounding something like one-two-three-four-FIVE-six, one-two-three-four-FIVE-six, and so on. Every run it's often a different sequence with a different cadence and it's all based on how I'm breathing that run. I simply repeat this sequence (almost out loud) until I finish the 5K. More than anything, this is what regulates my breathing when I'm out there.
   Just from rooting around on the internet, there seems to be a fair amount of stuff there about breathing while running. I have yet to explore much, if any, of it. So far, my breathing does not seem to be an issue. About the only time I gasp is if I'm at the end of a run and I decide (for some god-forsaken reason) to sprint it out. Any other time, my breathing seems like it'll last much longer than my legs will!
   Healthy breathing everyone!
  

Ouch!!: Part Two

   The night before last I was dramatically reminded of one of the sports-related "ouches" I had forgotten to mention in the post I wrote called "Ouch!!"
   I had been sitting in my comfy chair in the livingroom with one leg curled under the other for likely about an hour, while working on the laptop. It came time to un-curl and the inside of my right thigh went straight into cramp mode. The pain was quite excruciating and I had to get Doralyn to come and get the laptop out of my hands because I was unable to put it down anywhere safely. She then started to massage the cramped area, which provided at least a little relief. The cramp itself probably lasted about five minutes.
   I've had a problem with muscle cramps for several years now. They generally occur after some kind of sports activity during which I've lost a lot of fluid. They do, however, occasionally pop up right out of the blue, as they did the other evening. Most of the time, I am able to feel them building up and am able to quickly stretch out the offending muscle before a full-blown cramp settles in. I had no advance warning of this latest one, though, it just kind of hit me all of the sudden and got hold of me before I could do anything.
   At this point, there doesn't seem to be a real consensus as to the cause of cramps. Part of the reason for this is that they have been unable to successfully reproduce sports-type muscle cramps in a lab setting in order to come up with a controlled study. Historically, though, they have been linked to dehydration and electrolyte depletion. Sodium, potassium, and calcium depletion are also blamed. Muscle fatigue and overuse seem associated.

   For my part, I try and stretch all the important muscles before I get involved in a physical activity and I do my best to stay hydrated and every once in awhile I stretch after exercise. Cramps can occur after prolonged periods of being in the same position and I'm thinking this may have been what happened the other night. I guess I just need to get up and moving around on a more regular basis. This is not bad advice for anyone, really, athlete or not. The worst case of muscle cramping I ever personally experienced was one time after playing goal in ball hockey, sweating off about four pounds, coming home, grabbing some pop and then lying on the floor in front of the T.V. for about an hour and a half. At the end of that, I attempted to get up off the floor and suffered cramps in both calves and the front of both thighs. Thought death was imminent, actually. After probably ten minutes they fully subsided and I was able to at least get up off the floor, at last. Since then, I've tried religiously not to be too sedentary right after heavy physical exertion.

What my leg felt like the other night

   Muscle cramps are probably my biggest medical concern right at the moment, at least as far as running is concerned. So far, I've been able to avoid shin splints, plantar fasciitis, gout, knee strain and chafed nipples(giggle). I am, however, a neophyte who is still running short distances. Should I ever get to the point where I am running 10K on a regular basis in hot weather and such, then I'm sure I could very well end up dealing with some of the above and, hopefully, not worse.
   Healthy running, everyone!
  

Inspiration

   I am at the point now where I look forward to my every-other-day 5K run. During the work week I run in the evenings and several times a day I remind myself that it's a "run night" and this gets me a little pepped up.
   As I'm walking down the driveway after my warm-up, however, I always find myself wondering how the hell am I going to be able to run the whole way tonight, I can't believe I'm actually doing this. Still, I manage to finish.
   Along the way, though, there are times when I want to stop. I really want to stop. Like a man in a desert, I can almost feel the cold, wet taste of it and I give myself every reason or excuse to do so. And then I remind myself about Rob.

Rob and his wheels

   Rob Buren is my brother-in-law and a little over four years ago he was involved in a mountain biking accident which left him a paraplegic. Rob had always been one of those driven, active kinds of guys and, as much as this type of injury would be devastating for anyone, it was particularly devastating for him.
   In the aftermath of all this, though, Rob showed a side of himself which was, well, amazing. And amazing, I think, is truly an understatement.
   As soon as he was able after the accident, he began rehab. This is obviously standard procedure for anyone and is designed to get a person to a point where they are able to perform hopefully acceptable daily living skills. Rob, however, took rehab to a whole new level.
   In much less time than it would have taken anyone else, Rob was out of the rehab hospital and tackling what he refers to as "the new normal". For him, this meant learning new ways to perform all the usual daily routines and simply getting around his re-modelled home. It meant getting back behind the wheel of his car, getting back to work and, even more importantly, getting back to raising a young family.

Rob, his handcycle and ever-present smile

   For many of us in a similar situation, this might have been sufficient. But this wasn't enough for Rob. He had a burning desire to continue doing all the things he enjoyed doing before the accident. So this is exactly what he did!

Rob, satisfying the "need for speed"!

   Whatever his legs were unable to do, his hands and arms now did. He found all manner of wheeled contraption that would get him back on forest trails and asphalt highway. He swam, he boated and, when the "need for speed" peaked, he hit Mosport and Calabogie. His beloved motorbike was modified so that he could leave people in his dust on that as well. To put an exclamation point on all of this, Rob and his wife Sabrina also now compete all over North America in half-marathons, marathons and triathlons.



Rob and Sabrina

   So Rob is who I think of when the urge to quit hits me while out there doing my 5K. I imagine all the countless times he must have wanted to quit. I also simply imagine the joy he would have to be back on his two feet again and running. I am out there for about forty minutes a run and if Rob was given just one forty minute session with which to run again it is unthinkable to me that he would consider for even a second stopping! The ability to walk and run (and a whole host of other physical and mental abilities) is a gift most of us truly take for granted. Rob knows how much of a gift it is and if he wouldn't stop in the middle of a run then why the hell should I? 

Doralyn, Instigator

   I've had a fair amount of fun the last few weeks and months, both running and then chronicling the adventure. There has been a fair amount of self-discovery and achievement and right at the moment I am actually quite proud of where I am and what I have been able to do.

Doralyn, maker of all things possible!

   It goes without saying, though, that none of this would ever have happened if not for my wife, Doralyn. It was her that signed us up for the Learn-to-Run clinic at the downtown Running Room, providing the impetus for all that came after. On my own, this would not have happened.
   She has become my biggest cheerleader in all of this. There have been times when I thought I was only accomplishing "baby steps". She, though, has stepped in at every turn and reminded me of how proud I should be. And, as usual, she is right!
   The fact that she is right about almost everything is not lost on me. I think there is some subtle understanding between the two of us that what we have done here will be to both our benefits in the foreseeable future--I will be healthier and she will be looking at a husband who will still be here way on down the road. There are not too many things hanging over our heads at this point in our lives but, if there is a threatening Sword of Damocles, it would be the almost fifteen year age difference. I'm pretty sure I've been blessed with good longevity genes but not only do I want to live a long life, I want to live a healthy one.
   The running will help with this but, if not for Doralyn, I'm pretty sure I'd be sitting on my butt three times a week instead of being out there, pushing my own little envelope. If you can find a woman worth making a better man of your self for, then you can't ask for much more. And this is what I've done!

Milestone!

   For a month or two now, I have been running every other day with a goal in mind. I wanted to be able to run five kilometers.
   I started gradually in the summer, combining walking with increasing increments of running until I eventually got to where I could run 3K without stopping to walk. As that goal was attained, I immediately re-focused. I then wanted to be able to run 4K without a break. Attaining this, 5K without a break was where I was then headed.
   I had devised my own system for doing this. I had a 5K route in my neighbourhood mapped out and I began running it. The first time, I stopped halfway and walked for one minute. The next time I ran, I simply went one sidestreet further and then walked. The next time out, one sidestreet further. Gradually, I was pushing that one minute of walking closer and closer to the end of the run, knowing that when this happened I would have reached my goal. Last night, I had one more walking break planned but when I got to it I was so close to the end of my run that I decided to just forget about it and keep running.


! ! ! ! ! !

   There I was, 5K without walking!
   This still seems a little incomprehensible to me. It truly does seem like just yesterday that I was struggling with running four minutes in a row. Now I'm running forty minutes in a row! With a view toward getting down into the thirties.
   So now I guess I start paying a little more attention to the clock. I already have been timing myself, obviously, but my time was really not the focus of my running. Until last night, all I wanted to do was be able to run the whole way. Well, I did that and now I have to keep doing that and if I can do it just a little faster each time then I'm a happy man.
  

Whether Weather

   It snowed this morning. Not a lot, just a dusting really, but it was still snow and a reminder that I live in Canada. Where we get snow. Occasionally, lots of snow!

Running in the fog

   There are several reasons why I'm not particularly fond of the snow--I have a double driveway and have not yet been able to invest in a snowblower, I drive a lot for work and this is always problematic, you never know what a ton of snow will do to your roof, and I'm not one of those winter sports kinds of people.
   This year, however, there is an added concern. I need to run in it.
   I have a target race, the 5K Brita Resolution Run, coming up on December 31st. Given that it is the end of December here in Canada, there could be snow. There should be snow. And quite likely ice, while we're at it.
   I am just in the middle of getting the hang of running on dry pavement, let alone snow, slush and ice so I am having more than a little trepidation (one of my favourite running words) as to how this might work out. More than anything, it's the footing which concerns me, naturally enough. I'm not as nimble as I used to be and the vision of me flying through the air, feet first, and landing on the back of my head rather haunts me right at the moment.
   I was running last night in 0 degree (freezing) temperature, and it didn't bother me too much--dress in layers, protect the extremities and you're okay. A couple of nights before that, the warm ground combined with the very cool night air produced heavy fog. This was not a major problem either, just make sure you're even more highly visible than usual. It's rained more than once as I've been on a training run and that's pretty par for the course.

Yaktrax--a little pricey but apparently they work

   It's just the snow which has me concerned.
   Fortunately, in this day and age, information is at your fingertips and I was able to go to several websites which offered advice geared toward running on ice and snow.
   There are a variety of devices which you can strap on to your shoes which hopefully give you the required traction in bad weather. They apparently go on and come off pretty easily and quickly, as well. They have metal cleats or rows of metal coils on the bottom which, obviously, grip the ice. Of course, there is some expense involved here and, if you've followed this blog at all, you are aware that I am a Broke Runner.

A cheaper alternative

   Fortunately, I have come across a cheaper and, frankly, cooler solution. Simply screw some sheet metal hex head screws into the bottom of your run shoes! This trick has been around for years. Depending on your running style eg. heel striker vs. midfoot striker, place the screws in a pattern you feel will give the most traction. Screw them in from the outside of the shoe until only the hex head protrudes from the bottom of the sole. The shape of the hex head is what gives the great traction. From what I read, it's not even uncomfortable to go from ice and snow to dry pavement and then back to ice and snow, all on the same run. If I end up adopting this method, I will let you know how it works out.
   I had to convince myself to go out and run last night, our cozy, warm little house was way too inviting, especially after a long day at work. It became a question not so much as to when to run but whether to run. This is was pretty well the first time whether had popped into the equation. Then it occurred to me that, winter-weatherwise, this was probably as good as it was going to get. If I didn't want to run in temperatures that weren't even below freezing then I was pretty well toast(y) as a real runner in Canada. So I got out and ran and it was no big deal. The weather will get worse and I'm going to need to pretend it's still no big deal, when it does. Will update you all, when the snow really flies!
  

Am I a "real" runner...?

That which caught my eye

   The other day as I was rooting around on Google Images, I ran across one of those humourous "postcard" type images and immediately had it catch my eye.
   It did so because I am currently in the middle of passing on little tidbits about my new running adventure and I've already started to wonder whether I'm telling people about stuff they won't give a damn about. Assuming they even read it.
   I've certainly stopped short of doing a training blog and I make almost no mention of running on Facebook, apart from posting links to the blog itself. So I think I'm doing okay.
   I don't mind if people know I'm a "rookie", I go out of my way to describe myself as a neophyte, so no big deal there. Right at the moment, this whole running thing is so new to me that I keep having these holy cow moments as I go along, self-discovering. The urge, then, is to write about them. Hence, I don't have copious amounts of gear or training information, I can't talk about all the different places I've run in, and I can't talk about all the innovative training techniques I've run across. About as much as I am able to talk about are my first fumbling steps, or strides, as it were.
   Right at the moment, it's a little difficult to see where I might be with my running in, let's say, a year from now. Presently, all I'm trying to do is get myself to where I can run 5K without dropping dead. My goal is to run a 5K race at the end of December, the Resolution Run. After that, if I've not lost any digits to the cold, I will need to decide where to go from there with my running.
   Since starting to hit the streets regularly back at the beginning of August, I've certainly felt better. There's a little more spring in my step and I've lost about ten pounds. I can think of no reason to stop running. Whether or not I "graduate" to 10K is hard to say. Right now, running 5K is a hell of a workout, both energy and time-wise, and it feels as though it might be enough. We'll have to see.

Question answered!

    I'm still hard-pressed to call myself a "real" runner. I get out and run every other day, regardless of the weather or my inclination at the time. I look forward to run days and am somewhat at loose ends on my days off. I enjoy reading about running and visiting running stores. Does all this make me a "real" runner? I'm not sure. Part of it is because I have never encountered a definition for "real".
   I occasionally run into other runners as I am out and about. They almost always look like "real" runners--this by the way they dress, more than anything. At this point, I don't think I look like a "real" runner but, at the same time, I am not running to be fashionable. I run consistently and, right at the moment, I run the same route every time. This takes me past the local Tim's. I have this fantasy that there's a couple of regular customers in there who, because of my routine combined with their routine, have noticed me streaking by on occasion. In my fantasy, one person says to the other, "Hey, there's that old guy out there again." The other person replies, "Man, I guess he must be a real runner!"
  

Kathryn, Fearless Leader

   At some point, as I am discussing my new-found interest in running, I would be truly remiss in not mentioning the young woman who was the leader of our Running Room Learn-to-Run clinic.

My Learn-to-Run group and, far left, Kathryn Fenton

   Her name is Kathryn Fenton and I refer to her as Fearless Leader. She is the lady who taught us how to run, taught us how to dress, and taught us how to plan races. She managed to assess all of us and our running abilities and talk to us individually about little ways of running more efficiently. She arranged to have experts come in and teach us about running faults and how to avoid them, running injuries and how to avoid or heal them, and how to properly plan nutrition.
    Beyond all that, she connected with us. She was interested in not only our running adventure but what was going on in our daily lives as well. This made her a little more than one of those "rah-rah" instructors who only geared up to deal with you for an hour and a half a week.
   On top of all this, she has a Phd. in Musicology (which means I now have two Facebook friends with Musicology Phd.'s, which seems bizarre to me) and, when we're not talking running, we might actually be talking opera, which is kind of cool. I now know twice as much about opera as I did before, simply by chatting over post-clinic coffees at William's Coffee Pub. And, by the way, if you're looking to hire a Doctor of Musicology, she may still be available...


Kathryn, in our nation's capital, for the Ottawa Marathon.

   Kathryn has one of those bubbly and energetic kinds of personalities and, more than anything, is engaging. I don't usually hang out socially right after athletic endeavours and I don't usually make long-term race commitments but, all of the sudden, I found myself doing this, somewhat to my surprise (and terror). A different kind of running instructor might not have had the same co-ercive effect and I strongly suspect that the other runners in the group would have that same observation. This, by the way, is a good thing.
   Were you to have encountered our running group on a random Saturday morning back in the summer, you might not even have picked out Kathryn as the leader. She kind of blended in effectively with the rest of us. What you might have noticed, though, had you watched for any length of time, was the one runner who occasionally ran the opposite direction to the rest of us. This was Kathryn, checking up on how the frontrunners were doing and then falling back to double-check on the slower ones. I was generally in the latter group and always welcomed her appearance. She wouldn't try to engage you in back-and-forth conversations (realizing you could barely breathe), she just wanted to see how you were doing and offer a word or two of encouragement.
   You would not probably pick her out as a marathon runner, she is a little shorter and does not have the long, lanky stride that you might associate with distance running. What she does, though, is runs and runs and runs. The day we talked about the specific preparations for our upcoming target race, she brought us in her medals and race-wear from the events she's competed in. I found myself kind of thinking holy crap a couple of times, this woman is dedicated. And she can run!

Kathryn (L) and her running partner, Brenda, post-Toronto Waterfront Marathon

   As supportive and co-ercive as Kathryn can be, she was unable to talk me into joining the 5K clinic. This is the next logical step for anyone who has completed the Learn-to-Run clinic and most of my fellow runners signed up. For me, the decision not to was more of a financial one (I am a broke runner, as you may remember, if you've been following this blog) and at the time I also wasn't sure how I felt about running in the winter. The 5K target race is the Brita Resolution Run, scheduled for New Year's Eve--so you could pretty well anticipate cold and snow. Stupidly, I have signed up for this race and am now training on my own. Once in a blue moon, I e-mail Kathryn, just to find out how the 5K group is doing. I can only imagine that she is guiding them, little bits at a time, on their way to a triumphant finishing sprint through the frosty late December evening air, right through a throng of people at the finish line. Hopefully, some time after that, maybe even I'll show up! 

Head-down running

   I wrote a blog post in "Neanderings" fairly recently entitled "Head-down walking". It described my habit of only being concerned with the five feet directly ahead of me as I walked.
   My feeling on this was that it enabled me to be a little more contemplative as I was walking and not that concerned with what was going on around me.
   I have discovered that I run pretty well the same way. I'm not sure if I should be surprised about this or not, it kind of seems to make sense when you think about it. I do tend to look farther on ahead than five feet, simply because i am travelling at a higher rate of speed. Even at that I find I'm all of the sudden on top of people I really should have seen a lot sooner. No "tramplings" so far though!

Some one running with her head down

   There's a slightly different dynamic at work with head-down running, I find. One of the advantages of this style is that you tend to surprise yourself when you get there. You're not constantly looking way off in the distance and thinking to yourself how much pain you're going to have to go through before you get there. You just plug along, maybe looking at the leaves or the sidewalk cracks, thinking about life and then, before you know it, you're there. I guess it's a way of focusing on smaller parts of a run rather than the whole thing. This seems to work better for me.
   Unfortunately, it seems to go against what seems to be the prescribed way for running. Most experts will tell you to run with your head up, it promotes better posture and breathing as you run.
   I have tried running this way for short periods and find it just as disorienting as walking with your head up. I suspect that I am not a lost cause, though, and will likely flirt with paying a little less attention to that five feet just in front of me and maybe more to where I'm actually headed.

Ouch!!

Just SOME of the parts of me that hurt...

   Okay, yesterday I was all excited about running 5K for the first time. Today, all I want is the licence plate # of the truck that ran over me!
   I am at that age where I wake up pretty well every morning with some kind of ache or pain. I never jump out of bed, I slowly swing my legs out over the edge, make sure they've made full contact with the floor and then I slowly roll up into a standing position. From there, I test my ability to pivot to the right. Then come the first faltering steps. About halfway across the bedroom floor, I have a bit of an idea what my morning's going to be like.

That's my motto

   Part of my problem is that I still do things younger men are supposed to do. I play ball hockey with a bunch of younger studs and they quite often forget to respect their elders when it comes to the rougher aspects of the sport. I also have no problem with trying to block 100 mph shots and diving to make some sort of play. I just don't have that hey, take it easy, you're getting kind of old thought process totally ingrained yet. Around the house I quite often lift things I probably shouldn't be lifting. So aches and pains are not that uncommon.
   This morning, though, was a little uncommon in the discomfort department.
   Like I said, I felt like I had truck tire tread marks all over me. I don't normally feel quite this bad and about the only thing I could attribute it to was tacking on the extra 1K yesterday. That and possibly the fact that in the space of four days I'd run a 4K, played ball hockey and then had done another 5K.
   I am one of those people, thank goodness, who doesn't mind the pain too much in the morning. More than anything, it is an affirmation that, firstly, I am alive and, secondly, that my body is acknowledging that I have worked it hard. I appreciate the feedback, as weird as that may sound. I remember back in my teenager days, my friends and I would spend many a fall afternoon playing tackle football with no or very little equipment on and would then need to walk home with cuts, bruises and all manner of bloodied parts. Through all the limping, it felt wonderful! Yes, a little hard to explain...
   There have occasionally been real and actual hurts which stopped me right in my tracks.
   The first of these was a charley horse incurred playing one of the aforementioned games of neighbourhood tackle football. I got tackled and the guy's knee drove right into the side of my calf. It didn't particularly hurt at the time. When I stood up and tried taking a step, however, my leg buckled right under me. This one took forever to heal, the problem being that it didn't really hurt. Because it didn't hurt I kept aggravating it. This was my first and only charley horse and were I to receive another, I'm pretty sure I'd heal it a lot faster.
   Possibly the most serious injury I had was a badly sprained ankle with a hairline fracture. This was a ball hockey injury, stepped on a guy's stick blade and my foot hit the wall and turned right over. This one hurt and I nursed it quite a bit better than I did the previous injury. A handful of visits to the Fowler-Kennedy clinic here in London greatly helped the process and I would highly recommend them for injury treatment.
   Just as debilitating but not quite as long-lasting was a case of plantar fasciitis I had last summer. Once again, this was a ball hockey injury. This is an inflammation of the thick band of tissue which runs across the bottom of your foot, connecting your heel to your toes. It is extremely common with runners (I can hardly wait) and is characterized by a sharp pain in the heel area. The pain is particularly bad in the morning when you try walking on it the first time. Some relief is provided with anti-inflammatories, icing and stretching. Preventatively-speaking, what helped me the most was buying an over-the-counter orthotic which gave me more support in the arch area. So far, so good with the plantar fasciitis.
   The other condition I've suffered which is extremely debilitating was a suspected case of gout. This attacks your feet, especially the big toe, and is due to a buildup of uric acid. This causes essentially an arthritic condition in the joint of the big toe. This one hurts a lot. Frankly, it was easier to walk with a sprained and fractured ankle. It can be diagnosed symptomatically in conjunction with bloodwork. Once again, I found icing helped and my doctor has given me a NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) for the next time the symptoms hit. There apparently is a genetic aspect to gout and the little bit of research I've done indicates that red meat and asparagus in significant doses only exacerbates things.
   The last thing that stopped me running was the strained calf muscle I believe I mentioned in a previous post. I think this one could likely have been avoided with a more conscientious pre-run calf stretch. I've been careful to do this ever since that injury and it has not bothered me further.

This has nothing to do with me, not sure why I included it!

   So there you have it, a minor compendium of some of my running-related boo-boos and ow-ies. I read somewhere that if you are a runner then, at some point, you will be injured. Hopefully, every little injury serves to heighten your own body awareness so that, hopefully, the chances that you will incur the same injury in the future will either be eliminated or greatly lessened.
   Healthy running to you all!
  
  
  
  
  

5km !! (sort of by accident...)

   Today was yet another scheduled running day. The plan for today was to run 4K  and this is what I set out to do. It had warmed up a bit so it was kind of nice not having to wear any extra layers!
   I had still planned on taking a scheduled walk break about half way through but this time I didn't set the timer, I just remembered where I stopped the last time and figured I would simply try and run a little farther this time.
   This part was not a problem. I did get a little farther and then walked for about a minute. I wasn't really happy about walking for the minute but it was part of the plan so I stuck to it.

Where I am headed

   The last couple of times I've finished a 4K run, it seemed as though there was still a little left in the tank and I had been wondering those other times how much further I might actually be able to go. Today I decided that if I felt this way again I might just add another half K to the run.
   When I finished the 4K there was still a little left in the tank so I did tack on the extra half. While doing this, I then decided if there was still some gas at the end of it all I would simply add another half K and that would bring me up to 5K. Which is what happened! Coincidentally, 5K is the length of my target run right at the moment, so I was pretty excited (in a sweaty, tired sort of way)!
   The fact of the matter is that I could probably have kept on running. I would have been running with that what the hell do I do now mindset, though, and I like to plan things out a little more than that.

I may need this on December 31st!

   So at this point my expectations have changed just a little. I can only imagine that I will try and do another 5K with my next run on Monday and see how that goes. Running the 5K today kind of crept up on me and took me by surprise and the next time I might just not feel like it. We'll see!

One broke runner

Some of my raggedy running apparel

   Tonight was another run night and the only thing much different was the fact that I had decided to run 4K instead of 3K. I didn't think it was necessarily a good idea to bump things up by a whole K so I decided to break the run approximately in half and walk for a minute.
   I had my usual pre-new-thing trepidation but I've sort of come to take this in stride (no pun) and didn't let it deter me. At the rate I've been doing 3K I figured that 4K would take about 30 minutes so I set my timer at 15 minutes and headed out.
   About a minute into my run I am still on my street and another runner comes out from a side street and then runs past me, going in the opposite direction.
   Now, this guy was a runner. He had new shoes, a running jacket, gloves, running tights and a toque. He also passed me twice as fast as I passed him.
   Me, I had on a couple of old ball hockey jerseys, a frayed Nike cap and an old pair of sweat pants. My shoes have holes in the toes.
   Granted, I am a neophyte runner. This and the fact that right at the moment I am also broke. Well, not broke for important things but I am broke for running stuff. It just ain't a priority. So I don't maybe look good when I'm running but I hope that I'm at least running effectively and moving forward.
   I was window-shopping at the Running Room here in London just the other day, to get an idea of some of the stuff I could be buying if I, indeed, was a buyer these days. I sort of concentrated on cold weather items as it is November here in Canada.
   I could easily have spent three to four hundred dollars on clothing and assorted accessories. This may happen some day but not any day soon. In the meantime, I am happy with the runner I am right at the moment, regardless of the raggedy appearance.

"Cotton is Rotten"--but warm...

   In the Learn-to Run clinic, they spend a fair amount of time telling you what to wear and what not to wear. Their credo is "Cotton Is Rotten" and runners are directed to principally polyester materials which "wick away" moisture (sweat). It's a funny kind of setting because you sit there in class at the back of the Running Room store, they tell what to buy and all you need to do after that is stand up, take four steps and there it is! All ready to buy! Unfortunately, "Cotton Is What I've Gotten" at my house and it is the principal layer next to my skin, particularly now that the weather's getting colder. So far, though, so good.
   As far as the run went, it went fine. The timer went off about where I thought it might, I walked for a minute, and then started running again. No real problem finishing the 4K. At this point, my plan is to do this another two or three times and then try a whole 4K running.
   Next stop after that---5K!                                                                     

Expectations/ Rationalizations

   In the first couple of months of the Learn-to-Run clinic I recently completed, the process involved starting with a combination of walking and running in timed intervals for a certain number of repetitions.
   Gradually, the ratio of running to walking increased so that, by the end, we were running for twenty minutes and walking for a minute about halfway. C0-incidentally, this had us running approximately 3K. This then took us all to our target race, the Gobbler Gallop 3K, here in London, which we all completed successfully.
   At this point the clinic was finished. In the meantime I have continued to run on my own and, at this point, am signed up for a 5K race on New Year's Eve.
   In any training run I have done, there have been scheduled and timed walking breaks. I had been wondering to myself, though, whether or not I might be able to run an entire 3K without stopping. I had a certain amount of trepidation around actually attempting this. I had had similar trepidation around every running increase during the clinic--I simply did not look forward to them and secretly wondered how well I'd be able to handle them.
   Putting my fears aside one evening, I set out to run a 3K without stopping.
   Piece of cake. I had no problem whatsoever completing the distance all in one go and had enough energy left at the end that I actually contemplated turning it into a 4K. That, however, would have been something.....well....new. And I don't handle new very well, so I didn't.
   This seemed like a major turning point to me, a sign of real progress. Two days later, at my next run, I attempted to do the same thing again.

   Didn't even come close. I had to stop at least three times and walk. I was gasping for air and couldn't understand what was going on.
   I wasn't happy but , at the same time, I realized what had happened.
   On the basis of one successful training run, my expectations had totally changed. My new expectation was that I had mastered the 3K distance and would no longer require breaks, simple as that.
   Any experienced runner would likely have told me just how unrealistic an expectation this was, given the fluidity of the human body and all the variables involved. The fact of the matter was that I had been out in the fresh air, running, and that this was a good thing.
   So I think I now have an altered and slightly more realistic idea of what my expectations actually are or should be and how to use them.
   What still continues to bother me about that "unsuccessful" run are the lengths I went to in my head to allow myself permission to stop running. Stopping was the last thing I intellectually felt like doing and I ended up going through a wide range of "reasons" why stopping and walking should be the thing to do.

   The cold air was hard to breathe. I was risking injury. There was not enough recovery time from ball hockey the night before. My heart felt like it was labouring and why risk a heart attack on a dark and lonely side street. Nobody will know. Learn-to-Run says planned walks are good.
   There I was, giving myself all these reasons to stop running in a desperate search for the permission to do so. I was, of course, rationalizing.
   I knew at the time that I was rationalizing because there didn't seem to be one compelling reason above all the others to stop. I was simply tired and, at the same time, wrestling with some altered expectations. Perfect storm conditions for rationalization. What made it harder was that I was by myself and free to rationalize in my solitude. I didn't have a group of running partners who, when they realized I had stopped, would turn around and say what the hell are you doing?

   In everyday living, I rationalize like hell (you should see me trying to get out of attending a funeral or giving a speech) and I really don't want this part of me to invade my running life as well. Of course, I have heard that running is a metaphor for living, so maybe I am stuck dealing with rationalizations in this part of my world.
   At any rate, my next training run went fine, did the whole 3K without stopping. I have this theory that perhaps my failed effort that one particular evening was more due to poor planning and not spacing my athletic activities out properly than anything else. I will try and keep an eye on that.
   There is another training run today. My goal is to run another 3K without stopping and this is what I will set out to do. It will, however, be a goal and not an expectation. I will simply run my best, see what happens, and, regardless of the result, know that it was good!
    
   
  
  

Fast/ Slow

   At some point when I began to plan running long distances I was a little at odds with the fact that what I really wanted to do was run short ones. I didn't want to set out at a slow trot, I wanted to turn on the jets. I didn't want to have to conserve energy, I wanted to burn it all up in seconds. What I wanted to do is run sprints.

What you DON'T see when you're driving around!

   The reality of this, though, is that we see runners out there all the time, almost everywhere we go there is someone pounding the pavement, water bottles, sweatbands and earphones on the go. What we don't see is someone hunched over a starting line, waiting for the crack of the gun. We don't see the explosion, the churning strides and the arms pumping. Twelve seconds after the run, we don't see total exhaustion.
   No, you can't just step out your door and start sprinting. Sprinting doesn't need a sidewalk, it needs a runway. It doesn't need curbs, driveways, leaves, dogs, puddles or snow drifts. All it needs is about a hundred meter stretch of level, unimpeded runway, where a kid on a bike isn't going to pull out in front of you at the last second and there are no potholes or tree branches.
   What it also needs is acceptability. It needs to seem like the norm, as jogging does. You don't even really notice joggers anymore, they're everywhere, they kind of blend in. You certainly don't stop and do a double-take when you see them. Which is what I think might happen if you ran across a sprinter somewhere, going through his or her paces.
   There is a small park just up the street which would be just about the right size to go to and run sprints. I would have gone there by now and done this if I didn't have the suspicion, at the same time, that people might stop and wonder what the heck I was doing. And maybe even, god forbid, watch. So I don't do this, which is not to say that I won't. One of the (few) benefits of getting old is that you really stop caring what people are thinking, so you never know...

   If you are thinking of taking up jogging or distance running and think that you might need to know some of the basics before you begin then you can do what I did--you can take on a clinic at the Running Room, if you so desire. It's pretty easy to do this, just find out when the next clinic is and go and sign up.
   Try and find a sprinting clinic. Ain't easy.
   At one of our Saturday morning Learn-to Run clinics, Kathryn (fearless leader) asked us what our running goals were. She asked us to go through our goals in terms of ranges--short, medium and long. I was a little embarrassed to admit that sprinting was one of them. It seemed to be a little out of place, I guess. Later on, however, Kathryn took me aside and gave me a suggestion as to who I might be able to contact in London if this was a direction I wanted to go in. I may still do this but right at the moment I am concentrating on the 5K distance.

Me someday...?

   I guess that, for the meantime, I will limit my short bursts of speed to the ball hockey floor. I am about five months away from my 60th birthday and I play with 20 and 30 year-olds and a handful of guys in their 40's. None of them really blow by me on any kind of regular basis. I've been playing since the early seventies and I've never even been the slowest guy on the team. I'm not the slowest guy on my team right now. I imagine that when I am the slowest guy I might call it a day finally (or find another team....?)