So What Do You Like In A Blog?

   Over the last several weeks, I have had the opportunity to read tons of running blogs. Who knew there would be so many!?
   I had already been writing my other blog, "Neanderings", for a couple of years when I took up running last August. Running was such a new adventure for me that I wrote a couple of blog posts about it. Then another couple. It reached the point where all I was really interested in was writing about running. So why not just start a running blog?
   "Strides" came into being in October of 2012 as a result of all this. I had never read another running blog before I started writing one so one day I idly Googled running blogs. And this eventually led me to Running Bloggers!
   Naturally, as you read so many wonderful running blogs, you begin to compare them to your own. It was difficult to see the excellence in other peoples' work and not think that maybe I wasn't doing enough with my own. I don't currently do giveaways or run contests or do polls. Other blogs look very "professional" whereas my blog sports a different color typeface pretty well every post, depending on my mood. 
   Other blogs had very intricate design and graphics, interesting ways of displaying race stats and running mileage, great photo montages and wonderfully descriptive bios. Many were simply well-written---you know, proper grammar, spelling, punctuation---the whole nine yards. Almost all of them had amazing stories to tell. Running is such a transformational thing---in both mind and body---and it was inspiring to hear peoples' stories about the effect it had had on them.
   So what do I like in a blog?
   First and foremost, I like humour. I like to hear stories where, no matter what the outcome, there was some humour to be had. I like people who don't take themselves too seriously and are able to see the lighter sides of situations.
   Secondly, I enjoy hearing about other peoples' trials and tribulations. I enjoy hearing about their struggles with or triumphs over physical ailments and obstacles. I like to hear about their family members and how their running has perhaps affected loved ones.
   Thirdly, I like to hear about some of the technical stuff. I enjoy discovering what kinds of shoes people are using, what training techniques seem to be working, what clothing options there are, what different kinds of races people are running, etc.

   What don't I like in a blog?
   Well, about the only thing I don't like in a blog is numbers. I hate reading blogs where you get streams of data, heart rates, interval numbers, race times, and the like. I've always hated numbers---I probably couldn't tell you what our current mortgage rate is, exactly how much life insurance I have or anything like that. I can deal with and wrap my head around it at the time but then it's gone. So if I'm reading a blog and I come across a paragraph with lots of numbers in it, I quite often jut skip it. If the whole post is like that, then I'll pass over it entirely. Yes, I'm bad! Apart from numbers, though, not much else will temper my enjoyment of a blog.
   So tell me, what do you like in a blog!
   And, while you're at it, happy and healthy running to you all!
    

I Am An Athlete!

   On Monday of this week, I made a blood donation. I do this regularly and one part of this routine involves getting your temp and blood pressure taken.
   At one point, the tech person, who'd noticed that my pulse rate was below 50, stopped and said, "Oh...are you an athlete?"

Is this where I'm headed?

   This is not the first time I've been asked this while giving a donation and it still makes me smile whenever I do get asked. You need to remember that I'm a sixty-year-old man who, long ago, stopped thinking of himself as being an athlete, if, in fact, he ever thought of himself as being an athlete.
   On Monday, I was able to smile at the techy and tell her, "Well, I run 5k three or four times a week!" and this seemed to placate her. A couple of years ago when I was asked this same question at the start of another donation, I told the person that I played ball hockey several times a week and apparently this also made me an athlete. This summer, the ball hockey (and, sadly, a lot of running) has fallen victim to my struggle with PF. Although I'm now back to running pretty regularly, it's a little difficult to see tacking ball hockey on to the top of that. Running can be a pretty controlled type of sport whereas ball hockey requires sudden twisting and turning and generally doing things you might not want to be doing to a foot you're trying to rehab at the same time. This kind of tugs at my insides because I haven't missed summer ball hockey in about ten years now. I may even break down and try and find a team...
   I'm happy that running makes me an athlete at sixty. Barring the unforeseen, it is something I can continue to do for many years to come. If I can include anything else, then that just seems like icing on the cake!
   Happy and healthy running to you all!
  

Almost Addicted To Stopping?

   Fortunately, and for your information, I am not addicted to drugs or alcohol. I've also managed to avoid addiction to gambling, sex, shoplifting, extreme sports, bingo and reality T.V.

Well...not always...

   What I possibly may be addicted to, however, is stopping.
   Basically, stopping feels so damn good, pretty well every time you do it. Your legs and lungs are burning, your mind is giving way, your motivation has completely dried up under the heat and so you stop.
   If things have gone according to plan, your reason for stopping is because you've reached the end of your run. This is the most addictive kind of stopping I can think of but, unfortunately, it's not the only one.
   For me, there are occasionally times in the middle of a run when I've found myself calling it quits, unexpectedly. Sometimes I'll take a bit of a breather, climb back up on the horse (would that it were a real horse!) and keep on motoring. Every so often, however, I'm done, like toast.
   There was a time when I scheduled walk breaks into my runs. For better or worse, those days are over--when I start a run I expect to complete the whole thing without walk breaks. The farthest I run these days is 5k and I should really be able to run one of these in my sleep almost.
   There are days when, for reasons I'm not always able to pinpoint, I just don't have all the necessities for completing a run. I go over the usual culprits--poor fuelling, lack of sleep, misuse of rest days, etc.--and none of them seem to apply. I just stop.
   Don't get me wrong, I don't stop lightly. Stopping, to me, almost equates with failed run. And if I've already gone to the trouble of running til I'm exhausted then it's really annoying to have to call that a failed run.
  

But stopping feels so GOOD...

When the urge to stop hits, I will then play head games with myself to take my mind off the urge. I'll pick some point off in the distance and tell myself that I'll re-evaluate my need to stop when I reach it. I will remind myself of people important to me who would give almost everything they had just to be able to walk, let alone run. I'll think about the high of a successful run. I'll maybe even try and recall motivational posters I've seen on the internet.
   This past week, I had one run where I had to employ almost all of these in order to keep on running. I can only imagine that I went through a similar process that any junkie goes through when provided a temptation. I used every trick I knew of to not stop and then I used every rationalization I could think of to justify stopping ie. I was risking injury, I'd already run pretty far, it was hotter than I'm used to, I've stopped before so what's the big deal if I do it again.
   Two or three times I was able to shake the urge to stop by playing mind games with myself and then, without warning, I simply stopped. I actually took myself by surprise with this. Then, having stopped, I couldn't start back up again. The thing is, it felt so freakin' good and better than a lot of other things I can name.
   All of this would bother me a lot but for one thing--in order to want to stop so bad, I need to exert myself way beyond my normal comfort level. When you stop to think about it, is this a bad thing? Probably not!
   It has occurred to me in a whimsical moment that, since I enjoy stopping so much, I should just go out some day and run way faster than I normally do so that I reach that exhaustion threshold and then stop, totally for the joy of stopping. I could then do this all over again. And again, trying to maximize all the stopping I enjoy so much. As weird as that sounds in my head, what it really amounts to is a structured running workout. Sort of like...what's the word?...oh yeah!....intervals!
   Okay, now I really have something to play mind games with! But, in the meantime, happy and healthy running to you all!   

LSD Is Not For Me, Thank You!

   So...YAY!...I am finally back to being able to run 5k without stopping. This has been my goal for what seems like months now (because it has been months, having taken the time to accurately reflect) and now that I've done this maybe I should try and run a little quicker, don't ya think?
   Yes, my only goal lately has been to complete a 5K run. I didn't need to go fast, I only needed to go. 
   I've consistently been doing the same 5k route through Warbler Woods and, when I began, I walked it. The first time, the whole thing took me about 48 minutes and I was walking fast. I then started to throw in 1/2 k run sections. What I noticed, mostly to my horror, was that my fast walking was almost as fast as my slow running! Three cheers for my fast walking, I guess, but I didn't like the idea of running that slow. As I have flitted about on other peoples' running blogs, I've come across them referring to LSD runs. Unfortunately, these are  not as psychedelic as they sound. LSD stands for Long Slow Distance and describes running for a longer distance at a pace which might be substantially slower than your normal or race pace. Me, I do SSD's. Short Slow Distance.
   The day before yesterday, confident that I can now run the whole thing, I decided to try and go just a little faster. I took on The Hill In The Forest not quite so gingerly as I described in my last post, I tried to lengthen my stride a little, and basically let loose a little more on the downhill sections. All of this took basically about three minutes off my previous time. YAY again. Oh, and it almost killed me, but I'm hoping this was a good thing...


Kind of a LSD yellow....

   In going back over my workout log, I've noticed that I'm actually fairly close to where I was, speed-wise, prior to the fasciitis hitting. I was doing 5k in about 35 minutes (sucks, I know) and now I'm doing it in about 38. One of the differences now though is that I'm doing the trail run exclusively, mainly because I'm enjoying it. It does slow you down, though. One of these days, I'm going to get back out onto pavement and see where I'm at.
   Prior to the p-fash, my 5k times on pavement were going steadily down and, eventually, I would love them to be in the twenties, rather than the thirties. In my age range, 60-65, that would be a little more respectable.
   So, right at the moment, the running life is fine. It ain't fast, but it's fine. And in the meantime, happy and healthy running to you all!

Hill Conquered

   Today was supposed to be an "off" day...no running. It was, however, a magnificent day, the heel felt good, the legs felt good and I could think of absolutely no reason not to run, apart from my own self-imposed guidelines.
   So I ran.
   I ended up running a full 5k without stopping for the first time since February 25. I took on the dreaded Hill In The Forest and conquered it. Just barely. I'd been avoiding it in my heel rehab routine but the time had come when I was able to avoid it no longer
   I ran up it very gingerly, not because of any discomfort but mainly because I needed to have a little left in the tank when I got to the top. I'm guessing that I've probably walked up the hill all those other times faster than I ran up it today. Once at the top, I didn't collapse, as I'd been envisioning. Thank God, the rest of the run was essentially downhill.
   Pulling into my driveway, the endpoint of the run, was...well...I'd love to say exhilarating but I was way too tired for that. Satisfying was perhaps the word that was more appropriate. There have been points in the last few months when I've very slowly started to feel better but they have only come after relatively short runs. Assuming I can walk tomorrow (never a given, really), it will mean that I am back to where I was when the p-fash hit. 
   Or pretty close.   

Hills

   As you may know (likely because I have been talking about it incessantly), I have been slowly working my way back to being able to run 5k without stopping and with a minimum of recovery time.
   I have been doing this simply by slight increases of run segments as I have been out run/walking a 5k distance. Currently, I'm at 4 1/2 k running, with a brief half k stroll part way through.
   The 5k route I've been using takes me through Warbler Woods for about two kilometers. As I've been whittling down the walking segments and increasing the run segments, I've managed to avoid a couple of real nasty hills along the way. I've done this for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I didn't want to put any extra strain on my heel by running it up a hill. Secondly, well....who really likes hills anyway?
   

At least the footing is good! Lots of passers-by, for when you collapse.

The first hill I'd been avoiding occurs slightly over half a kilometer into the run, just prior to entering the woods. It's on a street called Byron Baseline and the hill stretch is just over 300 meters with a 17 meter (55 feet) elevation gain. It's not technically part of but is adjacent to what's been known in Byron for years as McNiece's Hill. This is the local tobogganing hill and is known for its terrifying drop. The hill I run up shares the same topography.
   The other hill I've been avoiding rears its ugly head in the forest. It's not as long as the first hill but is much steeper. I have been winded just walking up it.
   A few days ago, I conquered the first hill. Just took it nice and slow and steady, trying to concentrate on just the few feet in front of me. When I got to the top, I was actually able to continue running on into the forest! I've now run the hill two or three times.
   At this point, though, to reach my 5k goal, I'm going to have

Bottom of the hill. Curves to the left...

to run up the hill in the woods. I'm having a hard time imagining being able to do this without collapsing at the top. I managed to avoid it today when I went out but in two days time I've got to take it on. And so I shall.


...and then back to the right, near the top.

   In the meantime, happy and healthy running to you all! 

"It's a run day!"

   I've gradually been upping the running portion of my rehab run/walks lately to the point where I am now running half the time. The heel's been a little tender post-run but I've been finding that, by the following morning, I'm pain-free once again.
   This so rewarding! Honestly, there have been times over the last two or three months where I was thinking that maybe running just wouldn't be for me and this thought was rather intolerable. I'm old enough that I've had many ailments and injuries over the years and I always seem to surprise myself at my body's recuperative abilities. I did wonder, however, if this might be the one time the old body failed me. The jury is still out but so far so good.
   My only real goal right at the moment is to be able to run a whole 5k without stopping. I'd been doing this fairly regularly prior to the p-fash stopping me but, as I mentioned, that was almost three months ago. Yesterday, I reached the halfway point. I ran/walked 5k, with equal portions of both. I've done this simply by alternating 1/2k runs with 1/2k walks. I've lost some conditioning while recovering and have found myself really looking forward to the running portions being completed. I'm at the point now, though, where I've run out of the ability to alternate the 1/2k running and walking and therefore will find it necessary to string together some of the running sections. This, of course, means I will end up running a full kilometer (woo hoo!) at some point during the run/walk.
   I am looking forward to this.

   Okay, I wrote all of the above three days ago. In the meantime, I've continued to up the mileage and am now at 3 and a half k running and 1 and a half k walking. Earlier on today, I was asked what my plans for the day were and I said gotta do this, gotta do that and, oh yeah, it's a run day.
   "It's a run day."
   There was a time when this just kind of rolled off the tongue, like a lot of other phrases. It's been ages, however, since I've actually been able to say this. A run day was never a for-sure thing, it all hinged on how the heel felt and how much I was willing to risk to just run a little.
   Now, though, it seems as if I'm back to being able to schedule runs and count on being able to complete them. Finally, the universe falls back into order!
   At this point, it almost feels appropriate to find a couple of races for a little bit later on this summer. I've been "goal-less" for awhile now and it's been kind of a strange, yet somehow freeing, sort of sensation. "Freeing" in the sense that I was able to direct all my attention toward rehabbing the heel without the panicky feeling that I had to train on order to run in an upcoming race. If there is one major difference it's that before the p-fash at this point in the summer I would have been looking at maybe trying to find a 10k race somewhere. Now, I'm just as happy finding a nice little 5k again. Sort of like starting all over again...