What I Sometimes Think About When I Run

 
   I generally will only attempt a blog post when I have a run I want to share. This means I've gone through occasional long stretches when there isn't anything to blog about as well as the occasional stretch where there do seem to be things I think someone else out there might be interested in hearing.
   Today, I don't have a run I'd like to go on and on about. I would like to talk about something I think about pretty well every time I get out there, however.
   

2013---running through the forest begins!

I'm a heavy guy who runs. I'm not the only heavy runner I've encountered on the internet or in magazines but I'm one of the heaviest runners I've seen in these parts of Ontario---and I see a lot of runners, London is kind of a hot bed for runners, so even when you don't want to see any (like if you're injured, for example) you still see them.
   I suspect the odd runner I encounter who has noticed my weight has then looked at me with some sympathy, mild interest, or possible disdain. I suppose it's also possible that some of them see me and silently congratulate me for just getting out there. I also have the feeling that the occasional runner simply does not see me, in any way.
   Any and all of this is fine with me, I'm not out there trying to impress anyone but here's the thought that runs through my head----not many people could do what I'm doing. 
   To explain, not many runners I see out there could move 230 pounds through a forest as fast as I can. I see lots of slender men and women out there running who are very likely anywhere from 50 to 100 pounds lighter than I am. I then imagine them being given a fifty to a hundred pound rock to carry with them and then seeing just how far, or fast, they can carry it. I don't see them making much of a go of it for very long or very far.
   I don't run fast with my 230 pounds but I run further and further all the time and, because that's the only thing I'm really trying to do, I don't see the need to do it quickly. 
   But I can run fast. As a matter of fact, if one of those slender runners and I were to stop somewhere in the forest and pick a tree about a hundred meters away in order to race to it, I strongly suspect I would win. Now, if that tree were two hundred meters away, I strongly suspect I would lose (or come in second, as I would choose to describe it!) 

Me, in the middle, buddying up with Jessica Zelinka
and friends at SprintFit last summer. As much as I
enjoy the forest, it was nice to be on a track,
running sort of fast for a change!

   I'm not sure but I suspect my body type is more like that of a sprinter, rather than a distance runner. It is, however, likely dissatisfying to write a blog post about the 13 second run I did on the weekend! There is a mystique to long-distance trail runs that I seem to have bought into and I guess that's why I do them. I also have the feeling that the type of training I would need to do as a sprinter would not be nearly as fun as running through forests, past streams and deer and mountains.
   Like most people, I have body image issues. Part of me would love to be lean and svelte, to look the same as the other runners out there, the ones that are passing me effortlessly. As I relentlessly move my 230 pounds through the trees and up the hillsides, however, I tell myself a couple of different things--- one is none of them could do this and the other is I am amazing!

   

Some goodbyes, some veggies, some shoes, some dogs, and some thank-you's!

   It is with some shock, regret and horror that I notice I have not blogged on this page in over two months! And I call myself a runblogger?!
   I will attempt to recap the last couple of months.
   One of the principal reasons for runbloggers to cease runblogging is that they might also have ceased running. No running leads to no running to write about. For a large chunk of the past two months this has been my sad story. It's not that there was absolutely no running, but the running that actually did happen was so poorly thought out and sporadic that it didn't seem like it was even happening, really. Definitely a case of lost mojo!
  So why did this happen?
   For a variety of reasons, I seem to run less in the summer. This is partly due to the heat and humidity here in London but also as much to do with the fact there seems to be so much else to do. This particular summer, our property has been undergoing a major overhaul and sometimes at the end of a long day slogging away in the garden or building a walkway the running seems to take a back seat. All of this means less running and therefore less runblogging.
   When I say my mojo's gone, I mean it's almost as if it never existed. My last blog post was a recap of the Summer Night 5K race and what I didn't mention in that post was that when I checked the race results I almost came in last. When I crossed the finish line, my feeling at the time was there was a handful of people behind me but, in fact, I was only ahead of one person! Getting pumped for an upcoming race always helps with the mojo but when you're looking at the prospect of possibly being last in the field, it's a little more difficult to let the mojo do its thing.
   One of the surest signs you've lost your mojo happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I was paid and registered to run the 5K in the Springbank Road Races here in London. I picked up my race packet the night before and set everything out before I went to bed. The alarm clock went off in the morning at the right time and I rolled over in bed and didn't bother to go to the race! I just didn't feel like it. I live, literally, five minutes away from the start line and I couldn't force myself to get up and go. And I didn't even feel really all that bad about it. Yes, the mojo was shot. Totally. Gone.
   One of the positive things which has happened in the last couple of months is that I've given up eating meat. I'd been thinking about seriously doing this for the last couple of years and it all seemed to fall into place about a month and a half ago. Essentially, it bothered me that an animal had to die in order to provide me with an unnecessary pleasurable eating experience. I've also been exposed to a whole series of pics of delicious-looking vegetarian meals and this has certainly been an eye-opener as well (thank you, Crystal!)
   This "vegetarian" thing, not surprisingly, has been a whole new learning experience! Mainly, it has introduced me to tofu and a bunch of products which are made from it. I'm pretty sure I've experienced tofu snuck into my Thai food occasionally but this has been my first experience with the original undisguised product. Some things are good and others have already been crossed off my list. One of the good things, though, is that the family has always had some kind of veggie with our meals so the only thing I need to do is complement whatever they're having with a bit of protein of my own. So far so good!


   I am also now a little more into the running on a regular basis. The combination of running and eating more veggies these days has led to about a 6 pound weight loss. All of this combined has me finally running a 5K in slightly less than 40 minutes.This, of course, is ridiculously slow but, at the same time, I haven't been able to run 5K in less than 40 minutes for the better part of a year now. Finally getting under that is huge, mojo-wise.

Inching my way down there.

   So I have been running three times a week regularly for the last three or four weeks. What I've been finding in my march toward getting under that magical forty minute mark is that I've been able to trim about twenty to thirty seconds off of each successive run. Basically, I've looked at the previous run and anywhere I walked in that run I've at least tried to run slowly in the next. Any time I ran slowly one day, I try to run a little faster for that same section the next time out. For sections where I was already running pretty free and easy, I tried to ramp things up a bit. So far, it's working!

Hooray!

   New kicks make this all the more fun! About three weeks ago I picked up a pair of Saucony Ride 8's. I managed to find an elusive Running Room gift certificate and this was all the encouragement I required to go pick up a new pair. They feel awesome---light and cushiony and pretty neutral so the running's good!

Damn!

   While I was at it, thought I'd go to the nearest Talize store (good quality second-hand) and pick up a few shirts. I picked up a red tech shirt specifically for running and particularly so that it would sort of "match" the new shoes. I went out for a run the next day and was feeling awesome in all my new stuff and was looking forward to cutting another thirty or so seconds off when the unexpected happened. As I was running past a young couple and their two dogs, suddenly their beagle leaped up at me and put a paw right through my "new" shirt! Big hole! Now, generally people move their dogs out of the way when they see me coming and I do my part by taking a wider route around than normal but this time we both got a little too close and I think I was a little off my guard due to the relatively small size of both dogs. But never again! The lady with the beagle was very apologetic and if it had been a brand new shirt instead of a previously worn one we may have carried the discussion a little further. To top it all off, this completely destroyed my rhythm and desire to finish the run that day and I basically walked the last kilometer. Bummer.
   Finally, part of what has prompted me to get back into running a little more regularly is that a couple of people I know have just run their very first 5K races and have been awesome at it. One of my co-workers, Tricia, ran her first race and did it in about 35 minutes and the other gentleman, Nacer, is the husband of a runblogger I follow down in Ohio and he ran his in about 28 minutes! Both are times I would die for. So thanks, Tricia and Nacer (and my sis-in-law, Sabrina, for a little bit of a campfire pep talk), for the extra smidgeon of inspiration and motivation! It helps!
   Okay, so for the most part, you are all caught up. I'm trying real hard to get out there at least three times a week. The mojo seems to be slowly seeping back in. Currently there are no races in the forecast. There was a Hallowe'en race scheduled but it now looks as though I will be out of town that weekend. This means the racing is likely done for the season and I will re-approach it in the spring. This is quite fine with me and will give me the winter to build up to a fully-replenished mojo level.
   In the meantime, safe and happy running to you all! And I promise to visit a little more often!
   
    

My Possible Forrest Gump Moment

   I'm a little worried that I might have a "Forrest Gump" kind of moment this Sunday afternoon.
   I've managed to land myself on a ball hockey team for the summer, after about two and a half years of non-playing (but gazing longingly from the sidelines). We have our first exhibition game this Sunday and here's what I'm worried about.
   I haven't run hard in that same two and a half years.
   I've done a hell of a lot of running but I haven't run hard, as in all-out-like-you-were-being-chased-by-a-mountain-lion hard. So I don't know what might happen on Sunday the first time I need to turn it up a notch (or ten).

Will this happen to me?

   Remember that scene from "Forrest Gump", when a young Forrest, with all his leg braces, starts to run as hard as he can from all those bullies? And, in the midst of doing that, the braces begin to shatter and break and fall off ?
   Well, that's kinda my fear for Sunday, that I'm going to be running as hard as I possibly can and things will simply start to fall off. Or seize up. Or tear. Or disintegrate.
   We shall see.

Putting the "13" Back Into 2013?

   It's been a strange kind of year, this 2013.
   From a running standpoint, it started out fine. The winter weather here in Canada never got to the point where running was impossible, although there were a handful of nasty days.
   I was loving it and started piling on the mileage. Well, I piled on the mileage a little too soon. And I ran in shoes that were already worn out. No sooner said than done and I had basically started 2013 with plantar fasciitis.

Particularly bad if you've placed
all your eggs in the same basket!

   If you've had PF you understand how pernicious it can be. It was very much a trial-and-error kind of thing, attempting to heal it up. Just when you think you're good to go, you find out you're not. Then, when you actually are good to go, you feel as though it may only be fleeting. So I briefly got back to running when suddenly I was dealing with biopsy  stitches and sun damage.
   So I sat on my butt while letting stitches heal and undergoing face treatment. This was strange, because I was all set to run--I was rested and the legs felt good. But I couldn't, for this reason and that reason. At the same time, there were time limits on all my limitations and I knew when they would be up.
   They were up this weekend. As luck would have it, though, while sitting on my bed Thursday morning, pulling on my socks, I strained my back badly. The scary part is I'm not really sure how I did it--I wasn't lifting anything heavy and had not gotten myself into an injurious position. It must have been the "perfect storm" of back injuries--the right amount of pressure at just the right angle with just the right amount of ill-preparedness. So, in rather freaky fashion, I am "on the shelf" yet one more time, though I suspect only briefly.

   As is my habit, I move from one setback to the next rather effortlessly. Not a lot of hand-wringing or teeth-gnashing going on here. But when I look back at the year, there does seem to more than the usual bad luck going on.
   I'm not really the superstitious sort and the fact that I've had this run of bad luck (did I mention I need a hearing aid?) during a year which ends with "13" hasn't really even fizzed on me. My "bad luck" I think has been nothing much more than things catching up to me all at the same time.
   At the same time, I am glad the year is almost over...
  

Goals

   Now that I've completed this past weekend's race and currently have no races on the horizon, it feels like time to sit down and do a little self-evaluation.
   With this race fast approaching, I had more or less (and probably stupidly) given up on the cross-training I had been doing in order to concentrate on the running. Now, perhaps, I can get back to a combination of the two. Apart from that, though, right at the moment I really have no idea what I'm doing with this running thing.
   I wasn't particularly happy with my results in the race but I was pretty bang on with what my expectations were. The time I ran, 35:33, was pretty well what I'd been doing in training and this had me placing 144th out of 180 runners. I can rationalize this in a whole lot of ways (relatively new runner, in his sixties, lost a couple of training months due to injury, etc.) but it still doesn't sit too well.
   Part of the problem is I don't know what a realistic goal is right at the moment. I don't know whether to stick with 5k races or maybe start thinking about longer distances. I guess I'd be happy enough to be down in the twenties with my times on the 5k, rather than the mid-thirties, for starters.
   Sunday's race seemed like the most "professional" I've been in to-date although I've been in races that had more swag, better food and better-run prize announcing. The runners seemed more well-seasoned, for one thing, and it was a bit of an eye-opener for me to just be there, watching them. I guess the other part was that it was one in a series of races, with overall points being kept and prize money being offered. It was also my first experience with race photography. All-in-all, I want to look (and run) like one of the good runners.
   To this end, I train. And train. And then train a little more. And watch what I eat (while I drool over what I'm not eating). More than anything, I suppose I need to remember where I am on my life's journey.
   My Dad passed away last year at the age of 85. He was only in ill health for the last month of his life and prior to that he was one of the healthiest 85 year olds you'd want to run into. I don't work on Mondays (or very hard the other days of the week) and our Monday morning routine consisted of getting together with my Dad and playing nine holes of golf. We did this every Monday morning for about 8 or 9 years. At his ripe old age, my Dad was mystified by why he couldn't hit the ball as far as he could when he was in his thirties. I always explained to him about the aging process but he would have nothing of it. He was an old man who, simply, still felt like a young one.
   I am a bit of the same way. Honestly, I don't feel any different in my sixties than I did in my twenties. Common sense tells me otherwise, obviously, but this is why I sometimes have a hard time setting realistic goals. I see all those half marathon runners coming down the homestretch, still maintaining good form and not appearing as though they were even terribly exhausted. I think this could be me someday...
   In the meantime, here are:

What I'm looking forward to doing!

A Handful Of Race Day Observations

1. I didn't leave it all on the course. I know I had reserves I didn't even bother tapping. Shame, Brian!

2. There are photographers. Pretend you're not tired, especially the closer you get to the finish line...

3. If you're two feet away from another running blogger, say hi!

4. Check (no, double-check) your orthotics. There should be two.

5. Take a selfie, for goodness' sake! Do it yourself or there's lots of other people there who would be more than happy to oblige.

   Well, there you have it, another batch of running ruminations. I've had a couple of recovery days, I'm feeling good and itching to get out again and just run.
   It will be kind of cool simply to be running for the fun of it!

   Okay, I thought I was done with this post but, suddenly, I have decided to set some kind of goal.
   I will:

   1. Be running 10k once a week by the end of 2013
   2. Sign up for both a 10k and a half marathon in 2014.

   Now I've done it.....

   And in the meantime, happy and healthy running to you all!

  

Post I Started A Couple Of Posts Ago

   So what was I in the middle of doing before the Sunshine Award and ROM entered my life....? Oh yeah, just a little update on my last training run!
   Have you ever had one of those days when you  feel like you want to run but you don't have a particular type of run planned so you get your gear on, head outside and then just... stop? And stand there at the end of your driveway, looking like a fool because you have all this twitchy energy and you don't know whether to go left or right, run hard or run soft? You don't know whether you want to do that hilly run, a trail run, a long run, or maybe hill repeats?
   I had that kind of run a couple of days ago, it wasn't even supposed to be a run day but I woke up feeling like I wanted to run so why not? Did some stretching, strapped on the Garmin and phone, threw on a sweatband and my cap and headed off. To the end of the driveway. Here is where my lack of actual planning kicked in. There were just way too many options for different kinds of runs, any one of which would have scratched my itch. Not only did I have all of the above options but I then doubled them by not being certain whether or not to maybe do them in the opposite direction.
   Finally I decided on a trail run. It had been awhile since I'd done one and I thought it might be fun so I started off.
   About two minutes later it occurred to me that I really needed to be able to discern the difference between "twitchy" energy and actual energy. I was about that far into the run when I realised I wasn't going to be able to complete it without walking, I was pretty well exhausted already! So I walked.
   I walked for about 200 hundred meters when all of the sudden a little bit of that twitchy stuff re-appeared. So I sprinted! And then walked again. And by then I was at a hill so I sprinted up the hill. By then I was at the forest so I ran hard on the trails and sprinted up every hill I found there.
   As I mentioned, it had been a while since I'd done the trail run I usually do.
   Here is what I discovered!

   Yes, part of my trail had almost totally disappeared! Funny how grass and weeds will grow over the summer! Not only that but it was also soaking wet from dew but I managed to make my way through anyway.
   Once the trail portion was done and I was back on concrete, I continued my run/sprint/walk routine, sprinting up anything that looked like a hill or an incline.
   Finally I was back on my own street. I was tired enough that I decided I would simply walk the last half of a kilometer. Well, I must have entered some sort of exhausted Zen-like state because as I was walking some kid on a bike came up very silently behind me, waited until he was right beside me, and then yelled "Rollie-ollie-OLLIE-oh!!"
   Well, on the "rollie" my body propelled itself two feet off the ground and by the second "ollie" I'd returned to earth with a thud. Grabbed my heart, put it back into the chest cavity, and became more aware of my surroundings.
   The kid on the bike was now looking back at me and smiling. I smiled back and...took off after him! His eyes got a little wider and he started pedalling hard.  I called out to him, "Gonna getcha, kid!" The kid looked back and his eyes got even  wider when he realized I was actually catching up!
   Now, I may be sixty, but I am extremely fast over short distances. As I was getting closer to the kid, I knew that I could catch up. The thought then ran through my head what happens when I do catch up? The very next thought was and how good does it look already to the neighbours, an old geezer chasing a young boy down the street?

   So I stopped, and the kid pulled away to, I'm sure, some relief on his part. I smiled at him, and yelled, "Getcha next time, kid!" He smiled back and sort of waved as he disappeared around the next corner.

   Fortunately, I was able to record all this! Cheers!

BodyFlow (or how my body fled)

   One of the benefits of recently joining Goodlife Fitness was the ability to take part in being orientated to the different fitness classes they run there.
   One of these classes is called BodyFlow.

Looks easy, doesn't it?

   BodyFlow is a one-hour class involving a combination of yoga, tai-chi and pilates. It is also karma's way of getting back at you for anything bad you may ever have done!
   Before attending my first BodyFlow class, my initial few visits to the gym consisted of getting together with a trainer and having him put me through my paces on all the machines they had there. The man worked me hard, made muscles hurt in places I didn't know contained actual muscle and, generally, wore me out.
   The sweet little, white-haired, smooth and soothe-talking lady who ran the first BodyFlow class I attended, however, kicked my ass from here to there and back again!
   There were about 25 to 30 of us who took this class and out of that many, Doralyn and I and one other lady were the only "newbies". We were surrounded mainly by lithe-bodied young(er) females, all of whom knew the poses and routines and were able to follow them flawlessly. Doralyn is pretty flexible and kind of in to the whole yoga thing and she didn't have a problem. I, however, was totally lost.
   It would take me an extra twenty seconds to force myself into an approximation of the position the rest of the class went into effortlessly. Then, having finally achieved this, I would take a quick peek at the instructor only to find out she and the class had already moved on to the next position. People were flipping from one position to another without seeming to elevate from the mat while I often had to stand all the way up, turn around and force myself back down again. Real horror show.

I could do this.

   There was one other guy there who looked like he might be in his forties and he wasn't having the easiest of times either. At one point the both of us found ourselves in a standing (while everyone else was on their mat) position at the same time. I kind of looked around, saw him, and all of the sudden had this hey bud, wanna go somewhere for a beer? thought wander through my head. Sadly, though, my telepathic powers seem to be lacking when I need them the most.
   There were a couple of positions that I would really need to fall off a ladder and get myself wedged in the bushes to even come close to duplicating. I also actually planked for the first time. I'd heard about planking and it seemed pretty easy so when the sweet little lady announced that this was what we were going to do, I thought finally, piece of cake. I got myself into the plank position and it was easy. And then the lady asked us...to do stuff! Like wave your arms around, rotate your legs, reach behind you. Cruel, medieval stuff!


This...not so much.

   At the end of all that, I'm pretty well face down on the mat and realized that I was engaged in my own little bodyflow---like right off my forehead, down the bridge of my nose and then drip---right onto the mat. In torrents. I turned to Doralyn and mouthed a two-word expletive involving religious procreation. She just giggled.
   BodyFlow is an awesome workout, mark my words. The following day I felt pretty good. Until I laughed. Then my abs let me know just how good a workout BodyFlow really is!
  
  

Me and my damn Virtual Partner

   In my last post (which seems like ages ago) I made mention of negative splits, as I had just found out what they actually were and what the concept was behind them.
   I then decided that I would attempt to utilize them and set out last week on a 5k run. I have a Garmin and thought that I would use it to help me co-ordinate these splits.
   Well, having a Garmin and knowing how to properly use a Garmin are two radically different things. I ran the first k at a relatively slow (even for me) pace and then attempted to reset the Garmin. I thought I'd done this but at the end of my second k, I discovered I'd only just paused the Garmin and had no real idea where the hell I was for a time anymore. This pretty well totally discombobulated me and the rest of the run was more or less a washout.
   The next time I got out, I got the idea of using the Virtual Partner feature on the Garmin to assist me with this. My brilliant plan was to set a target pace for 5k, let my VP get slightly ahead of me, catch up to him by about halfway and then blow past him in the home stretch.

Sort of the opposite of what MY Garmin looked like!

   So we set off together, my VP and I, and he very slowly pulled away. This was the plan so this was not a problem. From looking at the screen, it looked like he was only about ten yards ahead of me at the most, almost like I could reach out and tap him on the shoulder if I wanted.
   By about the halfway point, he was pretty close to the edge of the screen so this where I picked up the pace a touch.
   And so, apparently, did he.
   That was pretty well the last I saw of my VP, the bastard obviously had his own nefarious little plan and went about putting it into play. Seeing as how he was now off the edge of the screen, never to be seen again, I have no idea whether he cheated, took a shortcut, hopped on a bike or maybe even had a friend pick him up in a car. All I really know is that, the next time, I'm not letting him out of my sight!
   

Things I Didn't Know, That I Had To Go Look Up: Part One

   For the past several weeks I have been reading a ton of running blogs and quite enjoying the process. I am, however, a "newbie" and along the way I have encountered a handful of terms I've been unfamiliar with. At these times I've found myself thinking wouldn't it be cool if there was some sort of easily accessible electronic device that would give me instantaneous answers to pretty well any question I could possibly come up with but seeing as how that seems pretty far-fetched, dontcha know, I'd simply decided to ignore those terms.
   And then somebody told me about Google.
   Because of this, I am now able to take you along with me on my personal journey of discovery as I learn the meanings to words the rest of you runners out there have been intimately familiar with for years now. The list for this post is relatively short but, as you may have noticed in the title, this is only Part One, I fully anticipate more posts to follow.

IT Band
  Okay, so what the hell is an "IT band" and what the hell do you use it for? If your IT band is stiffening up can't you just lubricate or, if all else fails, go buy a new one??
   Yes, I kept running into people who were having issues with their "IT bands". Their IT bands were tightening up, they were getting physio for their IT bands, and round about mile 8 their IT bands started to hurt. It finally occurred to me that if an IT band hurt then it must be an actual body part. So far, though, with all of my own achy body parts, no medical

person had ever talked to me about my IT band so how was I to know?
   Finally I decided I was hearing so much about IT bands that it only made sense to find out what they actually were and why it was that so many people seemed to be complaining about them.
   IT actually stands for "iliotibial" and your IT band is a thick band of fascia which extends down from your hip, attaching itself just below your knee. Apparently it is crucial in the running process and when you see a depiction of it you can understand why.
   So now I know.

Negative Splits
   All I seemed to be able to figure out when I was hearing about negative splits was that people were dividing up their runs or races into portions and timing them. In an oddly counter-intuitive kind of way, the more negative the splits, the more positive people seemed to feel about them.
   Personally, I have never timed a portion of anything, I waited until the very end to see just how slow I ran. It was good enough for me to know that I ran the same route faster (or perhaps not as fast) as the last time.
   Eventually, though, I was hearing so much about negative splits that I looked it (them?) up. Negative splits occur when you divide your run up into equal portions and each portion is run slightly faster than the previous one. More simply put, you finish stronger than you begin.

   The strategy around this is a pacing one---don't use up all your vital energy at the beginning. Essentially, start slow.
   I thought this was actually pretty cool because if there's one thing I can do, it's start slow! What I struggle with is finishing even slower...

   So there you have it, the first installment of "Things I Didn't Know, That I Had To Go Look Up". I am quite sure there will be future installments as I continue to read about runners who know what they're doing. As I was writing this, actually, it occurred to me that I only think I know what "fascia" is...

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


  

Am I really injured?

   Right at the moment, if you asked me as a runner, I would tell you I was injured. For the last few months, I've been harassed by a nagging case of plantar fasciitis.
   If, however, you were to ask me as a hockey player, I would say that I was not injured but simply had a heel that was bugging me.
   I've been trying to figure out exactly what the difference in mindset is.

One on the R will stop you from running. One on the L, not so much.

   A couple of summers ago, I suffered from the same condition. It cropped up toward the tail end of ball hockey season and, at the time, was un-diagnosed. Fortunately, it occurred right at the end of the season and by the time the next season rolled around it had cleared up and did not return. At no time while I had it, though, did I consider it something that would stop me from playing. I went out and bought some over-the-counter orthotics, threw them in my athletic shoes, and continued to play. I limped a little but didn't consider myself "injured".
   Fast forward to four months ago and the PF shows up again, likely as a result of over-training, worn-out shoes and winter-running (I love hyphenated words!)
   Now, however, I feel injured.
   So what's the difference?
   After giving this much thought, here's what I've come up with.
   When you're playing a sport, there are many ways of being injured in many different parts of your body--sprains, concussions, broken bones, torn ligaments, pulled muscles, etc. At the same time, you can hit a home run with a sprained ankle and you can score a goal with a separated shoulder. Other well-trained parts of your body can still perform.
  

Anyone out there tired of hearing about my PF...?

With running, however, it all boils down to the relationship your foot has with the running surface. If your foot hurts, you're injured. No pun intended, a searing pain in your foot (substitute knee, hip, etc., as required) will stop you dead in your tracks. When this happens to me, as a runner, I feel injured, as opposed to just suffering from a nagging ailment.
   One of the cool things about having access to so many running blogs these days is that you get to hear and find out about the injuries other runners are having, or have had, to deal with. As an example, many other runners also have had issues with PF and it's informative to get their perspective on what worked, or didn't work, as far as their treatment of it. What I find even more fascinating, though, is how runners deal with their injuries from a psychological aspect. I found it encouraging to find out I wasn't the only person who was going bonkers because they couldn't get out and simply just run. There seems to be a constant struggle with wanting to run but wanting to heal at the same time and needing to balance the two. Some runners show great patience, others not so much, and it is very easy to identify with all of them!
   On top of everything else, when you play a team sport you have some responsibility to your team members. There is a desperate need and desire to pull your own weight and, occasionally, this will lead to players continuing to play even though they might be injured. There is also the possibility you might actually be hurting the team by playing injured. In running, your only responsibility is to yourself and what you do with that responsibility is entirely up to you. In most

Better be TRUE, damnit!

cases, there is no coach or trainer saying you can't run and nor is there any pressure to run. You are neither helping the team nor hurting the team one way or the other.
   So here I am, trying to decide whether I am, or was,  actually injured or not. Most days, I can now get out and run and only suffer minimally afterwards. Because of this, right at the moment it is hard to describe myself as injured and so I don't. There was a time however when running seemed like an impossibility and I have no qualms about describing myself as injured back then. However, if a coach had said "get out there and run, Baker".....     

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!   

"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...
  

Baby Steps

   Today, I ran a kilometer.


Just imagine these...

   Yes, a whole freakin' kilometer. I visit running blogs all the time and hear stories about the latest marathon somebody ran or how somebody was gearing up for a 20k training run or how someone's shoes had just reached six hundred miles and it makes my piddly little 1k sound like why the hell is he even mentioning this?
   Well, I mention this because in my tiny little corner of the running world, running at all is big news. Today, I didn't even run a kilometer all at once, I actually broke it up in to half k sections, while out on a 5k trail walk. I walked as far as Warbler Woods and then about another kilometer into it. At this point, I ran half a k. I went back to walking until I reached 3 and a half k and at that point I ran for a final half k. The rest of the way, I walked.

...with these on!

   Yep, these are baby steps. I feel like I could be doing more but the p-fash has me so freaked out these days that I am erring on the side of caution, for sure. Right at the moment, I have no race scheduled and therefore no real reason to take things any more quickly than I have been. It's a great pleasure just to be running at all, even if only half a k at a time.
   My plan is to continue to mix the walking with the running but to very gradually increase the running by about half a k per week. Doing it this way, I figure I can get out pretty well every day. At the slightest sign of regression, I can cut back a touch.
   I would love to have more to write about than just my little baby steps here in London, Ontario, Canada but that's where I'm at these days and, as long as I'm moving forward, I'm good!
   In the meantime, happy and healthy running to you all!

Running In The Rain

   A couple of days ago, I was inside a bowling alley, playing pool with someone from work. It had been pretty warm so when I parked I left the windows in my car down just a touch.

What I was trying to avoid...

   As luck would have it, while we were in the window-less alley, the weather changed dramatically and suddenly there was a pounding rainstorm. It was only the sound of the downpour on the roof that alerted me. I immediately took off running so that I could roll my windows up. More importantly, I didn't sit there and try and figure out whether I should run or not or, if I did, just how much I should run. I just ran. I didn't even start with a slow jog---right from the start it was all hell-bent-for-leather.
   AND IT FELT WONDERFUL!
   I'm not sure whether it was the adrenaline or not, but there was no pain in my heel either during or afterwards. After I got home, the heel still felt fine. My plan had been to go for a 5k walk after work but, with my heel feeling so good, I decided to try and work a bit of a run into it. And I do mean a bit of a run---all I was prepared to do was run for half a k. I did this and after all was said and done the heel still felt fine.
   It's kind of hard to describe how good this made me feel. At no time in the past three months have I put this much stress on the foot and not regretted it almost immediately.
   Yesterday morning (the big test), the heel was still good to go. Last night, I essentially repeated my routine from the day before and so far so good, no real pain.
   The part I enjoyed the most about my mad dash through the rain yesterday was the mindless speed of it. It had been ages since I had been on a regular training run but it had been even longer since I'd run fast anywhere. The last time I'd sprinted was back in mid-January when my ball hockey team (I am a Canadian) finished its playoff run.
   I am one of those guys who would almost rather run fast than run far. Until I got hooked on it, I used to generally

Favourite superhero--wonder why?

think of distance running as being a bit of a time-consuming bore. Back in late October of last year, I wrote a blog post here entitled "Fast/Slow", wherein I describe my at-odds feeling with distance running versus sprinting. The gist of it was that distance running was a little more accessible and a little more mainstream at the same time and that this was its draw to me.
   I still enjoy running fast, though. I am a sixty-year-old man who plays in a ball hockey league with twenty-and thirty-somethings and those young kids don't blow me out of the water by any means. I have never been the slowest man on any team I've played for, either. One of the things that appeals to me about running sprints is that there's not a lot of strategy to it. Okay, I'm sure that last statement probably evoked howls of protest from anyone who actually sprints competitively but my point is that, when you sprint, you run for a very brief time and you don't pace yourself or worry about hydration or get married to your Garmin. You simply run as fast as you can.
   This is almost what I did a couple of days ago. In the rain. Feeling the joy of it.
  

Limits

   I ran 5k in the wind and the cold today. I've been doing 5k pretty well every time I've been out lately and never had a problem with not being able to run the whole way.
   Today, I had to stop and walk twice, for about forty seconds each time. This didn't make a huge difference to my average time but it was a bit of a mess for me, psychologically.
   As is my habit, I tried to analyze the lack of energy today and none of the usual culprits made an appearance. It wasn't until I went back through my training log that I realized I'd just run three days in a row as well as five days out of the last six. On top of that, one of those runs was an 8k.
   In retrospect, I've never run three days in a row before. The 8k distance is brand new as well and came as part of the working up to 10k. It kind of took me by complete surprise when I checked the log and found out I hadn't run three days in a row, it seems like I've been running so much that having run that many days consecutively wouldn't have been that unusual.
    I'm using that as my reason for being tired today. Within the last week, it's occurred to me that I could be running a little more frequently than every other day and I'm in the middle of trying to come up with a new and more suitable training schedule. If anything, I'll avoid running four days in a row!
   So now I'm becoming more familiar with what might be my limits, at least what my limits might be right at the moment. Limits will always change and I guess that's why they need to be tested once in awhile. This evening, I'm actually looking forward to taking a day off from running tomorrow. I may feel differently when tomorrow gets here but I think I might actually force myself to take a day's rest and see what the result is!
  
  

Holy Crap!

This would make a great tattoo

   I made the mistake last night, while rooting around the Running Room website, of checking out the results of last year's Uxbridge Half Marathon, 5K division. Doralyn and I are entered in this year's version and I thought it might be kind of cool to find out what reasonable finishing times might be.
   Well, I am now in shock. At the 5K pace I'm currently running, the race will have more or less ended six minutes before I finally struggle across the finish line. Last year, the last place runner came in with a time of 32:33. My current best time on the newer, hillier course I've mapped out is 38:42.
   So far in the infancy of my running career, I've entered two runs. In both of those I had only two goals--the first one was to simply finish the race and the second one was not to come in last. Right at the moment, I have no real fear of not being able to finish the Uxbridge run. Suddenly, though, I have a very real fear of coming in last!
   The only encouraging thing is that the race is still three months away. Before I switched to the hillier course, my times were very gradually lowering. When I switched, naturally, they shot up. Since the switch, though, they're going back down again. Whether or not they go far enough down to keep me out of last place remains to be seen.
   The decision I'm finding myself needing to make right now is whether or not to accelerate the training. My training (such as it is) involves getting out and running 5K every other day and watching what I eat. Now that the holiday and ball hockey seasons are over and done with I likely will be able to more religiously adhere to that regimen. But I wonder if I should be running more. Or doing other types of training, to complement the running.
   Our principal reason for entering the Uxbridge run (Doralyn and our sis-in-law, Sherri, are doing the 5K trail walk) was to have fun. I'm sure it will still be fun regardless of finishing times. Secondarily, though, I'm kind of using the run as a bit of motivation. And what better motivation, all of the sudden, than the fear of coming in last?!
   So I am open for suggestions for any runners out there who've experienced anything similar to this. My main question, I guess, is what is running too much and what is running too little?
   Feel free to sound in!

Where I'm Going From Here

   Last week, I completed my 5K training goal by doing the Brita Resolution Run here in London. Once again this left me with the desire to run but no real goal to train toward.
   Now, I'm not sure that I even really need a "goal" in order to run and enjoy it, but the fact of the matter is that having a goal provides me more motivation and possible new directions for my running efforts. When I was doing the Learn-to-Run clinic the goal was a 3K race. My goal after that was the 5K Resolution Run. These goals gave me reason to get out there every other day and run. So, once more, I needed a goal. Maybe.
   I hopped on the Running Room race page and began looking for races in our general area. At this point on my running life I am still quite interested in the shorter distances and was still keeping my eyes open for another 5K race somewhere.
   Suddenly I came across the Uxbridge Half Marathon Run for the Diamond near the end of April. Normally I would not be that interested in a race that was a three-hour drive (if you followed the speed limit...) away. The fact of the matter, though, was that Doralyn's brother, James, lives in Uxbridge and that would simply give us a reason to visit. Not only that, we were headed there the next day!
   To clarify, there are several different kinds of races being run in Uxbridge and I am running in the 5K version, not the half marathon. To make things even better, Doralyn has entered herself in the 5K walk.
   Also, what is different about this race, and why I found it so appealing, was that there is actually a cross-country element to it. It is run on Crooked Sticks Golf Course and there is quite a challenging elevation change, judging from the on-line testimonials. This is what I wanted, something slightly different.
   So now I am in training for a 5K race over hilly terrain. To date, I have been running on flat pavement and the odd little incline I've been running into hits pretty hard. I need to find a different route, obviously.
   Living in Byron, there are hills all around and I set out today to run some of them. I plotted a 5K run and headed out.
   In the course of the 5K, I stopped and walked five times. Normally, this would have pissed me off. Today's run was more a voyage of discovery than anything and the fact that I stopped and walked so often seemed to make little difference.
   The hills were hard. Running in the snow was hard. Not having run for five days made it hard and the few extra holiday pounds (I ate a lot in Uxbridge) made it hard. All that I really wanted to do, though, was familiarize myself with new streets. I wanted to be able to visualize them beforehand. Walking five times today has given me the goal of only walking four or maybe three the next time. My goal for today was therefore accomplished.
   I'm looking forward to the next run...