Every so often I draw a firm line through my running log and start all over again. That's a figurative firm line of course, my running log being a razzle-dazzle spreadsheet thing. Mind you, the razzle-dazzle has more to do with the coloured column headings and auto-updating graphs than my actual running of late.
But never mind, I've had enough of a holiday and now it's time to properly begin my 2007 campaign. I did a gentle 11 kilometres today just to prove to myself I still had a little endurance in me from last year. To be sure there were walk breaks, and the time was a lot longer than 11 kms should ordinarily take, but I got there. So we're off and (literally) running. Brilliant! I feel so much better for kicking it off with a decent run than the usual trifling distances. I mean, it's not like I've totally lost form since my race back in November... he says hopefully
The only real goal I have thus far is to properly run the Point to Pinnacle in November, as I promised the guys at work I'd give it my best shot so we could form a corporate team, rather than my race-walk effort of '06. But I guess other races, and therefore goals, will fit in with the training as I progress.
The other thing I need to do this year is some weight training. I hurt my back a few weeks ago doing things I've done without trouble all my life. Which suggested to me that I need a bit of weight training in there as well to counteract this wretched aging process. As I've said here several times before, it bugs me that I'm still young (I'm only 45!) and yet parts of the body are already showing signs of chucking it in! I mean good grief, I'm quite convinced I still have many more tomorrows than I've had yesterdays, but at this rate, my aim of reaching 120 is looking like a rather dubious long-odds bet at Ladbrokes et al.
I remember a work mate many years ago telling me that the body starts to hurt after 40, and begins to properly break down after 50. At the time it sounded like a curse, but I remain optimistic that everything will be beaut this year.
Yeah.
I do need new shoes though...
Hmm. Retail therapy. Must call on my feminine side for this.
11 k's is a decent starter for sure.
I'm with you on the body-damage thing, too. Despite furious attempts to run away from the Reaper my upper body is more William Pitt than Brad Pitt. I reckon some cross-training/ gentle weights would only benefit the cause.
Lifting pints just isn't enough, though obviously I'll have to up the anti there as well
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
Am enjoying my first beer for four days A reward for four days of running, hill climbing, weight training and a sensible calory-controlled diet. No niggles from resumption of training, either. So tonight is beer night. Just one, mind, but a good one - a Coopers Vintage Ale. A bit young, but still bloody nice.
It's funny how the old optimism returns after a bit of a lay-off. I found myself on the treadmill this afternoon planning all kinds of amazing training schedules and in my mind completing all kinds of crazy races. I'm even dreaming about running again. .. effortless, free-flowing all-day kind of running. The kind that's so far removed from reality as to be about as funny as Maggie Thatcher. But anyhow, so far so good, I'm training again and enjoying it, so all is right with the world.
The beer is really, really good too. I'm enjoying it now as I write this. Well, in between sentences anyway. For trivia fans I'm drinking it out of an Adnams pint glass, recently stolen from a London pub. Stolen by the same mate who stole the Fullers pint glass last year for me and which caused no end of grief here in the forum as World War III erupted over whether there is a Marquis of Granby in Soho or not. It was kind of fun actually.
Sadly no such biffo can be started with the Adnams glass as my mate can't remember which pub he was in at the time. As a consequence we can only assume he didn't have the publican's blessing to take the thing. But as he doesn't know which pub it was, what can one do? Nothing for it but to enjoy a pint of one of Australia's finest ales and appreciatively toast whichever pub it was taken from. Well, in any case, as one or two punters here keep pointing out, we are a convict colony after all As long as we're stealing from the poms, who really cares?
All jokes aside, if anyone can flog a few more glasses for me, it would be nice to make some complete sets. Fullers, Adnams, Guinness... anything you like. Send them to MLC Man, c/o HM Prison Risdon, Hobart.
Gosh it's hard running with these bloody chains on me legs...
Ah, the pungent whiff of runner's optimism . . . 'tis a fine brew and no mistake! Oddly I get these dream-like, semi-euphoric moments on non-running days (which is more or less every other day). I feel like I could nail a hilly twenty-miler but (tut) it's not a running day, so (sigh) what's a boy to do? Come the appointed time to leap out of bed and scorch into the hills it's a different story; the legs are weak and creaky, the resolve dissolved, the duvet the most secure and heavenly host imaginable.
Such are the vagaries of this running life.
And it's great to have you back as one of the Tormented
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
My enthusiasm remains unabated (there's that word again), despite SP's best efforts to foist responsibility for his running career onto moi (you'll have to wait a while longer for news on that front).
It was a warm, humid day today, and I took off for a 12km run in 30 sticky Celcius degrees (that's 86F for the metrically challenged), but was rewarded half way through with a nice storm front which blew in and cooled things down a little, as well as providing a spectacular lightning show. Groovy!
I've adopted a run/walk approach, at least for a while. I've had Jeff Galloway's running books for some time, and he's always strongly advocated the run/walk approach. I've been a bit dubious in the past, but thus far I have to admit it's not only allowing me to run further sooner, but it's also keeping me injury-free. Which means all those missed running goals from the past two years are back on the cards, albeit with the understanding that this is very early days yet of testing the water.
So my running is slow at present (even Andy would blush at my times), but I'm getting the miles in, which is much more important than the speed, which will in any case improve fairly quickly of its own accord given the miles I can actually put in now. So watch out SP, you may have to retrieve those running shoes from gardening duties yet.
I was reasonably pleased with tonight's run. I finished fairly strong - somewhat faster than I had intended, but as I passed the 11km mark, Deep Purple's Coming Home came on the mp3-thingy and I felt strong enough to launch into a semi-sprint for the run "home". In one of those cruel ironies that life sometimes throws at us, Deep Purple finished with 500 metres to go and Chris Rea's Fool If You Think It's Over horribly explained the reality of the situation to me. Still, I got home at a reasonable clip and enjoyed a large isotonic drink on the verandah and watched the now quite spectacular storm.
I'm not normally one for the old doom and gloom, MLCMan, but your return to running glories seems at odds with the fortunes of your cricketing countrymen.
I'm torn between hooting derisively at the sight of the Aussie cricketers weeping not-so-silently into their Boag's, or congratulating Brother MLCM on his return to the mean streets of Hobartshire.
It's a tough one, but the guy needs a break. Well done mate. You've even got me at it. Thinking about it, that is. I've got a dense work/social/travel schedule over the next 3 or 4 days, but after that I'm back out there.
It's great to see you in such good form.
Unlike... nah.
Not fair. Too easy.
El Gordo
Great things are done when men and mountains meet.
Sweder Wrote:I'm not normally one for the old doom and gloom, MLCMan, but your return to running glories seems at odds with the fortunes of your cricketing countrymen.
If our national cricket team has to suffer ignominious defeat in order to ensure my personal running glory, then so be it. I'm having too much fun to worry about the greater good.
The Australian cricket team's fortunes continue to be inversely proportional to my running success. Another good run today and a crap loss for Oz to New Zealand. But never mind the cricket, it's my 8km plod today that's got me stoked. That gives me 37km for the week, which is ahead of where I wanted to be for week 1 of my triumphant return, so I'm very pleased.
I've found a couple of races along the way to aim for this year too, the first being an 11km fun run down here on May 20, which I think I'll enter (work permitting) as it's convenient and is I think the only foot race my father ever entered, even winning his age category (75-80 if memory serves...) There are others too, but I'll hold off before committing...
This is a great time of year for running down here. The river and harbour is full of activity and over the last couple of weeks I've seen everything and anything from dinghies to some of the largest ocean liners on the planet. Below, as a rough example, is a photo pretty much as seen from my treadmill, of the QE II as she left Hobart yesterday evening. It certainly beats watching TV or those little numbers ticking slowly over...
It has been another stinking hot, humid day, and it was rather disturbing to see the city slowly engulfed in bushfire smoke as I sweated away this evening's 8km on the tready. There are now apparently 20 fires raging around the state, and visibility here in Hobart has reduced to about 1 kilometre. So a change in the weather would be a good thing. Please.
I'm doing a couple of things differently this year to ensure my fitness levels are sufficient to meet some running goals this time. I've now got my daily energy intake levels down to around 8,000 kJ (about 1900 calories), which is down about 30% on my "normal" diet. The rather splendid thing about this is that I actually have more energy now, because I'm eating at more appropriate times of the day, and skipping the empty carbs. Lots of low GI stuff in the morning and lunch, then pretty much just fruit and a protein drink in the evening. Not having a large evening meal has helped heaps. I've been doing this since the start of January and feeling fabulous. Cutting down on the beer has had something to do with it too, probably.
I've also been treating my muscles and joints to a fabbo linament - it's designed for horses but is just alcohol, menthol and camphor, and works a treat. Quite a lot of runners here use it, or so it seems from the local running forums. I use it before and after a run and it's certainly helping.
OK, well it's rest day tomorrow, so I guess I'll, um, twiddle my thumbs or something Actually, no I won't. Tomorrow I'll go on my quest for new shoes. My Adidas Supernovas are good bits of footwear (so they should be for the dosh I outlayed for them), but aren't quite right for me now that I'm using orthotics. Fortunately an elite Commonwealth Games athlete I bumped into at work gave me the good oil on who to see at which store, coz I'm a little bit tired of juvenile ignoramuses telling me all kinds of fibs in most of the running stores I've ever been too
Mid Life Crisis Man Wrote:the first being an 11km fun run down here on May 20
Oooh nooo!*
The linament issue raises some interesting questions. When I played footie (badly - oh, and I mean Soccer-football . . . you know!) everyone over the age of 21 would plaster their thighs and calfs in Ralgex, a noxious substance that caused much eye-watering if over-used. I've not noticed this amongst runners (at least they don't seem to pong of it). Is this horse-sedative thing something you whack on your legs or drop with a G&T? And do you use it before or after exercise?
Careful with that answer - I've got a hotline open to the IOC
[SIZE="1"]*to be explained over a pint or seven[/SIZE]
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
OK I've done it. It was a difficult assignment, but I just couldn't procrastinate any more. I set the alarm early, and against all my better judgment and reptilian instinct, forced myself to get up in the grey mists of dawn's early light and went out ... and bought a new pair of running shoes
I did at least follow the advice of the previously mentioned elite athlete, and went to the store she suggested, and to my amazement, as soon as I unashamedly dropped her name, was suddenly being served by not one, but two senior sales staff for whom nothing was too much trouble, and who studied my gait learnedly and quizzed me at length about my running, my past injury history, what my physio and podiatrist had said, and my aspirations for the year. It was almost a little overwhelming I have to say.
After much enthusiastic trialling and testing (which mostly involved me running up and down a narrow strip of carpet, crashing into people and scaring the children), we short-listed two shoes: the Brooks Beast and the Asics Kayano. After taking out another mortgage on the house and selling my wife into slavery, I walked out with the Asics. Apparently the stock market blipped as my transaction was processed and the banks temporarily imposed a credit squeeze on the business sector of the economy, but all in all I think I got away with it. If my credit rating holds up under the pressure, I may even get to see my kids again...
Of course, being a rest day, I haven't yet tried them out properly, although I probably ran a couple of kilometres up and down that stupid strip of carpet in the store. So they're sitting beside me now, still resplendent in their cardboard box and smelling and looking satisfyingly new. Unlike my old shoes, which are sitting in a dishevelled semi-heap under my chair and smelling as they look - which is a little bit more than just about vaguely disgusting.
I know there are people who buy new shoes every few weeks - some of them do so much running they even need to, but for wanna be runners like me, today's excursion was a major part of my running life... and that of my bank manager's.
It's rather sad, really.
But at least it stops me thinking about the cricket... sob
Sweder Wrote:Is this horse-sedative thing something you whack on your legs or drop with a G&T? And do you use it before or after exercise?
Both. That is to say, I whack it on my legs both before and after exercise. The G&T is a great idea, except I tend to fall off the treadmill after a few. You also have to suck it (the G&T that is) out of a bottle, otherwise it spills and the piece of lime (never lemon) falls off and gets lodged in your shoe or running shorts. Have you ever tried to retrieve a slice of lime from your shoe whilst running? It's not pretty. And your drink goes everywhere, regardless of whether it's in a bottle or not.
I don't think people appreciate just how difficult life is for the alcoholic runner
Just a lazy 5k today to test out the new Asics Kayanos. But it was a bugger, probably on account of the two pints of Guinness that did for me at lunch time. Well, I know it seems unlikely, but something had to be the cause...
Anyway, another training run done.
Oh, and the new shoes are good. I think they and me will be happy together.
I've had to take few days off as the old legs and knees and things sort themselves out, but I haven't been idle - I've brewed and bottled two new batches of beer recently. Last week I bottled my new sensation, the RC Almeria Ale, and yesterday I bottled what I like to think of as Sweder Brew's big brother - a potent beast this one; a strong malty stout I call the Two Oceans Mega Stout. I've had to put this one under the house for its secondary fermentation as it was shaking the bottles it's that potent Should be a ripper.
Frustratingly, fellow forumite Luc (ljs) is soon to be within a bee's dick of of being the first other RC-er to taste some of these special RC brews of mine. However, despite being only a bit over an hour's flight away from here in Melbourne, we're not actually going to be able to catch up, and so my very best opportunity to finally meet some fellow RC-ers is tantalisingly just out of reach would have been great to at least catch up for a quick Grolsch, but I guess there'll be another opportunity sometime...
And as if the forum here isn't motivating enough, a really good friend of mine who emigrated to Northern Ireland ( ) many, many years ago, has out of the blue informed me that he is in training for the Belfast marathon in May! He's similar to myself in not having run that kind of distance before, and he has similarly dodgy knees, so I'm really quite fired up to see him getting stuck into it.
There's more I wanted to say but I have to trudge out the door for another day of w*rk.
Hopefully I'll get in a run later this evening and will report back then.
Au revoir my little chickadees. (5 points for anyone who can remember who used that phrase many years ago.)
New Thread, Fresh Start
A reward for four days of running, hill climbing, weight training and a sensible calory-controlled diet. No niggles from resumption of training, either. So tonight is beer night. Just one, mind, but a good one - a Coopers Vintage Ale. A bit young, but still bloody nice.
Actually, no I won't. Tomorrow I'll go on my quest for new shoes. My Adidas Supernovas are good bits of footwear (so they should be for the dosh I outlayed for them), but aren't quite right for me now that I'm using orthotics. Fortunately an elite Commonwealth Games athlete I bumped into at work gave me the good oil on who to see at which store, coz I'm a little bit tired of juvenile ignoramuses telling me all kinds of fibs in most of the running stores I've ever been too 
