Little things

I took a gentle spin through the city this evening to get the lead out of my legs. Then I went fishing, to get the lead out of my head.

I've been thinking today about little things. Little things that made my day.

Like the owner of the local cafe loading me up with Christmas cakes and goodies as thanks for being a good customer (Thanks Matt - Sherbet is the best!).
Like having a sparkly clean kitchen to start the new week (It's been steadily downhill till a burst of domestic energy struck this afternoon).
Like getting a kiss from the kid last weekend (an out-of-the-blue thanks-for-being-my-dad little kiss that has stuck with me all week).
Like having a runner call out "five fingers!" on the road (positive contact on the road makes one feel a little better about the ridiculous running style dictated by aforementioned Fingers).
Like being tapped on the finger by a little pendant hanging from my handlebars during a ride as a reminder of special people (a keepsake from IW).

Like a sunset like this.

IW is running a half marathon today in Borrego Springs, California. I stole these two pictures from the race website - it's a small town on the edge of the desert. You can see what gets me going about these places - the lumps! Real mountains! Proper size!

I'm not sure that it gets cold enough in Borrego Springs to snow, but a little further south in Santa Fe, New Mexico, my old friend Frank posted a photo of what I'm hoping is his backyard.

Photo stolen from Frank's album - wow!

All this looking at lumps and cold stuff is new and exciting, but it's a sideline - IW is running the half Mary! Better still, she's cranking out a century (100 mile = 160km) ride tomorrow! Sheesh.
In the spirit of shared experiences. I decided to scrape though the half distance this evening too, though I doubt it felt as pleasant as it will for IW, nor do I reckon I would have any chance of pulling off a century tomorrow.
Coincidentally, another old friend from Brisbane, Conrad, who now resides in Mandurah, is calling for a visitor, so what better way to get the century in with a pleasant food stop at half way!

Tonight's run was my longest since Berlin, and the first long stretch in the Fingens, too. My feet are a bit slapped about now, but nothing that won't be gone by morning. It eels good to be out on the road, and tonight, unlike last night, did  feel like a bit of a release. Long runs seem to fortify the ego sufficiently to step up to the world again and have another crack.

A bridge too far.

Running is meant to be about a momentary escape, a bit of therapy time where the physical demand can block out other stuff. Right?

Not Today.

I ran tired, hungry and angry, and each of these sensations were acutely enhanced as a result of the time on the road. The tired part will be rectified shortly after this blog entry. The hungry part has been fixed, courtesy of a huge bowl of pasta and veges. The angry part has dulled a little with time, exhaustion and  a recognition that I need to set a new goal.

So I did:  The LA Marathon, March 18th. One part of me is screaming at me for how far away that is, and the other is suddenly uneasy about how close. Again, it's a big vacation event, so time is not of the essence (though 3:00 to 3:15 will be a nice incremental step down from Berlin) - it's about spending time with IW, seeing a new city and enjoying it.

Tonight's run was the 13km Causeway loop. I ran in shoes, since the old Fingens have produced a huge blister between my left pinky toe and the next little one. I once again struggle with the barefoot / shoe dilemma for the marathon distance. After Berlin, I decided I would go for it and focus on barefoot, but tonight I reach the same point as in September, where shoes are simply faster and more comfortable for the long haul. In the next week I'll revise a training plan for the 11 or 12 weeks till then.
Tonight was meant to be 22km, but the Hungry part took care of that as I neared the Causeway Bridges. Now to take care of the Tired part..........

Freeways

Sunday arrived armed with a load of pent-up mental energy, and not enough physical activity in the week to blunt it.
I took the silver surfer (my single-speed messenger bike) out on to the path alongside the Kwinana freeway - running from Perth city south to Mandurah - full length about 90km.
Being adjacent to the freeway means the path is wide, flat, smooth, straight and generally completely uninteresting  apart from the lack of civilisation - perfect for a therapy session.

Getting on and sitting on a cadence for hours is somehow satisfying, but ultimately a bit painful. Rather than pulling off to Rockinhgam on the beach, I stayed on course and simply turned around at 60km (told you it was dull!). Happily, the constant headwind became my saviour to blow me home in 5:15 for the 120km.

The last 15km brought me undone, as first my right, then, a few minutes later, the left hamstring cramped severely. After a short roll in the undergrowth and whimpery / sweary noises, I was able to keep going, strangely feeling a whole lot better (like you do right after a good puke - remember?)

The timing of the cramps tells me two things - I outrode my fitness level, and my nutrition was poor. A banana, 2 espresso gels, a few shot blocks, 6 oreos and a carton of vanilla "up&go", plus 3 litres of water, didn't have what those muscles needed. Something to work on.

Oreos on the move.

Being so non-technical, the path offers a unique opportunity to spend considerable time updating facebook stati, sending messages and calling ones' mother. All rather amusing and, I'm sure, provided a truly thrilling kilometer-by-kilometer commentary of a spectacular sporting event for those on the receiving end.

Getting home and acquanting myself with the coolness of my floor gave me a whole new appreciation of how far 1200km is. The little bites remain satisfying...

OK. Gotta get back to it.

The time in Berlin with IW was fabulous - great rare time together in her natural habitat. Experiencing the Marathon was a hoot. 3:33 was no feat of speed, but it passed without discomfort and signalled a return to the distance. Man, it was amazing.

Too much has gone on since to catch up on in one post - no doubt the various twists and turns will become apparent as I meander on from here. IW has now returned to the US to get back to work, and my life has taken a distinct turn to look forward to joining her as the business, work and life falls into place. Berlin feels like years ago.

Wow.

I've become pretty lazy with so much going on (and I let myself get caught up in IW's off-season!), but I have an uncomplicated period of work ahead - ie just knuckling down - in which I can rebuild my barefoot feet and return to the process of running for fun.
Most recent running has been in shoes and Fingens - I haven't gotten out barefoot much since before the marathon, and I have regressed rapidly to soft, wussy little feet.

Out of the blue.

 Perth is now serving up loads of this - huge blue skies with a truly searing sun. Running during the day is pretty much out of the question now, if only for the sunburn, so early morning habits will have to kick in with the kid in tow.

More to come. This is just waking up.

DNF

Avid readers may note very little recent change in the dailymile totals. Apart from an inability to dislodge my lung from behind my tonsils, where it has been gurgling away for the last fortnight, I have aggravated my anterior compartment.
No, not the front of my house, my ankle. The anterior compartment  (of the ankle / knee / eye / at the front of any structure) is just a fancy name for the sheath that holds the tendons running up the front of the ankle onto and around the shin, controlling the upward flex of the foot and toes. When these tendons are sliding in a sheath made of sandpaper, it stings mightily.
I believe the cause was, innocently enough, a new pair of socks with a wide and rather tight band at the top, which I thought would feel nice and snug. These socks were thick, and I was also experimenting with my original Kinvaras (half a size too big) by pulling the laces real nice and tight. The combined result was a constant pressure on the top of my foot and tendon bundle quite above anything they usually experience. Magnify that pressure over 14,000 flexes during a jaunt around town, and whammo! agony.

this is what it feels like - thanks Photosynth!

The run where I did the damage was uneventful until the niggle started to become real pain. About this time, I stopped at an intersection. By the time the cars had passed and I stepped off, my ankle and shin was on fire. 6km home thereafter was not entirely pleasant.
I rested a couple of days, then tried again over 5km. The rest days made me feel like superman and I really booked it, but the pain kicked in again pretty quick.
Last weekend was the Perth Half Marathon (and WA champs). I warmed up from East Perth to Burswood and the ankle twinged, but the race-day adrenaline, I think, masked it sufficiently or me to think "Nah, I'm good".
I started mid-pack (850), which was a little too far back, but I slotted into 4 minute k's and nibbled my way forward. I could feel the ankle, but stretching my stride out and trying to maximise mobility seemed to ease discomfort (though a totally dumb thing to do, considering the injury - d'uh!). At about 10km, though, it just spasmed, and I jogged slowly back to the start/finish at about 14km. Depressingly, all the runners I had comfortably meandered by in the first 10k were now streaming by - no doubt chuckling at the skinny freak who started way too fast and burned up.
I don't remember a DNF in he past. maybe blocked them out, maybe never happened before.

Now, three days later, I can feel a tightness when I pull my toes up, but I'm ready to try a little run - probably a little barefooter, in order to eliminate landing slap and get the softest action possible. If the pain under my toes reappears, I'll be really, really pissed.

In the midst of this, I've been frantically busy trying to scrape together work to pay for the time I take off in Berlin. The extent to which running has been instantly forgotten in the face of late nights in the office and long days in the welding booth is more than a little disconcerting.

some of the stuff I help build - a series of maths puzzles tables at Scitech

Frankly, I'm falling apart. The joy of a tickly cough that disallows sleep for several nights in a row (even the neighbours were impressed with my clockwork regularity) is truly something to behold - and not, evidently, something to continue using power tools during (note new welding holes in work shirts and multiple bashed / stabbed fingers.)

Interestingly, this whole episode of experimenting with speed and shoes and discovering injuries (though not related to the shoes), has again made me question why I started (and started enjoying) barefooting - not only would it eliminate this issue of  gear-related variation, but it was adventurous and just a little bit dangerous. I have, back in shoes, become immediately obsessed with speed and race performance again. Not necessarily a bad thing, but worth taking a moment to consider what's important. I won't make a judgement - not now anyway - I love both sensations, and I've made a deal with myself to find speed, so, on we go........

multicolored mayhem.

This last fortnight has been characterised by mucus, in many delightful shades.

I simply haven't been able to shake this cold, as it has travelled through my nose, head and lingered in my chest. I've gotten through the hard runs, though many of the recoveries have fallen off., thanks not only to the cold, but to a dramatic inability to get a good night's sleep and the need to get paid work in any form. In short, it's been a pretty hectic and messy time.

The runs that have gone through have, however, been good ones. Here's hoping that these big runs in the bush are making me strong - maybe it's working, because a normal 20km run now disappears without much notice. Speedwork is now pretty routine and the fast sessions are being absorbed without pain or soreness.
Excellent.

There's been two solid speedwork sessions since my last post - 8x1500m and 8x800m, both on the Burswood mile loop. These are now becoming entirely bearable sessions with a sound technique holding throughout all reps, at 5:40 and 2:40 respectively. Interestingly, these sessions, including the long warm up and return out to Burswood, become 23km and 17km in total. Running a 1:35 half-marathon as part of a speed session is quite pleasing.


The big Bibbulmun run for the week was 38km - this takes me beyond the Mundaring Wier, out to a nice little camping spot complete with parrots and the smell of BBQ sausages (extremely dangerous at the 20km mark!). This was in fact a great run, showing a whole new series of faces of the track, due to controlled burns and a period of rain.

Large areas of the start of the track have been burned.

The rain and storms have felled many big trees across the track.

Unfortunately for the Bibbulmun, the hardest section is the very first (and hence the very last) 5km of very rough, hilly country. At the end of a long run, this is really, really tough.
Learning from past mistakes , I took plenty of food and settled into a routine that seems to suit my stomach - water + whole food block (this lot were honey and nut) + clif shot block every 5km. At the 20km mark and 30km mark, I sucked down an espresso gel - I dearly love these little critters, but I suspect each time they give me a bit of a crampy tum for a period afterward - perhaps a bit too strong.
I have a batch of peanut butter, nuts and maple syrup run balls in the fridge now, so I'll see which ones fare best in the next few weeks of long runs.

To help with the food when I'm not wearing my trail vest (this one, from Nathan, which I love!),

I just jumped online and bought a SPIbelt (I was going to make my own in the office, but since I seem to have insufficient time to feed myself, I figure buying one was a smarter option.) This should carry a marathon's worth of food and taxi fare home from the 30km mark.

All this long stuff is giving me plenty of time to think about form and, dare I say it, shoes. I ran the track in my old Nikes, being broad, stable and well-loved. I've been wearing the Kinvaras for all the other stuff, and they are great, though I've been struggling for a few weeks with a "slappy" left foot - I can hear that my landings are uneven, and I get some shin soreness in my left leg, indicating that I am heelstriking excessively and slapping my toes down.
I began to suspect that the Kinvaras are half a size too big, letting me flop about too much, so I tried them with two pairs of thin socks - better! The lovely IW was good enough to rustle up another pair of Kinvaras for me, this time half a size down. I blooded these only today, and they are fitting the bill immediately as the "racing" shoe, needing only a very thin sock. I will get myself down to a running store (rather than the supermarket this time) and get myself a pair of proper cushiony socks to keep the older pair at peak comfort for all the ploddy stuff.

Racers.

6 weeks now till Berlin and 8 weeks till race day. Time with IW in her city will be a fabulous change of scenery, with plenty of rides and runs in the lead-up weeks. Can't wait.