Kayaking the Puhoi River

This weekend I enjoyed a leisurely Kayak up the Puhoi River. Puhoi is a small settlement about 40 minutes north of Auckland city, famous for it's cheese and it's historic Pub. I was with a group of about 20 work colleagues enjoying an afternoon of team building.

The people at Puhoi River Canoe Hire sorted us out with some fantastic kayaks. The paddle started at the Wenderholm, a gorgeous Regional Park complete with beach, inner harbour, parkland and bush walks. We set out from the inner harbour and paddled up river with the incoming tide. It was a slightly overcast day and we we paddling into a breeze which was almost strong enough to negate the helpful push of the tide, at least until we reached the calmer sections up river and away form the openness of the harbour.

I'm a pretty inexperienced paddler having only done it about three times previously and this would have been my longest paddle yet. I eventually found what I would call an easy paced and economical technique which I was able to keep going for reasonable periods before either slowing to take in the scenery and bird life or to chat to workmates. All up the paddle took about two hours.

In total by the time I explored a small tributary and the upper reaches of the river before turning back to finish point in Puhoi, I estimate (with the help of Mapmyrun), I'd covered about 7 miles (11 K). Here's a map of the river.

After the paddle we jumped into the cars we had left in Puhoi earlier and headed back to the Wenderholm reserve for a barbeque and a few quiet beers.

Weekly wrap

Not much training this week. One swim of 40 minutes about 1300 meters. One aqua run session of 30 minutes. The aqua running was the longest session I've done yet and I put a lot more effort in this time.

Back into the running this week. Have a good one.

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Starting Over

I've been thinking some more about when I'm going to start running again and also about what sort of mileage I should run when I start over.

The shins have still been niggling me at times over the last week so naturally I'm a bit gun shy about taking to the road again in case it is too early and I end up incurring the same old problem. I've therefore put my come back run back one week just to be safe. By that stage it would have been three weeks rest from running and I will just have to get out there and see how it goes.

I came across a website the other day called marathontraining.com. It's a site full of useful information for runners of all experience levels, however it is chock full of information for first time marathoners or those training for their first full marathon.

Given my current shin splint problem, I was particularly interested in the page on minimising injuries. The key thing I picked up from that page was something called the 10% rule which states that your weekly mileage should not increase by more than 10% and the distance of your weekly long run should also not increase by more than 10%.

I had heard of this rule previously as I'm sure most readers probably have also. I never really paid much attention to it though. I was just looking back in my log at the training I did in the lead up to my first half marathon last October. I trained for that with just six weeks of running as prior to that I was out with the shin splints. The biggest weeks of those six were weeks four and five when I ran 23 miles for the week. The problem has more or less been with me since then and I have managed it through regular icing and only running a maximum of three days a week. Long term though that doesn't seem too healthy and as my Podiatrist said, my aim should be to get to the stage where I'm running pain free.

Maybe way back in October is where the current shin problem has stemmed from. I just came back too fast in trying to make the start line for the Half instead of going for a slow buildup. That said, I'm glad I did the Half and got that first one out of the way, but maybe I just shouldn't have waited until now to take a break.

So from next week, I'll be rigidly following the Milage Buildup Schedule from the marathontraining.com site. This will ensure a gradual buildup in milage thus avoiding any chance of again falling into the trap of doing too much too soon.

All going well the 10 k races I wanted to do next month will still be doable, we'll wait and see about the Half in July though.

Happy running




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Some thoughts on Dean Karnazes and the weekly wrap

I went to Dean Karnazes' book signing yesterday. It was a quick promotional stop off for Dean, who was in Auckland for only 36 hours before heading up to Japan for another race. Last week he was in Australia where he completed a 350 mile run from the summit of Australia's highest peak to Sydney.

Dean's popularity among the local running fraternity was evident judging by the numbers that turned out to pack the Millennium Institute of Sport's conference room, or maybe like me there were just many curious onlookers. It was standing room only though and in my case I had to be satisfied just listening to him as I couldn't even get within sight of the man.

Dean gave 30 minute talk and took questions for about 30 minutes also before launching into a book signing session for the adoring fans. I wasn't convinced enough to part with my $30. There's no doubt Dean has accomplished some amazing feats, however it's clear that he is also pretty adept at using the business and marketing skills he's learned to their fullest.

If I was hoping to be motivated or inspired to run ultra marathons, I would have come away disappointed. I found his talk to be a little too light hearted with little if any substance to it about what drives him to do these runs. It was almost like a bad comedy act with a few too many one liners and jokes for my liking. I figured that if he I wasn't too taken with the man's talk then I probably wouldn't get much out of his book either.

That's just me though and I'm sure DK gained many fans judging by the number of books going out the door.

Today's Ride.

- Distance 20 km (12.5 miles)
- Time 58 minutes
- Max HR 165 Ave HR 140

This was my first ride of this circuit for about two months. I pushed hard all the way and the time is only a minute or two outside my best for this circuit. It was a better than average run with the traffic lights today though which helps. Some wind, a damp road but a mild temperature.

What have I done this week?

- Swam 1300 meters
- Aqua running 15 minutes (I need to stick at this and give it another go, will try harder next time!)
- Stationary bike 40 minutes
- Road bike 12.5 miles / 58 minutes

This week

Was supposed to start running this week. Will check with the podiatrist tomorrow as my shin is still niggling me a little and I don't want to risk coming back too early if it's going to mean a longer lay off in the long run.

If no running then more of the same, swimming/biking / aqua running.

Am off to Wellington on Tuesday for a course. It will be a 7.30am flight out of Auckland for a 9.00am start. Return flight at 6.00pm home by 7.30-8.00. It's a long way to go for a one day course, but it's a day out of the office so sometimes that's all good.



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Missing Running and a meeting with Dean Karnazes

I suppose I'm going through what every runner has at some point. That is experiencing the frustration of not being able to run through injury or illness. It's ten days now since my Podiatrist said to take a two week break to rest my Shin Splints and while I'm not the sort of person to let those frustrations show outwardly, it's just a feeling on the inside that a part of you wants to get out and run. I know though that if I'm to improve longer term this is something I have to work through.

I'm also a little concerned that two weeks might not be enough rest. We had practice last night for Jack's Soccer team. The practice went for about 45 minutes or so and afterwards my shin was almost as sore as it would have been after a run, and that was just after running a kids Soccer practice!

I went to the pool on Tuesday intending on a 1500 meter swim, but only managed about half that before I called it quits. The motivation just wasn't there on the day and I used the excuse of leaking goggles to call it a day. Is that weak or what!

I was back at the pool today and tried some Aqua Jogging as suggested by Ewen last week. I went in the deep water and used a vest unlike my last dabble with this activity which I found to be a bit of a waste of time. Today whilst I certainly felt in a bit more in the legs it still wasn't the cardio workout that I feel I need. I ended up doing about 15 minutes of Aqua Jogging before I reverted to the lanes and swam a good 700 meters. The swim felt good and no problems with leaking goggles today.

Tomorrow moring I'll get up early and jump on the exercyle for 40 minutes or so.

Mike raised a good point about not repeating mistakes of my past. I can't help wondering if I'm being a bit optimistic by wanting to build up to a half marathon in just eight weeks of training (that's if I can start up next week). May be I should flag the half and just go for a more gradual increase in mileage building the to Auckland Half Marathon in October.

This weekend ultra runner Dean Karnazes, the man who famously ran 50 marathons in 50 days, is in Auckland as part of his down-under tour. I thought I would pop along to hear him speak. I don't know too much about Dean, other than his 50 marathons in 50 days thing, so I would be interested to hear any stories or comments from other RBF members who may have had the chance to meet and/or run with him.




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The Last Week

If you caught my last post you will know that I have not been running this week and have about another ten days of rest ahead of me before I can hopefully get out and run again.

This last week my shins have seen plenty of ice and anti-flamme cream. I'm keeping up my stretches and strengthening every night which includes, hip flexors, short & long calf, calf raises, hamstrings, quads, one legged squats, gluts. I'm even thinking about taking a Yoga class to really work hard on my flexibility.

I made it down to the pool twice during the week for a total swim of 2300 in 62 minutes. Didn't get my bike out as intended but I did get on the exercyle yesterday for 40 minutes. First time that's been used in some months! It was a good working though even if I could only get the HR about to around 130. The calf (the one I sprained in March) was a bit sore throughout the workout and has been a bit achy today. Strange that it should still not by 100% as prior to ceasing the running I had been on a few tough runs and the 5K race in which it was no problem.

So this week will be two more swims and maybe some more biking (will see how the calf feels).


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Halt all Running

I thought it about time that I seek some medical advice about my ongoing shin pain and numb foot, so I visited a sports podiatrist on Monday to see if we could get to the bottom of these problems.

After all the usual back ground questions, inspection of the feet, exercises, and jogging up and down his office/gym with him carefully watching my style, he eventually gave me his plan to get me out running again, pain free ... two weeks rest from all running, lots of ice followed by self massage of the shin with Anti-Flamme and stretching.

I guess I was half expecting that news. I know deep down that the shin pain is not going to go away unless I take some action and give them a decent rest. It is a little annoying, but I'm not totally gutted because I know that it's for the best longer term and that if I stick to the icing & stretching then I have a good chance of coming back a stronger runner.

The other thing the Podiatrist has said to do is to go without the orthotic insoles. Did you ever here of a Podiatrist saying such a thing? He reckons my gait and pronation is not overly bad and that the orthotic together with my structured/control shoe (Adidas Adistar) is too much. I'm even to take out the cushioning insole I had been alternating with and go back to the standard flimsy insole which came with the shoes.

On to the numb foot. The Podiatrist thinks this could be caused by a medical condition known as Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome. Basically the numbness is brought on by the compression of a nerve in the ankle/foot brought on in my case through running. Hopefully rest will also account for this but we will wait and see on that one.

In the mean time I'm restricted to swimming and biking to maintain my fitness. Swimming is something that I do get a bit bored with and I literally had to drag myself down to the pool yesterday. Once in the water though I got stuck in, swimming 1100 meters in 32 minutes (is that slow or what!). The plan over the next two weeks will be to both swim and bike twice a week. One bike ride will be on the road one on the stationary bike.

My comeback run will be May 23. I'll just be starting out lightly for the first two weeks, gradually building up to five or six miles over that time. All going well, that will leave me with six weeks until the Run Auckland Half Marathon on July 15.

My 12 week plan will therefore become a six week plan! It sounds short I know, but I prepared for my first Half last year with only six to eight weeks of decent training so I know I can do it. The one slight concern might be that I would be increasing my mileage too fast and could therefore be risking the shin again?

Happy Running!

P.S. Hope you like the new colours.


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Week 2 - A long run on 'Mother's Day'

After being a little uncertain whether I would get out for this weekend's 'long' run due to my sore shin I eventually decided that it was up for the challenge and I headed out this afternoon. This was in spite of the small fact that in our household we were celebrating Mother's Day today. A quick look at most calenders (in NZ anyway) would tell you that Mothers Day is actually celebrated (is that the right term?) on May 13 however as I'm 'booked' in to play golf that day I thought it a great idea to bring the whole thing forward a week. Although there have been a few 'digs' about playing golf on Mother's Day, Michelle has been great and wasn't about to pass up any special treatment today.

We started the day with breakfast down at a local cafe on our way to pick the boys up from their grandparents house where they had stayed the night. It must have been a big night for the boys because the were both asleep in the back of the car before we got home again!!

Around midday after the boys had woken and had some lunch I sent Jack & Sam off to to fetch the Mother's Day card which they had written in plus the present, a sub tropical type pot plant in a smart black pot. They loved the chance to give mum a surprise and it all went down really well.

I took the opportunity a little later to head out for my planned 15 K (9 mile) run while the boys were amusing themselves nicely and Michelle was able to spend some time reading.

The run went quite well. Better than I was expecting really. The shin was a little niggly but nothing serious enough to cause me to stop. The numb foot issue was not quite so bad as in recent efforts either though I did stop twice and stretch my calf's at about miles three and six which seemed to help get me home.

I am still using some of the Pose Method techniques which I've read about and this tends to help with the numb foot as well. Though I haven't jumped right into this method (to do so you really need to buy the books/ DVDs / new flat sole shoes etc) I have tried to implement a bit of the theory as best I can namely the fore or mid foot strike, high heel lift, staying light on your feet etc). All in all my pace ended up being reasonable considering I was not really trying to push the pace at all. I just looked up my training log and I did the same run seven months ago about three to four minutes slower.

I'm still a little frustrated at ongoing niggling injuries (shin & foot) and am seeing a Podiatrist tomorrow to see if any light can be shed on these matters.

- Distance 14.3 km (8.9 miles)
- Time 1:14:43
- Ave pace 5:13 min k's (8:24 min miles)
- Max HR 166
- Ave HR 153

Mother's Day ended with me cooking dinner for the family which went down well, although Jack did mention that he likeed Mum's pies better than my dinner!

Weekly Wrap

- Swam 1,000 meters in 30 minutes
- Ran 31.3 kms (19.4 miles) in 2:45


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Week 2 of 12

This is week 2 of my 12 week training plan for the Run Auckland Half Marathon in mid July. In short the plan calls for four runs a week made up of a short/recovery run on Tuesday a longer run on Thursday which later on into the plan will be the tempo run, a really short run on the Saturday (which I will be skipping as I'm only running three days a week) and the weekly long run on the Sunday.

This week suggests a 7k (slow hills) on Tuesday and 11 k on Thursday and 15k on the weekend.

Tuesday's run ended up being 6 k but consisted of two good sized hills which certainly got the heart rate up. It's a while since I've run hills so it was good to get out and take on some hilly terrain again.

- Distance 6 km (3.75 miles)
- Time 35:25
- Pace 5:51 min k's (9:24 miles)
- Max HR 172
- Ave HR 153


Thursday's run was almost 11k and was pretty flat. Four laps of my regular Auckland Domain Loop.

Lap times were 13:55, 13:50, 13:45 & 13:55 so pretty consistent.

The old numb foot was back as usual around the 30 minute mark. I stopped stretched when this became too uncomfortable. In general the lower legs and my shin felt a bit ugly for the whole run for some reason but I stuck at it.

- Distance - 10.9 km (6.8 miles)
- Time 55:05
- Pace 5:02 min k's (8:06 min miles)
- Max HR 169
- Ave HR 156

I've been icing my shin like mad for the last two days morning and night hoping that it will be okay for the weekends run. I'm hoping that with a two day break until Sunday it will be allright. If it feels too sore on Sunday I won't risk further damage and will go for a bike ride instead.

Other plans for the weekend;

- Jack's soccer game tomorrow morning. Still looking for our first win after going down 2-1 in the first game and then drawing 1-1 last week. The kids are loving it though and the coach/ref is doing alright too.

- Tomorrow night the boys are staying with their grandparents and Michelle and I are off to watch the New Zealand Warriors Rugby League side take on the Cronulla Sharks from Sydney. The Warriors have been going pretty well this season with four wins from six games and should be able to make that five wins pretty comfortably tomorrow night.



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