Running Again and finding my Chi

If you have been watching the blog closely over the last few weeks you may have noticed the miles starting to creep up in the running log over in my side bar. Yes with the arrival of spring and the best part of six months of rest behind me (but for a brief two weeks during June), I have started running again.

As I consider myself very much an expert in this area now after numerous enforced lay offs due to my ongoing Shin splint issues, I have started with very low and slow mileages. I am also using the run/walk method where I have frequent walking breaks so as not to stress the shins too much. The walking breaks are also coming in very handy as I have lost a good deal of fitness over the winter and it is a little hard to imagine even a 15 minute jog at present. Gradually the walking breaks will become less as my body adjusts and my fitness improves.

I am basically following this programme which Mark posted on CRN last year. I'm in week three currently and so far so good. I'm still taking care of the shins by icing them on run nights as they can still feel tender. I'm not sure whether this is just general soreness from starting to run again - hope so.

Still doing some stretching and self massage also to try and keep the calves loose. I'm also maintaining the biking as cross training , once or twice a week. I still have two more Bikram Yoga sessions left also which will last another two weeks.

I've learnt a lot over the last year or so about lower leg injuries and what do to avoid them etc. I big area for me has been learning about correct running form. This is one subject that I have again revisited in recent months. Last year I purchased a book on Chi Running which promotes a style of running which encourages the runner to lean forward from the ankles (rather than waist) which in turn produces a running style where the runner lands on their mid foot rather than heel. The basic premise being that if we can land on the mid foot with our foot under or behind our centre of gravity rather heel striking in front of our centre of gravity, the result is a much improved chance of avoid injury.

I thought seeing as I was about to embark on another come back it would be a good time to give this style a serious chance so I have re read the book and am trying hard to implement the technique.

I'll write in more detail about the specifics of the technique in another post as well as how I'm finding it and whether in fact it does help with injury prevention.

See ya round.


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Time for another break

My body told last week me it was time for another break. After amassing a huge 37 miles for the month of February, I've again succumbed to heel and shin issues.

Here's a wrap of my runs over the last two weeks:

18/2 4 miles 35 mins
20/2 4.1 miles 37 mins
25/2 8.3 miles 47 mins
27/2 2.7 miles 19 mins (and broken)

I don't know what's worse at the moment, my heel or shin. The heel just seems to ache almost from the start of a run and gets progressively worse. It also extends into the arch of my foot. The shin is still the same, always nagging, always there, but last week it was just nagging a bit louder.

It's hard to stay motivated at times like this. When I'm not running I tend to let the other things slip that I should be working on to get myself right again. Hence I've done no stretching, strength or cross training for five days.

Its less than five weeks now until our big North American trip, so that's another reason why I'm perhaps not so into my training right now. It's unlikely that I'll have much time to maintain a regular run programme during our month away (I don't see "running" being on the agenda much when travelling in a foreign country with a 6 and 4 year old, though I'll try and find room for my running shoes just in case).

My question therefore is "Do I bust a gut now to get back out running in a few weeks only put things on hold again for a month in April? Should I just take an extended break from running now?

What ever I decide about when to start running again, I know I need to maintain my cross training (Swimming/yoga), strengthening of the leg muscles and stretching.

Someone who definitely deserves a break is Kieran after successfully completing Ironman New Zealand on Saturday. Check out his race report here.


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Easy Running

The last two weeks I've just been easing back into some low mileage slow and easy runs.

Here the numbers;

3/2 2.6 miles 21 mins
5/2 3.45 miles 29 mins
7/2 3.8 miles 35 mins (Round the Mountain)
10/2 3.8 miles 33:20
12/2 4 miles 35 mins
14/2 4.1 miles 35:20
16/2 2.5 miles 30 mins


In addition to that I did 30 minutes of swimming on the 4th and Bikram Yoga on the 13th.

The plan I'm following at the moment is modelled somewhat on this base building plan plan from marathontraining.com. I've just done week two. That's not to say I'm building for a marathon, far from it. At this stage it's just a case of seeing what happens and hopefully I'll work through my injury troubles at the same time as building/maintaing a resonable base.

You will see that my last run was a bit short (and slow) and that's because I pulled up after about 15 minutes due to an aching foot. It was the same ache that I ran through for 50 minutes a month ago which resulted in me then resting up for two weeks. I listened to my body this time and walked it off. After ten minutes or so it was gone and I ran the last K home. Fingers crossed it was just a one off bad run day.

Is it common for runners to pay extra close attention to other runners? I'm not talking about the passing glances we may sneak as a runner of the opposite sex passes us by, but rather checking out their form and technique. You see all sorts from those that barely manage a shuffle, to the obviously well trained and coached runner.

This week, will out running the Domain Loop (more on that run later), I came across two runners (and yes one was of the opposite sex) with a strikingly high heel lift. They were running with a graceful ease that I would love to emulate.

Over the last two weeks I have also been working on my form, mainly concentrating on keeping everything in a straight line. Toes and feet pointing straight ahead, knees tracking over toes etc, not over striding and also working on my heel lift in addition to just relaxing my feet and allowing them to naturally toe off with each stride (gosh thats a lot to think about when running isn't LOL).

When I say 'relaxing my feet', I mean that rather than thinking about heel planting or mid/fore foot landing, I'm just staying relaxed and letting them land where they land.

Back to the heel lift, I was impressed with the heel lift of these two runners and instantly tried to copy what I had just witnessed as I was clearly not doing enough. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered how good it felt. I felt stronger, it seemed to put less stress on my shins and I seemed to be running faster.

Well thats all from me for now. Have a good week.



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On the Run in Nelson

Hi there, I'm back from my week in sunny Nelson, well actually it's not as sunny as they claim, it was only the 4th of 5th sunniest city in NZ last year apparently.

We had a pretty good week, only two days of wet weather early in the week, during which I took the boys to Alvin & the Chipmunks which they thoroughly enjoyed, okay I laughed too. The next wet day we visited the local aquatic complex/wave pool a fair part of the day. Sam's (4) confidence in the water is really improving leaps and bounds from last summer.

I might cover in more detail some of our other activities later but they include such things as salmon fishing, caving and of course lazing on the beach.

I'll just quickly update you on some runs I've done this week and then set about catching up on some of your blogs;

- Tuesday Ran 5 k 30 minutes.

This was an early morning run along a misty and grey Tahunanui Beach. Beach running is not something I've really done any of so they sensation was a little strange. The sand was quite soft, even the wet sand near the water.

- Friday Ran 7-8 k 43 Minutes

For this run I arranged to be dropped at the start of the Abel Tasman Track in the Abel Tasman National Park. It is one of the premier walking/hiking tracks in the country which runs alongside the stunning Tasman Bay coastline for 50k or so. The idea was to get a water taxi up the coast to the first drop of some 12 km from the start and then run back. Unfortunately I just missed the taxi and had to settle for plan B which was to run in and back out again. In the end I ran in for 20 or so minutes and ran out again. It was certainly worth the effort.


- Sunday Ran 8.5 k 52 minutes

Ran from my house to one of the local beaches where I met Michelle and the boys. It was a great cooling off in the water (quite a bit warmer than Nelson too I'll add) after such a hot run. Temp must have been around 25 deg C today.


I'll be going into some more detail about these and other runs at a later date in a new series of posts which I'm calling "The Places I Run" where I'll try and describe the local terrain together with some pics of our lovely country.


The shins are hanging in there and don't seem to be too much of an issue at present. Here's hoping they stay that way.


Have a great week.


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2007 in Review

We've had a relatively quiet Christmas this year, with the only family around being my Dad and Michelle's Nana. The rest of our immediate family are wide spread with M's parents in San Francisco at present, my Sister in England (expecting their second child any day now) and my Mum and M's Sister in Nelson.

Still we had a cool Christmas, just at home with my Dad and M's Nana coming over for Christmas lunch. They boys had a great day and were very grateful for all the presents they received. Favourites for Sam were a Star Wars Light saber and a Cricket set while Jack's favourite was a new battery operated train set. They each also got a new scooter each which are getting a great amount of use.



I had Thursday and Friday off work and they have been mainly spent relaxing at home though he weather has been good enough to get us all down to the beach on both days for a quick cool off in the water.

As we come to the end of 2007 I thought we would have a look back at year by delving into some interesting numbers summing up the past year;

319 - Miles run
39 - Hours run
421000 - Number of steps run ( based on 180 per minute)
1500 - Ice cubes melted icing shins
40000 - Meters swam
4 - Months I had off running
85 - Litres of Powerade drunk
100 - Hours of stretching (excludes any pre or post run stretching)
80 - Number of posts to the blog
85 - Weight at start of the year (kg's)
89 - Weight at end of the year (I put the increase down to less running in the second half!)
23 - Finish time in my first ever 5 K race back in April.

The Shin Report

The shin actually feels like its taken a bit of a backward step this week. I'm starting to notice it more in my last two or three runs. I had a check up with the physio on Thursday and she has given me some more exercises to strengthen abs, quads and glutes. Calf exercises and stretching continues. We are suspected possible weaknesses in those areas might also be a factor. I've had to basically write a training plan mixing all the exercises up over two days otherwise I would be at it for up to an hour a night.

Training this week has been as follows;

Sunday - Run 65 minutes (a very slow 10K had the boys tagging along on bikes for the first half).
Monday - Swim 30 Minutes
Tuesday - Rest
Wednesday - Run 30 Minutes
Thursday - Rest
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Run 35 Minutes

That's all folks, hope you all have a great New Year.


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Never to busy to Run

December is always a busy month isn't it with Christmas shopping to get done, Christmas parties and work functions to attend. It hardly leaves any time for training (or blogging). I think I may have just transitioned to a true running fanatic though as this week I have twice got up at 5 in the morning in order to get my training in.

I never thought I would be one that could rise so early just to go running. I have always loved my sleep too much for one and I also just felt the body would never be as 'loose' and warmed up first thing in the morning as it is later in the day. Now I've been converted and I admit to being a bit of a fan of my early morning runs. It can be a great way of starting the day and the temperatures are way cooler than the when running under the mid day sun also.

This week I had a session with a sports massage therapist at the Millennium Institute of Sport. It's the same place where I've been seeing a Physiotherapist about my shins. She had suggested a massage to try and loosen up my calfs some more and also a general all over leg massage. It was great to get some thoughts from another health professional about my 'weaknesses'. She picked up a weakness in one of my quad muscles (same leg as the bad shin) which is possible having some flow on effect on the shin and lower leg. I therefore now need to work on strengthening this area with some leg extension exercises. After massaging my calfs she also did not feel that I was suffering from any Compartment Syndrome, which is great news.

Here a wrap of my training for the last week;

- Wednesday - Run 35 minutes
- Thursday - Bikram Yoga
- Friday - Rest
- Saturday - Run 45 minutes
- Sunday - Rest, well played golf actually, shot 88 which is a continuation of my recent good form.
- Monday - Rest
- Tuesday - Run 35 Minutes
- Wednesday - Rest
- Thursday - Run 40 Minutes


I'm still taking some walking breaks, at the moment walking a minute after every 12 of running.

Since I've been back running I've stayed away from hills so as to not aggravate the shin splints. This week I felt it was time to take on a hill again (Bush Road hill in Albany for those that know it) and I'm please to say that I charged up it with no trouble at all. It was very encouraging. I was a bit worried that having done no hill work at all I would be a little bit under done to take on this relatively short (300 meters) but sharp hill.

The last couple of runs I've been really happy with my running technique also , its just felt smooth and natural. I think given the injuries I've had and with the reading I've been doing you can some times end up with just too much going on in your head, when all you really need to do is just go out there, relax and just run. This is how I've approached the last few runs and they've felt great.

I'm not totally out of the woods with my shin. It does flare up and feels quite tender at times but as lots of you will know there are always niggles and I just have to learn put up with this. It's not disrupting my running yet , so with careful management of it lets hope it stays that way.

Have a happy and safe Christmas everyone.



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Am I Ready to Race?

Another week has passed and here's this weeks numbers;

Monday - Run 25 minutes
Tuesday - Rest
Wednesday - Run 30 minutes
Thursday - Swim 1000 m (30 minutes)
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Run 35 minutes
Sunday - Rest

Am I having too many rest days? I should really try and do at least one more day of cross training of either biking or weights. I have both an exercycle and some weights at home but neither have been getting much use of late. The difficulty is fitting in one of these workouts into the weekly schedule. They would involve an early start to get the workout done before work as evenings are pretty much taken up by getting home from work in time to spend usually not much more than an hour with the boys before they are in bed then relaxing with M and then maybe some computer time before I hit the sack.

While I can handle rising early if it that's what needs to be done to get a run in, I'm not so keen when it comes to other forms of training for some reason. I guess the other reason is that other than aiming to get back to a reasonable state of "running" fitness, I have no other goal at present to aim for and thus motivate me to make time for an extra weekly workout.

One thing I have been contemplating is the Rotorua Half Marathon on March 16 next year. This is about thirteen weeks away and if I'm going to give it a shot I really need to start a build up for this now. Am I ready?

I've been back running now for two months and (touch wood) the shin splints have not got any worse. I still have some minor soreness but nothing so bad that it hinders my running and so far I have been able to control it with icing.

So with two months successfully behind me, what I have got to lose by aiming for March 16 as my comeback race? I have dug around online and found a twelve week half marathon programme which I will use as a guide. The programme does call for back to back runs on two days a week, something which I have not normally done due to my shin problems.

Maybe with the race in mind I will have the motivation to substitute one of those runs for some cross training?

Have a good week.





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Heading to America.

I've been a bit slack lately updating the blog and getting around to all yours. The reason for the slackness is that much of my computer time lately has been taken up by surfing the travel pages and hotel guides planning for our family holiday to the States and Canada which is happening next April.

This will be the first major trip my wife Michelle and I have done overseas, apart from crossing the Tasman to Aussie or up to Fiji. It's also of course the first major trip for the boys. All up we will be away for a month so it will be pretty big for us.

Part of the trip is to visit Michelle's parents who are in the States currently travelling in their RV. They left six weeks ago will be away for about 16 months all up. We will be meeting them in Vancouver at the start of the trip and spending five days with them there, before Michelle and I head down to the Las Vegas region for five days on our own. From there is back up to Vancouver for a few more days before saying farewell to M's parents and heading across to the Rocky Mountains and down to Calgary. We then jump on a flight to San Francisco for three days and then head down to LA via Yosemite. It's a pretty jam packed itinerary and only hope we can hack the pace. Here's my Yahoo Travel Planner if you're interested in the detail.

We've have got all the major stuff sorted like airfares and accommodation in the major cities. A few weeks ago I booked us a rim side cabin at the Grand Canyon but what was harder still was trying to find some accommodation at Yosemite National Park, and we're not even travelling in peak season. Finally we have decided on a motel about an hour out of the park in Oakhurst. It will make for a long day travelling from SF that morning but at least we will already be out of the National Park and ready for the next leg of the trip the next morning.

Recently I thought I would look into what the April temperatures are in places like the Grand Canyon and Utah. I was thinking like yeah it's spring time it should be quite mild. Then I find out the lows are still in the minuses (C) at that time of the year! I'll be making sure we pack heaps of warm cloths thats for sure.

Next on the list of things to organise are some B&B's in places like Jasper and Banff. We're not sure about booking anywhere in Utah and California and may just wing it and see what we find depending on where we end up.

How's the running going?

I had my check up with the physio last week after successfully completing my scheduled 50 minute run. She's happy with the progress and as said to keep slowly building up and to maintain my strengthening and stretching. She's got me doing these calf raises on the edge of a step, one legged. I have hold a weight (7kg) in one hand, rise quickly onto ball of my foot and then drop slowly and controlled to a count of ten. I do two sets to failure. As a variation of the stretching she also said to stretch on the step again by standing on the edge one foot at a time lowering my heel both with a straight leg and then bent.

I raised the numb foot/pins & needles thing and she thought this could be a case of Compartment Syndrome. On the 50 minute run I somehow managed to stave off the numbness for 40-45 minutes before stopping to stretch. I was taking smaller strides so I will work on that and hopefully that will help. Will just have to keep an eye on tha one. With the continued strengthening and stretching hopefully this will pass. I've also booked a sports massage with a massage therapist at the Millennium Sports Institute to work on loosening up the calfs /legs some more. I've never had a deep tissue massage before so this should be an experience!

Last weeks numbers;

Monday - 44 minutes
Tuesday - Rest
Wednesday - 50 Minutes
Thursday - Bikram Yoga
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Rest
Sunday - 35 Minutes

This week is a cut back with three runs of 25, 30 and 35 minutes planned. Still taking walking break for one minute after every ten of running this week.

I know I've still got a long way to go but I have already had a look at a race calender and can see a Half Marathon in Auckland on March 2 and the Rotorua Half on March 16. Rotorua would fit perfectly before we head off for our trip wouldn't it?

Have a great week.



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Motuihe Island Restoration Project

This week I got to spend an awesome day out in the fresh air away from the office and I could hardly have picked a better day. I work for ANZ Bank and as part of its values of giving back to the community the Bank gives every staff member the opportunity to do community volunteer work for two days a year.

Our office has 'adopted' an island in the Hauraki Gulf named Motuihe Island, which after 100 years of various uses including farming through to being used by the Navy as a training ground and hosting a variety of introduced pests, it is now to be restored to its former state through an intensive pest eradication and re-forestation project.

All introduced pests and animals have been removed from the island and a replanting programme is underway and in about 10 - 15 years time the island will be a sanctuary for bird life and also day trippers to escape the city and enjoy the tracks.

It's already a great escape from the city with some great beaches to relax on and only 30 minutes by boat from the city.

Here's some pics


The boat trip out to the island.

My 'job' for the morning was to drive a tractor which was fitted with a tank full of spray and a couple of spray guns. Two others were walking behind me and scrambling down cliffs spraying any of the unwanted weeds or introduced and unwanted plants which if left unchecked grow into quite large tress which crowd out the NZ natives. I'd never driven a tractor before but really it's just like a car in a lot of ways so I had no issues with it at all.


On the island's tractor.


One of the island's stunning beaches.

Training this week has been a a little mixed. I felt I had quite a good 'recovery' run of 30 minutes on Thursday but Saturday mornings was a real struggle with the shin actually flaring up the worst since I've been back running. Add to that the numb foot thing that used to bother me looks like it has not fixed itself yet.

This week I'm back to the physio for a check up so we'll see what happens. I'm supposed to get a 50 minute run in beforehand and that is scheduled for Wednesday.

Here's the numbers;

Monday - Run /walk 40 minutes
Tuesday - Swim 1000 m
Wednesday - Volunteer day
Thursday - Run / walk 30 minutes
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Run /walk 35 minutes.
Sunday - Rest

Finally here's a pic from the Auckland Santa Parade held today, again in awesome weather and it's not even summer yet!





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Still Running Six Weeks On!

I'm into the sixth week of my return to running after a four month break to rest and rehabilitate my ongoing nemesis, shin splints. I'm quite pleased with my progress to date and must admit to being a little surprised to have not having suffered a recurrence yet.

I guess after putting up with them for so long and having given in to them on several occasions before I was probably conditioned to the prospect of the shin splints again getting the better of me.

I'm certain the fact that I am still out there running is thanks to the work I've been doing during my time off from running;

- I've maintained regular stretching and strengthening of the calfs and feet.
- took a weekly Bikram Yoga class
- studied what I believe to be a safer running technique in Chi Running (which whilst I haven't fully converted to, I've taken some key points on board).

I've also tried to maintain my fitness through swimming and water running so the eventual come back to running was not such a shock to my system.

I also sought professional advice and was boosted when the Physiotherapist and Podiatrist gave me the all clear to commence training again. After all they're suppose to be the experts right and if they say its okay to train then who am I to question them.

As I said in my last post, I still get some aching in the shin here and there but it doesn't seem to bother me when I'm running which is the most important thing. My only lingering doubt is that as I gradually look to increase my distances the lingering pain will worsen and gradually interrupt my running.

I'm doing everything I can to try and make sure that doesn't happen;

- I've adopted a slow build up utilising the run/walk method,
- Small increases in weekly distances
- Shoes have been given the okay
- Icing

I can only hope that Ewen's comment that the shin splints will gradually dissappear is correct, or maybe as Tesso suggests, I just need to stop thinking about them so much?

Here's the numbers for last week;

Monday - Swim 1000 m
Tuesday - Run /walk 28 minutes
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - Run/walk 32 minutes
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Run/Walk 36 Minutes
Sunday - Rest / Golf (Shot 94 at Formosa and it was a rest as I took a golf cart)
Today - Run/walk 40 minutes.

Today's run was walking one minute running nine x 4.

The plan for the next ten days is to build up to a 50 minute run which the Physio wanted me to complete before our next meeting, next Wednesday.

Therefore the plan is something like this;

Wednesday 30 minutes
Saturday 36 minutes
Monday 42 Minutes
Wednesday 50 minutes

As you can see, I've not recorded any distances above as I'm not really interested in distance at present, its all about time. I would guess I'm running on average mid 5's to 6 minute Ks.

If I can get through the next ten days then it might be time for a cut back week as it would have been seven whole weeks of building up.

Wish me luck.



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Progress is Progress (and my golf is improving also!)

Three more runs under my belt last week;

Monday - Run / Walk 28 Minutes (run 6 & walk 1 x4)

Tuesday - Swim 1200m (30-35 minutes)

Wednesday - Run /walk 29 Minutes

Thursday - Nothing

Friday - Run / walk 32 minutes (run 7 & walk 1 x 4)

Still no noticeable discomfort while running which is good. I had some tightness in my right calf but nothing too serious.

Saw the Physio on Wednesday and she is happy with the progress also. She wants me to continue with the gradual increases over the next two to three weeks and has given me the task of completing a 50 minute run by the end of the month. That is a little sooner than the schedule I had mapped out for myself, but with a wee bit of rejigging it I've worked out a new schedule will see me achieving that goal.

The odd thing is that the shins are still slightly tender when I'm not running which is a bit annoying. I'm starting to come to the realisation that perhaps I need to accept that this is just part of running and comes with the territory. I just need to manage them sensibly, ice them when needed and if they start troubling me while running then its time to back off the training.

I would be interested in what others think about this. Is some constant mild shin discomfort to be expected and something that we runners must put up with or should I be aiming to be totally pain free 100% of the time?

I've just had two days away at a work golf tournament in Matamata. Matamata is a small town in the central North Island, which is now famous due to the Lord of The Rings movie being shot in the surrounding countryside. Tourists still flock to the to see the movie sets where the hobbits lived. The golf course is a great little country course, and though it may be short it can still be a good test of golf.

This was my fourth Matamata tournament in three years and I'm please to say that on both days I registered a PB for the course, a 92 on Saturday followed by a 91 today for a net 73 and 72. This was some of the best golf I have played this year so I'm reasonably pleased with the result. Brought home a $60 Briscoes voucher for my efforts.


8th hole at Matamata


Par 3 11th hole

This weeks training will be another 32 minute run on Tuesday, increasing to 36 minutes on Thursday and 40 on Saturday. I will also fit a swim or a yoga session in somewhere.

Have a great week.


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Training last week;

Tuesday - Swim 1200 m

Wednesday - Walk/ Run 17 minutes

Thursday - Bikram Yoga, thats the last one of these classes for a while. I will have a look around for something to replace this workout. I definitely got some benefit from these Bikram Yoga classes being some added strength and flexibility but the extreme heat that you must also deal with in the 90 minute class makes for an exhausting workout. After seven classes it's now time to try some other form of yoga based training. May be aPilates class?

Friday - Blank.

Saturday - Walk/ run 20 minutes. Walking one minute out of every five. With every two runs I'm adding a minute to the run portion each run, thus the next run will be four sets of walking one minute and running five.

The runs are pretty slow and I'm just trying to focus on a couple of form and technique key thoughts. Main ones being maintaining a correct landing position for my feet (so the point straight forward). A have tended to be a bit pigeon toed in the past which has been a contributor to my injuries.

Some Chi Running focuses I'm also thinking about being light on my feet, trying to keep my lower legs relaxed and lifting the foot rather than toeing off too prominently.

I'm still experiencing some general shin soreness but not while running. The physio seems happy with the progress and was not too concerned about the ongoing shin pain. As long as I maintain the slow build up and stretching and so long as the shin doesn't start to interfere with my running then I should be okay.

Physio also suggested some gel heel cups to put in my shoe to add some more cushioning to help with the heel bruised heel. This seems to be working also.

Finally all the best to fellow Kiwi blogger Kate who ran the Auckland Marathon this morning.

Have a good week.




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Easy does it

Last week I continued my slow and easy progress back from injury. The week went something like this;

Monday - Swim 1200 m

Tuesday - Walk/ Run 14 minutes

Wednesday - Bikram yoga. Despite missing a session the week before due to illness, I went okay. I've got my breathing under control now not like the first class I did when I was puffing like a 100 meter sprinter.

Thursday - Walk / Run 15 minutes

Friday - No training

Saturday - Walk / Run 16 Minutes

Sunday - Nothing

Monday (today) - Walk /Run 16 minutes


The shin is feeling okay when out running. No noticeable soreness. Still have some slight aching afterwards but nothing too serious. Am continuing the icing to be safe.

Heel problem (bruising) is perhaps more of a concern and ached a bit on Saturday but wasn't so bad today.

Have another check up with the physio to week.

Have a good week all.



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Learnings, Thoughts & Quotes from Chi Running

The book Chi Running by Danny Dreyer arrived over the weekend and I thought I would post a brief summary of some key thoughts and quotes from the first three chapters.

The first three chapters have been devoted to explaining how Danny came to discover the ancient Chinese martial art of T'ai Chi and how he as been able to take what he has learned from T'ai Chi and adapt it to his running, thus developing Chi Running, which offers an alternative and safer approach to running. With the help of his Chi Running method Danny has raced in over thirty ultra marathons since 1995, winning his age group in fourteen of them and placing in the top three in all but one.

So here's some key thoughts / quotes that I've taken from the book so far;

Fundamentals of Chi Running
- Great posture
- Relaxed limbs
- Loose joints
- Engaged core muscles
- A focused mind
- Good breathing technique

Benefits of Chi Running
- All the above

- tilt forward and engage the pull of gravity thus eliminating the need for you to push with your legs.

- use your ligaments and tendons instead of muscles.

- looser joints have less injury potential.

- all movement in your body originates in your center. Learn how to run from your center and the less you will need to use your legs.

- by forcing our bodies against natural laws, our forward progress will be met with resistance in the form of injury, fatigue and disappointment

- focus, body sense, breath and relax.

You might get the idea that it's been all theory to date and that is important I guess to set the scene for whats to come. Next up, learning the technique ...

Training this week;

Monday - Swim 1000 m - A good swim , best I've done in quite a while.

Tuesday - Weights - whole body , light weights high reps (my home made Pump Class if you like!

Wednesday - Bikram Yoga - It's not getting any easier, dealing with the heat is the tough thing. The stretches and poses I think I'm doing okay with. Getting several dizzy spells a session meaning I need to sit out the odd pose to get my breath and just take a minute to chill. Four more weeks of this to look foward to LOL.

Thursday - Has been my aqua run day but I might make this another swim day. I feel that will help retain/ maintain my aerobic base better.

Friday - Rest - Going to the Bank's corporate box for the Auckland v Otago rugby game. Lucky me. Go Auckland!!

Saturday/ Sunday - Rest or maybe a bike ride Saturday, golf Sunday.

Have a great week.




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Bikram Yoga - One Tough Workout

I finally took that Yoga class I've been talking about for months. I attended a Bikram Yoga class this week and I have to say it rates pretty high on the scale of toughest workouts I've done.

The first thing that strikes you as you enter the studio is the oppressive heat which is set a 38 degree C /100 F (something Chad in Arizona may be use to be not this boy). Ninety minutes in this heat alone was going to be a challenge.

The room is silent. It is almost as if we are preparing ourselves to go into battle, with ourselves.

The Body Balance classes I had been attending at Les Mills may have been a nice introduction to Yoga but from the moment the Bikram Yoga class got underway I knew I was in for a different experience. For a start there was no pop music and the instructor meant business, perched on his stool, barking out instructions faster than an instructor at a army basic training session.

We started with some really deep breathing before launching into the whole range of stretches and poses. I was able to competently do most of the poses though clearly I still have a lot of room for improvement judging by the flexibility some of the students displayed.

I had no watch so had no idea of the time but by about the one hour mark I was almost totally spent. Every part of me is saturated with sweat and I am breathing harder than I ever have after a hill or speed session on the roads. I am almost finished my powerade.

We hit the floor. Surely this must mean we are nearing the end? We may be lying down now but the stretches are not getting any easier. I almost feel like I'm about to pass out. I get a cramp in my lower back at one point. I just lie there and skip one of the stetches while I try and regain my breath and some composure.

After a few more poses we are left lying on the floor as the instructor makes an abrupt exit after wishing us a good night. It's over.

Though I'm absolutely exhausted I am one of the first to rise and exit the room, trying to escape the heat and find some water to replace the copious fluids I have just lost.

Afterwards, the instructor complements me on my effort and seemed a little surprised that it was my first class. A few guys congratulate me on completing my first class and encourage me to return. I must admit, at that stage I'm not so sure I want to put myself through that pain ever again. As with most things, the memory of the pain passes with time and I will make this a weekly addition to my training for the next three months, at least while I'm not running heavily.

I was reading during the week an article on cross training for runners and while yoga is a recommended activity the article mentioned that rest days from running should involve a relatively low intensity workout. I can't imagine mixing one of these Bikram Yoga classes into a busy, mid - high mileage training schedule as it hardly counts as a rest. I wonder are the other forms of Yoga any less intensive and would these be better for a runner to incorporate into their training routine than Bikram?

Any other Yoga attendees have any thoughts on this?



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2006 Auckland Half Marathon - The Build Up

*** FLASHBACK *** *** FLASHBACK *** *** FLASHBACK ***

If you're a bit confused by the title for this post, don't be. I'm taking the opportunity while on this enforced injury break to write a report on my first ever race, the 2006 Auckland Half Marathon held last October, before all memories of it are long forgotten.

To set the scene I will first go back even further to mid 2005 when the thought of running the half was first mentioned by some enthusiastic lunch time runners I work with. There was a group of four or five of us who took up the challenge and even though I was in no shape back then to even be contemplating a half as I was the youngest I thought I would look pretty soft if I didn't accept the challenge.

I trained for several months before succumbing to the dreaded shin splints thus I failed to make the start line in 05. I did end up carrying the drinks however and it was hugely motivating watching all the finishers and I was even more determined that I would make the start line in 06.

In 2006 I had more time to prepare and my base fitness was generally way better than a year earlier. After two or three months of training the shin pain was still hanging around and rather than just give in to it as I had the previous year, this time I sought out some advice and treatment. My pyhsio gave me a range of stretches to do to improve my flexibility which I still do to this day. I also saw a podiatrist and got some custom fitted orthotic insoles. I took a four week break to rest the shins during which time I kept up my fitness with swimming and biking. It's amazing how effective these activities are for maintaining ones fitness when you can't run.

Six weeks out from the half I was back running. It was a quick fire six week half marathon training programme which involved a four week build up phase followed by a two week taper. At the end of week four I successfully completed a 19k (11.8 mile) run in 1:33 and at that point I was confident that I would make this distance.

I was still just running three days a week and combining that with one swim a week as well as a bike ride some weeks too.

The shins were holding up nicely but around this time I started to experience the other issue that still frustrates me today, the numb foot after about 30 minutes of running. Back then it didn't seem to be every run so I was never quite sure when this thing would pop up.

However, I was now certain that I could make it to the half and I was ready for the big day.

Stay tuned for the Race Report.


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Week one done.

Week one of my eight week reconditioning programme is done and dusted. Pleased to say it went just as planned. No problems missing workouts as I had the previous week. I guess actually having a routine is a great motivator in itself as just by merely creating it you have made a commitment to yourself.

The muscles were a bit sore throughout the week adjusting to the resistance training which they have seen little of in the past six months. I'll continue to take it easy with the weights this week until they get used to the training again.

This week I'm off down country for two days on business and will be over nighting tomorrow in Rotorua, or as we kiwis say Rotovegas given it's attraction to tourists. I'll take some work-out clothes with me and make good use of the Hotels gym facilities.

Our wet winter continued on this weekend and Soccer was again cancelled for the second week in a row. Kids are on holiday now for two weeks and are looking forward to their grandmother coming to stay next week as well Sam's 4th birthday party.

Have a good week.




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Reconditioning and Strenthening Programme

Here's the training programme I've decided on to recondition and strengthen whilst taking time off running to beat the shin splints. This will be an eight week programme with a view to having me out running again by September.

Monday
Swimming 30-40 minutes

Tuesday
Resistance training (weights).

If you've ever attended a Les Mills Bodypump Class then basically that is what I'm doing in my garage with the music blaring from the cars CD (well not blaring as I'm doing this from 5.30 to 6.30 in the morning).

If you don't know what Bodypump class is, click here.

Wednesday Rest - Coaching Jack's Soccer team.

Thursday Deep water aqua running - 30 minutes

Friday Weight training.

Moderate weights 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps, two exercises for the larger body parts,
one for the smaller parts per body part 10-15 reps.

Alternating each week between these two work outs;

Workout 1
Quads, Shoulders, Biceps, Calfs, Abs/core

Workout 2
Chest, Back, Hamstrings, Triceps, Calfs, Abs/core

Saturday/Sunday

Bike ride - 60 minutes.

In addition to the above I'm continuing with 30 minutes of stretching each night.

Also I just found a bunch of new exercises at www.pponline.co.uk specific for treating shin splints. This website could well be the most informative sports training website on the Internet. It's a virtual online encyclopedia full of articles on all sorts of sports, training tips, injury prevention tips and much more.

Here's the shin/ankle strengthening exercises I'm doing.


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Banking the Miles - Week two

Got in three runs this week as planned totalling 11.5 miles. This was week two of the build up programme, which I'm following to ensure I don't be increase my mileage too fast too soon and thus risk further shin splint damage.

The three runs were each of about 4 miles and should be at a slow and easy pace given I'm only two weeks back from my lay off and the shins have been a little tender.

I have to admit to sometimes having trouble holding back the competitor in me that just wants to race. I had wanted to run a 10K race today, however given my lay off and lack of running recently, I instead considered just running the 5k race. On Thursday's run, with the 5 k race in mind, I thought I would test the body with some intervals and did two one km intervals at my five km pace (around 4:35-4:40 pace).

This was probably a little foolish so soon after my lay off and with my shins still not 100% and sure enough what had been a comfortable and pain free easy run prior to the intervals, ended with some shin pain by the end. It was quite noticeable that the intervals brought with them the shin pain as my stride lengthened from the slower paced warm up to the faster paced interval. Tesso made an interesting comment on my last post, suggesting that shin splints can be brought on by over striding, so that is something that I will now keep an eye on also. It did seem that this could have been the case on Thursday's run.

Anyway, though I guess I could have entered the 5 k race and just treated it as a slow training run, I decided against it. Turned out to be the right decision as the weather at eight this morning was shocking. We also had had little sleep from 2:00am onwards with Jack having an upset stomach causing some vomiting.

The details;

Monday
Distance 6km (3.73 miles)
Time 30:47
Ave pace 5:08 min km (8:15 miles)
Max HR 173
Ave HR 152

Tuesday
Swim 1200 meters 33 minutes

Thursday
Distance 6.5km (4 miles)
Time 32:44
Ave pace 5:00 min km (8:04 miles)
Max HR 173
Ave HR 155

Sunday
Distance 6 km (3.73 miles)
Time 30:55
Ave pace 5:09 min km (8:17 miles)
Max HR 165
Ave HR 145

This week will be much the same with no real increase in mileage planned for another couple of weeks.

Have a good week.




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Back Running

After a three week lay off to rest my shin splints, this week I took my first hopeful steps of what will be a slow build up of mileage over coming months. I'm looking forward to a gradual buildup which with any luck will help me to avoid repeating the same old mistakes leading to the same old problems which have dogged my running to date.

Tuesday's run was a 3 mile run around the Auckland Domain. Even after three weeks rest the shin was not 100% and I could still feel it's not totally right. This is a little disconcerting as half of me does wonder that if it is troubling me a little now its likely to get worse as I pick up the mileage, ending in yet another frustrating lay off. The half wonders whether I just need to accept that as a runner I have to learn to live with these niggles and just harden up.

For the time being as I've got another check up with the Podiatrist this week, I will just see how I go until then and see what he thinks about continuing on or what further treatment options might exist.

Fitness wise, I found that I've lost very little condition.

Thursday was a 4 mile run, again around the Domain. The shin actually felt a little better on Thursday during the run. It's the aching afterwards that's still a problem. Back to icing it each night it seems.

Saturday was another 4 mile run, this time around my neighborhood in Albany. For something a bit different and fun, my eldest son Jack (5) tagged along on his bike. I chose a pretty flat out and back route to minimise the hills Jack needed to climb and although the pace was a bit slower than normal it was great to combine something that I really love doing with something that he really enjoys as well. He had a great time even if I did have to give him a bit of a helping hand up a few of the hills that we couldn't avoid.

Yesterday I actually ran in some new shoes which I picked up at sale some months back. I've been keeping them back because I have only run about 550 km in my old shoes and I had heard that you should be able to get up to 1000 km out of a pair of running shoes. The new ones felt good though and the shin was again not too bad. So it might be time to make the switch.

Here's Jack and Sam on their bikes today, enjoying the wet roads after a shower;





Also this week I went for a 1300 meter swim which took about 35 minutes.

This weeks numbers;

Tuesday
- Distance 5 km (3.1 miles)
- Time 25:15
- Ave pace 5:03 minute k's (8:06 miles)

Thursday
- Distance 6.5 km (4 miles)
- Time 33:30
- Ave pace 5:07 minute k's (8:15 miles)

Saturday
- Distance 6.75 km (4.2 miles)
- Time 39:00
- Ave pace 5:47 minute k's (9:07 miles)
- Max HR 159
- Ave HR 145

I ended May weighing a shade over 85 kg, a slight increase on last month.

Have a good week.

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