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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Running
Sunday, 3 June 2007
Back Running
Monday, 30 April 2007
Weekly wrap
Three runs last week for a total of 25 km (16 miles). One swim session of 1000 in 32 minutes.
For the month of April I ran a total of 85 km (52 miles). That's my biggest month so far this year.
The aim for the next few months is to continue building up the mileage peaking for the Run Auckland Half marathon in mid July.
After that the next big event on the local calender is the Auckland Marathon(& Half) on 28 October. I always just thought I would do the Half again this year but just now I was just thinking "why not the full? it's still six months away after all". Plenty of time to prepare for my first full marathon right.
I guess I'm not ready to commit to the marathon just yet as I still don't have total confidence in my body to hold up to the stresses of training for a marathon. I still get regular shin pain in one leg particularly. I have been able to manage it so far with regular icing and by limiting myself to three runs a week. I wonder though how the shin would stand up to the increase in mileage?
A bigger concern for me at the moment is the problem with the numb foot which often strikes at the around the six km stage of a run. It is worrying and I need to get on top of that before I set my sights on a marathon (or the half in July come to think of it).
So at this stage I'll take it one month at a time and build to the July half and we'll reassess the future at that point.
Watching the weight
Ended the month at 85 kg. No loss during the month.
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Running
Sunday, 1 April 2007
Weekly wrap up
Went for a pretty uninspiring buke ride today. Lacking is motivation and energy to push my self. The calf was aching a bit too. Ended up cutting the circuit short by about 5 km.
- Distance - 14.3 km (8.9 miles)
- Time - 45:50
- Pace - 18.7 kph (11.6 mph)
- Max HR 126
- Ave HR 112
Weekly Wrap
- Ran 13.2 km (8.2 miles) in 73 minutes.
- Swam 1200 meters in 37 minutes
- Biked 14.3 km (8.9 miles) in 46 minutes
Watching the Weight
Steady at 85 kilo's (187 pounds).
Monday, 19 March 2007
Watching the Weight
My current weight is 85 kg (187 pounds).
My weight has remained pretty constant at around 85 kg for the last six months. I'm not too unhappy about that as I pretty much eat what I feel like (within reason) and the level of exercise which I have been doing is really just sufficient to maintain my current weight.
If I was to really watch what I eat then I'm sure I would be able to lose more. I'm pretty comfortable with the weight at the moment and it is certainly a great improvement on where it was two years ago when I tipped the scales at an all time high of 97kg (214 pounds) after several years of relative in-activity.
Even a year ago I was still around 95kg and the weight only really started to come off around the middle of last year when I really picked up my training as I set out to run my first Half Marathon which was 29 October last year.
I would like to run the Half Marathon again this year and would also like to enter a few other events between now and then to maintain the interest and give me something to aim for. As I increase my mileage in preparation for these events together with watching my nutrition my goal weight is 80kg (176 pounds).
On this page I will update my weight on a monthly basis and comment on what specifically I've done in the last month to control my weight.
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Weight loss
