Strategy

2013 started well with 18th place overall
(out of 309) in the Boney Mt Trail Half
Marathon, outside LA in the USA, on
7 January.

This morning, I ran an easy 10km from Terrigal in beautiful winter sunshine.  My right arch still hurts a little and my adductor was again a bit sore, but I'm optimistic that both are continuing to improve.

I've been reviewing my objective to run another sub-3:00 hour marathon, and how long such a quest should be pursued.  Maybe I'm kidding myself, but I still believe that, if things go well, I can do it.  On the other hand, I made three attempts over three years to break the record for the quickest circumnavigation of Australia by bike, solo and unsupported, and each failed for different reasons at about the half-way mark.  Even now, in my heart, I still believe I could achieve that feat if everything went my way, but accept that the risks are significant, and maybe I should leave it alone.

Running a sub-3:00 hour marathon at the age of 62 (or 63), is less risky and less challenging.  For example, in last month's Gold Coast Marathon, the 60-64 Age Group winner ran 2:46!  And, I only have to worry about my body, not road trains or bicycle mechanics.

An old friend, whose opinion I respect, recently told me that there was something a little sad about pursuit of these goals where the chance of success is small.  His view is that I should focus on my running longevity, since I enjoy the sport so much, and not increase the risk of injury by chasing likely futile objectives .  There's certainly some logic to that argument.  For whatever reason, I can't help trying to see how far or fast I can go; to find the edge of the "envelope".  Maybe it's a pursuit of celebrity, and I don't mind the limelight.  My brother says, that since childhood, I've had a "Look at me, look at me!" complex, and I can't deny it.

I accept that pursuing such goals may bring a career-ending injury closer.  However, I just wouldn't be happy if I wasn't running as much as I think my body can reasonably sustain.  That's what I've been doing most of the last 45 years, and its ingrained.  I also know from observation, that at my age (and younger), there are many other things that could unexpectedly bring my running career (and life) to an early halt, so why save myself.

Having said all of that, a sub-3:00 hour marathon is not my only mission in life.  Since retiring ten years ago, I have tried to have one big adventure each year, generally cycling or hiking.  If I haven't managed a sub-3:00 hour marathon by July next year, I will give up on the quest and get back to my usual adventures.  There are many things still on my bucket list.

I don't believe it's feasible to run marathons (and ultras) too frequently if you want to achieve your potential.  My rule of thumb is that such events should be three or four months apart, if you are focused on doing your absolute best.  With this in mind, I have ear-marked the Hobart Marathon (January), Canberra Marathon (April) and Gold Coast Marathon (July) as events I will train for specifically with the goal of a sub-3:00.  I still intend to run the Melbourne Marathon in October, but don't expect to be fit enough to run my best.  As soon as I get back into full training, hopefully, by the end of this month, I will work out a detailed training and race plan to target the Hobart Marathon in January 2014.

Muzza's Run

The trail, part of Muzza's Run, crosses a creek
near Seymour Ponds

It was with some trepidation that I set out from Terrigal this morning in the pre-dawn darkness with a hundred other Terrigal Trotters for the 16km Muzza's Run.  It was the furthest I have run for six weeks, and I have only resumed jogging short distances this week after four weeks of no running.

Muzza's Run is named in honour of Murray "Muzza" Antony, a long-standing member of Terrigal Trotters who was tragically killed in an industrial accident three years ago.  This course, which was originally known to us as Seymour Ponds, was one of Muzza's favourites.  Muzza was about my age and a talented runner.  We always kept an eye on each other's form and enjoyed a friendly rivalry.  I was a spectator, supporting Sharon, at the 2009 Melbourne Marathon and witnessed Muzza just fail in a valiant attempt to break 3 hours as a 60 year old.  He was on track, but faded a tad in the last 10km to finish with 3:07, still an excellent time.  Just three months later, he was dead, a reminder to me, and us all, to live life to the full and not count on tomorrow.

Muzza at the 2006 Canberra Marathon

After a very cautious start this morning, I gradually gained confidence in the ability of my right arch to survive the whole distance and chose to bypass several opportunities for short-cuts around the 6km mark.  I felt like I was moving quite freely and gradually reeled in some of the people ahead of me.  In the single-track forest section, I took extra care to protect my injured foot, especially down the step sections, and avoided any obvious damage.  My lack of fitness began to tell after 10km and I just concentrated on trying to hold my form for the balance of the run.

A small strain in my right adductor muscle has been one of my "niggles" for the last couple of days, and it was a little painful today for the first kilometre and has become sore again after the run.  From memory, I have had this problem in the past and it has gone away after a few days, but I need to keep an eye on it.  My intention is to only walk or jog for tomorrow's exercise so that will give it some rest.  It will also be interesting to see how my arch injury is tomorrow.  If it's no worse, then I will probably join the Trotters' bus to Sydney next Sunday for the annual City to Surf 14km, but not with the intention of running hard....just to enjoy the crowds and camaraderie.

No silver bullets

Oh to be young again....
Leading in a 3000m Steeplechase at Croydon Harriers
track in 1975 (finished 2nd in 9:34)

It's still too early to say the worst of my right arch injury is over, but I am getting more optimistic.  I ran 6km after supervising this morning's track session at The Haven and finished no worse than I started.  Maybe I'll run further on Saturday, although the scheduled Trotters' run is Muzza's Run which, at 16km, may be just a little too far to step up.  However, there are some obvious short-cuts that will give me 10-12km, and that will work fine.

I give myself no chance of getting fit in time for a sub-3 hour Melbourne Marathon in October, although it's still possible I might run it for training (I have already entered), with my eye on the Cadbury Hobart Marathon on 12 January 2014 for a serious attempt at a fast time.  Even writing such an objective down, makes me apprehensive.  As the past few months have shown, I'm very vulnerable to injury, and just marking a date on the calendar seems to risk disappointment.

For the moment, my focus is just on getting fit again.  Diagnosis by Google seemed to indicate the likelihood of a ligament injury, as discussed in a previous post, and it seems ligament injuries can take six to ten weeks to heal (I'm generalising, of course).  It is now almost six weeks since I sustained the injury, so provided I don't set myself back, it does seem feasible that I will be back to hard training in four weeks.

Over the years, I have definitely become more cynical about the treatment of injuries, especially muscle and ligament tears.......or maybe I have just become lazy and cheap.  I believe that most soft tissue injuries will repair without third party intervention, given time and rest.  We are all very tempted, including me, to seek ways of shortening recovery time through medication, physiotherapy, etc., when we sustain an injury.  But there are no silver bullets.  Injuries take as long as they take to get better, and there are few short-cuts.  It may seem that treatment is making a difference, but usually those treatment regimes take time (and money), and during that time, the body is healing itself anyway.  My theory is that, at best, you are probably just fiddling at the margin.

I absolutely accept there are injuries that do need medical intervention, and I'm no doctor.  My advice to athletes who ask me about their injuries is to start with a doctor if they are in doubt about the nature of the problem.  The doctor has access to the best diagnostic tools and can refer you to specialists or recommend a range of treatments, including from allied health professionals.  If you start with these allied health professionals, then maybe not all possible diagnoses and treatments will be considered. 

Enough is never enough

Aerial view of The Haven

After managing to jog a kilometre yesterday at the end of my walk, I decided to do something similar today.  It was Saturday, so the usual early start on a very cold morning at Terrigal.  The skies were clear with a bright half-moon and an icy breeze that brought a significant chill to the 100 or so runners standing around chatting before the regular end-month 10km time trial started at 6am.

After the runners set off, I walked the half kilometre along the beachfront to The Haven with fellow injured clubmate, Brian, and we jogged a couple of laps of the 500m road loop before Brian left to finish his session on the grass rugby field.  Originally, that was as much jogging as I had planned for the day, but although my right arch was sore, I didn't feel like I was aggravating the injury.  So I decided to do another two laps, and then some walking.  After those two laps I decided I could handle another two before walking back to Terrigal.  And after those two laps, I decided I might as well jog the 500m back to Terrigal.  So, in the end, I jogged about 3.5km.

This little exercise in gradualism illustrates a challenge I always struggle with during come-backs.  When you can't run at all and are putting on weight and losing condition, you tell yourself that, if you could just jog a few kilometres a day, life would be good.  You might not be able to race, but who cares.  Your fitness and weight might stabilise and you could at least work up a bit of a sweat.

Then, after two days of jogging a couple of kilometres, you start thinking, if you could just manage 5km a day, that would be really good, and so on.  Before long, it's 10km per day, and maybe the Trotters Saturday morning run.

Sometimes this approach works for me, but not always.  More often, you get to running the 5km per day, and after a few days, the injury starts hurting a little more.  At the same time, with those couple of runs under your belt, you feel a little fitter and don't want to believe that you have overdone it.  Maybe it's just some scar tissue hurting, or an atrophied muscle struggling with renewed running.  Before you know it, you have to accept that the injury has worsened, it's time to back off the running, and you have set yourself back a week or two (or worse).

I feel like I may have started down that slippery slope with the last two days of jogging, even though it was only for short distances.  I now have to be alert for any deterioration in the troublesome arch and be ready willing to cut back or stop if that occurs, regardless of the temptation to keep going.  It will be a bit easier to make that decision, if necessary, now that I have given up on the idea of running the Melbourne Marathon in October.  The new, very tentative plan, is to run the Hobart Marathon in January assuming I can get back to full training during September.  I will revise my training program when I'm confident I am over the injury.

Compensatory eating

When cycling all day, as was the case during my Round Australia
record attempts, the "Big Breakfast" was a daily feature of my
diet, with no weight impact.

The last three weeks of no running has been a test of my dietary willpower, and I'm starting to lose the battle.  I have never been someone who is naturally thin.....and I like my food.  In my teens and twenties, I didn't worry about what I ate at all.  Youthful musculature and plenty of miles, was enough to keep me at a good running weight.  When I reached my running peak, I began to take more care with what I ate but my best racing weight remained around 64kg, with the lightest I ever remember recording being 61kg.

In my latter years, I have considered 66-68kg to be my desirable running weight, but on occasions, have been as high as 76kg.  If I stop running and eat what I feel like, I can rapidly gain those 8kg, and it takes much longer to lose them again.

A few years ago, it became obvious to me that even when running 80-100 kilometres per week, if I didn't watch what I ate, my weight stabilised around 72kg, too heavy to run really well.  In a somewhat obvious epiphany, I realised that my body was no longer able to support the running necessary to bring down my weight, and that if I wanted to maintain a reasonable running weight and stay healthy for my remaining years, I was going to have to cut down on my eating.

Since then, with the exception of hiking and biking trips, I have adhered to some fairly simple dietary rules - no snacks, no desserts and no second helpings.  As a further measure, I limit the size of my breakfast (usually one slice of toast with peanut butter plus a large fruit juice) and eat it as late as possible, and limit the size of my lunch to one sandwich.  Dinner tends to be larger, but limited to one plate only.  I don't drink alcohol or sugared soft drinks, but do drink a lot of diet cola.  Limited treats (maybe chocolate or corn chips) are allowed after long runs or during trips to the cinema.  I try not to beat myself up if I stray occasionally, and permit limited dietary holidays for Easter, Christmas, etc.

This regime has worked well to keep my weight in the 66-68kg range for most of the last three or four years, but I always struggle a bit when I have to stop running because of injury, and that has been the case this week.  One factor is despondency about my injury and its impact on my Melbourne Marathon ambitions.  Another is the change to my daily routine because of my trip to Melbourne.  It has become very easy to have a biscuit for morning tea, or some dessert after dinner.  Partly, it's because I like my food, but partly it is driven by the need for a "feel good" replacement for the running I am missing.  Of course, the "feel good" part only lasts for a few minutes, while the physical consequences can last a lot longer.

I didn't find time to do my scheduled 5km walk today, but still plan to run and walk 5km tomorrow.  It will be the first running I have done for three weeks.  Normally that would be enough time for a soft tissue injury to repair, but I fear I may have walked a little too much in the first week I had off running.  Time will tell.  I'm confident that if I can resume regular running, then I will find it easier to resume my dietary discipline.  If still hampered by injury, then I will have to give myself a good "talking to" about my deteriorating dietary habits.  It's hard enough to come back from injury.  If you are carrying extra kilograms, it not only becomes even harder, but the risk of other injury increases because of the extra weight you are carrying.

Motivation

Clipping from The Gazette, Montreal,
Monday, May 31, 1982.

The last couple of weeks have been very frustrating, as discussed in previous posts.  I seemed to be on track with my training program and hopeful of achieving the sub-3:00 marathon performance I was hoping for this coming October in Melbourne, then got injured.  It doesn't seem serious, but is slow to heal and the Melbourne Marathon looks doubtful and my motivation has been low.

One of my golfing buddies, Dave, sent me an email on Friday suggesting I think about going for the greatest spans between marathon wins, as perhaps an easier option.  He included a clipping about American, Benji Durden, having won the Nutmeg Marathon in Connecticut (3:56) in May of this year, 36 years after his first marathon win, the longest span on record.  Dave's aware of my quest for another sub-3:00 marathon and was suggesting that perhaps Benji's new record might be more feasible (given his winning time).  I actually met Benji, a much better-performed marathon runner than me, at the 1982 Montreal International Marathon where I was part of an Australian team.  He won in 2:13, whilst I was 46th in 2:29!  It was interesting to get Dave's email and learn that I might finally be able to beat Benji, 31 years later.  I never actually won that many marathons (plenty of 2nds, for some reason), and the first was in 1979, so Benji's record looks safe.



Finishing the 1982 Montreal International
(46th, 2:29....not one of my better runs!)

However, on researching Benji's performances, I came across the Association of Road Racing Statisticians website which provides a wealth of information about road racing.  After some further searching, I found their Marathon Trivia section and then a page titled Longest Time Spans Between First and Last Sub-X Marathons.  With that, I found my motivation to get fit and pursue my sub-3:00!
The current best is 39 years, with another 11 runners with 34 years or better.  If I did manage to run a sub-3:00 marathon in the next year, my span would be 43 years, well ahead of the pack, and the kind of challenge that really gets me out of bed in the morning.

On a more sobering note, I walked a little over 2km this morning and could still feel that things aren't quite right in my troublesome arch.  However, there was no real pain and I will repeat the exercise tomorrow.

In search of information

Despite not planning to run, or even walk very much, I rose very early and joined the throng building on the Terrigal waterfront at 5:30am for the 6:00am Trotters' run.  It was cold and I was wearing jeans and multiple layers, making it obvious to everybody that I wasn't going to be running.  As usual, there was lots of animated conversation, and people were sympathetic to my plight.  At 6am, the place cleared and I plugged in my earphones and wandered off for a gentle stroll along the waterfront and through the shopping precinct listening to the latest audio version of The Economist (published Friday nights), while the sun gradually coloured the eastern sky and silhouetted the fishing boats heading out to sea.  I really really wanted to go for a run, but there's just enough sensitivity in my right arch to convince me that there still may be a problem and running could potentially set me back.



Comparison of planned and actual marathon training outcomes

Later in the day, as I despaired of my chances of running strongly again within a few months, I devoted some time to analysing how much training I had done compared to plan, and how my marathon preparations had gone in a previous era.

Most of my working life was spent managing and analysing data and information, and I have a passion for numbers.  So, it's not surprising that I have diaries for fifteen of my prime running years in which I planned and analysed my training from many aspects.  One of my base measures was the seven-day running mileage total and I took a look at the twenty weeks leading up to my best marathon time in 1979, and compared it to the twenty weeks leading up to this year's Melbourne Marathon.

Not surprisingly, when in full training, I was averaging more than twice the mileage.  However, perhaps the most valuable information was that in the lead-up to that race in 1979 I lost significant training time to a quadriceps tear and a serious bout of tonsillitis, and had a few very poor race performances along the way.

The lesson for me is not to lose faith in my ability as I encounter obstacles, lose training time, or perform badly.  I have often said that potential is defined by your best performances (and training), not your worst.

Three days lost

Training for a marathon has seemed a distant fantasy for the past three days.



Crossing the line in the 1982 Boston Marathon
(49th in 2:22:39)

I woke early on Sunday morning with a severe headache followed by bouts of vomiting and dry retching and twelve hours later, at Sharon's insistence, was in the local hospital's Emergency Department on a drip having various tests and a brain scan.  The tests failed to show anything untoward and they eventually sent me home with instructions to return if there was no improvement.  I spent the next 36 hours in bed sleeping and dozing.  My headache gradually abated as my ability to keep down fluids and food gradually returned.  There was no thought of any exercise.

Today, although still feeling a bit spaced out, I have returned to the world of the living and am eating and drinking normally.  I'm hoping my ailment was just some kind of 48-hour bug I picked up, though the hospital tests didn't identify any viruses.  I decided not to exercise today either, and will now have missed three complete days.  The downtime seems to have been the catalyst for a more realistic assessment of my marathon training plan.  There was still some specific pain in my right arch when I got up this morning and I have decided I would be smarter to continue resting it than to resume jogging this week as intended.



Showing off my Boston Marathon medal after
the post-race presentation (it is engraved
Top 10, though awarded to each of the top
50 in recognition of the growth in numbers).

I know I am vacillating on the rehabilitation plan, but I am starting to recognise that there's less than 14 weeks to the Melbourne Marathon and my chances of a sub-3 are diminishing with each day that passes when I cannot train properly.  The pressure to resume training too quickly comes from the approaching Melbourne Marathon deadline and the reality is that Melbourne race is not the only race around.  Although I'm getting older as every day passes, there's no real reason why I should run slower in, say, January 2014, than in October 2013.  It's more a function of the length of the injury-free training lead up, than of age.

So, for now, I'm not even going to walk any distance until I feel the right arch is better.  If I'm lucky enough to be running pain-free by the end of next week, then I'm still a chance to be fit enough to run well in Melbourne.  If not, I'll just have to postpone my ambition for a couple of months and hope I get a better training lead-up.

Highs and lows

Just over a week ago, I rose early with a sense of enthusiasm and anticipation for my Saturday morning Trotters' run, knowing that I had reshaped my hiking body into a running body.  I ran well, felt fit, and publicised to the world my plans for a sub-3 hour Melbourne Marathon in October.

The next day my right arch was a bit sore, for no known reason, and now, eight days later, I had great trouble dragging myself out of bed for my Sunday morning run.  My sleep had been disturbed many times during the night by the sharp pain in my right arch.  I was now struggling to come to terms with the likelihood that my chances of October marathon success were now much reduced and eventually conceded that a Sunday run was a bad idea.



Looking south from Cromarty Hill

I had managed to get through yesterday's hard run despite the sore arch and the emotional part of my brain was telling me that I should stick to my training plan, ignore the pain, and eventually it would go away and I would have lost little time and fitness in my marathon quest.

The rational part of my brain was telling me that the pain would just get worse and worse if I tried to train through it, and the worse it got, the longer it would take to get better.  I knew, deep within myself, that I had to get the arch right, and be sure it was right, before I tried to resume hard training.  My benchmark rehab time for soft tissue injuries is three weeks, but maybe I can get away with losing less fitness if I can do some walking and light jogging during those three weeks.  We went for an easy family walk in the afternoon from Crackneck to Cromarty Hill and the discomfort wasn't too bad, but when I tried to jog for a few steps, there was sharp pain high in the arch.

My general plan will now be to walk about 5km each day this week, jog and walk next week, and jog the week after.  I will only follow this plan if there is no pain at each stage, and only shorten the staged rehab if I'm very confident the arch can handle it.  I have already lost a week through not immediately resting it when the pain first became apparent last weekend.  However, on balance, it was probably worth taking the chance that the injury was not serious.  The goal now is to not compound the error by trying to come back too soon again.  In the back of my mind, I know I need to begin coming to terms with the probability that sub-3 in Melbourne is unlikely.  In the scheme of things, it's not really a big deal.  I did expect that injury would intervene, but right now it's very disappointing.

Handicapped

I fronted up early for the Trotters' Kerry Anderson 10km Handicap Time Trial on a miserably wet and dark Saturday morning.  After getting the post-run drinks ready, I ran over to The Haven and for four laps of the road, splashing through puddles and trying not to trip over in the misty darkness.  It was important that I run about 3km for a warm-up if I want to be able to start the event at a reasonable pace.  I also wanted to see how sore my arch was and found it to be detectable but not painful.



Runners get ready to start in Terrigal Trotters' Kerry Anderson
Handicap on the Terrigal promenade

A couple of years ago, I began to notice that I was going into oxygen debt very early in races and struggling to get enough oxygen into my lungs.  After persevering for a year or two, I sought medical advice, was diagnosed with exercise-induced asthma, and have been on medication since then.  For the first time in a while, I began to feel like I was able to fill my lungs with a deep breath, and have been, on average, running more comfortably since.  However, it still works better if I start out slowly.



Backmarkers watch from shelter as the frontmarkers head out

The Trotters' Handicap is a fun event, generating lots of pre-race banter on social media and in person.  The Handicaps are published a week beforehand on the web and runners keenly scan for their own handicaps and those of potential rivals.  The handicaps are calculated to have all runners finish exactly at 7am, but of course this is not the way it works out.  There are always a couple of runners who get generous handicaps and then run their best times by a large margin.  I was off the same mark (6:18am) as two friends, Mike and James, and found the early pace just a little faster than I liked.  I could feel some minor pain in my right arch, but it wasn't causing me to limp, which was a good sign.  After a couple of kilometres, I warmed up and was running more freely to about the 6 kilometre mark, where my lack of racing caught up with me and I lost some momentum.

I finished with a time of 41:37, which was a little slower than I had hoped, but acceptable.  On the downside, high in my right arch there is now a some quite specific pain, even when I walk around.  I am fearful that I need a more extended rest from running to get it right, which will significantly impact my Melbourne Marathon preparation.  I won't jump to conclusions at this point, but will see how it feels tomorrow.

Trying to follow my own advice

My first steps of the day were very tentative as I tested out my sore right arch.  Of course, these days, my first steps are always tentative in the morning, and especially the day after a log run.  I hobble around, descend the stairs sideways and slowly, and wonder how I could hope to run at any speed any time soon.  After my usual exercise routine and a cup of coffee, my outlook and walking tend to improve.  This morning, pain was perceptible in the arch, but it wasn't too bad.



At the 16km mark en route to my PB marathon (2:19:06)
behind Rob De Castella at Point Cook, Victoria, in June 1979

Today was a planned recovery day, but the bigger decision was what training to do for the rest of the week in light of the arch problem.  I did want to run in well two races coming up this weekend, the Terrigal Trotters 10km Time Trial on Saturday, and the Woodford to Glenbrook 25km trail race on Sunday, but also wanted to stick to my training plan.  The "easy" decision would be to train lightly for the next four days, let the arch repair, and  freshen up for the races.  However, in my running prime, I credited my best marathon performances to staying focused on a specific event, adhering to my program, and not succumbing to minor injuries or the temptation to freshen up for intervening races.  I don't like missing races, or performing below par because of a heavy training program, but have always been willing to pay that price in quest of a greater goal.

On the other hand, I know that because of my innate stubbornness, my bigger problem can sometimes be my unwillingness to change my training program in the face of injuries and illness.  I'm trying to be more mature in approach these days and test my running decisions against the standard of the advice I would give someone else in the same situation.  The main game here is to be fit and injury free for the Melbourne Marathon in October.  I would tell another athlete that missing a couple of quality sessions sixteen weeks out from the target race is much less important than getting an injury right.  I would also tell them that it was OK to keep running so long as the injury was not getting worse, but to back off if it was.  I decided to follow my own advice for the rest of the week.



The lagoon about to break out in to the ocean at Copa

It had been raining heavily all night, and the lagoon at the back of our house was as high as I have seen in my nine years here, so I decided that, for today, my training would be a walk down to the sandbar separating the lagoon from the ocean and then a 4km jog/walk around Copa, depending on how sore my right arch felt.  My training plan called for an easy 10km recovery day, so walking and jogging 5km wasn't much of a shortfall for today.  There was some arch pain, but I didn't feel like I was making it worse and, more importantly, it was less painful than after yesterday's run.  I'll plan for an easy 10km tomorrow, but be ready to modify that if necessary.

Risk analysis

After the lower back stiffness and nerve tingling of yesterday, I was quite anxious about how I would go at this week's Saturday morning Trotters' Avoca Amphitheatre run.  This was to be the first serious tempo run in my training program for the Melbourne Marathon and I hadn't tried to run fast, apart from Thursday evening's track session, for two months.  I was very conscious that running fast with the niggles left over from Thursday significantly increased the risk of injury.  However, I'm also very conscious that to get myself to the level of fitness necessary, I need to try and follow my program.  This will involve taking some calculated risks and not taking it easy every time I have a niggle.  The terrible thing about running injuries, especially soft tissue (muscles, ligaments and tendons), is that they can happen very quickly, often in a couple of strides, and there's no going back.  A soft tissue injury at this point will set me back a minimum of six weeks - three weeks for the injury to repair and three weeks to get back to where I am now.  A sobering thought.

Looking back down one of the gentler hills on Trotters'
Avoca Amphitheatre run

My approach is to take commonsense precautions, such as making sure I'm warmed up and starting slowly.  Then, if an injury occurs, I can put it down to bad luck and the risks that must be taken to reach new fitness levels.  I have always found that in running, as in life, you make the best decision you can given the available information and accept the consequences, be they good or bad.  There's no point in looking back and saying "what if?".  If the worst happens, accept it and move on.  If it resulted from a deficiency in your analysis, then learn the lessons and don't repeat the error next time.

Running is definitely a sport where you learn more and more about your own body as you go along.  The hard part is harnessing that knowledge to make smart decisions and avoid emotional choices.  I know that I have always been a lot better at suggesting rational running and injury management plans to others than following them myself.  I was notorious in my running club, back in the eighties, for suggesting to attendees at marathon running clinics we organised, that "consistency and moderation" were the key to success.  My fellow clubmates knew that my own training was anything but "moderate" - 240, and more, kilometres a week.

Anyway, for this morning's run, I found time for a one kilometre warm-up beforehand and then started slowly at the back of the pack as we climbed the challenging Kurrawyba laneway away from Terrigal.  After a couple of kilometres, I felt sufficiently warmed up to begin chasing the leaders, who by now were long gone.  I was moving well and feeling fit as I gradually worked my way through the field, though I lost my momentum a bit on the infamous climb up Coast Road and never did catch Ian or Kev.

It was a satisfying run, and where I want to be at this stage in my preparation.  I did have some sharp pain in my right instep at times and am hoping that it is just a minor issue.  Maybe the way I tied up my shoelaces today?  I will find out tomorrow when I tackle my scheduled long road run.

Other sports

Golf at 7am again this morning and I headed out for my easy 5km at 5:15am on the longest night of the year. It was cold and my right Achilles was sore, but didn't feel too bad considering how hard last night's track session had been for me.  One of the reasons that I squeeze my run in before golf is that I think it loosens me up a little.  There have been occasions in the past when I have run after golf and suffered from side or back injuries.  I can't specifically tie those injuries to golf, but I do think that participating in other sports can be risky if you are a serious runner.



Melbourne Herald, 1 February 1973

I gave up other sports I enjoyed playing, such as cricket, tennis and volleyball, during my twenties because either running took up too much time, or because of the risk of injury.  I also frequently represented my Club in hurdles and jump events, and even competed in the State Decathlon Championships when 22, coming 10th out of 18 entrants.  My pole-vaulting was execrable and inspired the accompanying article in the Melbourne evening newspaper.

In my late twenties, when I got really serious about my marathon running, I realised that injuries in other sports and events risked derailing my ambitions and I began to focus strictly on running.  I confess that I now question the value of time devoted to other types of training, such as cycling or cross-training, and particularly think they should not be substituted for running training for the serious runner.  But, everybody is different.  I always raced best when running a very high mileage (200km -240km per week) which didn't leave much time for other training when working full-time, but I know of others who have successfully used a different approach.

During my preparation for the Melbourne Marathon over the next four months, I have decided to stay away from my bike and kayak, just in case they are incompatible with the running.  I decided, however, that playing golf had lower risk, but after this morning am not so sure.  Not only did I play my worst round for a long time, but I could feel tingling nerves in my lower back and some stiffness from yesterday's track session.  The two are probably connected.  Hopefully, I will feel more flexible for tomorrow morning's run with Terrigal Trotters during which I hope to run hard.

Tactical modifications

Wednesday, 12 June 2013

I decided last night that I would be wiser to just run a “no pressure” 10km today and postpone the scheduled mid-week long run until tomorrow.  I do believe that the long runs are successfully converting me from a hiker to a runner and want to stick to my original plan, but I also want to have a faster run on Saturday morning at Trotters and can’t afford to leave the long run until too late in the week.  If I did that, then I would risk injury from running fast too soon after running long.



The main road into McMasters Beach.......
the only flat running nearby.

After spending time warming up with exercises and a few household chores, I set out around 9am for the flattest 10km available from Copa.  This involves crossing the sand bar at the mouth of the adjacent lagoon and running out and back along the main road into McMasters Beach.  There are still a few hills, and I generally avoid out-and-back courses if I can, but it’s the only option for an easier 10km from home.

I felt good in the early kilometres, moving more freely and with better running form than expected, and even contemplated converting the 10km run into a 30km run.  However, I decided to stick to the plan and later on felt a few twinges in my calf and back and some muscle fatigue in the legs, which confirmed the wisdom of my choice.

I finished in good form and decided, perversely, that I would be wiser to cut back tomorrow’s long run to 15km instead of 25-30km.  My thinking is that I have reached the point where my running form is good again, which was the purpose of the long runs, and now I would be smarter to ensure my full recovery from last Sunday’s marathon before embarking on my 17-week Melbourne Marathon program, starting this Sunday.

Recovering from long runs

Monday, 3 June 2013

In my running prime in Melbourne, I frequently ran with a group for a hard 30km or more in the Dandenong Ranges on a Sunday morning and followed it up with a social 10km warm-down run with some of the same running friends on the grass oval at Wattle Park in the evening.  I won’t say it was easy to do, but it was quite manageable in terms of recovery.  As the years have passed, there has been a very noticeable decline in my recovery rate after a long run and even a 10km run the next day has become a chore.  My body is still very stiff 24 hours after the long run and these 10km runs would be very slow and very hard work.

It took me a long time to get over the 2008 Deep
Space Trail Marathon

For many years, right through into my fifties, I still forced myself to run on the days after long runs thinking that it was weakness to give in to the creaks and groans from my ageing body.  I finally began to wonder whether this dogged perseverance was actually hindering my recovery and increasing the risk of subsequent injury and began to experiment with walking on the recovery day as an alternative.

I feel sure that, for the cardio-vascular system, it would be better to run than walk on recovery days.  However, I am now of the opinion that walking is the right option for me in my sixties.  It gently works the same muscles, is weight-bearing and burns nearly as many kilojoules as would a run of the same distance.  I am thinking about adding an evening jog to my morning walk as I ramp up my training for the Melbourne Marathon on the basis that the morning walk will work out the post-long run stiffness, but will back off if it seems not to be working.

After a bad night’s sleep resulting from yesterday’s leech bites, I was late to get myself out the door for my recovery 5km walk and a little fearful that the right Achilles and groin pain might still be significant.  As it turned out, I could feel both injuries, but not badly enough to change my training plans for the week, and I felt better for having the exercise.