Overdone the running

I had to walk home from run this morning. I had soreness on the outside of my left foot just before the heel. I ran a timetrial on Sunday and ran hard and had sore legs on Monday but still managed my Tuesday run and it was quite good. I have often run on legs that are a bit sore after a race I find it helps ease the soreness. I walked the chilfren to school wednesday and legs were getting better. But when I started my run this morning I could feel the discomfort but I felt it a bit after my timetrial I thought I could run it off - however 40minutes into my run it was getting worse - so I walked the last 20minutes. I walked the children to school 2 hours later and that seems to have helped. I think the reason for the soreness was the timetrials (like solo races) and I got carried away as my speed was starting to come back. In hindsight I should have known 18months no running + about 3 months return to running usually = injury shoes or barefoot. However in my defence my right foot is perfect. I have been thinking for a while my right foot is stronger than the left and I think I've got proof.

Moving forward when I return to running , I'm going to miss a few days, I'm not going to do any more run timetrials this summer and that means no triathlons. I had been thinking of not racing because my running was too slow by my standards who would have thoughts no running for 18 months = loss of speed. One of my many problems is that I am an eternal optimist which often clouds reality and this is why I was doing timetrials so I get an accurate picture where I'm at and now I know.

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Swimming PB dealt a blow

All my times and data recorded from swimming in Pandora's are worthless.

After my time trial on Thursday, which was ruining by kids in optimist yachts sailing right me, I went for my normal Sunday swim straight 1000m swim between the bouys that are the furthest apart (3 and 1) to find that bouy 1 at the far end of the pond had been moved right into the farthest corner adding a significant 50m - 75m to the length. The day before there was a half-ironman called ironmaori targetting pacific islanders and maori to get motivated to improve their health. And it is very successful but it does mean a lot of morbidly obese people donning lycra, etc And although I understand the reasons I don't think it is healthy. Anyway back to swimming. The Sunday morning was the club's first Shed2 series race in the pond and comparing peoples swim results between that and the Icebuster(both supposed to 750m) all the top swimmers where about 1min -1.30min slower. I was 4min slower for my easy 1000m.

So it looks like the swim bouys have been reset acurately and that means my PBs I had set were not PBs for 750m which is a bit depressing that I'm not as swimming as fast as I thought I was but in reality everybody is in the same boat and I'm still in the same position time wise compared to my competition. So if racer A swims faster than me by a minute that doesn't change he will still be about a minute faster than me.

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Straight from Chris McDougall's blog

Lost Secret of Perfect Running (or, Ever Wonder Why Running Shoes Always Get Great Reviews?) by Christopher on November 2, 2011

This Sunday, I have a story in the New York Times Magazine which reveals the secret of perfect running. It’s a drill from the 1800s called “The 100 Up,” and after months of experimentation, I’m convinced it’s foolproof.
Check out the story here.

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Swimming update

It has been a while since I've treally had anything to write about on the training front. Because in reality the training is boring. It is about the next pedal stroke or progress in barefoot ruuning or the same old technique work in swimming - nothing really changes. But the summer racing season is upon me. I had identified last summer that because I wasn't racing(adjusting to barefoot running) I just trained through without the stimulus and break from routine provided and I raced best when I rest a lot. So I introduced my timetrials in all 3 disciplines every second week to imitate racing a lot.

This week was my first timetrial around the course in Pandora's pond (I do 700m and exclude the 50m beach start). I was as nervous as before a major race - fear of not swimming well. I had swum 12.17min on the exact same day as last year just a month after stasrting back open water swimming and just exclusively technique work all autumn, winter , etc. After months of swimming hard intervals between the bouys in the pond my final timetrial last year (I only did 2) my time was 11.20min and it felt comfortable. This week I did in 11.13min and it felt easy. So I'm gradually going to go harder and harder. In training I am still working on my fitness and I'm doing an overdistance swim (1000m non-stop) and then I will start doing harder intervals. I just want to see how fast I can get I'm hoping for 10min this summer. 10min for 700m. I'm dreaming of 9min the following year.

After that result I feel completely relaxed , I can still say my weird way of re-teaching my body to swim is working and at times I don't see a limit to what I can achieve then sometimes the little voice in my head says improvement can't go on forever. But most of the time my dream of being 1st out of the water is alive and still is the most important target for me

I'm adding a running target I want to beat my running pb of 1.16.xx min set for the half-marathon in 1994 when training for Ironman Lanzarote and this time doing it in minimalist running shoes.

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Slacking off.

I've been a bit lazy recently although some of my laziness is connected with a mild case of food poisoning and a a cold that's left me feeling run down, and I could still train in fact riding my bike made me feel better.

You found this by Steve Jobs co-founder of apple

This article

Political scientist James Scott has been delivering a series of lectures on the domestication of man via grain and government. his and other great lectures can be found here

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Big fan of Peter Reid Former ironman world champ

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Training update

Back in the pool buiding up to 3x1500m wearing a 1kilogram ankle weight. 1x500m of balls in hands, 1x500 with no cheat catch up (catch up with stick in hands), 1x500 with paddles with only finger straps. Today I managed 3x200 (the 200 as 4x50). Training on the bike is more sprints in 53x12 and starting to buildup my long Sunday rides slowly up to 3hours again. Every 4th Sunday I'm doing 30 min timetrial on the turbo, it will break the routine and eventually get me ready for racing ( again doing something I've been avoiding over the years but I know I should be doing it).

The only downside has been my ankles, hips and legs have all been sore not sure why some is because of the minimalist shoes but some have been caused on the bike. But I don't know if they were also caused by the changes I've been experiencing in the minimalist shoes.

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Lack of running

I forgot to mention my foot problems. My right foot is playing, plantar facisitis (spelling?) is back making it difficult to walk never mind run. I stopped using my orthotics over a year ago and I refuse to start using them again. I was born without orthotics and believe it has been shoe wearing that has caused the problem so I am committed to treating it there are lots of exercises to help it. The best one is using a ball or a an object that rolls and you roll it with the sole of the affected foot it serves to massage the planter ligament and breaks up scar tissue. I have a small piece of tree branch and a also a smaller diameter object which is fatter in the middle designed for foot massage that I use.

Join the movement and we'll start a revolution - stop all unnecessary shopping - separate your needs from your wants.