Week 6 – The Idea

I have not explained to this point why I would set myself the ridiculous challenge of running a half marathon after such a disastrous attempt at a 5.9km fun run.  After my second effort at the Terang Noorat fun run, which was much more successful than the first, I began to wonder what’s next.  I had trained longer and smarter this time around and my legs were operating like they should.  I could do a 5k run two or three times a week and walk away with no ill effects.  Still inspired by the two people who started all this, (curse them anyway), I was actually enjoying running and didn’t want that hard work to be just lost.

I had jokingly challenged another running friend to a 10k event, and this would have been an easier option, but the easy option wouldn’t provide the challenge I was looking for.  I felt like I could run 10k anytime and I needed this to be six months build up.

The Melbourne Marathon bought together a number of things that were important in what I was looking for.  The first was that the distance was a huge challenge.  Something I could not have contemplated twelve months ago, and even now I not so sure about it.  The second was that it traditionally finishes inside the MCG, one of my favourite places to be.  The idea of completing this personal challenge on the hallowed turf in front of a massive? crowd was far too appealing.  The third and perhaps most importantly, was that the event happens to be just days before my 50th birthday.

I’ve never been one to stress about the meaning of a significant birthday, and generally see them as the beginning of something new, rather than the end.  I’ve greeted both 30 and 40 and viewed them as a chance to set some new goals and reset the focus.  We’ve also celebrated them by doing something BIG

I’m looking forward to 50 and am excited by what the next few years promise.  We are part time empty nesters and are already enjoying some of the freedoms that presents.  After years of “doing it for the kids” I see fifty as the chance to enjoy some personal time.

After last weeks altercation with the IKEA furniture our lounge room again resembled a recovery unit. I was icing each night in order to reduce the swelling and bring out the bruising. It wasn’t until Thursday that I was able to consider running.  A short slow session on the treadmill, fairly flat footed, not much work on the toes. 

You don’t really appreciate how important your toes are in the scheme of things, and how often they actually get used. One week on and the cut on my big toe is still weeping and my second toe (it took the full force of the impact) is still tender to touch.  I’m reluctant to admit it may be broken.

I did manage a 12 k run on Saturday morning..  While the toes were still a bit sore, it wasn’t painful.  I’ve put up with a lot worse.  20 ks for the week

I didn’t see too many out on Saturday morning, although the fog was that thick I probably wouldn’t have seen them anyway.  By the time I got home I was as wet as I would have been if it was raining.

5 weeks to go now, and the challenge for this week is to keep both feet intact. This will be important, as I need to start really increasing the weekly ks

33 days to go.

Week 4 -The Shoes

All the miles I have been doing as part of the training for my half marathon was starting to take its toll on my running shoes.  I’d had them since we started running as part of our new healthy lifestyle, so two years on they were starting to feel  a bit flat.  The exercise of buying new running shoes was an experience in itself.

It wasn’t as simple as walking into a store and looking for running shoes, four different brands and hundreds of assorted styles.  Far from the two brands and a choice of blue or red that we used to have.

First step, literally, was on the special mat to see how I walked.  I’ve been doing it for almost fifty years but have never been so conscious of how I put one foot in front of the other.  The shop assistant stripped me bare, well took my socks off, and secretly filmed me from behind.  (a bit big brother, I was feeling a little exposed). This showed up how skinny my ankles actually are and apparently, how unstable my foot is as I land.  I’ve been doing it wrong all these years.

I was presented with four different options.  I’m a Librian so options are, ultimately, just a time waster.  The hardest choice of all was not what brand or even which colour, but a choice between gel cushion,  wave plate, or power grid.  I have no idea what any of them did, but for an old man trying to do the improbable, I opted for the gel cushioning.

Unlike the highly scientific running gear we use today,  the footwear of choice back when I first started running were Adidas ‘Romes’. White leather with 3 blue stripes.  Compared to the comfort & support that today’s shoes offer, the Adidas ‘Romes’ gave us nothing in terms of cushioning from the road.  It is no wonder I ended up with dodgy knees.

The great thing about the ‘Romes’ was their versatility.  Not only were they running shoes, but an all round sports shoe.  Squash, tennis, basketball and cricket, they could cover it all.   But they really showed their true style away from the sports field.

Their best work was as a casual shoe.  They worked perfectly with jeans and could be worn everyday, to the footy, out shopping or just socialising.  They could do it all, we wore them day and night.   It was at night that they really became a fashion statement.  If you were lucky you had an everyday pair, then a “good” pair that could be worn out to dinner,  to a party, but especially to the disco.  I could really cut the moves on the dance floor and was sure I was attracting all the attention.

After running in the city last week it was back to the solitude of the walking track to Noorat this week, just one solitary cyclist (hey Jack).  16kms today @ 5:35/km,  the time for the last few ks blew out to close to 6 mins.  The jump from 14ks to 16 has seemed a lot harder than, say, the jump from 10ks to 12.  I am really starting to appreciate just how tough 21ks is going to be.   A lot more work to done in order to extend my distances. 26 ks for the week.

A bit of residual foot soreness from last week.  I don’t think it’s anything to worry about yet but I’ll need to keep an eye on it.  I hope the fancy new shoes help.

47 days to go.

Week 3 – The Not-So-Fun Run

The Terang Noorat fun run was a creation of the Terang Lions Club in the 1983, after the Ash Wednesday fires, to bring the community together. It has grown to be a feature of the Terang calendar.  Every year an eclectic mix of over 300 runners and walkers gather in front of the Noorat pub to tackle the 5.9 km road to Terang. It features semi-professional runners, (Steve Moneghetti still holds the record), school kids, footy and netball clubs, casual runners and a few old stagers.

Thanks to the continuing Achilles injuries, I arrived at the start in Noorat having done one small jog on the grass at the golf course, just to see if I could still run, and still walking like I had fused ankles.

It had been a stinking hot day, as normally happens in February, still in the mid 30s by the start of the event, and a gusty northerly wind to make things uncomfortable.  Fortunately we would be heading south.

I set off a steady pace, determined to ignore the pain that occurred every time either foot hit the road.  Only 5.8 km to go.  I eventually got into a fairly monotone rhythm, not a great pace, but one I felt I could maintain.  I had managed to get to the town boundary, with about 2 ks to go, and really feeling the effects of the evening heat and the hard surface of the road, I felt the dreaded pop in one leg.  I knew it wasn’t good, but also knew if I stopped at that point, that would be it.  So I battled on, focusing on the goal of completing what I had set out to do.

1km to go, and heading for the final stretch to the finish, another pop in the other leg.  This time I knew it could be serious, but concentrated on keeping one foot in front of the other.  The pain continued with every step.  Form, style and pace had all gone out the window, all I had left was sheer pig headedness.

Somehow I struggled up Baynes St, past the now dwindling crowd at the finish, got a greeting from Justin Staunton (I’m sure Justin has compèred everyone of the 30 years) and literally staggered across the finish.  I thought at that point I might live to regret it, but I had completed the challenge I had set myself months earlier.  I had to be assisted over to a shady spot and never moved for 20 minutes.  I had to be all but carried out of there, as I couldn’t walk on my own.  I made sure we went out the back way though, so nobody saw me.

It would be 3 months before I could walk without pain.  Curse those two people.

I laugh now as I write that, (enough time has passed), because at that point I thought I would never be able to run again let alone do 5.9 ks on the road.  Now as a training run I go to Noorat and back.

This weekend we happened to be in Melbourne so I took the opportunity to run in the area the half marathon event will be.  Firstly through Melbourne famous sporting precinct, Olympic Park, MCG and the Tennis Centre.  I was excited to be running in the shadows of such great sporting venues.

I then headed out, the length of St Kilda Rd, turned and came back the same way.  This may not help performance the day of the event, but at least I won’t get lost.

On a normal Saturday morning I might see two or three other people running or walking the dog, so St Kilda Rd was a bit extreme, as you had to weave your way through everyone exercising, the dogs, prams and all the tourists.  The biggest challenge of the day though, was managing the traffic lights and manoeuvring around the cars and trams. It gave you more to think about than just what your legs were doing or how you were feeling.

15.2 kms @ 5:30/km.  25 ks for the week. Why is it that no matter how far you run it’s always the last two ks that hurt the most.  Although the pain was eased by the beauty of the Fitzroy Gardens.

I have worked out that to complete the half marathon, I need to do today’s run, 15.2kms, then a Terang Noorat, 5.9kms.  A long way to go.

54 days to go.