The first night event for the year. Warm, light fluffy breeze, and all roads lead downhill. Had an amazing run! Knee felt great (still taped), and the legs hadn't forgotten how to run uphill either on the way home. 7.65 kms - my first run of this length for nearly a month.
I finally bit the bullet and carted my knees off to the physio this morning. The good news is that there's no cartilage damage, and the knee-to-foot structure is good. The bad news is that my lower right leg is weak (probably caused by a bad ankle sprain 15 years ago which was never treated) with lack of calf development compared to the left, and a loose outer tendon.
The good news is that it's fixable. :-)
My right knee is now heavily taped, and I'm allowed to run tonight - in fact, she wants me to run! Just not too fast. And I have exercises to do in front of the telly (any excuse!).
Next visit on Friday, and I need to book in to the podiatrist sometime too. The way my feet are now, I may be able to wear straight-lasted neutral shoes (instead of stability shoes), with a custom arch support. That means they should be lighter too.
watch this space.
http://www.ozeaster2005.com/
FRIDAY: Open Middle Distance Handicap Relay (Day 0) @ Jindabyne Sport and Recreation Centre
Teams of 3 (myself, Debbie, and Pam), all in a mass start. I finished in 26 mins, Pam in 30-something, and Deb - having a bad day - in 50-something. The finish was up the 100m sprint track... so punch at the control, and run like hell. Only problem was that the sportident punch wasn't working, so I never got my split time for the 100m dash. Bummer really - as I would have liked to know!
Accommodation at the Jindabyne Sport and Rec Centre - old green dorm rooms, but provided bed, roof, and a heater! Dinner at small Mexican restaurant in Jindabyne - yummy.
SATURDAY: Day 1 @ Glenbrook
Running in W35A (scary), my goal was to finish in 2 hrs (top runners do it in under 1 hour). Walked most, and finished in 1:51 - very happy, as it included a 22 minute stuff-up at the first control. Mostly semi-open farmland, with technical rocks and assorted crap to navigate through. Currently last in W35A.
Dinner with everyone in Unit 14. Plenty of food and wine, and a very merry time was had. Tina's homemade Baileys took the award for most potent brew. >hic!<
SUNDAY: Day 2 @ Buckenderra
Finished in 1:31. Wahoo!! Still last. :-) Left knee causing some concern (pain on outside of kneecap), and right knee making creaking noises as I walk - it feels like it's not tracking properly. Still walking, and running the open bits.
Awards Dinner at the Rec Centre. I must remember not to bother going to these. By the time we got served, it was nearly 8pm, half the food had run out, and the rest was cold.
MONDAY: Day 3 @ Buckenderra
Finished in 2:03. Ah well, on a course with 20 controls, that's 20 opportunities to make little mistakes. Nice terrain to run in though. Knees decidedly dodgy - must do something. Officially last, although there were 3 people below me who mispunched/DNF'd. But I survived W35A. *Happy* :-)
WEDNESDAY: Walked. Late getting away, early back, knee sort of wobbling around a bit. 3.7 kms. Blah.
Sausage sizzle and Summer Series awards afterwards - I picked up 1st in C course (Mondays), and 2nd in B (Wednesdays) for my agegroup. Yay.
Pretty ordinary run last night. 5.6 kms. Knee slightly twingy on inside of leg, but mostly okay. Final Monday Street-O run until next summer.
Supper/housewarming at Peter D's afterwards. If you weren't there, you got talked about... :-)
FRIDAY: Pump class. Sore lower back during squats, so dropped the weights for back and shoulder tracks. Sore shoulders later that evening.
SATURDAY: Planted a frog pond, and emptied master bedroom ready for renovating. Legs a bit achy from last night, shoulders VERY sore - kept most pain away with Nurofen. Very slack day.
SUNDAY: MTB-O at Blodstock Reservoir. Legs and shoulders seemed okay - I was a bit nervous that I'd have no energy in the legs as on a couple of previous occasions, but everything went really well. Starting to feel some of the ol' strength come back (I used to do a LOT of cycling). Pleasant day, 12.5 kms.
Well, last Wednesday, I walked 5 kms, and did 8 controls. So the plan for this week was to do a short running course (course D, 7 controls) of around 4-5kms, start off walking, then ease into running as the knee warmed up. But as with all good plans... it didn't quite work out that way. I'd already done a warmup, trotting over to the shopping centre to use the toilets. So I started my run by walking. Then a slow run, then up to normal pace. Felt pretty good. With 2 controls left to go, I checked my watch. 13 minutes! I'd actually been running quite well, and I wondered if I'd get home in under 20 minutes. As I upped the pace a bit(!) I wondered if I'd actually come in first (so much for taking it easy). Delusions of grandeur here... then remembered why I was doing D course in the first place, and slowed down. 3.7 kms in exactly 20 minutes.
THURSDAY (day off work): 5 hours digging and shovelling soil. Levelled garden.
* digging with a sore knee is not "resting" it
FRIDAY: 2 hours carting and spreading mulch.
* mulch is sooooo much lighter and easier than dirt
SATURDAY: 1 hour carting and spreading mulch (3 cubic metres in total). 2 hours hacking away at dry clay bed to remove a layer of black plastic buried beneath 3-4 inches of fine tree roots.
- exhausted -
* gym work is for people who don't have a garden
* running is for people who don't have a garden
Finally staggered down to the local takeaway for a burger at 2pm. Spent the rest of the day trying to feel human again.
SUNDAY: opted out of orienteering - too hot (~35 degrees), and I needed to do something about the leftover mulch and a half-beaten clay garden. Another 2 hours digging out black plastic, and I've done about 2/3 of it. Two sets of neighbours came over to check on my progress!! (clay garden is at the front of the house).
The courtyard garden:
before
after
(edit)
MONDAY: went plant shopping (local Natives nursary having a sale), and planted out garden. Looks pretty good! *happy*
WEDNESDAY: WALK 5.6 km. Started off quite slowly as the knee felt stiff, but warmed up after 1/2 hour and started striding out a bit more. No pain. yay.
Met Dave aka O Runner, instantly recognisable in a CR singlet.
Feeling a bit depressed over my fitness. No, I'm not looking for sympathy, just expressing myself through my blog.
Arrrrrrgggh.
Oh yeah... much better.
ARRRRRRRRGGGGGH!
Hmmm.
I still can't really identify why I ran so poorly on Sunday. I'd been digging and shovelling dirt on Saturday, but only for a couple of hours until the rain made it all too slippery. And I wasn't sore or tired.
It's not the time that particularly worries me - it's the way I felt, and the fact that I was plodding, not running.
And now my right knee hurts. Still. I think I can blame that on 9kms of sealed, cambered roads. It makes crunchy noises when I twist it (like getting up from a chair). Will dose up on glucosamine and nurofen and hope it goes away by the weekend.
I'm not going to run tomorrow. I was going to give Street-O a miss, but if O Runner is going to show up, then I guess I'd better go! I'll do the Power Walking event, but do it with regular walking, not power walking. :-)
MONDAY: Street-O. 6.5 kms. Ran a hell of a lot better than I did on Sunday, but right knee ached and complained the whole way. Dammit. Might have to give Wednesday a miss...
I spent a couple of hours last night in front of junk television stretching the backs of my legs during the ad breaks - holding each stretch for a minute. Did you know that some ad breaks last for less than 2 minutes, while others go for over 4?!
Today, I have a sore right knee (but the right leg is the "good" one!), and a clicky left ankle.
*sigh* I guess today is an "old" day.
Ran like crap. 58 minutes.
*disappointed*
It was a perfect morning for a run - cold (~12 degrees) and clear. I've been running so well over the last week or so, I was hoping for a good run. And I was hoping the crowd and the pull of a race would help me to a good time.
Crowd? hah. Maybe 150 people if you include the handful of onlookers and supporters. And with the fast runners sprinting away, and the walkers and plodders taking their time, the whole field was quickly strung out. By the first drinks station, I was on my own. There was a girl in a yellow t-shirt ahead of me, and a blob of people way behind me. Very unmotivating.
EDIT: 86 runners (Upper Yarra Mail 8/3)
The course is actually really nice. An out and back from Warburton along both sides of the river. From the 5km mark, I couldn't see the girl in front, or the blob behind, so I was running from marshall to marshall as they directed me off the trail, through the camping ground, under the bridge, etc. Reminded me of orienteering controls (yes, they wore bright orange!). Full marks to the organisers.
Pity I couldn't get out of second gear.
Up and Running Website
As per my resolution of two weeks ago, I went in for another hour-long massage. My shoulders are "much better", as are my legs. That ITB push is still bloody sore, as are the lower hamstrings. Gluteus medius are dodgy, and the ones up near the tailbone STILL HURT (they're the ones I stuffed last Friday).
I have instructions to stretch archilles, calves, hams, and glutes (in that order), and to take a couple of days off - no running or Pump class tomorrow - to let everything recover.
WEDNESDAY: Cool evening - goosebump weather, as we waited for the 7pm start. Frustrating map(!), and many minutes were spent trying to work out the optimal route around the streets, before hitting Westerfolds Park. Very strong running on the hills (yes, upwards)... I am a machine!!! *big grin*
7.65 kms
Got chatting to Henk afterwards, who was wearing a Garmin Forerunner 201. He showed me some of its features, including a miniature outline of where he had run. Very cool. Also checked with some of the experienced orienteers about the politics of wearing a gizmo during bush events. This will probably be okay as long as I don't actually use it (ie, have it tucked inside the camelbak, or something), and as long as I don't suddenly start winning things! :-)
I've decided that it would be quite fun to have a toy. Something that'll tell me how far I've fun on an orienteering course (working it out afterwards with a piece of string is highly inexact).
so, A Garmin Forerunner? At $300+, it's a rather expensive "piece of string". See this thread on coolrunning.
A friend's Dad has a Nike Tailwind, but a trawl through Nike's site (complete crap, btw) draws a blank, although I can get it from eBay Canada for US$92.
What else is out there? I guess I'd pay $150-$200. I don't care about a HRM - I have one already, and don't use it much. Time and distance and speed are probably the only things I'd need.
MONDAY: Must have been close to 30 degrees at 7pm. The slight breeze dried the sweat and made it slightly more bearable, but whenever I stopped, I could feel my face turning bright red in the heat. Short run (thankfully) - 6 kms.
