Hey… I’m running!

I’ve recently bought myself a copy of The Official British Army Fitness Guide (UK|US) written, as its title says, by the British Army. Well, the Army Physical Training Corps.

I read it on the weekend, and I’m rather impressed. Unlike the majority of fitness books and resources I’ve seen, this one is notable by its conspicuous absence of gadgets and special dietary shenanigans.

I’d written almost a whole review of this book before I remember that the Amazon (UK) website already has a number of perfectly acceptable reviews. Get your review fix there, or trust me when I say this book is excellent in its simplicity, range of coverage (aerobic fitness, strength, stretching and flexibility, warmups and cooldowns, safety, cross-training, nutrition, hydration, injury prevention, equipment), and wide-ranging fitness programmes that cover everyone from those who can jog for 1 minute in 4 right up those who can run at 60-70% effort for 40 mins. I use running as an example because it factors heavily in the aerobics component (though they show how walking or cycling can be used instead).

The running part…

It’s hard to believe that it was April 2008 — and while visiting another country — when I last went for a run outside the gym. How depressing!

This morning I awoke newly-enthused, got dressed, strapped on the Forerunner, waited an age for the GPS signal to lock, and began Week 1 Day 1 of the book’s basic aerobic programme. After 4 reps of 1 minute run and 3 minutes walk I was winded, mildly sweaty and happy. Hey… I ran!

I wasn’t paying attention to my pace, though SportTracks tells me that I ran under 10:00/mile each rep (and ~20:00/mile for the walk), averaging 15:23/mile. The average pace was nothing special, but I’m pleased that I managed sub-10:00 on each run part, as it’s so much faster than my previous regular running pace. Obviously I won’t be able to keep that pace up on a continuous run, but it would be nice to improve on my previous 14:30/mile average.

So after a year or so of being part of the wider Internet running community without actually running, I’m no longer a fraud! Well, you know what I mean.

New Year and all that…

It’s with the usual sense of shock that I realise I haven’t updated this blog in some time. It’s not entirely surprising as since my last post I’ve only made it to the gym 2-3 times, walked 3-4 times, and have done no running or cycling. Some of this has been due to a new business venture I’m putting together, which has been consuming all my recreational time, including my exercise time, but essentially it’s poor time management and some misplaced priorities. What’s worse is that I’ve put even more weight on: I’m back over 120kg. In all, it’s abysmal.

Conversely, Tarkwin has been making great strides in his physical health plan. He’s almost down to my minimum from last year and is looking worlds better for it. People may seem — or say they are — happy when fat and overweight, but the physical, emotional and hormonal benefits of slimming down are undeniable. You don’t have to be the ridiculous “ideal weight” than the BMI fantasy encourages, but somewhere in the broader Overweight category is worlds better than Obese (or higher).

With my return to work this week, after a lovely break over Christmas and the New Year (happy new year, all!), I plan to resume my exercising. As might be expected, already there has been a speedbump in that plan as yesterday I managed to hurt my lower back whilst carrying stuff downstairs into the garage and slipping on the icy steps. Not ideal, but I know it’s just a speedbump. I’ll be careful with it and start out easy.

My shoulder is still not completely healed, as evidenced whenever I happen to sneeze. It’s making me think that I may never be able to resume recurve or traditional archery. I might be able to do compound archery (referred to as The Dark Side because it’s as far from conventional archery as it’s possible to be), but even that’s not certain right now. Besides, I feel that I need to regain my core strength and basic core fitness before I consider it.

Fortunately (for me) it’s the middle of winter, so nobody in their right mind is riding a motorcycle with any regularity. While this means my riding skills are going rusty (I find that even a week without driving a car makes my driving feel uncoordinated for a short time), it does mean I’m not tempted to try out a ride on the bike. The sore back also puts paid to this for now. I suspect I’ll need to think about a more upright bike soon enough, especially if the shoulder continues as it has. The original plan was for a touring bike anyway, so now maybe it’ll become a necessity. Still, we’ll see once the sun rediscovers the northern hemisphere.

I’ve also made the decision to completely give up fullbore target rifle. It’s not just because of the bad experience I had with my previous club, but also because the government and the MOD (as owners of the ranges most people shoot on) keeps adding more and more hurdles and requirements to clubs and members. As it’s not something I’m prepared to invest time in to become a competitive shooter, I may as well accept that it’s more effort than it’s worth and be shot of the increasingly wearisome responsibility of having a sniper rifle in my house. Increasing bureaucracy seems to be a sure-fire way of discouraging me from anything…

So there we have it. I’ve let myself go and am feeling physically and mentally bad for it (this is different from the “how could I have let this happen?” guilt/disgust, which also exists) and I’m full of good intentions and a plan to rectify it. Time to strap up my rustbucket of a body and rediscover my motivation.

Wish me luck!

Back to the gym & damn these legs

Since my last post I walked every lunchtime religiously for a week – itself causing a mild stir at work (modern culture’s unspeaking requirement for lunch at the desk) – and then in the second week my old friend the compartment syndrome returned. Words did not fail me, but I can’t share them here. (That imaginary 5 year old child…)

This brought a rapid end to my ability to even walk in the interests of health, which is something everyone with legs should be able to do. At my subsequent physio visit Tammy advised that it’s pretty rare for compartment syndrome to strike at sub-10K distances, and is normally reserved for half- and full-marathoners. She says that although the symptoms may appear very similar, in all likelihood it’s probably tight or shortened calf muscles. She gave me some exercises to do – some bear resemblance to those given by the sports therapy clinic I visited a few times in 2007 – and a few more designed to stretch the lateral calf muscles. Oh well, that’s positive – the spectre of possible compartment surgery didn’t sit well with me.

The physio visits have been going very well and I feel that I’m 90% back to normal, though it is clear that the median nerve is not completely healed. Certain actions and movements bring a deep, dull, embedded pain, so I’m continuing the prescribed exercises. I must get this sorted out, as it feels as though the smallest things I try – in order to maintain even a base rate of healthiness – are encountering obstacles. It’s very frustrating.

Tonight was the evening that Tarkwin and I agreed that we’d both start going back to the gym. For various reasons he’s swapped his Tuesday and Thursday gym nights to Wednesdays, and I’ve followed suit as we both benefit from each others’ presence and encouragement. It reduces the visits per week, but it actually works out quite well for me as I intend to resume running (at some point…!), and this will enable me to do that some weekday mornings without the overload that was a feature of my fitness regime this time last year (Tuesdays/Thursdays running AM and gym PM, Saturday gym AM, Sunday running AM, plus whatever else we were doing – archery Mondays/Fridays/Sundays, running club Wednesdays, etc). I was seeing amazing results, but it was just too much and would have led to burnout.

Anyway, tonight’s resumption of gym visits was taken with tentative steps as, frankly, I was terrified I’d somehow aggravate the nerve again. I was careful to avoid everything that required arm movement or weights, and that included setting the hamstermill to use my old programme (walking up and down a hill) rather than the current run/walk. Tonight I did the cross-trainer (holding the fixed handles), hamstermill as above, reclining cycle, leg press, Swiss ball ab crunches, and post-exercise stretching. The treadmill and the stretching woke up the nerves in my arm, but not in a painful way. And I saw it as my body warning me to not push it further, and I was ready to listen.

I wore the Polar S610 HRM and was disappointed with the heart rate indications, peaking at 167bpm with an average of 147bpm over 43 minutes – that was with reduced load and times. Though I guess I shouldn’t be surprised – I’ve not attended the gym with any notable regularity since July.

Anyway, I’ve done it before and I damn well know I can do it again. I’m eating well now – not as good as I should, but I’m getting there – and I have the drive and motivation to sort things out again. I just have to take things easy. It’s not pleasant feeling like a geriatric or invalid at times, but I suppose I’ve nobody to blame but myself: years of neglect. Things could be worse: I do not have diabetes, my asthma is well under control, and I have good general health.

Is my optimism annoying or inspiring? I hope the latter.

Saturday gym

Met Tarkwin outside the gym at 10:00, with both of us feeling good – perhaps it’s something to do with it being the start of the day, rather the end of a tiring day like it usually is during the week. Paid attention to what I was doing this morning and managed to complete all of the exercises without any ill effects. I’m still not doing what the programme specifies (e.g. I’m doing 10 mins on the treadmill rather than 15, 4 intervals on the rower rather than 6), but after Thursday I’m not about to make any silly changes.

One thing I have been doing since Thursday is taking the Nike+ kit with me, as the treadmill component of my workout is 50:50 run/walk. By measuring even the pitiful ~0.7 miles it gets me to do in 10 mins, I figure that will allow me to see the entries going up on the Nike+ and Runner+ sites and encourage me to take up running outside the gym again. It also means I can see myself running ‘alongside’ my running friends on Twitter, weird as that may sound.

I’m resigned to the likelihood that I’ll probably need to restart early on in the Couch to 5K plan, but I’ve done it before – I can do it again. Besides, I see fitness as a journey not a destination.

Synchronised the Sunnyvale runs

For those who are interested, I’ve now synchronised the Forerunner, so the two runs I did in Sunnyvale are now visible on MotionBased here:

• Sunday run
• Tuesday run

Unfortunately MotionBased isn’t as flexible with its measurement settings as Garmin Trainer or SportTracks, so those links are all metric. (For the record: I’m a big metric fan, but it’s impractical when measuring like-for-like in the UK or US).

Tuesday run in Sunnyvale

There’s a lot to be said for mild jet-lag when trying to maintain a fitness regime, as I have no problems getting up for an early run – though constantly waking at 04:30 is wearing a little thin. I was on the corner outside the hotel at 06:50, and had planned to add some intervals to improve my overall pace. The idea was to run 12:00 or better for 3/4 mile, walk 1/4 mile, rinse and repeat.

It went pretty well until I missed my turning onto Old San Francisco Rd. Once I realised what had happened, I turned right onto Evelyn Rd, the next major road up, which would add about a mile to the overall distance. Because of this, I walked much more than I had intended – using the Forerunner’s Lap button to mark running and walking segments. Once I was back at the corner of Old San Francisco and Wolfe, I went back to the original plan, then ran the last half mile at an easy pace.

My calves had started playing up around the time I missed the turning, which is probably why it happened. Thinking that walking would ease it off, I slowed down to a 19:00-20:00/mile stroll, but it made it worse. It’s only when I had to pick up my walking pace to cross a busy intersection that I realised that slow movement makes the compartment syndrome worse. A brisk pace eases it off, and starting to jog again makes it go away completely. Very strange, but it’s definitely true for me.

The overall result was 2.96 miles in 44:46 (15:08/mile). It certainly wasn’t what I’d hoped for, but it was still 3 miles of activity on a day I could have easily stayed in bed. So I’ll not beat myself up too much about it.

Sunday run in Sunnyvale

Today was my first run outside of the UK – I’m staying at a hotel in Sunnyvale, in the heart of Silicon Valley, visiting my company’s headquarters. I really do like this part of the world, as it makes me feel at home (very similar in feel, lifestyle and – in some ways – layout to Perth).

Despite being mildly jet-lagged, I was at the street corner outside the hotel at 07:00. Last week I’d planned and estimated the run at 2.31 miles, and it turned out to be spot on. It was strange starting off on El Camino Real, as it’s become a road that I’ve associated only with driving. It’s not one on which you see many pedestrians, which is probably quite normal for 3-lane highways. The pavements are all solid concrete and it’s rare to have any dips or bumps, making it a nice, flat, trip-free surface – such a shame that concrete plays such havoc on knees and ankles. It was interesting seeing my route on foot, as I noticed things I’ve never seen before: a British fish and chip shop, numerous apartment complexes, various Mexican restaurants, and a Subway less than half a mile away.

The run itself went quite well, though I really felt it because of the time I’ve had off recently. I did 2.31 miles in 33:16, giving 14:24/mile. The jet-lag probably contributed to it, too, but I’m putting it down to the time off – I prefer to blame myself, as it’s to whom I’m answerable. Does that make sense?

I didn’t properly check the weather before going outside, and realised about half a mile into the run that the jogging/tracksuit bottoms were not a good idea. They and I were dripping with sweat when I got back. Must remember that anything over 10°C is shorts-only weather – it was 18°C when I started my run.

I left the docking station for the Forerunner at home, so I’ll upload all the data when I’m back in the UK.

Thursday run

Compared to Tuesday it was quite balmy this morning at +3°C, making me opt for the lightweight beanie instead of the braincooker. Again, it was really only useful until just after the 1 mile mark.

Instead of hip and knee, today it was calf. I found my right calf playing up about half a mile into the run; adjusting my stride removed the problem – at least until my “knackeredness” encouraged poor stride, and so on. It wasn’t until after I’d got back that I realised that I should have done the ankle-towel thing before I’d run, as it clicked noticeably when I tried it after getting back.

The silent “are we there yet?” plea was as strong as ever around the 1.2 mile mark, but it felt as though I’d managed to keep a faster pace on today’s run. A check of the stats afterwards showed this faster pace was better by 14 seconds per mile overall… so I guess I’ll sign up for the Olympic track team next month, then…

Joking aside, it’s good to be back into running again. These last 2 runs have been without the iPod, as I’ve preferred to concentrate entirely on what my body is telling me and rediscover my enjoyment of the running experience. I still make a point of sprinting the last 100-150 yards, and it still has me gasping for air and leaning on the bollard for a few moments at the end. It lets me walk the few minutes home, get in the house, remove all the kit and stretch with the self-satisfaction that I’ve been doing a Good Thing.

Tuesday run

I realised as I stood on my doorstep at 06:40 this morning that it was very cold, but dry. The thermal beanie was a good idea: turned out to be -3°C. Someone hasn’t told the weather that it’s Spring!

It had been a whole month since I’d run, much to my disgust. So disgusted, in fact, that I actually spoke a mantra to myself (the whole self-reinforcement thing) before I went to bed last night, “You are going to run in the morning! You are going to run in the morning! You are going to run in the morning!” It seemed to work.

Hard work. It’s the only way to describe it. The run was 2.16 miles of “are we there yet?” over 31:58 (14:48/mile). This time I hit the 1.2 mile mark before it began, but at least I was still able to complete the full run without walking. I didn’t even have to stop for traffic this time – a mixed blessing.

Gym tonight!

Tuesday circus

I was looking forward to a run this morning (again) when I realised last night that it was well after 01:00. Seeking health/sanity over a morning run, I allowed myself the extra hour of sleep. My body is thanking me.

Can’t go to the gym tonight, either. But it’s not because I’m tired. I just donated blood, as I do whenever their rules and my boss allows, so don’t fancy keeling over in front of 50 sweaty bodies.