Thursday 21 June 2012

News


Reading over my previous post I wish I’d, as people say, practiced what I preached. This cliché’ must have been created for heads like me! This is related to my current ‘recovery’ or lack of it! This time last week I was feeling on the mend, top of the world and, or, peachy! Therefore I decided to really up the running and see how well the hip responded. For 55 minutes it was great, after this back to square one. Enough said!

Moving on and a week later! No running, back on the wind trainer, pain killers, stretching and ice! It does feel stronger. But, obviously any nonsense I put in here I’ll not do. Consequently, I will not put any mention of my recovery plans, except I’m about to sit and write down a detailed plan for getting back into running consistently and in the correct fashion (no time frame). Biking and swimming will play a big part but so will patience. After writing this I went to see Bruce Baxter and he videoed my running technique, long story short plenty to work on and improve. I’m excited about this as I have some direction and can look at setting some specific goals. More details to follow on this!!

Biking this time of year is quite hard but necessary clothing does help. Also a wind trainer, MySky (which I don’t have) and the Tour help too. I also found this sweet trailer to a DVD which will also help! 


When I started this blog one of the major reasons was that we knew we were heading back overseas, but were not sure of where to.  Recently this has been decided. Originally, we aimed for Europe and put all of our eggs into the Europe basket. Various things didn’t go our way and thinking about it now I’m satisfied that it didn’t work out, especially given the financial climate and private education really watching their weight, for now anyway. So, as of September we’ll be based in South Korea on Geoje Island. The island is very south and connected to the mainland by two bridges. The closest major city is Busan (sometimes it’s referred to as Pusan) which has an international airport. Running seems ok-which was one of the biggest concerns!!






Okpo, our city for the year

Very exciting weekend of events around NZ and abroad.
Leeston Wednesday Night Road Runners, Leeston, Canterbury.
http://www.ellesmereroadrunners.co.nz/index.php?page=wednesday-handicap

Golden Mile, part of the Winter Festival

Christchurch: Sunday Mud, sweat and tears

Wellington Sunday: Marathon, Half and 10km
Looks like amazing numbers gathering for a dash around our Capital!

International:
39th Western States 100 miles race (Saturday morning start 5am Pacific US time, so NZ time 1am Sunday morning. Couple of update links are below. Should be great!
http://ws100.com/
One day…..

Friday 15 June 2012

Reduce, rebuild, reuse and hopefully…. recover


The Thursday before the Christchurch marathon I was on a light recovery run when I noticed a sharp pain in my left hip. As we do, I ignored and continued until it built up and forced me to stop. For some reason I decided to try a couple of strides; maybe to take some confidence away? After 3 or 4 I had to stop from the increased pain.

What a difference 24 hours can make.

Prior to this (Wednesday) I was on top of the world with a great result from my last speed session. But now I was limping back to the car wondering what went wrong? Too much, I believe is a good place to start first of all. Straight home, Ibuprofen, ice, rest and on the phone to find a physio quick sticks.
Long story short, with the right treatment and amount of rest an injury can go away very quickly.
Thanks to Blair at Tower Junction Physio, who I’m still going to now to keep tabs on the hip which is really improving now.

In terms of timing this little injury is perfect. My next race is not until the middle of August and I can plan an active recovery for most of this month. I’ve looked at everything I’ve done and was doing; stride, technique, stretching and strengthening. From this I’ve made plenty of changes and feel positive for the upcoming 6 weeks. In saying that, the temptation to crank up the miles too quickly needs to be resisted. Being a ‘kiwi bloke’ who enjoys a little reflection from time to time I enjoyed the opportunity to research and reflect on things I’d done. I did find some, questionable advice on running backwards. This triggered my memory so I’ve included this clip to check out!



So without much more to report I’ll leave you with some photos of a recent fishing trip, albeit an unsuccessful one. Remember that a bad day of fishing is better than a good day of work.












Out and about:

Leeston Wednesday Night Road Runners, Leeston, Canterbury.
http://www.ellesmereroadrunners.co.nz/index.php?page=wednesday-handicap

Saturday
Rustic Run/Walk: Queenstown

Sunday
Sri Chinmoy Cross Country, Christchurch

Mount Vernon Traverse, Blenheim

Enjoy

Wednesday 6 June 2012

Christchurch to Christchurch





A couple of things about the Christchurch Marathon that was held over the weekend. 4500 people entered in the various events that were on offer, well up on the previous year. There was lots of publicity in the build-up to this event, in particular the change to the course due to public protest. Personally I feel that this was for the benefit of the day as it did cut out a long out and back section that would have made it even trickier for supporters to get to. Speaking to some people about the area and the plans that are in place for the next few years it sounds quite positive, hopefully they can continue to work hard and continue the success of this well established Canterbury event.
Night before I always keep the kit off the ground

Last offerings with Pete




Weather was amazing for the start, the wind had dropped away providing a mild temperature. As we started the pace was quite quick due to the mass start. Sam Wreford (marathon winner 2.17, which is the B standard Olympic time) got into his work early and made the day his own. I sat in behind a group of half marathon runners, along with Dale Warrender. The race splits after 10km and we were left on our own. Steve O’Callaghan, who went with Sam at the start, was within sight of us and we chipped away at his advantage to bring him to us at around the half way stage. By this time Sam was well out of sight and had built a large lead. I continued with Dale until the 30km mark, where he dropped me and powered on home in 2.22. I followed behind him in 3rd 3 minutes back 2.25.24, taking 3 minutes and 20 seconds off my Rotorua time. Stoked with this time as it capped of a great 6 months.  Another thing that was awesome on Sunday was the general support of the public. It makes a huge difference to see familiar faces out there cheering on for you. I’ve really noticed this over the past couple of ‘away from home’ marathons. This is really highlighted when you’re running with someone who the locals know. On Sunday it was sweet to be the local and hugely supported!



27km-28km mark

Around mid way point

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I find taking stock after a big event puts everything back into perspective and refocuses what the next plan of attack is. Part of taking stock for me is some rest. It has been a fairly big 6 months, by far the biggest I have done in terms of training and racing, with so many positives to take from it. Now, I’m looking forward to longer slower mileage, as I target the North Way Downs 50 miles race in the UK mid-August. 
Home stright

Home straight take 2


As I’m writing this there’s 10-12cm of fresh snow on the ground here in Christchurch, making skiing more of a focus! I fondly remember our snow last year and the variety of running opportunities that arose and kick started my winter running. This year it looks like it’ll do the same, only sooner! I suggest getting out while it’s still powder.

12 months ago I ran a 2.34.30 at the Christchurch marathon, this year a 2.25.24. I believe the reduction in time reflects the work I’ve put in and the luck I’ve had, by this I mean no injuries. From here it’s a long route to get quicker over the distance but one that I’m willing to take. At the moment I’m looking into options for one more marathon before the year is out with plenty of halves thrown in for speed.

Rest, recovery, eat well, enjoy a couple of brews and then back into things…hard! 

Will update shortly