So You Think.....

I have been back running without pain for about three weeks now. When I started this second phase of my running career I was nervous every time my left foot struck the ground. That fear has slowly but surely dissipated to the point where I can run now with a free mind for short amounts of time. There is no better feeling than running along and suddenly  you almost kind of wake up from a mid run daze. It’s like you just got the last few kms for free. No muscle pain, no gasping for air, just floating along with random thoughts going through your mind in a strange form of relaxation.

I got a small moment of this relaxed state a few days ago. It was a real boost to my confidence and encourages me, that in time, all will be well again. So, you think. What’s next? What should I aim for? What events will get a hold of me?

I can quickly reel off answers to that for myself. It goes like this:

1) October, Melbourne Marathon. 2) November, Moonwalk 45km Ultra in the Dandenongs. 3) January, Two Bays Trail Run, 56kms. 4) February, Maroondah Dam Ultra, 50km. 5) May, TNF100, Blue Mountains.

If I can complete all five of those in the next 12 months I’ll be personally very satisfied. However, there’s something missing, something nagging away at me.

Today I went for a run with my five year old boy Raferty. We ran along the bike track about a km to the school he’ll start at next year in Prep. There was a big sign up saying they’re raising money to build a running track on the grounds with several exercise stations. All of this to promote healthy lifestyles. Raf loves running and will thrive in his new school. So I started to think........not every school is going to build a track due to a variety of reasons. Not many schools have a running culture outside of the couple of weeks around the good old Cross Country event. Is there something that could be done to excite kids about running so that it becomes part of what they do? Maybe.

I’m thinking 100km ultra that links primary schools all over the city. Each school runs a 5km section. They could do it just for the fun of it or link it to fundraising for a chosen charity. I know a couple of blokes who might run the full distance with me if I ask them nicely. I know a few teachers around the place who might be keen to fire up their kids to ‘Run a Fiver’. Maybe it works......Maybe not.....logistically tough but we’ll see. Maybe next year or 2013.

So you think it could happen? Surely it’s worth a bit more thought at least.

Running back to D-Mac

When you’re growing up through your teenage years it’s rare if you come across anyone who has completely got it all together. I reckon even the coolest kids in school have fears and anxieties, and basically worry about fitting in and doing or saying the right things. As a teacher I see awkward kids walking on peer group eggshells every single day. You just want to grab them and assure them that it will all work out. Although even if you did......., well, I know if anyone had said that to me, I would’ve thought they have no idea what they’re talking about.

It’s hard enough fitting in with kids in your own level. However I clearly remember thinking that the guys in the year ahead of us were by far smarter, better at sport, better with the ladies and if ever there was a punch on behind the grandstand or down at Spring Rd after school, they would beat the living bejeezus out of you. Luckily, even though I had a mouth on me, I never found out about that one.

In the photo above, seven out of the eight other blokes pictured with me are from the year level above at school. These were the blokes who I was a bit in awe of, a little bit envious of and definitely a bit scared of. Well to be honest, I wasn’t scared of Scotty (in the yellow shorts) but the bloke next to him, look out. 23 years after school and these are the same blokes that I run around Duncan McKinnon Reserve with each week. On a cold Tuesday night when it had bucketed rain throughout the day, here they all were standing around a massive banner that a couple of them had made to welcome my return from 3 months of injury. I was speechless, overwhelmed and very, very grateful.

It was when I was looking at the photo that it all dawned upon me. I started up this blog so that my own kids will be able to have a look back on what I was getting up to with all of this running. I hope they don’t have too many awkward moments growing up through their teenage years. I hope they have great friends. But if there are moments when they don’t feel quite right then they might read this. There’s great people all around you. It may be that you just don’t hang with them ‘yet’.

Thanks D-Mac crew. Quality!

North Face 100 - May 14, 2011

“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.”

Yesterday was a great day. It was the North Face 100km event in the Blue Mountains. My training partners Seb Mannix and John Gullifer toed the start line at 7am with their toughest challenge ahead of them. I sat at the laptop following their progress on the live results website.

Over the last 18 months the three of us had trained hard and long for this one event. My campaign ended officially three weeks ago but in reality it finished on February 20^th after suffering a stress fracture during the Maroondah Dam Ultra. I’ll have a crack next year. I was a little disappointed but it’s far from a tragedy.

Gully started thinking about doing the event a bit later than Seb and myself and his training has been spot on. His attitude has been the real key though. He doesn’t put much emphasis on how quick he can finish an ultra. He’s just out there doing his best and enjoying the trails. That’s not to say he’s slow, far from it, he’s run a sub 3 hour marathon. On the trails he’s taught me alot about pacing to finish strong and in the process being able to enjoy yourself more which is tough when your in agony. Gully did it really tough in the latter part of the race but drew on all the courage and strength within to keep moving forward. The Lance Armstrong quote above is something he had in his head and there was no way he was going to quit. I spoke to him minutes after he finished and the excitement was huge. What a super effort. He was out there for just under 16 hours. Try doing anything for 16 hours, it’s a really long time.

Seb has had a meteoric rise in trail running. We started running ultras together, the first of which was the Percy Cerutty, Portsea to Frankston 55km, then we tackled the Moonwalk 45km in the Dandenongs at night as a group. Running in these events and training with him I was well aware of the fact that he is a great runner. It was only when we entered a few events with the intention of ‘having a crack’ that I saw how good he is. The first one was Two Bays 56km which Seb won in a new race record, then he placed third at Maroondah Dam 50km and then he ran 76km at the Coburg 6 hour ultra, further than all but one other runner.

So the facts were plain and simple, he’s a bloody good runner. However what happened on Saturday in the Blue Mountains was something else. In a field of 800, Seb came in 13^th place in 11 hours 23 minutes. The people who beat him home were world class ultra trail runners from Spain, France, South Africa, New Zealand and a few Australians. Several of them sponsored by Saloman Racing Team to compete all over the world. That is obviously impressive but so is the long list of quality athletes that came in behind him, including the race winner from 2010 and 2009 who admittedly had ‘one of those days’ but hey these are the facts.

Seb will hate all of this being highlighted. On his Facebook page I wrote:

'I am really looking forward to the battle between your humility and the facts'

Harry backed me up by saying, 'Yeah Seb, you're screwed!'

We love his success and we can’t help but tell more people about it than him. It’s not hard, he tells no one. So many people are running because of him. I am one of those. Every time he does well it’s a reminder and a celebration for me that this commitment, discipline and love of running is what inspired me to get off the couch and change my life. I ain’t the only one. Just ask Harry, Benno, Porty, Houiexy, Big T, Rosey, Wighty, Eddie, Bolty,Philthy, Macka, Boxy, Mick Watt, Gully, Leah, Raf, Clare............you get the point Sebby Boy...well done and THANKS.

Yesterday's Gone!

It’s not over until the fat lady sings as they say. Well if anyone has a request, she took to the stage today and has been belting out hit after hit. Her opening number was this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDN9y2vTdUs

I started my running program on Anzac Day and within 60 seconds I knew it had to be the end. There was pain in my foot. It was bearable but it was far from encouraging.

All along I have pushed to be ready for this event. In training when all was well I did many weeks of 100kms approx. One week I got close to 130km. I have run up and down agonising hills in the Dandenongs in the middle of the night. I have run in pouring rain and in over 40 degree heat. I have done several ultra trail events. I have run 80km in 8 and a half hours. I have run 6 days each week for well over a year.

Since I have been injured on February 20, I have done everything possible to recover in time. Professional advice from a GP, a Physio, a Sports Med Doctor and a Podiatrist has all leant towards the thought that it would not be so wise to do the event. I chose not to ignore that advice but rather take it on board and find out for myself if it was going to be possible. I followed a program from my doc religiously, wore the ‘moon boot’ every waking hour and felt that if I could get through this program and be running pain free prior to the event then I would give it a crack. As stated earlier, I haven’t been able to Run Free. So now there’s 382 days to go(2012).Maybe even 747 days(2013). Who knows? Who knows if my Maths is correct?

A while ago the thought of being unable to do this event was just plain ugly. I imagined I would be devestated but I’m not. Far  from it. My very awesome wife made things clear for me on Anzac Day. She said, “you are missing out on one event but you get to keep running forever.” The damage I could have done if I pressed forward might have had me out for months to a year or more. Now that I’m not doing the event, I know for sure I’ll be back to running normally pretty soon-ish.

So today I joined a gym for three months. I am going to go every week day while I’m on long service leave. I can build up core strength and flexibilty, focus on nutrition and all those other things you’re meant to do when running long.

So if no one else has any requests, I might aske the lady to sing this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8arvEzHsA8

22 Days to Go

I saw a podiatrist today. She checked me on video while I walked on a treadmill. The upshot being that I could do with some orthotics. Apparently my metatarsals are at quite a pronounced angle and and there’s a fair bit of pressure smashing down on them poor little suckers. So the Pod. , whacked a bit of plaster on both feet to get a mould for some custom made supports. They aint cheap but they’re going to minimise the chance of fractures in the future.

We also spoke of the pros and cons of taking pain killers during the race. The cons being I won’t know if I’m doing damage during the run and the pros being I won’t know if I’m doing damage during the run.

The program from here is

To 25/4 – boot off when home, deep water running, exercise bike and some x-trainer

25/4 – Start walk/jog program – on alternate days, in between days bike and DWR.

Level 1 – 4min walk, 1 min jog x 4 = 20 mins followed by ice

Level 2 – 3min walk, 2 min jog x 4

Level 3 – 2 min walk, 3 jog x 4

Level 4  – 1 min walk, 4 jog x 4

Level 5 – 20 min jog

That will take me to May 3^rd. Hopefully continue running gently for another week then head to the Blue Mountains on the 11^th, couple of days of nothing then 100km in hopefully between 17 and 20 hours. Starting to get a little bit nervous.

On Track

It’s been a good week. Not only is it the first of 14 weeks worth of holidays but I went and saw my Sports Med Doc and she was really pleased with my progress. She had me jumping and hopping on the ‘sore’ foot  and I only really felt it on very minor level. So that was good, my flexibility was good and any difference between the fractured and the good foot when she poked and prodded was hardly noticeable.

The Doc has given me a program to follow that takes me right up to a 4-5 day taper before the tip-toe through the mountains. I start walk/running in two weeks and will hopefully cope with that without any flare ups. I am also going to see a podiatrist and get fitted with a small orthotic that will make the 2^nd metatarsal float like a butterfly, it will be that well supported.

Finally got back to training, on a bike, with Seb and Gully on Sunday morning. We went up and down Waverley rd hill near Springvale rd. It’s a teenage skater’s biggest challenge and it’s a skater’s parents worse nightmare. A monster of a hill. I will be back again this week for some more quad pain.

So with 30 days to go I am still being cautious but getting more confident that all will be OK. My Doc was concerned that if I get too excited about the fact I am virtually pain free then I would do too much too soon. I assured her that if I break down it will be in the race, not before. Just got to get on the start line.

36 days to go

Slow and steady is going to win my race. That will be the motto on May 14 on the start line. I won’t have any choice but to go super slow. For one thing since Feb 20, I haven’t got one single real kilometer in the legs and secondly, well it’s a hundred kms. I keep forgetting that minor detail. I have been completely focussed on my injury. Every step I take is an analysis of degree of pain to assess where my recovery is at. It isn’t quite doing my head in but it is probably dominating too much time & space in the cranium.

However, there have also been a stack of moments recently when I have thought of how I am missing running with the D-Mac crew and The Glow Boys. D-Mac crew is a bunch of guys, most of whom I went to school with and the Glow is Seb and Gully, my long run, running mates. These are the facts and they cannot be denied – I do miss all of them because aside from the running there’s a truck load of social chat that goes on as we step, step, step. It’s so social sometimes that you forget you’re running and a couple of free kms clock up.

One door closes temporarily and another opens maybe forever. The amount of people that I’ve come into contact with and the support I’ve received because of the injury has been amazing.

It started with my Physio, Phil. When you walk in not knowing what’s going on it’s very comforting to be in the care of someone so knowledgable, skilled and honest.

My Sports Med doctor Bianca suggested I shelve ideas of doing the upcoming ultra but as soon as she realised I was still keen to attempt it she was on board and giving me a program to get there.

My sister, the nurse, gave some of the best advice ever when Seb and I were wondering about the possility of irrepairable damage. That advice is that unless I pretty much sever my spinal cord, I’m not gonna be doing any irrepairable damge on this run.

People I have never met personally but have chatted with on TNF100 forums have been so supportive and the realisation is that there are many other struggling to get on the start line. We’ll help each other on the day too.

Parents of kids I teach – One today, a podiatrist, said to come and see him if need be. Another last week dropped off an aqua jogger for me to use in the pool. I love that aqua jogger, it works a treat. Others have just been wishing me well constantly.

There’s so many more positive people who keep pushing up and encouraging me to get well and get running. It’s been huge. Today I received a card (see above) from my year 5 class as I left them to go on long service leave. I will carry the card on the run in my pack. When I cross the finish line I will get a photo taken holding that card and send it to the kids. Now when you make a statement like that, you just gotta get it done. We’ll see.

Thanks so much to all mentioned here and the countless others who keep me moving forward.