Two New Articles To Look At

Just noticed that over on the left (at the bottom) I've listed my Round Rotherham pb incorrectly ... I ran that time in 2006 not 2007.

Stopped taking the colostrum now. My supplies have finished and I just don't know if it's doing me any good or not so I can't see the point really.

In today's 'Metro' newspaper there's an interesting piece on page 36 where the headline reads 'improving vision can help an athlete realise their full potential.' I can see the point of this in ball sports where it's obviously an advantage to be able to see the ball clearly and as early as possible but on reading the article it appears that it's also a good idea to be able to properly see cars, etc whilst out training (and judge their distance correctly). Of course this is purely from a safety viewpoint and there's no mention of it being able to help in actual competition ... an interesting idea though.

Also, in the latest Otley AC newsletter ... which can be seen at http://www.otleyac.co.uk/ ... there's a good piece by Bridget Barr about ChiRunning. I've seen books about this over the past year or so and thought that it may be a good idea to research this more thoroughly. Basically the idea is all about maintaining the proper posture whilst running and thus saving energy, cutting down on the stresses, etc.

Well worth investigating I think.

Advanced Planning

Spent an hour or so, earlier today, at Roundhay Park in Leeds where my son was running a mile for Sport Relief (well, 3 miles actually this year).

It was well and truly packed and he could hardly run at all for the first 5 mins or so. Still, he managed the hilly course in under 30 mins and made me very proud of him. He raised a fair bit of money for the charity too.

My schedule is coming along nicely:

RUNNING: three days on and one day off; including long runs, fartlek, tempo and the occasional very long run and short race (5k - 10 miles).

CYCLING: retain at two or three times a week but increase the quality.

STRENGTH TRAINING: keep this as it's obviously working.

ECCENTRIC ACHILLES STRETCHES: gradually reduce from 14 times per week to once every three days. Keep increasing the weights in the rucksack for now.

MASSAGE WITH DEEP HEAT: continue twice a day for now then once a day for a few months before stopping altogether.

COLOSTRUM: stop using when current supplies are exhausted as I'm not convinced it's doing any good.

ICE: gradually reduce the use of ice after cycling and also before & after running.

HEEL RAISES: continue with these in all my running shoes for all my runs.

STRETCHING: 15 mins or so every day; quads, hamstrings, lower back, calves, achilles and abductors.

REST & RECOVERY: every second non-running day will also be non-cycling and non-strength training.


Also keeping up with the good footcare routine and much better diet than last year.

Feel good

Sitting here with ice on my achilles after just finishing my second 40 minute outing. Went well again - pleased with this.

Still keeping up with the colostrum, eccentric achilles stretching, cycling, strength/core stability exercises, stretching and massage.

I've gained a few kilos since I stopped running though.

Lots happening but no running yet

OK, here we go, quite a lot of things to talk about today.

Bought myself some bathroom scales yesterday. Will use to weigh myself before and after each run and this will help determine my fluid requirements when running at various speeds when taking into account different air temperatures and humidity. It sounds complicated but I'm sure it won't be and I'll get used to it after a few weeks. Obviously not using the scales yet but I will be by March.

Will have to buy some Sorbothane heel pads too for when I start running again - but how many miles before I need some new ones?

I'll have to email Pam Storey later today to let her know that I'll definitely not be able to take part in the 12hr race she organises at Crawley - sorry Pam.

Looked at Les Croupiers website yesterday to see who's taking part in their annual Barry 40 mile track race. Found that John Pares hasn't entered yet (2006 winner, 2007 runner up) but Paul Tranter has. Paul lives in Otley like me and has run in Barry twice before - the last time was in 2006 when the weather was probably the worst in the long history of the race. That was my first ultra and the doctor pulled me out at about 31 miles with a badly blistered right foot (I still have the scar!!!). Good luck Paul - I guess you'll be aiming for 5 hours.

My daily schedule has now settled down to:

• morning: 3 sets of 25 achilles stretches with a weighted back pack
• two hours after breakfast: 300ml colostrum drink
• mid morning: five or six minutes massaging right achilles with Deep Heat
• lunchtime: 20 minutes of strength and conditioning exercises every other day
• lunchtime: 45 minutes on exercise bike two days out of three (followed by icing my achilles for 30 minutes)
• early evening: five or six minutes massaging right achilles with Deep Heat
• about 8.00pm: 300ml colostrum drink followed by 3 sets of 25 achilles stretches with a weighted back pack followed by 20 minutes of stretching exercises

I've also started looking at compression tights which I believe will help recovery during and after ultra races - a good idea but at £50 a pair ...

Over on the left you'll see that I've started a list of web links. The first two are my club and my sponsor (The Divan Centre - the owner [Carl Walsh] is President of Otley AC). I feel really bad though because no sooner do I get myself a sponsor than I develop a pretty bad injury. I only hope I can justify his faith in me later in the year.

Recovery

Just added my ultra PBs. Not very tidy over there on the left but you get the idea. Hope to revise some of those later this year.

Bought another 300g of colostrum from Neovite ... it seems to be working as I've had no achilles pain for at least a week now (or maybe it's the strengthening exercises ... or the cycling ... or the stretching ... or the massage ... or the 'no running policy' ...)

Whatever, I'm getting better at last.

Back on the bike

Quite a busy 'training' day today - stretching, conditioning/core stability exercises, ankle strengthening exercises and ... and 20 mins on the exercise bike (oh joy!).

Still taking colostrum, etc but would a wobble board help?

Slow progress

After yesterday's trial run on the exercise bike I decided to go for a whole 30 mins today. Nowhere near as much fun as running but necessary to maintain fitness for another 5 or 6 weeks ... not a very comforting thought.

The colostrum from Neovite.com arrived this morning. Mixed 1g with 300ml milk to test for tolerance as suggested - hope this stuff works. Applying Deep Heat 3 times a day and still progressing religiously with achilles strengthening exercises.

Feel good at the moment as the ankle seems to be less painful than of late.