Ordinary people, extra ordinary achievements

Last night I went to a business meeting of the IOD and met some inspiring people. Not olympic athletes but ordinary people doing extra ordinary things. Whether it was organising the medals for the rowing presentations at the Olympics, to climbing new peaks in Antartica, to changing peoples lives. When I am in company of people like this it inspires me to work harder to achieve my goal of completing MdS. So tonight I was out for a 10 mile run in freezing temperatures. This will be a 4 day block of running with a long distance run of 15 - 20 miles on Sunday. This will be my training pattern till April to get my body used to condensed mileage before I start adding weight into a rucksack. That's when the fun will start but it's amazing what ordinary people can achieve.

High tech feet

Feet are awesome. They take the full burden of our weight and if there are any imperfections it can affect our whole structure. Years ago I realised this and when running I wear orthotics to balance out the imperfections. As I've had a foot and ankle injury recently I revisited my Poditrist to check my orthotics. I ran with "electronic pads" in my shoes which gave a pressure map showing 60 pressure points on each foot. When running with the orthotics the map was well balanced which is good news. However without the orthotics I was like a runner with one leg! Now the poditrist is sourcing a new covering for the orthotics to reduce friction and keep the heat down. He is using me as a case study so it should be interesting over the next few months. However training in freezing conditions isn't very helpful for preparing for the heat of the desert. But there isn't much choice at the moment so I'll just have to layer up and get out there with my high tech feet!

Winter running

The wind was howling when I woke up this morning. Did I really have to go out this morning? Of course I did. It was dry but the roads were a bit tricky in places as I headed out with the "ultra crowd". I was looking forward to a nice slow paced long run - I got neither. They were only heading out for 10 miles so as a result on the second half of the run they upped the pace. It wouldn't normally be a problem except for my lack of running but I hung on. At the end of the 10 miles I tagged on another five on my own as I really do need to increase my mileage. In 6 weeks time I'll be tackling the Great Glen which is 79 miles in two days so I don't have a choice. In 9 days I've gone from 6 miles to 15 and I hope to be up to marathon distance at the beginning of January. When I got home I jumped into a freezing cold bath. The first 2 minutes are agony but it helps with the recovery. Then into my compression tights, not a pretty sight, followed by hydration and lots of food. After all I've burned off 1,800 calories this morning and my muscles need protein to help recover. Now off for a recovery nap!

Hibernation!

It all makes sense to me know - hibernation. I mean, who in their right mind would be outside in this bitterly cold weather? I've tried but had a few "Bambi moments" and headed back indoors. This week has been extremely busy, stressful and involved travelling. My son shadowed me for a week at work for experience. We had a great time but 2 days in London knocks the training out. So I've been on the turbo trainer, which sits next to a radiator, and am delighted to report my "turbo legs" are back. My heart rate is back to normal so I'm feeling good. In London I ran on a treadmill for an hour and although this isn't something I enjoy, it was a good workout. Last night I headed out for a run in the dark and was on my bum before I reached the front gate so back in for another turbo session. But I need running miles in my legs so I'm heading out on the trails this afternoon on this dry, sunny and freezing cold day. Here's hoping I stay up right. But before that I'm off to the local farmers market with my wife to get in the food for tonight we are having friends round for dinner. I'll need to be carefull on the liquid carbs as tomorrow I am away running with the Ultra Runners. Should be fun!

OMG!

At 6.15am I was on my yoga mat with my teacher Pamela Young (check out www.pamelayoung.co.uk). She took me through most of the Ashtanga series for the first time although I had covered all the individual moves before. It took me to the limit of my fitness and beyond. I was completely exhausted by the end and tonight I had to clean my yoga mat which had been saturated in sweat. It's not often I reach a point where I really don't think I can go any futher. But I have complete faith in Pam and while I feel as though I can't breath and am drowning, I know she wouldn't put me in danger. Yes this is yoga I am talking about. So the stiffness that was in my legs that needed a sports massage - gone. When I got home from work I was exhausted so I jumped in the bath. I couldn't believe it when I was able to reach past my toes - getting to my ankles is difficult enough! This is a full body workout and is essential to my training programme so it reinforces my belief that yoga will serve me well in the preparation for MdS.

First snow

This morning I awoke, early, to a blanket of white snow. Not too thick but enough to know the usual car accidents would be happening in the morning. So I jumped out of bed and got on the turbo trainer to exercise out the stiffness in my legs from yesterdays run. I could easily have stayed in bed but there is no room for being lazy as my trining is behind and I try and play catch up. My legs started to ease by the end of the session but I'd put them under no real pressure. Much more interested in flushing out any lactic acid. However when I started my yoga I was surprised at how stiff they still were. After a spin I am usually ok so the 10 mile run had affected them. The good news is that there were no aches or pains from my foot, ankle, achillies or calf. It was mainly my quads and hamstrings that were complaining. I am sure tomorrows yoga session with Pam will sort me out but I'll also be booking a spots massage just to make sure my legs are getting some TLC!

2nd run

After my birthday which involved a few more liquid carbs than healthy I went out for my second run since returning from illness and injury. You are meant to increase your running distance by a maximum of 10%, but I don't have time for that. So my 6 miles increased to 10 miles. I managed without any problem but my legs did feel it. So when I got home it was straight into an ine cold freezing bath. I lasted 5 minutes but thought my feet were going to explode with the cold. My legs are a bit stiff so tomorrow I'll be on the turbo to ease my legs. So progress but we'll see if there is any fall out in the next couple of days! What a great weekend.