Cushions are my friends:)

First decent bike ride on the weekend, and the nether regions are a wee bit tender!, thus the title of this post:) My brother in law has nicknamed my saddle 'The Widowmaker':)
Had a lovely ride to the city and then north east up Linear park along the Torrens to the Walkerville area and turned around at Ascot avenue. Then back down to the city through to Henley Beach road and back again to Lockleys. Pushed it reasonably vigorously, as the park was virtually empty, and it was safe to do so. Quite enjoyed the undulations which assisted in making it a reasonable workout, but the surface of the path in many places could be improved, but very pleasant scenery & ride nonetheless. Have to make more use of what is a wonderful resource and get the family out for a ride & picnic there at some stage.
Very happy with bike computer, great to be able to see progress at a glance and amend/adjust on the fly if need be. Total ride was 33.2km, duration 1:34, avg speed 20.1km/h, max speed 40.8km/h, will have to tweak the Excel spreadsheet I use to incorporate that data properly as it is currently only set up for running. It was interesting to me that whilst it felt like a reasonable workout, I felt nowwhere near as tired, nor did I sweat as much as I would in a run of comparable duration. The wind would have evaporated some of that sweat but still different in result, although I felt my intensity/effort was at approx 80% average.
Looking forward to building up my bike skills/ability in due course and getting out for some longer rides as I progress, and correspondingly getting more benefit/results.
Should have kept going though as watching the 2nd half of the footy was painful, Crows just stopped working and were very disappointing.
Backed up on Sunday with a 14.5k run (along the Torrens again!) in 1:33:50 which was a reasonable pace given conditions. Got a lift in with a couple of running mates and we set off from Pinky Flat for a 7.5k loop and of course the rain started again within the first k so we got reasonably wet. No problem though, kept going and had nice run at moderate pace and 45 minutes later were back at the car. I still felt good and am quite determined to aim for a minimum 10k plus run every weekend as per my plan so I left them there and ran back home to Clarence Park, approx another 7k which felt pretty good despite developing a blister on one foot. Same spot as the blisters I got on my arches from the first run in the Beasts, so not fully healed in that area and I had forgotten to put bodyglide on the feet. Was surprised I felt as reasonable as I did after the ride the day b4 but different set of muscles I guess. Looking forward to the week ahead and feeling reasonably motivated to continue to push myself towards overall fitness. After all Spring is in the air!

Keeping on keeping on

Just a quickie post. Did 9.5k yesterday morning in 56:59 (close!). Took it fairly easy as it was a group run with Emma, Anthony & Christine through Colonel Light Gardens.
Got the bike computer hooked up and ready to roll on the GT, but finished too late on Wed night to get out for a ride. So the weekend is beckoning for a 25k plus ride on Saturday, weather permitting.
Planning to head into the city and along the Torrens linear park to Payneham area, then turn around and head back down all the way to the beach and then back to the Lockleys area. As it will be linear park, won't be able to fly along at great speed, but should still be able to move at a decent pace and get some fat burning action happening, particuarily due to the undulations.
Planning to then have a shower and watch the Crows thump the Weagles on my brother in laws massive telly, can't wait.
Run for the weekend is undecided at this point, and distance will depend on how I pull up after my first bike ride in a long time, but will aim for at least 10k, hopefully 12'ish or maybe a tad more.
Not looking forward to discomfort in nether regions caused by suicide saddle on bike though, or John Wayne stance that is sure to develop next day, thus only 25k'ish rather than 40 plus. Will see how I go:)

The sun was shining..

The sun was shining, the birds were singing and I had a fairly pleasant start to the day, and remembered why I do this running caper again. The feet & quads were quite sore this morning, so took me 1-1.5k to start feeling ok. Was surprised the quads were sore, but I guess the C2B is downhill most of the way, albeit only slightly.
By the time I had reached the point at which I either needed to turn to make it a 5k run or go straight ahead for a 7k run, I was still in a bit of discomfort so thought I'd err on the side of caution and just make it 5k today. Murphy's law reared it's head and sure enough after going another 500m or so, everything felt fine and I had settled into a nice rythym and quite enjoyed the rest of my run. Wondering whether that was physcosomatic or just the body getting warmed up properly? Actually I think it's the latter because it does happen semi-regularly to me, especially if there's a lingering injury such as my PF soreness.
Usually I run through it and don't alter the distance I intend to run but felt like cutting it short today after a bit of a tough run on Sunday. Also one of my key goals is to minimise/remove any injuries so thought that was the best approach for the long term. Anyway that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it! :)
Ended up 29:41 for 5k so didn't push it too hard, especially after a slow'ish start. Unless I am recovering from a longer run, I plan to start to use my Tuesday run as an opportunity to push it a bit starting next week. I will still stick to the plan of keeping it in the 5-8k range, but will endeavour to boost the speed a bit and work myself reasonably hard during that session. I generally run with others on both a Thursday and the weekend, so that is my only definite solo run for the week, and the only opportunity I have to push things a bit and travel at my own pace. The group runs are great on Thursday & Sunday are great, and I really enjoy the social aspect of them as we have a great group of people that run together, but they are generally run at a bit of an easier trot, around 6:30 pace, and have a couple of walks/stops at traffic lights etc thrown in. Good for LSD and fat burning, but it's good to push it a bit too.
The last couple of weeks have been a bit frustrating so no bike rides or swims yet, but planning on putting the computer on the bike this evening and giving it a whirl. Then I will be ready to roll and hope to get my 1st mid week ride in Wed pm, thank goodness for the longer days that will allow some activity in the evenings. Also the Unley pool opened on Saturday so no more excuses on that front either! Will aim to get in there for a swim with the family on the weekend, weather permitting. Hooray!!

Post post post mortem

Further minor thought/excuse development:) re C2B.
I have written in previous posts about my approach to pacing, and whilst still under development and possibly not the best way to go about it, I tend to go out a bit harder (within reason) to get ahead of the pace somewhat, try to maintain in the middle and push again in the last k or two. On Sunday, I ran with a mate who was initially looking for 75 minute'ish pace, but was happy to run together and see how we go. I think that was a factor in the end result.
We ran together for the first 4 or 5 k at which point after looking back for him yet again to see how he was going he told me to 'get going' to which I acquiesced. I then picked up the pace a bit for the next 4 or so k's at which point I was feeling pretty hot and starting to get flat and consequently slowing down, and he caught up to me. We ran together for only a few metres when I had to clear my throat over on the grass and dropped off by 5-10 metres which I never caught up. He ended up staying steady and finished in 68:37 or something which was a great effort given the conditions and his prior expectations. He had been training for this race for some time, as opposed to me training for the half, so was reasonably well prepared.
We got together afterwards for a bbq at his place and talked about the pace and he commented that I seemed just a half to full stride ahead of him during that first stretch and he couldn't quite keep up, which is why he told me to go ahead after 4 or 5k of that. During that part, I felt fine but was not pushing myself aiming to run together and keep each other company, and knew I was going at a reasonable pace and still under 6mins/km but not quite as fast as I would have liked. I reasoned that by keeping a steady pace it would allow us both to achieve a good result together, and also leave me with some energy in reserve for the latter portion of the race. That I don't think was the right approach for me. It clearly was for him, and at the end of the day he did better than I on the day and finished 3 mins or so ahead of me which I think surprised him, so shows how a steady even pace was the best approach for him.
Whether it's the soundest pacing approach or not, I believe I get better results by going out that bit harder, holding it in the middle having built a handy buffer, and hopefully come home with a 'wet sail'.
It might only have cost me 20-30 secs per km for the first 5, but on a day like Sunday where the longer you were in the sun the worse it was, I think that contributed to my result falling short. All of the other things mentioned yesterday, particularily the lack of miles in the legs and extra weight, were no doubt bigger factors, but I think my pacing made a difference too. Absolutely nothing to do with him, he's a great bloke, and I made the decision to run as I did but just trying to think through all the angles. Whenever something doesn't necessarily go as planned, I try to reflect on it a bit and use it as a learning experience to improve for the future and that's all I hope to do with this one.
It's great to run together socially but without being mercenary about it, the best approach for me is to run my own race when it comes to an event, unless I am just happy to have a casual run. It might not have made much of a difference yesterday but I only needed 120 seconds more speed to reach my goal. Next time I will make sure first and foremost I have done the work in training, but will also adopt the best approach for me on raceday. I find that the best operators don't necessarily do one thing 40% better than the rest, they do 40 things 1% better, and that is all I am aiming towards, being the best I can be. My god that sounds like a defence force ad!!! :)
Anyway that's my thought for the day, and I have to say when I started this blog as stated I was doing it more for me than anyone else, and it's turned out to be quite cathartic. It really does help you reflect on things by writing/typing them down, and I now know why so many people keep a diary/journal to record things in. Quite beneficial:):):)

City to Bay

Whilst my main goal for the last 6 months was the HM, I was still hoping to do well in my first C2B, but was not to be.

Had a bit of a shocker and just felt like there was nothing in the tank in that middle stretch. Was aiming for sub 70 but ended up with 71:51 so just managed to squeeze in under 6 mins/k average. Only 2 minutes outside my goal but prior to the race had felt 70 was achievable and possibly might even give 66 a nudge, but just felt flat on the day. I'm sure the heat had a fair impact, I certainly felt it in those middle few k's, not to mention feeling every one of the extra 20 kilos or so I should not be carrying. Great motivator to continue the weight loss and get back to fitness.

Did a bit of a post mortem this morning and it is plain as mud why I didn't achieve my goal, I simply didn't have the miles in the legs. Over the last 6 weeks I have run a grand total of 90.1km
Whilst that ridiculously low number (which surprised even me and includes the HM and C2B!) was largely due to injury or illness, I should have realised the conditioning wasn't there and just focussed on enjoying my first C2B. Instead I frankly found it a struggle and did not get the pleasure out of the 'fun run' that I should have.

I will use that frustration to get my finger out and work harder and achieve a much better, and importantly more enjoyable result next time. Up until the last 6-7 weeks I have really enjoyed my running knowing that, whilst I am far from fit or fast, I was always improving and generally working to the best of my ability at that time. Since injury and illness have taken their toll on performance, I have found myself disappointed at event performances and not getting the same level of pleasure out of what should be a fun event. The only person I compete with is myself and when I lose, I don't like it Feeling pissed off at the moment, need to get past it.

Clearly I need to stick to the plan I put together, get healthy and injury free, and get back to making progress and enjoying my running again.
Well done to fellow CR's Rundave & Simlin but missed everyone else, good to catch up with you guys. A couple of friends from my running group, Anthony & Emma, did well too.

Still a bit flat :(

Had a decent run this morning, 7k exactly in 40:33.
Have to say that although the time was fine, it took me over a kilometre to be able to run and feel comfortable without pain/discomfort in my feet. Once I had that first k or so under my belt, I started to feel a bit more steady & fluid, but still flat on the energy levels. Whilst I wasn't exactly struggling, I felt like I was working harder than I was a three months ago on a day doing the same run/distance? Not sure if the body is still recovering from the flu last week, or whether it's still a bit of a hangover from the HM.
Since running the HM, I have not felt 'fresh' in any run since. Wondering whether I did a bit of damage/used up the mitochondria in the muscles, when running the last few k of the half in what I suspect was an anaerobic state. If that is correct, how long to recover fully I wonder?
I was hoping to be feeling really fresh again by C2B and therefore be able to attack a really good time (for me), but am now a bit concerned. Perhaps I am over analysing this and it will all come good but wouldn't mind any feedback anyone had to share about their experience after a big/tough run.

Best laid plans....

No sooner had I commited my plan to text and I came down with the flu!
Got a decent 7k run in last Tuesday but came down with the flu on Wednesday which lasted until Saturday so missed out on my Thursday run and both bike rides! Not a great beginning but took Rundave's advice and took it easy rather than try to push through it.
Felt reasonable by Saturday night and went to a friend's 40th to get my exercise - bit of a boogie with the missus. Great live band - Wasabi - so we kicked up our heels on the dance floor for an hour or two and had a great laugh. Plenty of other blokes dancing and having a good time but still amazed me how many were standing around the walls, beer in hand while their partners were out shaking their stuff. Express yourself I say!
Anyway felt quite good, minimal alcohol so felt fine to get up the next morning for a run down to the bay. Myself and a couple of others from my running group did a 10k trot down to Glenelg and ended with a coffee down at Cibo in the sunshine, very civilised way to finish:)
Did another 1.5k over to in-laws house, showered and spent the day watching the footy. So total of 11.5k and the feet felt ok but my left hip did trouble me a little.
Aiming for a solid 7k tomorrow morning so we'll see how it pulls up then.

Back into it!

Ok, the plan is in place and I am now in the first week of getting organised & rolling it out.
Part of the challenge each week will be juggling family & time commitments so good scheduling will be important. My wife Robin is also looking to improve her fitness and lose some weight, and we are making a real effort to have a healthy family lifestyle which will include some bushwalks on the weekend etc with the kids. I am aiming for exercise 6 days per week, 3 runs, 2 rides and 1 swim but the dogs need to be walked too so some low key exercise will be included so as not to overdo it.
The last thing I want to do is push it too hard initially, get injured and have to sit on the sidelines. I have had a bit of an insight into that with injuries thus far and didn't like the glimpse I saw.

Monday was a rest day so Robin went for a walk in the morning with the dogs, and Connor on his bike! So that she can exercise too she gets Mon/Wed/Fri mornings and I will do Tues/Thurs/Sat/Sun and we will squeeze in any evening stuff we can, and still try to have a life! Thank goodness for daylight saving, I am really looking forward to summer evenings and it still being light at 8pm and beyond.
As soon as I got home Monday night I quickly changed and took one of the dogs out for a 35 min brisk walk which was very pleasant. This morning, Tuesday, did a nice easy 7k run in 41:48 which surprised me a bit, as I expected to be slower. The PF on the left foot is the worse of the two, and was a bit tender for the first couple of k's but settled down after that and was ok until the last k or so when I could feel it again. The middle 4-5k was ok, just clocked along at a moderate pace and felt reasonably comfortable, but not great, just ok. I expected to be around 6.5mins/km pace so when looking at the watch and seeing the time I was pleasantly surprised, although didn't alter my pace (consciously anyway), just focused on keeping a nice rythym.

End result was a decent run at a decent pace (for me anyway) and the whilst the foot is a bit tender now( as I roll the golf ball under it whilst sitting at my desk), I hope it won't trouble me too much and will gradually get better over the next few weeks as a result of both the reduced workload and treatment from yours truly and the physio.
C2B is not far away and keen to keep things on track for that and a sub 70 if possible.

The Plan of Attack

To anyone reading this I would welcome any feedback or suggestions. As discussed in previous post, this plan is about improving overall fitness, reducing PF problems and spicing things up a bit in the short to medium term. In the long term, I hope to have removed the PF problem, improved my fitness significantly, and correspondingly improved my core strength and running markedly with the ultimate goal of running a full marathon.
How? I am going to cut back my running in the short term to 3 days per week, Tuesday (short run 5-8k), Thursday (medium 8-12k) and one day on the W/end (12k plus). I hope this will allow my inflamed PF to heal over time ( with help from Physio & me), but also improve my focus to generate better quality running, rather than just quantity. All told, I expect to clock up moderate mileage in the region of 30k per week over a fair bit of the summer, which should give me a decent base to build on next year in time for HM season. As far as I am aware, the first local Hm's occur in May with the Greenbelt & Barossa and I plan to be ready to attack them with a vengeance from about 12 weeks out, essentially the beginning of February. All being well, and if training goes to plan, no injuries occur (touch wood), then I will endeavour to run my 1st marathon in Adelaide next August. That's the big kahuna, it's over 50 weeks away so plenty of time to get it right. The goal is now in writing, so I guess I am committed, or should be:) But what else will I do to get there?
I plan to start cross training this week, starting with cycling. I have a good quality mountain bike which was in the $600 odd dollar range when I purchased it new a year or two ago. So, far from top of the range but not at the bottom either, and whilst a road bike would be a better option in the long term, it will be more than adequate to get my heart & legs pumping, and improve my cardiovascular fitness. Whilst it uses my feet & legs so should improve my running somewhat, it will remove the pounding/impact from my feet and should allow the PF to settle too. Need to do more research but I'm sure many of the same muscles (glutes etc) will benefit from being used differently and help my running in the long term. I plan on trying to get two rides in a week, one mid week of 15-30k (40-80mins?) and a longer one on the weekend of 30-50k (80-150mins). I used to cycle back & forth to work (Happy Valley - Netley) years ago which was a 36k round trip and I would regularly do that 3xwk so total around 100k's/wk and more if I went for a ride to see the rest of the family on weekends. It's amazing what having no other form of transport will do for you. It's been a while though so may need to adjust those times/expectations as I go.

The last piece of the puzzle is swimming, and it won't be my favourite piece either! Not a strong swimmer and my technique is pretty ordinary so really need to do some work in this area and will get some lessons to improve that technique for a start. All I really hope to do with this is get decent coz I don't ever expect to be good! I recognize however that this is a tremendous non impact sport that should again take the pressure off my PF and improve my overall fitness markedly if I can get reasonable at it. The local pool at Unley is one of the best in Adelaide and opens on 16/9 and runs right through until the end of May next year, so no excuses for not getting there unfortunately:) Very modest goals in this area, and that is for one scheduled swim a week, with a second if possible perhaps on the weekend with the family. No expectations on time/distance yet but will work through that in due course as I graduate from 'beached whale' to' dolphin' - wishful thinking! I would love to have a dabble at a dua/tri-athlon at some stage but that is likely some time off, well into next year but reckon it would be fun. Might need some tips Rachel???

So that's the plan kids, would welcome any comments anyone has, but I am going to go for it and get on the road to fitness, and it starts this week! Keep smiling!

Where to from here??

Ok, I have now got the blog up to date to cover the six months thus far in my running education. From this point forward we will be talking 'real time' folks. Very exciting (or do I need to get out more:))
Apologies for the length of many of the posts but I was trying to capture each milestone as I experienced it, and therefore be able to look back on a decent record of what I have done to get here. As stated in my intro the blog is really for me to keep track of how I'm going and just capture a few thoughts as I progress. I have never been one to write a diary or anything so this is the first such attempt to record any of my own ramblings. Can't promise to update every day or even every run but we'll see how we go.

So what now? I have accomplished my 1st major goal of running a half marathon and whilst it was a bit of a struggle on the day, I believe the mental toughness I built by finishing it will be of benefit again in the future. Having said that, I don't want to put myself in a position where I have to tap into it too often if I can avoid it! So, better preparation is in order moving forward and to do that I need to plan as effectively as I can, and as smartly as I can. Oh-oh, we're in trouble now:)
I have had an objective look at where I'm at, and need to recognise a few things. Firstly:

• Whilst I've done a half, and my running is progressing, I am far from what you could call 'fit'. I want to progress my running further and get better, smarter and faster.
  
• I am much 'fitter' than I was but still have a fair way to go, not to mention another 20kg to lose!
• I have a problem with my planterfascia muscles, have had it for close to 3 months now, and it's not going to go away by itself ( unless I go back to sitting on the couch-no way!)
  
• I want to run a full marathon next year, but want to do it comfortably ( within reason)

Ok, so taking into consideration all of the above, how do I need to approach the future? At this point, I believe I need to change my approach in a number of ways. I want to get fitter to improve my overall health and quality of life. I love the running but don't want to restrict my exercise to that alone for a number of reasons:

1. Variety is the spice of life!
   
2. Cross training activities will improve my core strength and running in the long term.
3. Other low/non impact fitness activities will improve/remove my problem with PF.
4. I want to build muscle as well as lose fat to improve my metabolism, physique, and general wellbeing.

To that end I am working on a plan that I hope will get me where I need to go, it's detailed in the next blog.

Recovery

OUCH! Everything was sore for the next couple of days, from the legs right through to the muscles in my back, especially around the shoulder blades? go figure? I guess I put my body through a bit more punishment on the day than I had realised. Managed to get my magnificent wife to provide a massage on the Tuesday night which left me feeling a lot better the following day.
Funny about massages, my wife is a qualified sports massuese but do you think I can get a massage without pestering the heck out of her? I suppose it's a bit like the plumber with the leaky taps eh:)
Feeling a reasonable sense of accomplishment though that I ran a half marathon, and getting lots of congrats from friends and family which is very nice. Saw the physio the Wednesday after the run and hadn't realised how much I had aggravated my PF muscles in the feet until she dug her thumb into the soft spot under my heel and I hit the roof! Has been tender ever since so need to get the golf ball out and do my exercises to continue to loosen things up and hopefully get it healed and back to full fitness again.
Had a light 6k run the next day with one of the girls from the running group, and whilst the foot/feet were a bit tender, I felt ok and the legs were fine. BTW our running group at Goodwood is called the Crusty Buggers, not sure how we came up with that one but I will blame one of the girls for that!
Another 6k on Saturday morning and again at a very easy pace as another 'crusty' & I joined the 'Start Runners' just to turn the legs over and have a nice social run. We kept running while they slowed to a walk at various points and didn't bother timimg the run or anything so it was fairly cruisy. Starting to feel now like I can slowly get back into it next week have a couple of solid hit-outs before the City 2 Bay (C2B)

The big day!

Sunday 27/8/06 - Adelaide Marathon Festival.
It's here!! My wife, Robin, and boys, Connor & Lachlan, gave me a lift down to the HM start at Lockleys, and gave me a great sendoff. It was a little cool that morning so decided to wear a cotton t-shirt under my long sleeve Brooks running top, as well as the Asics running shorts and Brooks Adrenalins. Also had invested in good Thorlo socks a couple of weeks before and some Bodyglide so hopefully had all the right gear, in all the right places. Managed to get into the loo and have a decent stretch beforehand so was feeling ok and as ready as I was ever going to be!
The atmosphere was great at the start with runners of all abilities taking part and we even got to cheer on a few marathoners who trotted by on their 42.2k journey. All shapes & sizes, which is one of the things that's great about running:)
I lined up near the back and felt ok as the gun went off.
Given that I couldn't run 3k six months ago, I was aiming for a modest goal of averaging under 6 minute pace per km, total time around 2:06. The last month of preparation however was a shocker with injuries etc and ended up running with a cold but the lack of training throughout July/August was the biggest factor in being underdone. Got to 15k in just under 90 minutes and had felt ok up till then but 'hit the wall' shortly after. Sore foot and hip came on and simply had to grind out the last 5-6k which took me over 46 minutes, so really slowed right down. End result was 2:16:57 so fairly slow, but the great thing about doing something for the first time is that no matter how long it takes, it's a PB :)!

Re Clothing, that was a rookie mistake that I made. I wore a shortsleeve cotton t-shirt with a long sleeve Brooks running top over it as it felt fairly cool in the morning. It was fine for the first few k's but started to warm up pretty well at that point and soon after was starting to feel like my body wasn't ventilating properly. Ended up taking it off and just keeping the long sleeve running top on and carrying the t-shirt and using to wipe my brow etc. It seems very daft now but at the time wasn't sure of the best approach and generally use the ls top to wipe the sweat out of eyes etc.Next time it will be t-shirt or singlet for sure.

So a bit ugly in the end and feel like I went 12 rounds with Mike Tyson but other than that, great. Suspect that I had used up all the fuel supply my body had to offer & was running anaerobically for those last few k's. No wonder it felt so hard.
I hobbled around for the next few days with pride regardless and am very pleased to have finished the half. Learnt a valuable lesson in terms of training though and even though injuries were largely what caused me to be underdone, there is clearly no substitute for religiously putting in the miles beforehand. Looking forward to getting out for a tentative run again later this week and continuing progress towards my next HM and sometime next year, the big monty, a full marathon.

Taper time!

2 weeks out, new shoes, on holiday in Vic and trying to squeeze in a couple of runs to keep the legs ticking over in prep for the half. Still concerned about being underdone but trying to take the positive things from the previous few weeks caused me to reflect a bit more deeply.
I had a forced layoff for 8 days due to gout, but that allowed those large blisters to almost fully heal and also reduced the pounding my planterfascia muscles were taking by running 5 days/week with decent distances covered. With that in mind, my aim now was just to turn the legs over and take it easy and hopefully be fresh and healed up for the HM.
So had a nice 5-6k run along the beach on the Mornington peninsula, very pleasant running past all those cool little beach huts that are painted so vibrantly, and even saw a seal resting under the jetty! Although it was a little cool, I managed to warm up ok and whilst the left foot was a bit tender (PF), it didn't cause me too much discomfort on such a short run. Had another 6k effort 3 days later around Richmond in Melbourne and again the foot was tender but ok. I had a final run 2 days before the HM of about 5-6k again and felt ok but concerned over last month's preparation and how it would impact me on the day. The previous 3 and a half weeks had seen 8 days of no running, and then only 4 runs of short distances no longer than 6k in the fortnight leading up. Not exactly ideal but best I could manage under the circumstances and it was too late to change anything so best to 'just get out there and do it' on Sunday.
The Friday night prior, our little running group had organised to get together af Caffe Primo to do some carb loading and team bonding, even though I was the only one now actually competing.
It's great to have that support and camaradarie among the group, and a few of the members had even arranged to man a drink station so they could help out and support me as well. We discovered later that they had been allocated to the stations on West beach rd, which was part of the full marathon course, not the half, but great that they participated anyway, although I could certainly have used their support on the day. Had a great pasta feed anyway, but had a glass of red with the meal, only my second for the day, and later started to get a familiar tingling in my big toe that warned ' gout is on it's way'.
Couldn't believe my luck that 36 hours b4 the half my big toe was starting to throb, but I managed to get all the pills necessary down my throat immediately and again throughout the night and next day and avoided a full scale attack. I have to say though that those anti-inflammatories make me feel pretty ordinary whilst taking them, particularily in the guts.
Anyway, I was now hopefully not going to suffer from gout during the race, and whilst I was still carrying a head cold from the last week, I was as ready as I was ever going to be.

Gout & HM preparation don't go together!

A couple of days after my first blister filled run with the Beasts I woke up with a very sore right big toe and it was diagnosed as gout! Hooray!! At this point I was 3 or so weeks out from the half and had just finished a 56k week and had one more solid week scheduled before a 2 week taper. Not happy Jan. The doc dosed me up with antibiotics and anti inflammatories, which took a couple of days to work but certainly made a difference. I have to say it was fairly uncomfortable and not something I want to get repeatedly if I can avoid it. I undertsand now why many people say it is one of the most painful ailments you can experience. Anyway that put a serious dent in the training with no exercise at all for 8 days.
So my last week of solid training which I felt I really needed didn't happen, I had bloody great blisters on both feet, and gout on my rh big toe, tennis anyone? At this point I resigned myself to going into the HM underdone and modified my goal to one of just completing it instead of aiming for a specific time. I was also about to go to Victoria for a weeks holiday with the family and was concerned about the Beasts. I just didn't feel great in them, they felt heavy and were clearly rubbing on the midsole area, causing those blisters! It's probably strange to say they felt heavy, when I myself am still 20kg overweight, but they just did. So I decided to go back into Jogger's World and seek further advice.
They put me on the treadmill and video'd my gait and it was clear I was a reasonable pronator and needed decent midsole support so the Beasts weren't a bad choice. However 'in between' those and the Kayano's were the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 6, still offering greater support than the Asics, but more cushioning than the Beasts. They were one of the pairs I had under consideration initially but gone for the Beasts for max support to aim to correct my foot problems. I probably should have gone for a more middle of the road option but acted on the advice given and chose the Beasts. Long story short the Adrenaline felt really good on, even more comfortable than a new pair of kayano's, and I really wanted to be comfortable leading up to and during the half, so I bought a pair.
So now had spent double the planned cost but reasoned that I should now get better value out of each pair as I could alternate them and get longer life out of both as 'resting' each of them gives the material a chance to rebound and gives greater durability. I now hoped that I had a comfortable pair of shoes to break in over a 2 week taper and run the big one in.

HM training

Ok, I had managed to complete the River Run in under the goal time and now had 6 weeks further to prepare for the half. My training program was now at week 11 of 14 with a 2 week taper beyond that. Overall I was following the program steadily but had not quite been managing the distances planned in terms of my long weekly run or overall weekly k's. This was largely due to injury or illness, but also a bit of laziness on my part too. Getting out of bed on some of those very cold mornings during winter (<2*C) was not always easy, but I managed it the majority of the time.
At this point I had been getting some soreness in my heels, particularily on the left one and had actually got what appeared to a internal 'pressure blister' on the side of my left heel at one point.

My heel's were getting progressively worse and my Kayano's were also starting to look a bit tired so I realised that I needed to address both problems if I was going to get through the HM successfully. I had expected to get longer out of the shoes (perhaps 800-1000k) so was taken a bit by surprise when informed by the staff at Jogger's World that they had expired already, and if they were a horse they would shoot them! Given they were the ones that told me 800-100k initially, I was a little disappointed. I got 715k out of them but probably should have retired them about the 600k mark, possibly avoiding my heel problems which had now been confirmed as planterfasciatis by a physio. I guess the significant extra weight I was carrying just battered the shoe's cushioning into submission a bit earlier than I had expected, even though I had lost a fair bit of fat on the way. I also discovered that Kayano's are not really suited to heavy runners anyway, which is not the advice I had been given at the outset of this running caper. Having said that, up until this heel/sole issue, I was very happy with them and had not had a single issue with so much as a blister until that point.
I then began shopping for new shoes, seeking advice on CoolRunning, from the physio, and in Jogger's World, our only specialist shoe shop. All advice pointed me away from Kayano's and in the direction of Brooks, either the Beast for max support or Adrenaline for good support and cushioning. After much consultation and consideration, I bought the Beast and wore them all that day to try to wear them in a little before a long run that weekend.
Having no time to run them in with plenty of short-medium runs was clearly a daft rookie mistake, but was caused by the somewhat unexpected early retirement of the Kayano's ( which i should have anticipated better). So instead of having a month or so to gradually wear them in , I was now 3 and a bit weeks out from the HM and forced with having to 'run in' a new pair of shoes quickly for the half. As stated earlier, I had never had a single blister in the previous 700k's or so of running, so whilst I new the situation wasn't ideal, wasn't overly concerned.
I should have been. 4k's into my 20.5k long run with the Beast's, I could tell it was going to be an uncomfortable day. I completed the run as scheduled, but it was fairly unpleasant and ended up with large blisters across the arch of each foot right where the midsole support was as well as on the toes. I had deliberately wore socks I had run in before to ensure I knew they were ok. Needless to say I was pissed off with both the shoes ( having never had a drama with the Asics) and myself. I backed up the next day with 9.5k but it didn't feel great on the feet, although the legs were good.