A friend of mine , Rob Donkersloot, has just started a new business focusing on one of the most overlooked part of a runners artillery, the mind.  As I have mentioned many times I am a big believer in the Tim Noakes ‘central governor’ theory, that is the body is capable of so much more but the mind protects us by limiting what resources we have at our disposal, mainly by using a runners worst enemy, fatigue.

Luckily for you he has spots available at the moment and I would highly recommend anyone who is serious about their running to get on board. His website is :- https://mindfocusedrunning.com/ and you will not be disappointed.  Rob is a highly respected member of the Ultra community and was President the of the Australian Ultra Runners Association for many years.  ( https://www.aura.asn.au/ ) He has completed many of the longest and most grueling ultra marathons all over the globe. He tends to select the ones where you are unsupported and run for days rather than hours, thus allowing him to use his strength, the mental side of running.

From an article in Runner World by Mackenzie Lobby in 2009.

We’ve all heard the old adage about running being 90% mental. Turns out it might be true, and scientifically proven to boot. Tim Noakes, M.D., author of Lore of Running, has long argued that it is the brain that allows or limits endurance performance rather than the body. His “central governor” theory postulates that “the brain is there to look after you and to make sure whatever you do, you do it safely,” as he puts it.

Noakes says that the brain holds us back from pushing past a certain point. “There’s a control mechanism to make sure that you reach the finish line not in a completely, utterly wilted state,” he claims. “You always have a little reserve.” Or as some would interpret this, you can always push a little harder.

While past running research was preoccupied with the physiological side of endurance performance, a small group of researchers recently set their sights on examining the role of the brain. Not only does this research emphasize the idea of mind over matter, it also demonstrates that the brain can be trained to allow the body to physically handle more. After considering the research, we went in search of examples of competitive runners who have figured out ways to overcome the limits our brains put on our bodies. They offer sound advice on methods to coach your mind, not just your muscles.

Confusing Mental Fatigue and Physical Fatigue

Consider the following scenario. You’ve had a long, hard day. Your kids are nagging you, your boss is riding you, and there’s a sink full of dirty dishes and a mile-high pile of bills waiting for you at home. Managing to get in a run, much less a track workout or tempo session, seems like a monumental task.

Researchers at Bangor University in the UK set out to examine why it is that mental fatigue can lead to the perception of physical fatigue during exercise. Dr. Samuele M. Marcora and colleagues compared two groups. While both groups were to complete a high-intensity cycling exercise, one group was given a challenging, but sedentary, 90-minute computer test beforehand. The other watched “emotionally neutral documentaries” for 90 minutes.

While physiological responses to the exercise did not differ between the two groups, the perception of physical effort was much higher in the mentally fatigued group (the ones who did the computer test). The perception of physical fatigue translated into those participants reaching their maximal level of perceived exertion, and thus giving up, much sooner.

Researchers confirmed that VO2 max, cycling economy, and anaerobic threshold were not influenced by the mental task. Most interesting, they note that “overall, it seems that exercise performance is ultimately limited by perception of effort rather than cardiorespiratory and musculoenergetic factors.” Therefore, the brain gave up and subsequently sent signals to the body to also cease, even though the body showed no physical signs of complete exhaustion.

Tricking the Mind to Allow More from the Body

This sort of research tells us that the brain is the boss. It orders the body what to do and what not to do. Another way to interpret this is, that if we can find a way to coax the brain out of cowering in the face of stress, our bodies will subsequently follow. A study out of the University of Birmingham, England, demonstrated that it is possible to, in a sense, fool the mind into allowing the body to work harder.

These researchers showed that cyclists who swished a carbohydrate drink containing either glucose or maltodextrin disguised with an artificial sweetener during a workout were able to ride harder and longer than those who swished water disguised with an artificial sweetener. This was despite the fact that none of the participants actually swallowed either of the liquids, nor did they know if they were swishing the carbohydrate solution or plain water. In addition, the two groups rated the level of difficulty to be the same, even though the carbohydrate drink group worked harder.

A functional MRI demonstrated that certain areas of the brain lit up when the carbohydrate drink was swished, those areas being connected to emotion, motivation, and reward. It was as if the carbohydrate-sensitive receptors in the mouth communicated with the brain, which then sent a signal to the body to tell it that it would be getting more calories and thus could work harder, regardless of the fact that no calories were actually consumed. This demonstrated that it is possible to trick the brain to allow the body to go further and faster.

Brain Training

We often assume that a decrease in performance is the result of physical fatigue—that less oxygen reaches the muscles, lactic acid builds up, and our legs tire. This doesn’t, however, explain instances when you feel you have nothing left, but then manage a surge on the backstretch or rally in the last mile of a marathon. If your muscles were truly shot, that last push would be impossible.

What it comes down to is training, or tricking, the brain to allow the body to go harder. The brain can be taught to give the body more leeway by incrementally pushing past that perceived maximal level of exertion in training. The same way you train your body, you must also train your mind. Noakes suggests, “If you want to be competitive, you have to learn how to deal with the discomfort. A lot of the heavy, good physical training is about training the brain to cope with discomfort.”

There are plenty of examples of people who have figured out ways to shelve distractions, life responsibilities, and the run-off mental fatigue in order to run and race well. In chatting with several accomplished runners who are or were billed with overcoming much greater roadblocks than the average elite, a number of tricks of the trade surface.

Running Priorities

Since we don’t all have the luxury to be able to devote our entire lives to our training the way many of the pros do, we must find ways around the stresses of everyday life. This means making running a priority. Noakes asks, “What are you going to give up? You can’t just keep adding. The brain doesn’t have infinite reserves.”

Bob Kempainen, who ran the 1992 and 1996 Olympic marathons, has a reputation for being one of the most mentally tough runners of our time. By decompressing his rigorous medical school program to six years instead of four, Kempainen was able to simultaneously train for both Olympics and complete medical school.

He explains, however, that other aspects of his life were put on the back burner: “You have to put up with going out to train when you’re tired or when you’ve got things pulling you in different directions, whether it’s social opportunities or passing on a promotion because it would be more work hours. There’s always something that you have to give up.  You have to be pretty committed to the sport.”

Getting into the Routine

Once you’ve moved your training up to the top of the priority list, making it a part of your daily routine can help combat unmotivating messages the brain throws at you. Chris Raabe, winner of the 2009 Grandma’s Marathon and a religious 150-mile-a-week runner, knows this well. On top of that heavy mileage, he is also a full-time patent examiner for the Patent Office in Washington D.C.

He explains, “If training is a focus that you have, it’s important to eliminate the distractions as much as possible and make sure that your training is a part of your routine. If you ask me what I’m going to be doing at 5 a.m. on a Wednesday two months from now, I can tell you I’m going to be going out for a run. It’s something that I’ve decided I am doing at this time.”

It is this unquestioning devotion that runners such as Raabe display that seems to be the key to living the double life as a competitive runner and a mere mortal. He says, “if I’ve had a rough day, for me, it’s just what I do. I don’t really think about it. Mental fatigue doesn’t come in quite as much because I’m not thinking about it. It’s just, this is what I do at this time.”

Sheri Piers echoes these sentiments. Piers, 38. is a full-time superwoman, juggling a career as a nurse practitioner, coaching a high school boys cross country team, and tending to her five children, not to mention running upwards of 120 miles a week. The 11th place finisher (2:37.04) in April’s Boston Marathon shows that it is possible to talk the brain into letting the body go further and faster even when the brain waves the white flag.

Like Raabe, she says, “It becomes something you have to get done. The alarm goes off and you get up. I just do it. It’s part of a routine. It doesn’t matter if it’s 20 degrees below. I’m going out running. It’s just the way it is. It’s not even a question.”

Raabe agrees that if you are running once a day, putting it on the front end of your routine is usually best. “You avoid problems. Automatically that’s the first thing you do when you get up.”

Piers has a similar routine: “We get up at 4:00am and get the workout in before the kids wake up because we have to. If we want to do it, that’s what we have to do.”

Practice Makes Perfect

Indeed, no one effortlessly falls into this type of schedule without a little practice, but it does seem to get easier with time. Raabe suggests, “The more you are exposed to a stress, the lower your response is to that stress.”

Noakes adds that when you willfully subject yourself to stress, such as training and working every day, “you become better able to cope with all the stresses in your life.” He adds, “Training increases your self-belief and your confidence in what you can do.”

With practice, you become more convinced of your ability to handle mental stress. Piers explains matter-of-factly, “if you believe you can do it, you just do it.”

These runners have truly put the research into practice. We know that the mind has great influence over the body. Lucky for us, academicians have also discovered that the mind can be manipulated and trained to send specific signals to the body. The ticket to success appears to come with structure and focus. No one said it would be easy. But that’s certainly not why we’re distance runners.

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Unfortunately I seem to have injured my Achilles just as the racing season starts to hot up in sunny Western Australia.  I knew I was in trouble about 14 hours into my last event, Birdy’s backyard Ultra.  ( https://ultraserieswa.com.au/event/birdys-backyard-2/ ) The looped course has a section on an uneven meadow with the option of running on an angle near the fence,  being the quicker option,  where as running on a flatter service was the more ‘runner friendly‘. Over time I had started to move towards the fence and because of that started to put my already tired Achilles under more pressure.  On one lap I was chasing Justin and as we came out of a gate I tried to accelerate off my left leg to catch him so we could run together for the next few kilometres. This proved to be my undoing as I felt that familiar tearing in my lower leg. I had felt a similar feeling when I blew my calf a few years ago,  so instantly knew I had a tear.

Luckily I hobbled about for a few steps but was then able to run with only small discomfort. This allowed me to get back to the start and tape up my Achilles with Rock Tape and neck a few more Voltaren tablets.  This was enough to get me through the event and I actually finished pain free.

Of course once the Voltaren wore off that evening my ankle swelled up and I knew I was in trouble.  Of course Dr.Google has the answer and I have self diagnosed, as every runner does,  with Achilles Tendonitis / Tendonosis.  I have decided to spend as much time as possible on my Bionic Runner and dose myself up with Voltaren for 7-10 days. After this we’ll see if I ‘m able to run albeit slowly and only for a short distance.

Of course my marathon a week Sunday (August 30th) is probably out the window unless I have a Lazarus like recovery , confidence is low. I am prepared to sacrifice this event for one of my goal races this year the Light Horse 12 hour. ( http://lighthorseultra.com.au/ ) This was my first DNF last year, ever, and I’m determined to put in a good effort this year to banish those DNF demons.  Before this injury I was confident of putting in a good total but now I’ll be happy just to run the full 12 hours.

Injuries are sent to test us and as we get older  they seem to come knocking on a more regular basis. I had a really good run of no injures initially but the last few years have torn a calf muscle, overcome a nasty case of Plantar Fasciitis , a Baker’s Cyst and now it looks like  Achilles Tendonitis. I get the injuries,  it’s the loss of fitness and starting again that really hurts. Lock down for me has been the prefect time to really concentrate on my training program and I was just getting back to 2016 fitness levels and,  with the help of my massage gun,  was loving my running again.  With a 12 hour event in September, a marathon in October, 100 miler in November, Ultra in December, 100k in January and finally the Delirious in February my race calendar is fully booked.  This bad boy of an injury could put paid to a few of those or worse. That’s running I suppose. Every time you put on your running shoes you roll the dice and eventually you get snake eyes.

On the bright side my injury allows me to post on the subject and if anybody,  reading this post,  has the symptoms below I have the article helps.

Common Disorders of the Achilles Tendon

What Is the Achilles Tendon?

A tendon is a band of tissue that connects a muscle to a bone. The Achilles tendon runs down the back of the lower leg and connects the calf muscle to the heel bone. Also called the “heel cord,” the Achilles tendon facilitates walking by helping to raise the heel off the ground.

Achilles Tendonitis and Achilles Tendonosis

 

Two common disorders that occur in the heel cord are Achilles tendonitis and Achilles tendonosis.

Achilles tendonitis is an inflammation of the Achilles tendon. This inflammation is typically short-lived. Over time, if not resolved, the condition may progress to a degeneration of the tendon (Achilles tendonosis), in which the tendon loses its organized structure and is likely to develop microscopic tears. Sometimes the degeneration involves the site where the Achilles tendon attaches to the heel bone. In rare cases, chronic degeneration with or without pain may result in rupture of the tendon.

Causes
As “overuse” disorders, Achilles tendonitis and tendonosis are usually caused by a sudden increase of a repetitive activity involving the Achilles tendon. Such activity puts too much stress on the tendon too quickly, leading to micro-injury of the tendon fibers. Due to this ongoing stress on the tendon, the body is unable to repair the injured tissue. The structure of the tendon is then altered, resulting in continued pain.

Athletes are at high risk for developing disorders of the Achilles tendon. Achilles tendonitis and tendonosis are also common in individuals whose work puts stress on their ankles and feet, such as laborers, as well as in “weekend warriors”—those who are less conditioned and participate in athletics only on weekends or infrequently.

In addition, people with excessive pronation (flattening of the arch) have a tendency to develop Achilles tendonitis and tendonosis due to the greater demands placed on the tendon when walking. If these individuals wear shoes without adequate stability, their over-pronation could further aggravate the Achilles tendon.

Symptoms
The symptoms associated with Achilles tendonitis and tendonosis include:

• Pain—aching, stiffness, soreness, or tenderness—within the tendon. This may occur anywhere along the tendon’s path, beginning with the tendon’s attachment directly above the heel upward to the region just below the calf muscle. Often pain appears upon arising in the morning or after periods of rest, then improves somewhat with motion but later worsens with increased activity.
• Tenderness, or sometimes intense pain, when the sides of the tendon are squeezed. There is less tenderness, however, when pressing directly on the back of the tendon.
• When the disorder progresses to degeneration, the tendon may become enlarged and may develop nodules in the area where the tissue is damaged.

Diagnosis
In diagnosing Achilles tendonitis or tendonosis, the surgeon will examine the patient’s foot and ankle and evaluate the range of motion and condition of the tendon. The extent of the condition can be further assessed with x-rays or other imaging modalities.

Treatment
Treatment approaches for Achilles tendonitis or tendonosis are selected on the basis of how long the injury has been present and the degree of damage to the tendon. In the early stage, when there is sudden (acute) inflammation, one or more of the following options may be recommended:

• Immobilization. Immobilization may involve the use of a cast or removable walking boot to reduce forces through the Achilles tendon and promote healing.
• Ice. To reduce swelling due to inflammation, apply a bag of ice over a thin towel to the affected area for 20 minutes of each waking hour. Do not put ice directly against the skin.
• Oral medications. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen, may be helpful in reducing the pain and inflammation in the early stage of the condition.
• Orthotics. For those with over-pronation or gait abnormalities, custom orthotic devices may be prescribed.
• Night splints. Night splints help to maintain a stretch in the Achilles tendon during sleep.
• Physical therapy. Physical therapy may include strengthening exercises, soft-tissue massage/mobilization, gait and running re-education, stretching, and ultrasound therapy.

When is Surgery Needed?
If non-surgical approaches fail to restore the tendon to its normal condition, surgery may be necessary. The foot and ankle surgeon will select the best procedure to repair the tendon, based upon the extent of the injury, the patient’s age and activity level, and other factors.

Prevention
To prevent Achilles tendonitis or tendonosis from recurring after surgical or non-surgical treatment, the foot and ankle surgeon may recommend strengthening and stretching of the calf muscles through daily exercises. Wearing proper shoes for the foot type and activity is also important in preventing recurrence of the condition.

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In March this year I started to work from home as COVID19 started to make it’s presence known around the globe. This new way of working is perfect for the stay at home athlete to really add some serious fitness metrics. As you can see from the image below I entered lock-down in March just about as unfit as I had ever been in the last 2 years.  This was down to a number of factors including losing my running mojo and coming off some bad racing results including a DNF at the Delirious West 200 Miler.  ( http://deliriouswest200miler.com.au ) Truth be told I had fallen into this running hole at the end of 2019 after a second dose of man-flu. Now I know any Women reading this post, basically my Mum!, will have no sympathy  for man-flu but let me tell the risk is real and it is a killer , albeit maybe more a few days feeling very sorry for ourselves. Anyhow I was left with little or no energy and lost the will to train, just before a 200 mile race over four days. I kidded myself it was all mental and I could walk the Delirious but in the end the inevitable happened and I DNF’d after 17 hours. In my defense there was a few other contributing factors, like not eating and drinking enough and my Quads completely seizing up, as I have also said an ultra is an eating and drinking competition with running between aid stations thrown in to justify the event.

Anyhow, I digress, in March when lock down hit I was working from home and came across the idea of massage guns. I had heard good things about these items so treated myself to one. Well,  what a difference it made. Using the massage gun after every run allowed to me to start the next run with fresh legs, no longer did I hobble out of bed in the morning and stumble towards the door, I was like a Gazelle, leaping out of bed and bounding to the door. I found I could stride out again and my love of running returned which is pretty obvious from the chart below.

Another change I made was to spend more time, every Friday, hitting the trails for long runs and boy we have some great trails in Perth, all within a 30 minute drive from the city.  These runs were all about time on feet and just enjoying being out there, running in its purest form. (Of course we all have our GPS watches on so we could show everybody where we’d been ! ) These runs rekindled my love of trails and over the ten or so Friday’s I spent on the trails I had some great times. (I took a GoPro on some of these runs so if you search in my last 10 or so posts you find a link to some of them or use this link to get to my Vimeo page :- https://vimeo.com/manage/422054940/general ) There are many benefits of trail running but , for me, the main one is the extra all over body workout you get as you are continually watching your step, due to the terrain, and unable to fall into a ‘road running‘ mode where it’s just step after step in the same stance. After a good trail run your quads and hammys are normally screaming as they recover from the extra work they have been put under, you may even wake up the next day with a six pack albeit probably temporarily.

I have added my training before Delirious in February  from Strava ( you do use Strava right… http://www.strava.com ) and the last 6 weeks and it’s pretty clear the change in intensity.  First up is the 6 weeks before Delirious,  in February,  where I was in very dark place, training wise, mainly due to constantly tight hammys, making running unpleasant.  I did virtually no running in January,  although in my defence I was recovering from man-flu picked up in the first week.  I made a token effort the week before the event but, by this time, it was probably, definitely, too late.  Funnily enough my hammys survived the event but my quads gave up big time and after 17 hours and 112k I DNF’d .  Speaking to the race winner , Jon Pendse, he said he was in a similar position later in the race and was saved by someone offering him a massage gun. Once he used the gun he was good to go again and wound up winning !

Compare the pre-massage gun to the post massage gun training below.  No days off and lots of double days, even a training half marathon (1:36) on a Saturday followed by a training full marathon (3:11) the next day. It really is chalk and cheese, the difference. As well as the extra workload you are able to get through you also start each run feeling fresh and this is where the massage gun is vital. The reason we run is we love running and if you take away the love then running becomes a chore and this is why , eventually, so many people give it away. Their mind is still willingly but their body lets them down. I see now that is what was happening to me earlier in the year, I was constantly fatigued and because of that unable to really enjoy my running. I remember lots of times sitting in my changing room at work wondering what I was doing, after another terrible run. Trust me it’s not fun when you question the reason you do what you use to love to do.

Post massage gun I am back to the running machine I was 3-4 years ago, albeit slower of course but the passion is there and that’s whats important at this stage in my career, that is the end. I realise my days of PB’s are well and truly behind me but age group wins are still there for the taking and also the joy of racing is still there to be enjoyed.

So which massage gun to choose ? Well the choices are endless and vary vastly in price. Personally I went for an Australian product so I could return it if I had any problems, this is just my choose of course. The best thing to do is google ‘Best Massage guns for running’ and then give yourself the rest of the day to go though the options, or longer ! Of course , as always, price will probably dictate your choice but , as with all things, you probably get what you pay for so be careful.

I’ve attached an extract from an artivle in Runners World written by Cassie Shortsleeve, worth a read.  ( https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a20865956/pulsating-products/ )

Let’s pretend that you’re a sore runner training for one of the world’s first marathons in ancient Greece. You visit a practitioner to heal your weak-feeling muscles. He places a plank of wood on your sore spot and, using your body as a stabilizer, begins sawing away. The hope: that the resulting vibrations reach your muscles and help alleviate pain.

That was the beginning of vibration therapy, and while it sounds a little horrifying, the intention was scientifically sound. We now know that the technique helps build strength and speed, improve flexibility, and loosen stiff muscles, says Matthew N. Berenc, director of the Equinox Fitness Training Institute. And, until recently, this was largely done through bulky platforms found in gyms (rather than tools with dangerously sharp edges—phew). If athletes wanted to get strong, they stood on top of the vibrating Power Plate machine and performed dynamic exercises like squats and lunges. When recovery was the goal, they draped a leg over the platform as it buzzed. Either way, the vibrations stimulated muscle fibers and the nervous system, priming the muscles for quicker reaction and greater strength and power output.

But let’s be real: Unless you’re a hardcore athlete, these machines often collect more dust than users. They also require a trip to the gym. That leaves a clear void in the market, which companies like Hyperice, TimTam, and TriggerPoint have recently filled. Their devices—mini jackhammers and vibrating foam rollers—can be used whenever, wherever.

The Buzz on a Little Buzz
When our bodies are exposed to vibration, muscles automatically twitch against it, says Michele Olson, Ph.D., an adjunct professor of sports science at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama. It’s a defense strategy: Too much vibration can damage our organs, so muscles contract to dampen the blow. But low levels of pulsation can help muscles maintain their function and prime bones to lay down new cells while casting off old ones. So there’s a balance to be found and, for at least the last decade, that was achieved primarily through whole-body therapy (e.g., using a Power Plate).

The problem is that the research on whole-body vibration therapy has been mixed. A small study found that running economy—the energy needed to put in miles—increased after eight weeks of whole-body vibration training. But other research compared whole-body vibration to resistance training in endurance runners, and the results were equal. So it begs the question: Since you’re already doing strength-training, is it necessary to add more to your routine?

Some experts answer with a tentative “yes,” if vibration is delivered in a localized fashion. An exploratory study found that in recreational athletes, using a vibrating foam roller increased pain tolerance more than a traditional one did. Plus, when vibrations are applied directly to a muscle, certain proprioceptors (sensors in the muscle) cause tissues to relax and loosen, Berenc says. For runners, that could lead to an increased range of motion. Preliminary research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that when 19 people used the Hyperice Vyper, a vibrating foam roller, from their ankle to their knee, they experienced a greater increase in ankle range of motion than those who statically rolled.

When to Pump Up the Pulse
Manufacturers will tell you that at-home vibration therapy is great before, during, and after a workout. And while science still has to establish this for sure, there is a case to be made for each.

Before your workout, Berenc says, you can benefit from post-activation potentiation—a fancy way of saying your muscles are primed to work harder. “When the muscles work to control the vibrations, they recruit a high number of muscle fibers,” he explains. This way, when you start running, your muscles are already prepared and your stride could be more efficient, he says.

In the middle of a sweat session—say, in between sprints around the track—Jason S. Wersland, chiropractor and founder of TheraGun, says that quick, targeted vibration could signal glycogen to flood to a muscle. “It brings new blood and stored energy to the muscles, while also keeping you loose and limber so you can finish a workout feeling strong,” he says.

Berenc thinks it’s smart to vibe after you run, especially if you’re hitting the pavement five to six days a week. Running more often means more repetitive movement, which Berenc says should be counterbalanced in a way that allows the tissue to relax so that you can maintain range of motion. Ten minutes of vibration therapy each day is plenty to accomplish this; you can target three or four areas of the body each session to keep boredom at bay.

No matter when or how you use the device, though, most experts agree that it can’t hurt to give it a try. At the very least, you’ll get a mini massage—and we know those are awesome.

Pro tip: Newbie vibers should start on the lowest setting and gradually build intensity, limiting use to one or two times a week—and only vibing for 30 minutes max at a time—to avoid overuse injuries, says Berenc. “As your muscles become used to the stimulus, you can increase how often you use a device,” he adds. Pay attention to how you feel, and adjust accordingly.

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Recently we had the 6th running of the ‘runner versus train‘ Choo-Choo race. The concept is simple, you leave North Dandalup station then run 33k (35k?) over mostly trails to Serpentine station to catch the 10:21am train back to the start. The game is deciding how late you leave North Dandelup. Over the years the record for the latest departure time was around 7am but this year, due to part of the course being shut and thus 2k shorter,  we decided to try and break the sub 3 hours and leave at 7:22am.  It was Mark’s idea and although I was onboard Jeff was none the wiser to our plan having never ran the Choo-Choo before.  So we let the last few runners start their journey and held firm, waiting for 7:22am to come around.

Jeff was a tad confused when the last group left just after 7am and myself and Mark continued to pontificate and make no effort to move  away from the station. Eventually we let him in on our plan but he was less than excited, expecting a relaxed amble from one station to the next , stopping for selfies and rose smelling. He knew if we left at 7:22am it would be on for young and old and if you stopped there would be a good chance the train would be well gone when you eventually arrived at Serpentine Station. Of course he was in a catch 22 situation as the last group had left and he had no idea where he was going , so would need us for directions. There was much head shaking and grumbling but all this served to do  was to gee up myself and Mark , who then took great pleasure in talking up the challenge ahead. We can be a cruel lot us runners !

So at 7:22am precisely we set off for Serpentine Station, giving ourselves 2 hours and 59 minutes, assuming the train was on time.  From past experience I knew we could make the 35k version of the course in 3 hours, including a 5 minute drink stop. Having a nasty 2k loop taken out due to storm damage would probably give us 10 minutes , so we should have 10-20 minutes to play with. As I said earlier Jeff had not ran the Choo-Choo before , where as myself and Mark were old hands and knew what to expect.  As you can see from the graphic below the run starts with about 8k of serious hill,  as you rise onto the scarp. It then undulates, mostly uphill , until the 25k mark at which time it’s all guns blazing to the best finish ever !!  Knowing this is coming it allows you to do the numbers in your head factoring in the fast finish. Jeff did not have this prior knowledge and at every kilometre got more and more discouraged as our pace dropped due to the terrain ahead of us.  Again Mark and I did nothing to alleviate his angst and just kept on,  knowing we were on track but not divulging this to Jeffrey.

The run itself was pretty uneventful as we had the GPX of the route on Mark’s Garmin (what did we do before GPS watches ?) so the couple of time we wondered of course we were made aware by the watch and we turned around and continued on the right track.  Not having this would prove to be the undoing of a few runners because although the course is predominately on the Mundi Bindi bike trail  ( https://www.mundabiddi.org.au/ ) eventually you have to leave the trail and return to the road and ultimately the train station.  Some runners missed that turn and ended up in Jarrahdale , luckily the two runners in question where able to blag a lift to Serpentine and still made the train in time, after running over 40 kilometres, outstanding job ladies.  Some runners thought were less fortunate and my mate Adam was unable to make the train in time, missing it by nearly 10 minutes. He was given a left back to the start and had to endure a slow clap as he arrived , rightly so of course. He was eventually allowed to take food from the tukka table but there was grumblings of discontent from the runners who had completed the course, these was talk of banishing him to a separate part of the park, as I said earlier we are a cruel lot us runners .

You’ll notice in the image above no sign of Jeff, we had left him to his own devices about 5k from the finish as it was every man for himself at that stage and me and Mark fancied a Mocha before the train. Jeff did make the Serpentine Train station show below (far right) but was still smarting over the whole affair and will probably leave a lot earlier next year, a lesson learned.

The train ride itself is a bit of an anti-climax due to a number of factors. One, it takes an ‘as the crow flies ‘ approach  to travel between the two stations, funnily enough, and two, it is a lot quicker than us runners ! The journey itself takes about 12 minutes for the 18km or so distance. Thus you just about sit down , get comfy, before it time to get up again and leave the train, not even time for a cup of tea from the buffet (which was actually shut this year anyhow?)  No worries, we had organised for everyone to bring tukka for a post run debriefing because we all know that runners love talking about running as much as running.

I need to give a big shout out to Irwin Swinny who kick started the Choo-Choo this year after a leave of absence in 2019. He set up the Facebook page and, with his influence,  we had a record turn out. With Irwin’s help I feel this event can go from strength to strength with more and more people  experiencing the stress of racing a train. He has an excellent podcast, Stimulate Run,  that is well worth a visit ( https://anchor.fm/irwin-swinny ) ,you’ll be surprised who you can listen to.

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This weekend it’s the annual running of the runner versus train and all are welcome. The facebook page is a good place to start if you need to find like minded runners and need company or information :- https://www.facebook.com/events/1288649481324896

The concept is simple, we are runners after all, simple folk. All participants self seed by leaving North Dandalup train station giving themselves enough time to complete the 35k trail to get to Serpentine train station by 10:21am, to get on the only train of the day,  returning to the start. Miss it and you’re snookered , faced with a 18k walk of shame back to the start on the road or a 35k return run on the trails, making for a big day out !

Over the years we have never had anyone miss the train but it is to be noted on the first running a runner was discarded and ordered back to the start when the group realised they would be unable to catch the train if they continued at their current pace. Unfortunately for the aforementioned runner they was not trusted with the car keys and thus had to wait,  in their running gear,  for the rest of the runners to return via the train. Needless to say there were words exchanged apparently. Please note I was not part of this inaugural running and can only blame Simon Coates for what transpired. He will gladly tell the full story if requested.

Over the years the latest we have left North Dandelup is 7am and we have always finished at Serpentine in good time for a Brownes Mocha but this year there is talk of a 7:30am departure, I may be able to bring that back to 7:15am but this will leave no margin for error. Normally we complete the 35k in around three hours,  with a 10-15 minute water stop.

The trail is well marked and part of the Mundi Bindi trail so keep a look out for the signs and you will not get lost, well probably not; the GPX file is available on the facebook page.  It’s best to buy you train tickets online but note you cannot buy them on the Saturday apparently, no worries you can buy them on the train of course, so bring cash. The train from Serpentine to North Dandalup is a disappointingly  quick, event after taking so long to run the course,  but the train cheats of course by going in a straight line , as the crow flies so to speak.  This is probably a good thing for the rest of the passengers as we are not the most sweet smelling people after three to four  hours of trail running.

So to sum up , come along this Sunday , start whatever you want but be at Serpentine for 10:21am for the train back. Bring food and we’ll all have a picnic at North Dandalup station before returning to Perth,  or Serpentine to pick up stragglers ?

I’ve attached the 2018 post on the event to get your juices flowing… 

Right a quick post on the 2018 man versus train race where we leave North Dandalup train station and run the 35k to Serpentine train station and catch the only return train back to the start. Miss the train and you have a 18k run on a busy road or a 35k trail run back to North Dandalup. !!

The Serpentine train leaves North Dandalap at 10:20am so we decided this year to leave a tad earlier than previous years due to the various running injuries we were all embracing. Calf strains, Achilles issues, carrying too much weight (I’m not sure this is an injury Barts!)  and good old Plantar Fasciitis to name a few. Thus at 6:40am we set off up the scarp, mainly due to Bart’s insisting we get a move on as he really wasn’t ready for a 35k sprint to the finish. He had got lost last year when he was dropped halfway up the scarp and had to run a lonely thirty or so kilometres to the finish. This year he was determined to stay the course and refused to leave a key hidden on the car so if he got lost he knew I’d have to find him and my lift home. Little did he know I had arranged alternative transport if we ‘lost’ him.  In the end he made it and ran a large proportion of the run with us, complaining most of the way of course. I don’t think Bart’s like any hill in any direction, up or down, as both seem to set him off on a tirade of abuse. This from a man who loves trail running ?

The photo below shows the starting line up for 2018 taken at North Dandalup train station, funnily enough we were the only people about early on a Sunday morning in the country. I managed to persuade five  ‘newbies’ to join us and supplied all of these with a GPX file of the course as I didn’t want them to suffer the same fate as Bart’s from last year, bless him.

So  off we went up the scarp, which is a road section and probably one of the hardest sections of the run as you’re in danger of getting collected by mad country drivers cutting corners. Thankfully this year it was very quiet and I don’t remember seeing any cars, which is unusual, they were probably all still in bed after the West Coast Eagles, a local footy team, managed to sneak into the Grand Final the day before. As you can see from the elevation below the start is a challenge but the finish is ‘to die for’. It was a this point last year we lost Bart’s (the start not the finish.) and history repeated itself with Mark, a new runner from Brisbane, dropping off the pace early and, in Choo-Choo tradition, left to fend for himself. I felt a small amount of guilt but this was quickly forgotten when I realised the task ahead and I had supplied Mark with a GPX file of the course , so he had no excuse to get lost.

The conditions this year was perfect and we had given ourselves more than enough time to finish by leaving probably half an hour earlier than the year before. This certainly made the journey less stressful than previous years and we settled into a good rhythm with enough pace to complete the task at hand but not enough we couldn’t natter away discussing a plethora of topics and generally putting the world to rights. We as a group splintered early which seemed silly truth be told as it wasn’t a race and there seemed no point running a few hundred metres infront of each other. I ran with Jon, because he had the GPX route loaded into his Garmin 310, and Liam for conversation. (with Bart’s always a few hundred metres behind us complaining about something?) The three of us eventually caught up with the two Mark’s at the  ‘drinks stop‘. I say drinks stop in italics because there was no drinks. Simon had hidden a carton of water and a box of Gu’s behind a tree but it seems these country people are resourceful with good eyesight because there was no supplies to be seen. Not a problem though but it did the make the last 5k or so a challenge as we were into the ‘dead zone’ (over 32k) with little water and no nutrition, a good test of your bodies capabilities to survive on it’s won internal fat resources I suppose.  Luckily the last 10k is predominantly downhill so you can sort of ‘fall‘ to the finish line. ( It is to be noted this year Trish refused to bake for us which made the return trip to Dandalap a bit of an anti-climax as the reward of Trish’s baking (which is awesome by the way) would not be there to greet us, in the end we made do with McDonalds pancakes but thrust me they ain’t the same!, anyhow I digress.)

After regrouping with the two Mark’s the group of five set off to the finish and the conversation continued to improve with numbers. The highlight of the last part of the run was most of us falling prey to the only puddle on the whole course, how does that  happen ? Mark C,. attached it with gusto (he’s Scottish you know and use to large expanses of water !) and nearly went in, this made me more cautious but it was to no avail and I ended up in the same situation, soggy socks and shoes for the last 10k or so.! Once we started to descend of course it was ever man for himself and Mark C. probably set the record for the fastest kilometre with a 3:10 down the steepest part of the hill. He was very excited and reported feeling a runners high as he snowballed down the hill at speed, more probably he was just totally knackered as we had all just ran just about 35k on a few sips of water.

It’s hard to put into words the run itself as it really was just about the perfect day. A good distance, beautiful trails and great company rounded off with Brownes Mocha and a danish at the Deli. Chuck in a train ride where the guard announced to the whole train of our adventures as we boarded and departed and the day really couldn’t of got any better. Talk at the Deli (see below) centred on next years departure time as we had plenty of time to relax at the deli before the train, well most of us that is. If you remember at the start I mentioned Mark from Brisbane getting dropped at the 3k mark, you’ll see he’s not in the photo below. We all thought he was gone and I had even arranged at the Deli to let him know we’d drive back and pick him up, save him the 18k walk back to the train station. Well he made it with 3 minutes to spare, albeit the train was late as usual so he could have probably stopped at the Deli for a danish.

As you can see from the photo below taken at Serpentine train station Mark is back into the fold and happy to be there, he currently holds the record for cutting it closest to missing the train, probably beating Trailblazers record set a few years ago. I’m sure Jon can get closer with a bit of effort ? Honourable mentions must go to Allister Caird who set a course record running the route in 2hrs 27 minutes, thats a 4:11k average, sub 3 pace for a hilly trail run, Boom! He could have left nearly as hour after us and still made it. Nigel also went well considering he twisted his ankle at 15k and ‘hobbled‘ to the finish in good time, a big call as if the ankle had given way completely it would have been a long night on the trails. Of course Mark gets a mention for running the whole route by himself under the stress of a potential long walk back to the car. He looked relaxed when he finish and puts his time down to this was his first trail run back in Perth, he’s from Brisbane you know. Bart’s also went well after we dropped him just after halfway, we actually dropped him earlier but always made sure he could see us, sort off. At least this year he ran the whole course after his miracle run last year.

Right that’s the Choo-Choo for another year. I’ll try and drum up some more enthusiasm next year as if you live in Perth you really need to do this run. We all agreed we’d leave later next year but the departure time is personal to your ability and general fitness and also if you want that added bonus of really ‘racing a train’ and trying to cut it closer than Mark, from Brisbane’s,  valiant effort of three minutes to go. Up for the challenge ? All aboard…..

I had planned a longer run this Friday and decided on a trail I had not ran before,  an out and back over a 40k or so distance. I had been gradually adding distance to my Friday runs over the last few weeks and this one was going to be my longest for some time. As I mentioned before one of the few benefits of this COVID19 crisis has been my company I work for insisting I take 10 days leave before the end of June. Perfect, I took 10 Fridays in a row and dedicated these days to finding new trail runs around Perth.  Over the last 6-8 weeks I have found some epic trails and with my ever increasing posse of unemployed or furloughed running buddies. On the downside I only have two more Friday off but I’m secretly hoping my employer forces me to take another 10 days furloughed, I’m not sure I can go back to a five day working week !

Anyhow I had to go for my morning coffee and croissant at my favourite cafe, Georges in City Beach, served by the best Father and Son barista combination probably globally, Georges and Ben. As you will know from previous posts I persuaded Georges to run Delirious with me in February and he completed  the course while I DNF’d at 112k. He was also probably the only person to complete the epic four day event in the same clothes , most people changed daily. He is a character ! So after our normal morning social running banter I dropped my Wife and the boys (my two Golden Retrievers Sydney and Spencer) at home and off I drove the 50k to Chidlow to begin my adventure.

The plan was a simple one, run down the trail 20k, turn around and run back. This way I couldn’t ‘pike out’ and go shorter , assuming I got to 20k of course. I had a backpack full of food and enough water to get me to half way where I could refill , I hoped? By the time I started it was early afternoon and knowing I wasn’t gong to set any world records I packed a head torch, just in case. The day itself was another glorious one for running, slightly overcast and maybe a touch of humidity but just about perfect conditions.

I decided to get to 10k before I had my first banana stop and hit this target relatively unscathed and in good spirits as the video below shows.

I noticed on the various signs along the path there was a town called Wundowie at around the 21k mark so this seemed like a perfect opportunity to up the ante a bit and run a trail marathon, I mean what’s an extra couple of kilometres when you’ve already run forty ? From 10k to the halfway point things started to get harder and I’m sure it was all uphill, albeit more a gradual gradient compared to the monster hills I’d been tacking recently. I try to settle into a 5min/k pace but rarely hit the goal and found myself 30 seconds a kilometre slower. I wasn’t that worried about pace , this was a ‘time on feet‘ run and I knew in an out and back run you don’t want to get to halfway goosed, it makes the return trip unpleasant at best.

I eventually found Wundowie after a nasty 1-2k on the main road as the track disappears with no signage. I just kept running in the same direction hoping the town would be close and luckily for me it was.  After reaching the halfway point the Garmin was paused and I scuttled off into the town looking for an open IGA supermarket for some tukka and hydration. After a mars bar and some electrolytes , and the last water from the water tap (?) I was back on my way, albeit probably half an hour later.  By this time my legs were well and truly seized, one of the many benefits of being old! and the temperature had dropped enough for me to put on my running jacket.  Undeterred I survived the 2k road section (people in the country all drive like they are being chased by the police! I suppose it’s good practice for when they are eventually chased by the police , I assume that’s the logic? They are a funny bunch these country dwellers?) and hit the trail back to Chidlow, a mere 21k away, joy !

Funnily enough the first thing I did after hitting the trail was get totally disorientated and get lost. Now what you need when you know you’re 20k+ away from your car and the sunset is closing in rapidly.  I took the next video at around the 23k mark…

There was actually quite a bit of downhill running in the second half but not enough to save me from the inevitable punshment I knew was coming, but that’s the point of these runs. It’s not about pace, it’s more time on feet and distance. Mental toughness rather than racing toughness. Over the next few months I signed up for some serious races and need more of these testing runs to make me a mentally stronger runner, well that’s the logic, I do enjoy them, honest.  Next video is a few kilometres down the track, and I’m starting to realise what I have in front of me.

Eventually I hot the small town half way between Chidlow and Windowie, called Wooroloo. As you can see from the image below, it is a small town? By this time the sun was setting and I still had around 6-7k to go. (Although I convinced myself at this point I still had 13k to go ? ) I was never going to beat the sunset.

The last 10k or so was a struggle but I didn’t expect it to be anything but. As I have said before this run was about mental toughness and all I needed to do was finish strong to make the effort worthwhile, pace was a secondary factor albeit I was keen to see the finish. I did continue along at a similar pace for the remaining few kilometres but could have probably done with some more water and a carbo-shot or two, no worries, running hungry allows your body to learn to use the next source of fuel available to it, your own body fat.  Rather than fast burning carbohydrates your body fat can last you many , many hours,  albeit at a slightly reduced cruising pace but these type of runs teach your body to learn to use readily available fat rather than looking for cardohydrates and sugar, which burn quickly.  So the sunset, it did come and was magnificent as always.

Managed to reach 40k before I had to reach into my backpack for the head torch. Lucky I did as in Oz there’s no dusk as such, one minute it’s light, the next it’s dark, like a light switch. Anyhow I managed to struggle to the car and even ran around the oval to get the 42.2 distance because we’re all Strava addicted and whenever to run over 40k you might as well hit the magic marathon distance, be rude not to really ? The image below shows the last kilometre or two with the head torch on, what a difference to the glorious sunshine I started off in, that can happen when you run a trail marathon, with a lot of stopping for photos and video,  as well as food at half way. I think I had over an hour of non moving time (thankyou Strava) but that’s ok, these type of runs are more an adventure and half the fun is running to places you’ve never been before and just enjoying being ‘out there’ , alone with just your thoughts and  a Go Pro.

So mission accomplished, I had ran a trail marathon, been to places I had never visited before and even got to watch a magnificent sunset while running alone in the bush,  soaking up the ambiance. It really was a prefect end to the run watching the day turn into early evening and eventually night.  All that was left to do was a quick go on the massage gun before I started to drive the 50k or so home for some serious dinner as I was starving, running a marathon can do that to a person I’m told.

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Well after only one post in a month I do two in two days. My running pod cast guru friend Irwin Swinny has resurrected the Choo-Choo run, man versus train for July 5th. I have written two posts on this run before and attached links below.  The run itself is simple enough, you leave your car at North Dandelup train station and then run to Serpentine train station via a 35k trail.  The only train of the day leaves Serpentine at 10:21am  returning to North Dandelup, so you leave North Dandelup at whatever time you want, just as long as you finish at Serpentine before 10:21am. Simple really. The last few years we’ve left at 7am giving us just over three hours to amble back to Serpentine, noting the route is a challenging one and we allow probably 30 minutes for mishaps or general laziness.  (Facebook page   https://www.facebook.com/events/561857761192536)

So if you’re in Perth first week in July and you want to race a train feel free to meet us at North Dandelup train station around 7am and join us on one of the funniest and most enjoyable runs of the year.  As I mentioned earlier  if you want to leave earlier that’s fine, leave at 6am and you have over 4 hours to enjoy the trails , 5am five hours etc.. you get the picture. Of course you could push the envelope and leave at 8am, if you don’t make the station in time I’ll come back and pick you up… promise. ! ??

This is the 2016 post..

The 2017 running..

The 2018 version..

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There has been some surprising benefits of this COVID19 epidemic , one of which is Schlumberger asking all its employee’s,  i.e. me, to take 10 days off , furloughed, by the end of June. This translated to me as every Friday off for three months, which further translated as ‘Trail time‘ either alone or with the boys (many of which had been laid off and where now full time athletes or furloughed for a few weeks.) Another benefit was my daughter not really taking to her GoPro Silver7 and forgetting she had it, well truth be told she hadn’t, I had ! Winning… This has allowed me to take some rather amateur footage, I hope to get better, of some of these trail runs so you can experience life on the trails in WA.

Bells Rapids #1 with Rhys, Rob and Jeff.  Just over 24k and 2 two and a half hours. Great running conditions, 15c , 83% humidity (Thanks Strava). I’ve atatched a couple of videos of the run albeit there seems to be a lot of walking but in my defence the hills are bigger real time than shown on the video, promise.

Highlight of this run was spotting a carpet python on the way back, a good size one at that, if I’d known it wasn’t venomous it’d be in my garden right now chasing my daughters Guinea Pig.

For this post I’ll let the videos do the talking rather than me rambling on typing…..

Next we took on some of the trails around Lesmurdie Falls and the Kurong National Park. A beautiful park of Perth only 30-40 minutes drive.  We’ve had 4 or 5 runs there recently , using my furloughed days, and the odd weekend run thrown in for good measure.  I’ve attached various videos of those runs for your viewing pleasure. They  certainly serve to give you a feel for the beauty of the scenery,  if you can excuse the shoddy video work and the narrative, please take into account I’m normally ‘cream crackered’ as trail running is hard work.

The next four videos are from a run with Jon, Adam and Jeff.  Started out at around the 25k distance but soon morphed to nearer 30k, trail running has a funny way of doing that to you, unlike road running where you’re normally accurate to a kilometre or two, on the trail you can often be 10k or more out, an added bonus I suppose. (Once you finish!)

First video is the start of the run and we always start slow with some serious walking while we warm up to cruising speed. Always better to start slow and finish fast, albeit sometimes I think we are finished pretty fast, it’s all in the grammar.  In our defence, I seem to type that a lot on this post, this was a 30k run, well over 4 hours taking into account photos and video stops.

Next we have a downhill section so we can stretch the legs…albeit briefly.

Then some serious single trail..

before the Quad Cruncher !

I went back to this route alone, in the week,  as the boys were either not interested or working. I managed to add another couple of kilometres and got thoroughly soaked. Overall though it was a great day out and sometimes some solitude on the trails is just what you need, albeit I wouldn’t recommend too many of these type of runs, running is meant to be a sociable past time, apparently.  Again over four hours on the trail including stopping to take all the scenary in, taking photos and just stopping because I could and , towards the end, enjoyed it ! I also managed to get over 1,000m of vert on this run (Vertical elevation gain) , which translates to a hard run.

In between the Lesmurdie trail adventures I managed to grab some time on the Eagle trail which is another great part of the Perth hills, on the John Forrest National Park. Highlight of this run was Mike turning up with no water as we said it’d be 15k, turned out to be nearer 30k. (Remember what I said earlier about trails, always end up longer than planned!) Jon probably saved his life , sharing his water.

Finally a run a few weeks ago when Bart’s took us on a magical mystery tour around Lesmurdie Falls where we ended up in Kalamunda ! We did get back to the falls after 16k later !

Right that about sums up the last few weeks in isolation , well on the trails in isolation which is the same thing right? Please note at no point did we break any self isolation rules and always observed numbers with regard what was allowed at the time. We are very lucky , at the moment, to have avoided the nasty COVID19 virus and have nearly no cases left in WA and very few in Australia as a whole.

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In isolation times fly’s by so quickly (and no one hears you scream, or is that Alien?) though  I have never seen so many people running when in lock down, that one hour of exercise a day (or there about?) is the one thing keeping a lot of people sane right now. After toilet roll, hand sanitisers and baking products the next thing to sell out in our stores was exercise equipment. Who’d have thought it, lockdown is the one thing that may save the human race by forcing people to actually look at themselves in the mirror and realise they may have ‘let themselves go‘ the last few decades and now is the time to put this right.

Personally I have been tying to establish a routine while locked down in sunny City Beach (Perth is experiencing a bit of a heatwave at the moment, aiming to break a record for April of continuous days above 30c. The record is six days , I think , we should break it tomorrow (forecasting 38c !) before reverting back to normal Autumn temperatures after that. Just what the Government wanted, a perfect Easter to tempt out everybody to the beach, albeit 1.5m’s apart at all times and no large groups !! For me my savior has been my bionic bike which I use every lunchtime to escape the home office. It gives you the workout you’d expect from a run without the pounding and impact, perfect for a second cardio session or recovery from injury.

For me , over the last few weeks,  I have used it as a way to get a good 60-90 minute cardio workout in the middle of the day before my running session, on grass with the dogs watching, in the late afternoon. The grass running has helped me recover from a nasty bakers cyst I picked up after the Delirious West ultra. I must also thank my Wife’s prescription anti-inflammatories, saved me getting a cortisone injection while still allowing me to run,  albeit slowly on grass. Some benefits of the Bionic are explained in the image below.  Unfortunately the company went under a few years ago due to Chinese suppliers letting them down and being unable to pursue these suppliers in the Chinese courts. The product itself is awesome and I love my time on the Bionic, it’s a real pity they were let down but ,when you swim with sharks,  you sometimes get eaten. (I’m not sure if that is an actual ‘thing’ but it sounds good?)

Right , a Bakers Cyst, see the image below. A fluid-filled cyst behind the knee. A Baker’s cyst is usually the result of knee-joint conditions, such as arthritis or torn cartilage, that cause the knee to produce too much lubricating fluid. Symptoms, when they occur, may include a bulge and tight feeling behind the knee. Treatment, if required, involves treating the underlying condition. Other options include a cortisone injection, fluid drainage with a needle or physiotherapy. Luckily I think rest and anti-inflam’s has done the trick for me and after 4-6 weeks I’m back running again. Fingers crossed it’s not an under lying issue with the knee but the ultrasound showed nothing more than the cyst, so should be good to go now. Another injury to add to the numerous calf tears and Plantar Fasciitis, the joys of running ?

On the running front some of the Big Kev running crew have been pushing the envelope of the current lock down laws and escaping to destinations far and wide albeit, in their defence, in separate cars and within all local boundaries, just! Personally I have been keeping to my local oval for running and my bionic loop is mainly on the cycle path with little traffic, if any.  In Perth , as of today, we have been in lock down for 3-4 weeks and have little community virus spread so I feel safe enough, at the moment. Of course this can change on a daily basis, we are always one cruise ship or mass gathering away from a pandemic, apparently? Facebook has been buzzing with images of runners completing marathons and ultra-marathons in isolation, either running around their gardens or even flats for hours on hours to make the distances.  To me this is very dangerous as you are usually running in a very small circle, hundreds of times, built for a good old fashioned repetitive strain injury. Not heard of any injuries on Facebook but maybe a few months down the line we’ll start to see runners paying the price for their 15 minutes of fame ?

Below is the route I mainly take, daily, to keep myself sane in these mad times. It’s more about getting away from the dual screens in my study that are always enticing me in. I find one of the drawbacks of working from home is work is always there, calling you and sometimes that break in the middle of the day is what you need to reset the mental clock and also it’s just plain fun ! Funnily enough I had joined a gym a few weeks before lock down and I was also enjoying my time on the cardio machines, especially the stair-stepper. All these non-running activities are about building cardio fitness, without the impact of running, albeit the gym may be a little more about building up my guns again, I do miss my guns but as I keep telling these muscle bound gym junkies , upper body muscles are a runners enemy, not they friend.

On the running front I’ve been hitting the local oval with the dogs. I run around in circles while the boys watch me and join me briefly for a little jog somewhere on the loop,  before retreating back to the middle of the oval.  This is part of a building process. It’s not about building big numbers just building consistency. I’ve ran 9 out of the last 10 days and used  the bionic on a similar number of occasions, slowly adding time on legs each week.  Luckily there is no upcoming races so I have plenty of time to build the cardio engine , one slow run and ride at a time, no rush.  The most important thing for my training right now is to avoid  re-injuring the knee while also adding distance,  and time,  each week. I have a long way to go but if the Irrational South in October is my first race this year I’ll be ready. ( http://irrationalsouth200miler.com.au/ ) My local barista Georges has even persuaded his son Ben to join us and it looks like Amy could be back in the mix. Anybody ultra runner in Australia,  in October,  needs to look at this race, assuming it goes ahead of course? I’d say we’re 50-50 at the moment, a lot will depend on the call of the beach this Easter long weekend of course. Personally I’ll be riding my bionic isolation loop and running around in circles with my dogs, the story of my life really.

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