"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat." -Theodore Roosevelt



Monday 30 December 2013

Bye for now

The last 8 months have been a very long 8 months for me, mainly due to my running injury, but also because of my job.

My injury continues to cause me pain,  and stop me from running. For that reason, I am taking a break from this blog, and all things social media.

I am not doing this for sympathy or attention, but because reading about other runners and their adventures only adds to the despondency, frustration and frankly, despair that I feel.

I hope to be back one day, I don't even care about being back stronger, just, to be back, pain free.

I wish anyone who reads my blog all the best for 2014, and I hope you stay happy and healthy.

David

Thursday 7 November 2013

All the rehab...

 ...and my inappropriate reference to Fifty Shades of Grey to my physio

My recovery from foot-gate continues, and, I think, it is finally feeling like it is properly on the mend. However I'm not even contemplating running, or thinking this is over by a long stretch, I'm just enjoying not being in constant pain when I'm sat at my desk all day, or relaxing on the couch at home.

I'm now using, as per the direction of the physio, an exercise resistance band - and a very dashing yellow colour it is too. It is the band that offers the least resistance, and suits my current foot strength, right down to the ground (way to ruin a guy's macho image).

When the physio originally presented the band to me, and then started wrapping it around my foot, I may have said something like 'this is all a bit Fifty Shades of Grey isn't it?!'... I don't think she was too enamoured with my comment, and after back tracking slightly by saying what an inappropriate thought for a Thursday morning (yes, it was a Thursday morning) and that I'd never read the books ('quite rightly too, and neither have I', was the reply) she went on to tell me that in her uni days, on a night out, one of her mates was tied up with an exercise band.

I didn't ask her to elaborate; I'd have been barred from physio forever, and knowing my made of glass body I'm pretty sure I'll be wanting to go back some day after all this is sorted.

So I'm merrily exercise band-ing away to strengthen the suspected ligament causing the issue... Below is a mid action shot of the 'swing' my foot must complete to really strengthen the aforementioned ligament.



Soon I plan to be able to pull a 4x4 car with the swing of my foot, and maybe run a bit too :)

Bye for now !

P.S Still can't do the splits...

P.P.S Does anyone else, when injured, get frustrated / annoyed at family / friends asking them are they running again yet? I've managed to resist retorting sarcastically 'if I was back running I think you'd know about it by now'



Tuesday 15 October 2013

Untitled

Well, I'd originally planned that my 'come back' post would be about how I'm all on track with my running, how I was injury free, and how things were looking up.

Heck, I'd even thought about how I would start it off; 'hello you, how was the rest, you made it through, but never the less...' I'd then go on to say can anyone guess the artist or song (it's a song called 'Lights and Sounds' by Yellowcard), and how those opening words perfectly reflected the tone of the post...


Of course, things; lives, jobs, relationships, very rarely go to plan.

I've been wanting to blog for a while but with little running happening, it seemed pointless. Anyway, 'here' I am, and here is an update. Predictably I'm still suffering from the foot injury I've had for many months, though I feel like I'm almost better. Unfortunately, almost better in this instance is being pain free in my day to day life, rather than returning to running.

I'm currently seeing a physio through the NHS every couple of weeks, and tonight I returned to acupuncture in an aid to help things along (needles in foot picture below)



Having such an extended period off running has given me a lot of thinking time; have I missed running? What does it mean to me? Is there another sport or hobby I should take up instead?

I have other hobbies, I do other things; reading, seeing my mates, playing guitar, (when I'm not snapping the strings on it - see below !) to name but a small handful....



...None of these things though, are running.

I read a post from another blogger recently discussing how they had fallen out of love with running, and how they were aiming to get back in to it for 2014... I could never fall out of love with running - for me, the top and the bottom of it is that I love running, and I miss it so much. I don't know about you, but I define myself as a runner, it makes me who and what I am, and to not be able to do something that I define myself by, is horrible.

So, I will carry on doing what my physio says, hoping that acupuncture helps, and looking forward to the day when I can lace up my running shoes and go pound the streets, pain free!

I've not been keeping that up to date with the blogs I follow, simply because I can't bring myself to read how much others are loving their running, (envious, not jealous!) but I'm doing my best to start going through them and catching up on them.

Saturday 27 July 2013

Splitting in two...

... Not literally, but actually, yes, nearly literally.

I saw the picture below a while ago:


I thought "I'll have to do that at some point" but, as with anything, it's difficult to split the time so you can focus on doing it twice a day. (See what i did there? -Ok i'll get my coat!)

I've decided I'll try and do this. In two weeks I'll obviously be super flexible and have the ability to do the splits at the drop of a hat.

I've just done the first set. Guaranteed I'll be walking like I've got a bottle shoved... Yeah you get the picture don't you?!

Feel free to join in and let me know how you get on :)

P.S. Foot still not better, but getting there I think. Seeing GP on Tuesday; going to ask to be referred to a Physio.

Thursday 11 July 2013

Foot fetishes

Just to confirm I do not have a foot fetish -it appears however, that some people do...

Following my slightly moany (ok, very moany) post about my foot injury, everyone's favourite Lucy, IronLucy gave me some advice; "Youtube ballet foot strengthening and exercises" ... "Ballerinas have rock-hard kick-ass feet, toes of steel, man."

So YouTube I did...

If the agonising looking shapes these ballerinas contorted their feet into didn't sit well with me and made me a little queasy, some of the comments along side these videos made me throw up a bit in my mouth...

..People have foot fetishes and aren't afraid to shout about it! Below are a select few comments alongside the videos. (I've obviously taken out the user names, and I've not put in some of the more explicit ones)

Proof is in the 'pudding' (ice cream, pudding, no?)

As well as these exercises I've seen on YouTube, I've also set a reminder on my calendar in work every hour to tell me to go and stretch...


I can spell 'Stretch', I promise!
So every day this week whilst in work, every hour, I've taken 2-3 mins away from my desk to walk up and down 3 flights of stairs, and to stretch out my lower extremities. It feels like it's helping - I just hope that it is...

Do any of you have any weird fetishes unusual likes/guilty pleasures? -Actually, don't tell me, I'm not sure I want to know :p

Thursday 4 July 2013

When your nerves physically stop you...

I went to see a physio today about my foot injury... Whilst talking through the injury and how it has developed, it made me realise I've had the problem for over 10 weeks.

10 weeks man!

That's a long time...

Turns out it's a nerve issue; something* is causing / putting pressure on the nerve in the top of my foot, giving me the numb style pain I'm getting.

At a bit of a loss as to what to do, she ultra sound-ed the foot, then went even more high tech and used interferential therapy - it's basically a small scale slendertone system (you know, the electrical pulse belt that gives you rock hard abs?!) and can be applied to any area of the body (careful !).

Then ensued the thumbs, which didn't hurt too much compared to my previous dealings with elbows and IT bands...

So, I'm not to run whilst I still have this issue, and I'm to do foot stretching and strengthening exercises.

I'm pretty gutted - I was feeling positive going to the physio thinking lets get an action plan for getting back to running, but right now, I don't ever see a time when I'll be able to run pain free, or not be in pain because I've run.

So for now, running will need to take a back seat, maybe I'll just get a load of cats and be a crazy cat guy.

"Down, Down, but definitely not out" - You Me At Six

Disclaimer: There is nothing wrong with cats, or people who have them.

*but the physio doesn't know what, how it would be best treated, or had treated a condition like this before, yaaayyy!

Tuesday 18 June 2013

What makes a good blog?

I feel like all I've done for the last month is write race reports, and lets face it, there's only so many ways you can say 'I ran this bit quickly', 'this bit slowly', and 'I finished the race in this time'.

-My posts feel a little monotonous of late, but then, it's a running blog, so race reports are bound to feature heavily, right?

Anyway, this got me thinking; what makes a good blog? Well, I probably like blogs which are similar to mine - or what I try to deliver with mine:

Those that don't always take themselves too seriously, focus on running but throw in other subjects, as well as having a bit of witty humour to boot (ok, so maybe mine doesn't have all that much of the latter category !)

I sometimes think I post too much, but then, I really like IronLucy's blog by Lucy Nickells, and she blogs everyday... (Of course Lucy does wear superhero underwear, something my under garment collection sadly lacks)

Blogging about running and chucking other bits of life in mixes things up nicely, and Goldilocks Running's blog by Sarah Marsden does this excellently; check out her thigh gap post here. (Somehow I don't think I'd have thought to write about this subject)

Finally, getting quite technical about their running as well as humour-filled is something the Dreaming of Footpaths blog by Sarah Fry has got down to a T, shes also a little bit famous due to her escapades as part of Asics Target 26.2 (not jealous, honest)

So, with those 3 blogs in mind what makes a good/interesting blog for you, and whose do you enjoy?

Saturday 15 June 2013

Race Review: Active Knowsley 5k

The Active Knowsley 5k takes place in the grounds of Knowsley Hall – a magnificent state home with plenty of surrounding land to boot. A great tranquil setting for a 5k race!

Knowsley Hall: Not too shabby huh?!

Having run this last year and knowing the course I was really looking forward to it. It’s a fairly up and down course at times but enjoyable none the less.

After Sunday Morning’s Mersey Tunnel 10k I really wanted to try for sub 20 minutes to test out my fitness.

7.15pm sharp the race started and off I popped – the only competitor wearing my club’s racing colours, despite there being 3 club mates there. I was however, joined by plenty of Knowsley Harriers in contrasting red and white horizontal striped vests; I can only presume this was a club championship race for them.

I completed the first km in a speedy 3:51 through winding landscape, but on a tarmac-ed path which was best of both worlds! I slowed down for the next couple of kilometres to bring my 3km split to 12:04, so still on track.

Rain had started to pour down, that fine stuff that gets you really wet y’know? (Not the purple stuff – thanks Peter Kay) This was nice and cooling, but there was to follow a 20m elevation climb in kilometre four. Not a particularly daunting prospect but given my lack of speed and hill work something I struggled with.

Due to this I had to pretty much kiss goodbye to my sub-20 hopes as I clocked the penultimate kilometre at 4:18 (dang).

I was a bit annoyed with myself at this point for going out ‘too quickly’ as I was feeling the pace… Then came along a runner who decided to over-take me, so I thought I’d use him as a pacer – he was going pretty fast and was a fairly tall bloke, so I got in right behind him and tried to get into his slipstream (don’t I sound technical… I probably wasn’t in his slipstream or anything but I’ll take anything that makes me think I can run faster).

With 300 yards to go I was setting a pace to complete what would be a quick kilometre time; was I on for my sub 20 after all? Pacer guy and I (kind of rhymes) stepped it up a notch before turning a corner to the final straight and for the last 200 yards I absolutely killed myself in the sprint finish – my watch was counting to 20 minutes; 5 seconds to go 4 seconds to go…

I crossed the finish line…

I looked down at my watch….

20:05… DAMN!!!!

5 seconds quicker and I would’ve been sub 20 again!

Final Race stats

Time: 20:05 (The last kilometre, though a fast 3:43 wasn’t enough to offset kilometre four’s so arsed-ness)

Garmin here

A great race, nice and relaxed atmosphere with a small number of runners making quite an intimate, but competitive race.

Race bling:
 


Final notes

I’m not disappointed with my time. It would have been really nice to get sub 20, but my fitness is where it’s at, and I need to get back running like I was this time last year to get anywhere near my PB’s.

I’ll be taking a rest now and give the foot/lower shin problem I’ve had for the last month a chance to recover – it, and I, needs it!

Race Review: Mersey Tunnel 10k 2013

This was my third time running the Mersey Tunnel 10k, a race that starts in Liverpool city centre, and finishes in New Brighton on 'the Wirral' by going through the Kingsway Tunnel.

The Kingsway Tunnel is a road tunnel under the River Mersey and runs (see what I did there) between Liverpool and Wallasey. It is one and half miles long and is the' brother' tunnel of the Queensway Tunnel which runs between Liverpool and Birkenhead (which coincidentally,  and rather coolly, features in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1)

Due to this the race is a point to point course - a bit of a rarity these days.

The weather started out brilliantly - a nice warm summer morning with a hint of a breeze. My plan was to start out quickly as the course had a large downhill section in the tunnel before a a climb to get out and then a sharp rise upon leaving the tunnel. I figured I would 'get ahead' in the first half of the race where it was a faster section allowing for a bit of slower second half due to the course conditions.

The first part of my plan worked very well - I completed the first 4kms in a fairly quick 15:20. After this I pretty much lost my pacing as I was now in the tunnel and my garmin had lost its signal. Many people wonder what the air is like in the tunnel, and if its claustrophobic or scary to run in.

Truth is, the air is a little stale, nothing more, and I never feel claustrophobic or scared in the tunnel.... I don't normally get claustrophobic, and it really didn't cross my mind - I was too focused on my running. Having said that, there is a bloke from my running club who doesn't do this race as he hates the tunnel.

So, 4km in and I'm thinking, "sub 40?" but I quickly pushed those thoughts away, especially as the tunnel began to rise! It's not the ascent in the tunnel that gets me; it's on exiting the tunnel - there is a sharp left with a really steep climb that sucker punches the legs and breathing.

After this point the race is half done and runners make their way onto the nice flat promenade. I somehow missed the 6km marker so when I finally hit 7km I didn't worry about my time and tried to finish strongly. I knew sub 40, and sub 41, were out of the question as the steep climb out of the hill as well as the sun, which was now beating down, zapped energy.

The finish line was soon in sight and the crowds began to thicken, I raised my pace for a sprint finish and crossed the line, happy, drenched, and knackered! 

Final Race stats

Time: 41:26
Final position: 144/2852

Garmin here (although it's a bit all over the place due to losing signal in the tunnel)

Race bling:



A decent medal and really good quality technical t shirt (which isn't actually a half bad fit for a change)
 
Final notes

The Mersey Tunel 10km is a fantastically novel race. Add in it's brilliantly organised, as well as a quality medal and technical t-shirt make this probably, my favourite race there is. It's not really a PB course, but then sometimes, that's not what running is all about

The time was a season's best and I worked really hard for it, but it felt brilliant. Despite not training as much as I'd like I feel like my fitness is really coming along.

Tuesday 4 June 2013

Quick update....

So my running has been going ok, but I'm still feeling the effects a little from the shin splint / foot pain that has been troubling me for the past month or so.

I'm just trying to manage it at the moment as I've got two races coming up; the Mersey Tunnel 10k on Sunday, and the Knowsley 5k the Wednesday after.

Both of these races I have completed before, and I really like running them. The Tunnel 10k is an excellent course; it starts in Liverpool and goes through the Kingsway Tunnel which is a road tunnel under the River Mersey. It is a fantastically novel race and I PB'ed doing it last year. -A PB that still stands today (39:27 if you're interested).

The Knowsley 5k is set in the idyllic grounds of the state home Knowsley Hall. It's a fast course and very scenic, its also never too crowded so there's no cramped start line but still has a great atmosphere.

I'm really looking forward to them and will report back on completion - fingers crossed my foot holds it together :)

Book review: The Ghost Runner

Or, to give the book its full title "The Ghost Runner: The Tragedy of the Man They Couldn't Stop". The book is a biography and is about the life of John Tarrant.



I read this book last year, however, there was a small feature about John Tarrant on The One Show by Iwan Thomas which prompted me to write this review as the book is so good.

So, back to the book, and John Tarrant. The story tells of a young boy who at the age of 18 starts boxing as a way to keep fit and earn some money. In total, he was paid £17 in expenses.

His boxing career was short lived; mainly because he wasn't very good at it (aside form his dogged determination, which would serve him well later in life), so he moved on to running. John Tarrant discovered that running was something he was actually pretty good at, and before too long decided to join the Amateur Athletics Association (AAA).

However, back in t'day Athletics was amateur; rules clearly stipulated you should take no payment and, as John Tarrant had taken payment from boxing (albeit as expenses) he was banned from joining the AAA, for life.

Undeterred by this Tarrant continued to run, and gatecrashed races that he wasn't allowed to run in, (hence gaining the nickname the ghost runner) in a bid to prove himself to the AAA that he was worthy of being a member, as well as trying to fulfill his lifelong dream of competing for his country in the Olympics.

The book goes on to describe the many races he entered, records he set (including the record for the marathon of my home city; Liverpool), his fight to become an AAA member, as well as his working and family life before his premature death due to cancer.

The book is an excellent read and provides a heartbreaking insight into the life of a world class athlete who just wanted to run, and in doing so, pushed everyone close to him away. It is a very sobering story and a must for runners who want to know about a very much one off character and athlete.

Please, please, please, if you get a chance, read this book!

Sunday 26 May 2013

First #BloodyCyclists, now #BloodyRunners?

I'm sure most of you will be aware of the recent fuss (and rightly so) about the motorist who used the hashtag BloodyCyclist and went on to boast about how they had knocked a cyclist off their bike...

Well, I had a somewhat similar experience on my run today, fortunately for me though it didn't end in me being flattened by a car. The story goes... A car had just turned onto the road I was running along and it was just about level with me. Now, I knew there was a turning up ahead that I would be going straight over, but the driver could be turning at. Due to this, and with the car at my shoulder I kept checking their indicator light to make sure they weren't turning. Nope, nothing, so I placed one foot on the road...

...Guess what happened next? Yep, the driver decided to turn. I slammed my breaks on as I didn't particularly want to be road kill and shouted at them (their window was open) "argh, indicate will you hey" (not in a pirate voice I should add) and scurried on homeward. I tweeted about this experience and it seems it's a total pet peeve and annoyance to other runners too:


Why is it such little care is given by motorists? -Or are some people just really bad drivers? As a driver myself I'm always conscious of runners and cyclists - why can't everyone else be?

Has anyone else ever had any near misses?

Wednesday 22 May 2013

Walton Hall Park 5 miler 2013

My second race in 3 days gave me a bad-ass affliction of DOMS galore, which weren’t actually delayed in their onset… Two days after the Port Sunlight 10k I returned to Walton Hall Park, running club’s base during the winter months, for a 5 mile race.

This was my first ever 5 mile race so I was guaranteed a personal best, and I think I speak for most runners when I say, I love a good PB!

As expected this was an excellent turn out from fellow club runners, as well as other local running clubs. Due to this it felt like it was some kind of club championship (/in my mind’s eye an Olympic race as we were all in our racing colours).

I had two goals for this race: don’t go out too fast, and complete the 5 miles quicker than I completed the first 5 miles of the Liverpool Spring 10k race. This meant my time to beat was 33:29.

I didn’t start near the front which meant I wouldn’t get carried away too much. The temptation was there to join the faster members of the club but I knew I’d only regret it if I injured myself from over-doing it.

My starting point worked to my advantage as the faster runners in front of me seemed to run off into the sunset (leaving me behind, boo hoo!) while I maintained a steady pace over the first kilometre – 4:02; a little fast but no sub 4 minute kilometres were going to be happening today!

The course followed a one small loop, two large loops strategy which I quite liked, as it allowed me to see runners up ahead, as well as being able to gauge when to make a move on the final lap for a sprint(ish) finish.

Having not raced a 5 miler before I wasn’t sure how to pace myself but managed to settle down into a rhythm and ended up in a bit of a scrap with another runner (not a fight scrap, an I’m going to beat you scrap). This helped take my mind off constantly checking my Garmin for my pace.

It was quite fun having a mini race with another runner as I was trying to pull away from him whenever the opportunity arose, only for him to appear at my side like a shadow... But a really, really tall shadow in neon yellow and calf compression socks.

This bit of competition meant my pace varied; kilometre two was my slowest at 4:15, then kilometre three was my quickest at 4:01. Small lap done it was on to the final two...

The large laps of the race showed the same pattern in terms of pace - a slower middle kilometre due to a slight and prolonged incline (4:13 & 4:12) either side of quicker kilometre splits.

So, coming through the final lap I knew that I needed to try and push on at the peak of the incline to finish with a good time. My plan was to do this coming up to the peak of the incline as there was a sharp turn straight afterwards.

The latter stages of the incline approached, I stuck to the inside and pushed on. There was still half a kilometre left at this point so it was just an upping of pace, but it seemed to work - I pulled away from neon-compression-socks-man and gained, then passed, two other runners.

It came to the final bend and the home straight and I raised a sprint and passed one more runner as I watched the clock tick closer to 33 minutes... and...

...I finished in exactly 33 minutes.... Nearly 30 seconds ahead of my target

Final Race Stats

Time: 33:00
Position: 51/257
First 4km: 16:31
Second 4km: 16:29 (a good negative split! -Especially considering there was an extra 0.12km here too)

Garmin Here

A really enjoyable race, excellently organised, and a refreshing route - no roads, just park pathways. I will definitely be competing in this next year.

Race bling:



Final Note

I really, really, enjoyed this race, probably more so because my previous race left me feeling like I didn't enjoy myself. I was happy with my pacing, my time, and whilst it was hard going and I know I've still got a long way to go in terms of fitness to get back to where I was last year, I enjoyed the feeling of not being able to go any faster.

Port Sunlight 10k 2013

This was my second race of the year… Two weeks earlier I’d completed the Liverpool Spring 10k in a time of 41:52 which I was very happy about. However, since then I hadn’t trained much due to shin splints and so had only plodded about for a few tentative miles.

Despite this my prep for the race had gone well; carb loading the night before rather than apple loading (in the form of cider), an early night’s sleep, and the prospect of a course where “road quality is very good and flat throughout”. I was feeling confident I could better my Spring 10k time.

I rolled up on the day and got chatting with club members before a quick warm up and off to the start line. It was a nice day for it – not too hot, but warm enough so that I was feeling comfortable in my skimpy running vest (what a mental image)…

We were soon off, and, as I’d started near the front, was swept along with the fast runners and completed the first kilometre in 3:59 – I felt fine… My subsequent two kilometres were equally quick times; 4:09 and 4:03 respectively.

It was around then that the twisting and turning nature, as well as the slight (slight is relative here) increases in gradient of the course knocked me for six. I suddenly couldn’t get my breath back and I slowed right down.

As I knew the course was a two lap affair I tried to get my breathing back under control for the half way mark. Due to this I slowed for the 5th kilometre quite a bit, despite this I delivered the first half of the race in a not too shabby 20:47. (Kilometre 4 & 5 in 4:14 & 4:22).

Problem was, I couldn’t catch my breath.

So, I decided rather than flog myself for a certain time, just go at a pace that was fairly quick and give myself a workout. You’d think this would allow me to enjoy the rest of the race.

It didn’t…

Enter 8km guy… A local resident who nearly made me go all animalistic on his arse (not in a sexual way – even if I had wanted to I wouldn’t have had the energy) by exclaiming ‘not far to go now’. I feel my self-control at not shouting back at him ‘there are two bloody kilometres left, <expletive>’ was excellent.

The highlight of the race on the last lap was seeing fellow club runners going the opposite way and high fiving them, sweaty handed and all…

 

None of my last five kilometres were under 4:30 except for the very last one when I pushed on and tried a sprint finish.

I crossed the line with a time of 42:37, a full 45 seconds slower than Liverpool Spring 10k. I wasn’t a happy bunny!!

Final Race stats
Time: 42:37
Position: 112/1217
First 5km: 20:47
Second 5km: 21:50


A good race – though not quite as flat as advertised. Well organised and a good mix of running ability amongst the entrants. I liked the way you would go past runners going the opposite way and give/receive encouragement from fellow club runners.

Race bling:



Final notes

I was really disappointed and a bit angry with myself just after completing the race, mainly because of the time I posted, which made me feel like I didn’t enjoy it. However, at the half way point I was very happy, it was just the latter half, and I’d consciously made a decision to not over exert myself.

On reflection, I should be happy I completed the race in a half decent time considering the lack of running in the two weeks leading up to it, and how much I struggled. I’m back running again, and there is no better feeling in the world!!