Chapter 7: A New Year: Health, wealth & happiness?

Well according to the wonderful WordPress people (at least the analytics set up on the site…) my last post was August 3 2014. In other words, five months ago.

So where have I been? What have I been doing?

Health issues to the fore
Well it all started on August 16. That’s when I came down with bronchitis – something that seems to be an annual event. Of course at first I just thought it was some flu-type virus. One moment I was cheering my son on at a cross-country event, all seemingly fine. Next moment, I’m feeling like I just want to sleep. And sleep I did, most of that weekend.

I thought that was the end of the matter, but not so. On Monday I went to the airport to board a flight to Melbourne. The flight was delayed, and I was in two minds about whether it was a good idea to fly. At the last moment I decided no, it wasn’t a smart idea to fly. Fortunately I had some very forgiving clients and an understanding boss.

The first trip to the local doctor was less than successful. She also seemed to think it was a flu-type virus. But when the pills weren’t working, the wife suggested it was time to go to the ‘guru’ – a doctor my wife swore by. And certainly when the ‘guru’ was our local doctor – before she moved away – she successfully diagnosed two bouts of pneumonia – something her colleagues missed on each first attempt at diagnosis.

Fortunately, we had since moved and were now much closer to where the ‘guru’ had set up her new practice. Straight away, she pretty much concluded that it was a bronchitis and put in place all the tests – blood tests, X-rays etc – to confirm the diagnosis.

The bottom-line being that she was indeed right.

But the recovery took some time. And as a result, it was a bit of a stop-start journey in terms of getting some running under the belt – or for that matter, exercise of any description.

Some curve balls
And all those tests threw a few curve balls. The guru though it was a good idea to do a few extra blood tests since I hadn’t really hadn’t been in to see a doctor for a while. She also had a few concerns about some scars and lumps on my skin that was worthy of consideration.

So after going in with a bout of bronchitis, I came out with a few things to think about. And indeed the results have proved interesting, to say the least. For instance, apparently my iron levels were on the high side. I would have though this was OK, since many people – especially women – struggle with low iron levels.

But as it turns out my ancestors have something to answer for. Apparently it is called Haemochromatosis (or inherited iron overload disorder). And apparently one of the best ways to deal with it…is to give blood. That is a story in itself.

And now for the skin issues. That meant a trip to the dermatologist. And the ‘guru of skin’ advised that I have had my dose of sun for my lifetime – now it was time to cover up.

Still, nothing of note was found. She applied the freezing gun to a few lesions, and diagnosed some lotion to deal with some other lesions. So nothing of note in terms of skin issues, but I have been put on notice.

Not all blood is the same
As mentioned, apparently one way of dealing what is now termed a ‘blood disorder’ is to give blood. Sounds simple enough. And a good thing to do. So I fronted the blood collection centre and filled out all the paperwork.

It all seemed straight forward, and then in the interview process I raised the fact that the key reason I was there to give blood was because that it what the doctors suggested.

Well the nurse put the clipboard and pen down and announced that this was a whole different ball game – or words to that effect. Seems that the doctor has to fill out some paperwork of her own. And only after that, the process may start again.

Well it was with some trepidation that I fronted the blood collection centre in the first place. And I may say that in some ways I was relieved. And also in some ways disappointed.

But it made sense. The blood collection people need to know how high my iron levels are. And then there has to be some schedule set up of visits and the amount of blood to be collected.

The blood collection drama – well hardly a drama, more an event – well, the blood collection event was only last week so there will be more to report on this later.

Running happy
This chapter has been entitled “Health, wealth & happiness”. Well the ‘health’ is largely self-explanatory. What about the ‘wealth’ and ‘happiness’.?

Well, actually when it comes to the running, health has been to the fore in a positive way – I have been largely injury free. No heel spurs, no aches or pains. (Well, that was the case when I started writing this Chapter. There has since been a recurring pain on the arch of the foot – I’m told plantar something-or-other, but nothing of note).

But overall, running – and exercise overall – have been strangely OK. Perhaps that’s because the other health issues have held me back a bit from exercise/training and the rest has done me good. Perhaps.

But when you are doing a bit of exercise without any major injuries…well, you tend to be happy. And that has been very important. Because for some time, running has been less enjoyment and more of a chore. Simply, I haven’t enjoyed going out for a run.

How did it happen? Well, I’m not too sure. But I think it all came down to frustration – especially frustration about going for a run and…stopping. Not completing what I set out to achieve. Just a 20-minute run or 30-minute run. And couldn’t do it. And increasingly frustrated.

But one day, it came to me. Pull back a bit. Run more conservatively. Smell the roses. And it worked. Just mixing things up and setting smaller, more achievable goals.

And mixing it up has been important. A longer run one day; weights the next; faster runs on the road, like one minute fast, one minute recovery; and sprints of 70-80% top speed on a local football field.

More recently, I have toyed with a new running technique or philosophy. But more on that later.

And wealth?
Now some of you may think that the title was chosen because it was catchy and familiar: Health, wealth & happiness. And ‘health’ has been defined. As has ‘happiness’. So where does the ‘wealth’ come in? Have I won lotto? Been given a pay rise? Come into an inheritance?

No, a different sort of wealth. From mid December and into January there has been less travel. So, overall, work has been more formulaic. And I’ve felt more settled in my newish digs. More used to new surroundings.

But that’s not the wealth either. It has been the fact that my daughter has passed her subjects at college. And my son has passed his exams at uni. And my younger son is headed in to his final year of school. And my wife is making progress with her painful illness.

So yes, there has been ‘wealth’ as well as the health and happiness. Wealth is what you have, so I’m very wealthy.

So what about the running goals?
I suppose the great realisation has been in recent weeks that there is a lot more to do. And so little time to the NSW Championships in February and Australian Championships.

I have started compiling my running times – but that is probably something for the next post. But suffice it to say, there is still scope for improvement. I am hopeful, especially as I’m toying with a new approach to running. It may hold some secrets. But the simple fact is that timing is running out on achieving great things in the short-term.

There have been circumstances, sure, but everyone has those.

That’s not to saying I’m giving up on the goals – to be fitter, faster and more competitive with my peers. Health is good. Fitness is getting there. But more has to be done – more training sessions need to be completed – and more structure and discipline need to be applied. I suppose that is always the case. But the journey has by no means ended.

 

Chapter 6: Embracing HIIT

Time marches on. The last post was in early June – at the start of winter. Now it’s early August. And while this is normally a time where its easy to come up with excuses not to train, that is not the case in Sydney 2014. Today is another day of clear skies and warm – at least warmish – sunshine.

That’s not to say that there haven’t been the cold, wet, windy days generally associated with winter, it’s just that there has been so many healthy smatterings of pleasant days. That has made winter very bearable. but is has also reduced the number of days when it is easy to come up with excuses to stay inside.

The interesting thing is that while Australia’s ski fields started the season with no snow and poor prospects, it’s only taken a couple of cold snaps to turn that all on its head. I’ve just checked the latest snow report at Mt Hotham – the only place we’ve skied in Australia – and all lifts are open, snow depth is around 130cm, conditions are regarded as excellent and its -3.9 degrees and sunny.

So it seems everyone is happy. Local businesses – because there are few excuses to stay indoors. And the ski fields – where there is enough of the white stuff to make skiers of all shapes, sizes and standards, generally happy about the conditions.

But back to the issue at hand – staying fit, healthy, and hopefully making some progress on the goal of becoming more competitive in the upcoming athletics track season.

The scratch pad that is the training diary
I’m still managing to keep a ‘diary’ of activity. In actual fact its more of a scratch pad where I jot down my attempts to run, sprint, jump or do a weights session. The interesting thing I find – and I don’t know whether this is more old age or just a normal human trait – is that I have good intentions to write down each of my sessions, but don’t. So then I may go a few days before I get around to writing them down, and guess what? The details don’t come to me as quickly as I would like. I know I’ve been doing some work, but remembering what I’ve done and on what days becomes a little difficult.

So I’m looking at my sheet now and the last entry was July 29. Its August 3. Now I know I did some sprints yesterday. Well, at least a number of short, fast repetitions. In fact its was around 12 runs of around 100m at the local football field. And around 5 runs of around 60m. No, I didn’t specifically go out the door aiming to do a certain number of runs, It was as it always is – a case of seeing how I was feeling; determining if there was someone playing on the football fields; and then deciding how much I could fit in before the form started to deteriorate significantly.

Still, that’s the fun part isn’t it? Not have a pre-defined session. Going out and seeing how the chips were going to fall. Clearly this is no strategy for a very serious, and younger athlete. Someone aiming for goal of a state or national qualifying time or aiming to get on a certain team. But for a 52-year old person, trying to stay fit, injury-free, make some progress to a goal while juggling family and job commitments…well, it works. You need to keep motivated, need to mix up the training, and – as I’ve already said – stay injury free.

Anyone who has followed this little journey so far,  knows that a few months ago the heel/Achilles/calf was posing a few issues. Getting up of a morning, putting the feet to ground, and..hobbling. A few steps and things started improving. But running was generally painful, especially sprints. But after embracing Alfredson heel drops, things started turning around. And now I’m pain free and generally enjoying what I’m doing. As all ‘proper’ athletes know, it is a fine line between doing enough and too much training. So I’s still erring on the more conservative side of the ledger.

So Saturday was some sprints. Friday, was Cairns, and a day of travelling. So I decided just to do a weights session in the hotel. Thursday – nothing of a training/athletic persuasion. It was a day of work, travel and an evening presentation. But I still get a little guilty, so do push-ups and leg raises to failure. Clearly nothing major, but I suppose better than nothing.

What about Wednesday? That’s where the memory starts to get a little fuzzy. I’m pretty sure there was some weights, including some reps on my new favourite piece of equipment, a door frame chin-up bar.

Tuesday was nothing – at least nothing I remember whereas Monday, I wrote down ‘hurdles’. I set up six mini hurdles in our small backyard and hop and jump over a period of around 20-25 minutes. Actually, fun, and surprisingly taxing. And given that I was reluctant to do any jumping with the heel problem – quite rewarding.

Looking back on my scratch pad that is my training diary, the interesting thing is that there are surprisingly few gaps. I mean, I’ve written something in – generally a few days after the fact. So I may not have done the session on the particular day…but…I wouldn’t be out by too much.

Embracing HIIT
One relatively new feature on the training diary is repetitions based on time, such as 6 faster runs of one minute length. Now I know that this doesn’t sound much. In fact when my son told me that was a training session that was given to him by his coach, I scoffed. Six minutes – how is that a decent session? That is, until, you try it. The first one is OK, and then the second. And the third one is hard, and the fourth is challenging. A key reason is that the session is a one minute fast run with one minute recovery.

The session is part of the HIIT programme of exercise – high intensity interval training. In terms of weight reduction, the theory is that the HIIT session raises the heart rate and keeps it elevated for a period after the session ends. And in terms of specificity – if you are training for a 400m or 800m event, should you be doing too many longer runs? While the longer runs provide a base, do they also serve to reduce your speed.

All interesting stuff. And I don’t know all the answers but the fast runs are ‘fun’, they further mix up the training sessions, and so far they haven’t led to any fresh batch of injuries. And again you can mix it up. One session recently was 3min/2min/1min/30s/30s. You finish the session worn out, but with some sense of achievement.

Giving your all
And when you think about it – whether you are a sprinter, middle distance runner, play team sports or run marathons – how many times do you do something flat out and you have nothing left. Plenty of people go out for a run and may cover the distance at, say, 4.5-5 minutes as kilometre. But doing a session of 6×1 minute may just kick your speed up, and get you to experience something new.

I hear lots of examples of athletes doing ‘different’ sessions such as running in water and cycling to keep the training up, but reducing the chance of injury. After centuries of ‘exercise’ and decades of more professional sport, we’re still learning, still trying things. And given that world record are still falling in athletics, swimming and cycling, clearly we’re still finding ways to improve. And that’s exciting.

 

Chapter 5: The Budget and beyond

My last Chapter was penned on ANZAC Day. So now with the date clocking over to June 9, clearly a lot of water has flowed under the bridge.

The main event over the past month has been the Federal Budget. And no, clearly I wasn’t involved in either preparing it – that’s Federal Treasury’s job – or selling it – that’s Joe Hockey’s job – my role has been to write and talk about it and analyse the measures for clients. It is a busy time. Because you have to devote some time before the Budget to get your spreadsheets, reports and presentations in shape. Then you have to compile the new versions of the charts, reports and presentations on the day of the Budget, including the inevitable midnight session. And then you go on the road and provide your views on what it all means.

It’s a busy time. Have I said this already? Yes, I think I have.

Many business areas believe it’s the best time to get in front of clients because that is the time of the year that finance and economics are high up in people’s consciousness. Once you get into June, especially late in the month, people are less interested – more focussed on financial year-end, their personal accounts or budgets. And indeed some are turning their attention to holidays, with school holidays kicking in late June. Not only is the weather warming up in Europe or the US, there are also an array of local options, be it snow, northern Queensland sun, or tropical options like Fiji and Bali.

But as I say, a busy time. My economist and I covered 31 presentations in 25 days, trekking across all states and territories except Tasmania (that’s later!) as well as writing the usual reports on economic developments over the period.

The Big Excuse?

Now this suggests that I’m setting the scene for a big excuse in terms of training. Well, surprisingly, I’ve actually done OK. Not great, mind you, but OK.

Around five weights sessions; around five sessions on the jogging trampoline; around three longer runs of 30-40 minutes; two “rowing” type sessions with weights on a multi gym; three sprint sessions and one session of 10x100m hill sprints.

In fact some of the travel can be beneficial, especially when it comes to weights sessions. The important thing when arriving at your hotel in the evening before a breakfast presentation is to hit the gym as soon as you arrive. On arriving at you hotel, if you instead say “I’ll just send this email, or just do a quick piece of work” inevitably you’ll get caught. Same as putting off the gym until after dinner…you’ll get too comfortable and put it off altogether. Weight sessions are clearly good for staying generally fit, but it’s not the same as the hard running sessions that you need to get your times down.

Now clearly, in terms of getting my time down for 400/800m or even running competitively against my peers, I’m probably still struggling. But I’m still in the game. Generally healthy and feeling OK. The only disappointment is that I would hoped to have progressed a little more, but it’s still hard work to get over 30min of running or running quick repetitions of 300 or 400m.

Still, as you may have noticed, I am doing the faster track work. And I’m injury free – that has to count for something! No heel pain! The Alfredson’s heel drops have worked a treat. And the broader weight sessions are seemingly preventing muscle imbalances or soreness.

The 400m track runs have been around 80 seconds in a session with a mix of around 5-7 runs. The 200m reps have been around 34secs, run in trainers, not super hard. Interesting that 100m and 200m rep times have been OK and then times blow out when I move to 300m and 400m. It really shows the task in front of me. For a competitive 400m I need to be able run 13-14sec per 100m and for 800m, run 16-17 secs.

It really does highlight the abilities, commitment and training of those 50-something athletes that are running 400m times of 50-55secs and 800m times of 2.00-2.10 minutes!

But as I said right at the beginning, it is important to have a goal. And the goal hasn’t changed. It may be getting a little further away…but it is a case of chipping away, day by day.

And then there is the over-riding goal of  staying fit, injury free (or relatively injury free!) and keeping the weight down. That is still on track despite the normal challenges of work and home duties.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Four: Niggles, injuries – just goes with the territory?

The interesting thing about running – you do it to keep fit but invariably, especially if you step up the workload, injuries can occur. Particularly in Masters Athletics. You go to a meet, ask how your fellow competitors are travelling, and you hear about hamstring, achilles, calf, glutes, quads. More like an anatomy discussion!

That doesn’t diminish the enjoyment of hitting the track or trying to improve your times. It’s something that goes with the territory. And of course any discussion of niggles or injuries wouldn’t be complete with information about how your fellow runners are dealing with the issues. Physio, stretches, exercises, creams, ice, heat…you name it. They say that my little profession of economics is an inexact science, but treatment of running injuries has to be up there also.

Over time I’ve had the usual complaints, especially for those of us who have chosen the shorter sprinting events – distances up to 400m or 800m. Shin splints, hamstring tears, ankle, heel & achilles complaints, abductors strains. Nothing major. As I said before, things that go with the territory.

Why the injuries? Invariably they occur if you push the envelope. Train a little harder or longer than you normally do. Perhaps, cut some corners in warming up. Perhaps, an uneven running surface. Perhaps, a change in the weather, especially moving from hot to colder weather. As Tony Abbott has previously said – and I’m paraphrasing – stuff happens!

Easter hopping

At present I’m feeling a little sore. OK a lot sore. And how did this happen? I experimented with some ‘step hurdles’ or mini hurdles. It looked like fun. Set up six hurdles on a small grassed area and jump and hop over the hurdles. (Actually hopping now seems quite appropriate, given that it was just after Easter!)

All seemed good. But the next day there were a few sore muscles. Thought nothing of it. And actually decided to follow my son and daughter to a grass running track and do some sprints.

But last night I paid for the activity. All manner of muscles hurt – stomach, arms, legs. Nothing major, no injuries. But I hadn’t really felt like that since I played soccer (‘football’ of course now) a bit over 20 years ago.

As I said, nothing major, but interesting. I didn’t feel I needed to warm up before the hurdle hopping. I mean, it was just a bit of hopping and jumping. But clearly it was something new for many of my muscles.

Method to the madness

So what prompted me to try something a little different. Well, a couple of things. First, I’d done a few runs in the days before, some sprints and longer runs. And I’d done some weights. So I was looking for something a little different.

I get bored doing the same thing. I think all runners do. And you don’t want to overdo any particular activity but at the same time get some exercise in and perhaps challenge yourself in different ways.

And also up there in rationalising the decision to get hopping was that my longer-term niggle or injury was actually feeling a lot better. As I’ve previously mentioned, the right heel/ankle/achilles – whatever it is – has been causing some discomfort. I still am not totally sure what the issue is. Yes, perhaps a visit to the doctor could have isolated the cause or identified precisely what the issue is. But as I’ve found in the past, and after hearing of other ‘war stories’ either directly or indirectly, that is by no means certain.

Unfortunately everyone is different and a little can get lost in translation in explaining to the doctor what the issue is, where it hurts, when it starts hurting etc. And then the doctor may refer you to other health specialists to more accurately diagnose or treat the problem.

Now as I’ve said previously, this rationalisation is just mine. I’m not advocating not checking out these things. In fact I urge you to do the smart thing and seek out the best medical advice. I just thought that my particular issue wasn’t major. Just a niggle. Something that goes with being a Masters runner.

Doing the research

But that doesn’t mean I’ve being doing nothing. I’ve done my ‘research’ Yes, that means Googling. But that isn’t something that should be derided. There is so much good information on the internet – by health professionals as well as others. Five or 10 years ago that wasn’t the case. But the hard part is working out what information you should trust.

For my niggle, all the research has pointed to the fact that I have a heel spur. Painful heel, especially when putting your feet on the ground after getting up in the morning. And gradually the pain eases as you get moving. Apparently something that comes with age, especially my age.

So what is the best treatment? Well, rest.

Now for a runner, that isn’t what you want to hear. Rubbing in a cream, getting some form of injection, perhaps physio – all these are preferable, because you are doing something about it and then getting back to training.

I once told a pharmacist what I had, and he ended up finishing my sentences. Apparently he had the same issue. I asked whether certain creams, insoles etc could help, and he said no, rest was the answer, perhaps taking some anti-inflammatories…and just living with it.

Now that’s not really my way. So I asked others, did more research. And I got one piece of advice from my work colleague – Alfredson’s heel drops. Seemed like a reasonable concept. Effectively stretching and strengthening the area including achilles, heel and calf. But apparently it didn’t involve just a few exercises and the problem was fixed. Rather it involved a high number of repetitions – up to 180 a day over a couple of months. And it may involve some pain before the issue is resolved.

So let me get this right? Exercising or stretching an area that may actually cause some pain, to ease the pain? OK, worth a go.

And I have started doing the exercises – not to the extent recommended – but still doing the stretch or exercise. An indeed, the heel area is feeling better.

I’ve also tried to strengthen the area by standing on one leg. And that has being going OK.

And the hurdles? Well, that is part of my theory as well. I need to get to a stage where the ankle/heel/achilles area is strong enough to support some jumping. One exercise or discipline that every good sprinter/middle distance runner should do is plyometric work – like hopping and jumping.

If I’m going to deal with the heel issue and eventually beat it, then I’m going to have to stretch and strengthen the area.

So we’ll see how we go.

The training

What about the training over the past fortnight – that is, up to ANZAC Day? Well there has been a couple of weights sessions as well as a light weight/high repetitions session. And a session using large elastic bands. There’s been two Bay Runs – a run of around 7km – still not completing the distance, but I’ll get there! There’s been a couple of sessions on the jogging trampoline – one with sand weights and 2 minute sprints. And there have also been two sprint sessions on grass. Not super fast but one session of 12 x 120m and another of 8 x 150m.

In fact the last session was just yesterday – and remarkably that was the first time I’ve gone on a training run to an athletic track in…I don’t know how long.

So the goal of improving my running times, getting more competitive, and staying fit, healthy and keeping my weight down, is still on track. The past few weeks have involved less travelling at work, and a feeling that I’m on top of things. But a busy month lies ahead. Whether the discipline can continue – both exercise as well as diet – remains to be seen.

 

 

 

 

Chapter Three: On the road again

On the road again

A challenge wouldn’t be a challenge unless it was challenging. Simple-sh – as the meerkats would say! (clearly watching too much TV) So another week on the road clearly highlights the difficulty of getting my running times down.

Sunday March 30 was a good start to the week. Beautiful late autumn weather and a perfect time to give the cars a bath. And of course washing the car does allow you to find those little scrapes that have magically appeared in the hurly burly of daily commutes – both by me as well as my wife. Little surprises that you could possibly do without!

But apart from undertaking the rare task of car washing, there was also time to get another weight training session under the belt. The normal shotgun approach of squats, presses, curls etc. I do miss not doing chin-ups – I installed a chin-up bar at home, but we are leasing elsewhere at present I have haven’t found a replacement. Chin-ups and leg raises are very efficient exercises and were important in getting me into shape for a previous challenge of mine – the Men’s Health Man competition. But I’ll leave the explanation of that for another time.

On Monday afternoon it was off to Perth again. I was looking forward to the flight as nothing was planned for that evening. Also I applied for a points upgrade to Business class and was successful. Luxury! Although Bob Carr may have a different view…

In practice though it didn’t turn out quite as good as hoped for. I thought Business class would allow me to get some work done and so opened up the laptop. But it was an older plane and the chap in front was keen on seeing just how far his seat could recline. So the laptop was perched under my nose for most of the flight. Not to mention the lovely 80-something lady seated next to me.

So not the experience hoped for.

The HIIT I needed

But at least on arrival in Perth I was able to hit the gym. And this time for a spot of cardio – the exercise bike. Now this isn’t just a 20-30 minute casual bike ride. I have read about the most efficient way to complete your cardio session – especially if the goal is to keep your weight down. And it comes under the heading of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). Apparently researchers found that the best way of using cardio to lose weight or keep the weight down was 8 seconds hard, 12 seconds recovery. Or at least that’s how I remember it.

My variation on this is 10 seconds hard, 20 seconds recovery – for the simple reason that it is easier to track over time. So I did a 30 minute session with 25 minutes of the time following the HIIT principle. Pleasantly exhausting – which is how it’s supposed to be.

And then it was dinner. Now food is one of the most challenging aspects of life on the road. You want to eat right but you have to weigh up convenience, work commitments, travel…and that’s just to name a few of the issues to be considered.

Rather than staying in and sampling the usual room service offerings, I headed out. Not far mind you as there was an Irish pub across the road. Now I’m not saying that the meal I decided upon was the best choice from a health perspective. But I have had it before and it was definitely good comfort food on the road – Beef & Guinness pie with lashings of mashed potato and peas.

Food, glorious food 

Yes, Beef & Guinness pie would hardly be on the menu of top athletes. Not really the right mix of protein, carbs and fat. Probably a little too much of the wrong carbs and probably too much fat.

But when you are on the road, easy choices and convenience can tend to dominate when it comes to food. And then there are the constant temptations. Another coffee? Why not? And the cakes look pretty good.

And at speaking events – whether breakfast, lunch or dinner – there are some tempting choices. And that can lead to detours from the normal fare when I’m at home.

A normal day begins with yoghurt, two slices of sourdough and a black coffee with just a dash of milk. Lunch is salad. Dinner is whatever is on offer but most commonly meat or chicken with veges. Thrown in for good measure is two bananas and around three 600m bottles of water. And a glass or two of red wine with dinner. (I’m told very medicinal!)

So hardly bad choices.

But  there are a few temptations on a normal week when not travelling. A couple of squares of dark chocolate and night may turn into more than a couple. On weekends, there is the delight of morning tea. And who can’t resist a canoli? My good wife may bake some scones…and one of these can go down nicely with a cup of tea.

Still, overall, while the diet isn’t perfect, it isn’t the worst combination to come up with. And I am constantly aware that if I do take on a few extra calories, there is pay back – the need to work those calories off. And that means some form of activity – something, anything, to keep the metabolism working.

A few years ago the weight crept up. And that is precisely what does happen over time – the weight creeps up. And I hit 85kg, which for a guy of 173cm is a bit too much. I’m now around 72kg, which more or less is about right.

On the road, it is a matter of being aware. Finger food is usually shunned, as is dessert with evening meals. Certainly when I’m at home there is nothing called dessert (actually just once a week – Saturday – but as long as I’ve put in some form of effort at cardio or weight training.

Overall, the secret is balance. And being aware. Those on the road face constant temptations, especially the food and drink offerings at airline lounges. In Australia today there is just some much good food and drink on offer. And we don’t have the same everyday activities to keep weight down. So many labour-saving devices and transport options. A simple imbalance by taking on a few extra calories each day and at the same time burning fewer calories.

A chance to step it up

On the road from April 1-4 meant not a lot of exercise was undertaken. Home around 10.30pm on April 1 from Perth. April 2 off to Melbourne in the evening and didn’t leave much time for anything. April 3 home from Melbourne around 8.30pm.

But then the excuses would have started to run thin after that. So Friday April 4, back on the jogging tramp. The next day it was the 7km Bay Run and almost made it the full way. But finished off with a couple of speed intervals – fartlek – a minute fast, walk, a minute fast etc.

Sunday was a weights session; Monday on the jogging tramp with 8×2 minute fast intervals  with sand weights; Tuesday a weights session; Wednesday a 20min run and Friday a 30min jogging tramp session.

Whew! What happened? No travel, good weather and simply…no excuses left!

The heel/Achilles problem hasn’t gone away but it is manageable. Why? By listening to advice and taking on a new approach. More on that next time.

 

 

Chapter Two: To run fast, you need to run – don’t you?

My goal is to reduce the times in two running events – the 400m and 800m – and to be more competitive against my peers. So you would think that the main way to accomplish this is to…well…run. Easier said than done.

I look back over the last week, and I can’t claim to have racked up too many K’s. Saturday March 22 stands out, because on a warm day with threatening showers I managed to run most of the roughly 7km Bay Run. Not super fast mind you – the aim being to run as far as I could. And I did complete most of the course, walking a short way with around 1K to go.

Regular runners of longer distances might say, what’s the big deal. But after concentrating on sprints – distances up to 400m – any run over a couple of K’s is a long distance!

Actually around a decade ago I was competing in 10K cross-country events on Saturdays and then cut the distance down to 5K. But gradually over time the ability to do the training to run either 5K or 10K became more challenging. And then I discovered Masters sprint events and returned to the days of my younger years, focussing on the sprints.

So perhaps a long run isn’t remarkable. But for me, so far so good.

The next day was a weights session. Now what do I mean by that? Well I have a few dumbbells, kettle bells, a weights bench, bar, exercise bands and Swiss ball. So, not a bad little set up. Then I go down to my little sanctuary, turn on the TV, and lift weights.

One reason for the interest in dumbbells etc is that – from my reading of fitness magazines – it was seen as a good way to keep my weight down. That is, lifting weights was seen as a good way of boosting metabolism, and thus keeping my weight down. Muscles also have to be fed, trimming fat stores.

So, Sunday was a weights session. Basically, squats, bench presses, shoulder presses,  bicep curls, rows, side bends, deadlifts, front and lateral raises. In other words, anything that I can do in around 45-60 minutes.

On the road again

Monday was free of exercise and then Tuesday it was off to Perth, arriving around 3.15pm to deliver a presentation around 5.30pm. And then back to the hotel around 8pm.

Now its important to remember with Perth that there is a 3 hour time difference when daylight saving is in operation. So after a bite to eat, you may of thought it would be good to get to bed early. But I thought of my goal and hit the hotel’s gym. At 10pm or 1pm Sydney time.

I did think at the time “What am I doing!” But I managed a range of lifts and presses and back to the room. Not a run, not cardio, but certainly something to keep me focussed at least.

And clearly, while I would like to cut my running times, staying healthy and keeping my weight down is of greater importance.

Jet lag takes effect

Wednesday was a full day of engagements including time spent at Curtin Business School with my role as adjunct professor. Evan Nicholas and his staff are really focussed on making Curtin Number 1 in business and the new courtyard, complete with ticker screen and retractable roof shows great vision.

But Wednesday was finished off with the dreaded ‘red eye’ flight to Sydney – the flight leaving at around 11pm and getting to Sydney around 6.20am on Thursday morning.

Understandably, not a lot of training on Wednesday or Thursday!

And even Friday was a touch challenging after the usual 5am start. But I managed to get on the jogging trampoline in the evening after a few ‘nanna naps’.

Hitting the pavement again

Saturday was a chance to see how the 800m is done properly. I took my son to his GPS invitational meet at Blacktown.

Now Matthew is also focussing on 800m in the track season before progressing to the cross country season in a few weeks time and covering distances of around 7km. Another 2.25 today, but is training is in the very early days – and still running a lot faster than the old man! I also think he is looking forward to the cross country and being competitive over the longer distances. There are some very good specialist 800m runners, with a lot of training under their belts and running under 2 minutes and only 16 years of age!

It took a little longer to get home – the ’91 Falcon was challenged by radiator issues. I thought a trip home on the tow truck was on the agenda, but fortunately the skills of the NRMA technician were brought to bear.

Late in the day I debated hitting the pavement again despite the heel still causing grief. But in the end I trekked out the door late in the afternoon with cool breeze and overcast skies.

I can’t say that I burnt up the course around Five Dock Bay – around 35min with a few stops – but some kilometres (K’s or kays) under the belt with no worsening of the heel niggle.

Certainly I have had good advice from readers, telling me to see the doc and work out what is happening with the heel, achilles or whatever it is. Had good intentions to follow through. But perhaps next week. Not something I probably should be putting off and certainly not I’m not recommending similar indecisiveness by others!

Chapter One: A Goal for 2015

You Get Out What you Put In

On February 22 and 23 the NSW Masters Athletic Championships were held. Sounds impressive, and indeed many of the athletes that competed are indeed very impressive.

So how did I go? Well, lets just say that I was satisfied but there were no champagne corks popping afterwards. And that was entirely expected as there wasn’t a lot of training put in. As the old saying goes, you only get out what you put in.

Now I won a few medals – two bronze medals to be precise. Still, there were only three competitors in the 800m and four competitors in the 400m.

So why am I telling you this? Well, I thought afterwards that this wasn’t good enough. And I’m not talking about the colour of the medals, but the times recorded. Why not set a goal of getting the times down? And the extra incentive is that the Australian Championships are held in Sydney in 2015.

The Challenge

So let’s look where we are starting from and then set the challenge. And this blog will be my diary showing the progress or lack thereof.

To run third in the 400m, my time was 1.05.15, that is around 65 seconds. To run third in the 800m, my time (ahem) was (splutter, splutter) 2.52.08, in other words closer to three minutes than two minutes. I have run around a minute for 400m and 2.30 for 800m, so the lack of training shows up.

The winner did the 400m in 58.19 and the winner of the 800m did it in 2.20.62. So it is clear how much training is required.

The challenge is: 1st, to do better; 2nd, to get closer to my personal best; and 3rd to be competitive with the fastest runners in my age group (50-54 years).

And indeed if we are talking about the fastest runners, its useful to check the results of the Australian Championships held in Hobart. The winner of the 800m did it in 2.02.75 with third in 2.18. The winner of the 400m did it in 54.4 with third in 57.4.

Clearly, if I want to get competitive with the best in Australia, there is work to do.

Countdown is on

And the countdown has started. It has now been just over three weeks since the NSW Champs. So presumably there is only around 48 weeks to go. So what have I done in that period? In short, nothing sensational.

Now on saying this, some justification. Or as some may say, here comes the excuses!

My day starts at 4.25am, and I start work at 5am. So there’s not a lot of time for training in the morning. Of course, I could rise at 3.30am, and get in an hours worth of training, but that would require getting to bed around 9pm. At present its more like 11pm. Yes, excuses I know.

My work also involves a bit of travel as you will see from the blog in coming days and weeks.

Of course I could come up with a different challenge, but for me running is what I know – and the shorter kind of running – to me to 800m is long distance!

Everyone needs a challenge

I reckon everyone needs a challenge…an outlet…a goal. That is, something outside your regular work or study. It could be climbing a mountain, skydiving, walking the Kokoda. And perhaps they can be put on the agenda in coming months. But focusing on the running goals, getting the times down, and hopefully getting fitter actually helps with other things such as doing my job well, or being a reasonable husband and father.

Here we go…

The best way of sticking with the challenge is to make the goal public. And then it is a case of keeping a blog or diary on the progress.

Now the blog has been on the drawing board since the NSW Champs. But only now is it coming to fruition (raises some question about the success of the broader challenge, doesn’t it?). And unfortunately my scribble diary is a little incomplete. So I’ll work backwards.

Today, March 22…

Well I actually got out and did a longer run. Those in Sydney, and especially those in the inner west, probably know it – it’s the Bay Run, a flat, picturesque course of around 7km. I managed to run (plod, shuffle) for most of it, just stopping once near the end.

Before we go too much further…

Actually before we go too much further….There are a number of reasons (some would say excuses) for my lack of training. One is the amount travel, and then there are strange work hours like starting at 5am with evening presentations from time to time to add complications.

But the other constraint on training has been and injury of sorts (more an annoyance). Of course injuries are the bane of the mature (older) runner. Mine is a heel or Achilles issue. I actually haven’t gone to a doctor or physio to work out what’s going on. I’ve just assumed that it is a heel spur and the best thing for a heel spur is rest. Over January when travelling I actually didn’t do much running (plenty of walking however) and the injury improved. That is, there was less pain. To run without pain would be wonderful. Indeed a trip to the doctor may actually be considered in coming weeks. We’ll see.

Yesterday, March 21…

Yesterday I also managed to get some training in…30 minutes of running. Now this wasn’t a run out around the streets. It was 30 minutes on something I call a jogging trampoline or rebounder. It actually is a small trampoline and something I have been using over the past few weeks.

Of course it isn’t the same as running around the streets. But it does save the legs. I can regulate the speed. And I can add sand weights to add extra resistance.

Well, yesterday was 30 minutes on the jogging tramp.

The Other 24 days

Now I won’t bore you with the other 24 days since the NSW Champs. Let’s just say the diary is a bit incomplete. But I have managed to do around 4 weights sessions; a couple of runs on the jogging tramp, some with sand weights; one session of 20x100m runs in around 17-18secs; a fartlek session – alternate of fast/slow runs around the streets; some work with exercise bands and/or swiss ball.

So while I haven’t been inactive, I can’t say that I’ve been disciplined as well.

But that is where the blog comes in

The point of the blog is that I’m setting a goal and making it public. The aim is to get my running times down. Another aim is to be more competitive against my running peers.

But still, hopefully what I also hope to achieve, is to stay fit and healthy. In other words, be able to carry out my duties and work and home. And stay happy doing it all. So the journey begins.