Going over the dark side (at least, temporarily)!

Commonwealth Games

Before I make my big revelation (well, it's not that big!) the Commonwealth Games marathon is on later today and Steve Way is running in it.  The BBC have done a great piece on him, and I think it sums him up well and I truly find what he's achieved inspirational.  

I am wishing Steve well today and will be wearing my "Don't be Shit" T-shirt, whilst watching the marathon later today.  

Shhh, I've bought a road bike

I've finally thrown in the towel on my achilles injury and done something I should have probably done weeks ago - I've put myself on a strict "no running for at least a month" training program, in a bid to try and get it cleared up.  I've come to the realisation that me even plodding for only 20 miles a week is not the way to go.  My last run was on 9th July and I am not running until at least 9th August.  If the achilles is still not right, it'll be another month.  In fairness, the rest does seem to be doing it some good so fingers crossed, but I've written my plan here in black and white and I won't be deviating from that.

In an attempt to try and keep myself from going completely bonkers and also to try and retain some kind of fitness, I dusted off the old hybrid bike and got a few rides in on the road on that.  I bought the hybrid in 2010 as a compromise between a road bike and a trail bike and it is fine, but it is a compromise.  I am naturally drawn and prefer the roads and longer distances so after about 8 rides out on that I decided to look into getting a road bike.  After a lot of online research, asking questions of my running club mates (many of who also cycle) and trying various bikes, I bought one and picked it up on Thursday.

I went for a Specialized Allez Sport in Satin Black/Charcoal (batman black, as I like to think of it...!) and love it.  I've had a couple of rides on it; one a short ride home after picking it up and a second longer 33-miler taking in some hills for good measure.

Honestly, I wish I'd done this weeks ago as I'm really enjoying it.  Compared with running, I find I don't mind going up roads that I may not know and exploring a bit as even if I have to turn around after 2 or 3 miles, it's easily doable on a bike where as with running that would be a right pain.

Stating the obvious, you can also go further and see more things.  Yesterday's 33-mile was done in around 2hr15min whereas in around the same time for an LSR I would have probably only done around 13 miles.

I have also discovered Strava....and have become pretty much instantly addicted!  I had obviously heard of Strava before, but always used Garmin Connect for my running.  However, the Strava site accepts uploads directly from Garmins and the site is far, far better than Garmin's in my opinion.

On Strava, I think the best function is "segments" where the site automatically splits your ride up into sections that other riders have done.  You can then see where you lie in the overall leaderboard.  I.E, below is probably one of my favourite sections at the moment as it is a great piece of road and Strava shows me I'm currently 96/367 individual riders, so tracking your times and having some friendly competition with others is very easy!  Interestingly, I noticed Garmin Connect has recently launched a similar feature but there is only one other rider who has done this section, compared to Strava's 367.

I am not saying I am never going to run again as I am hoping I will be, but currently the cycling is hitting the spot for me.  As I am hoping to return to running in the future, I won't be changing the name of this blog :)

As I've mentioned, my wife and I are expecting a baby at the end of September and I know that is going to be a massive change to our lives and everything in it and I'm not underestimating that, and we're both incredibly excited and looking forward to meeting him/her.  When the baby has settled in I'm thinking of getting a Turbo Trainer set up in the garage so I can stick the bike on that and get some cardio in.  Even if it's only 3 or 4 30-min sessions a week once we're up and running with the baby over the winter, that will be better than nothing.  I was having a slight concern about ballooning in weight once the baby is here so I think the road bike on a Turbo is the way to go.  At least it'll keep me out of the boring gym, whilst being in the house and not miles away in case I'm needed.

A few updates

Not much running
Since getting around the half successfully the other week, I've been away for work for 3 nights in Cardiff and decided to get 3 small runs in, as Cardiff is a very nice place to run.  The hotel I was staying at was right opposite a huge park (where Cardiff parkrun is), which itself is along side the River Taf.  On two nights I ran away from the City and then one the third night I ran down to Cardiff Bay.

I really enjoyed this, but I'm sad to say that the achilles flared right back up again.  For the "old me", 3 small runs in a row is nothing so I've come to the realisation (probably about 2 or 3 months too late!) that I need a complete break as the type of running I'm resigned to at the moment (mainly plodding, and very short distances) isn't what I want to be doing.  So, in order to try to keep my sanity and some level of fitness, I've dusted off the old bike, signed up to Strava and been out for a few rides.  I must say, I'm really enjoying it so far although the weather has been perfect for cycling and I'm currently not sure if I'll brave the wind and rain if/when it arrives.  I've decided to give cycling a go though for a whole month with absolutely no running, and then to reassess.

Pod
I've also been to the podiatrist again since my Half and he is now referring me to get the achilles scanned.  He mentioned bursitis and a scan should spot if that's the cause of the issue.  I have obviously heard of bursitis before, but this is the first time it's been mentioned to me about my injury.

I have a strong feeling that he was almost expecting to have to refer me for a scan, but he had to try me on the insoles first.  I don't know how long it will take to get referred, but I suppose it could take a few more weeks.  He has also given me some different inserts to try (rather than lowering the front of the foot these raise the heel, which is what I thought I was going to get in the first place) so it all seems a bit trial-and-error at the moment which is very frustrating to be honest.

Steve Way and the Commonwealth Games
In my last blog entry I mentioned Steve Way and that he is representing England in the Commonwealth Games.  Well, as I read his brilliant blog regularly and feel that he is a "normal" runner who has worked very hard (read this brief biography about his from the Guardian, but in summary not all that long ago he was an unfit, 16.5stone smoker), it seem a large number of the running community are getting behind him and are wishing him all the best for the Games.

A friend of Steve Way has organised some technical T-Shirts with Steve's motto for running (and life, I suppose) on the front.  I thought I'd get one as it seems a pretty good motto to me.

Torbay Half Marathon

I'm pleased to say I got around Torbay Half Marathon yesterday in a time I was pleased with in the circumstances.  I haven't raced since March due to an achilles issue, but had entered Torbay back in January as it is my local race and one that I try and attend if possible.

As part of my role as Teignbridge Trotters Press Officer, I got all the Trotters together before the race  and my wife took a team picture.  That is below.

I purposefully started right at the back of the 2000+ strong field to stop me going off too quickly, and I got into my stride ok after a couple of miles.  I saw Steve Way on the course, and also in the queue for the loos (how's that for a claim to fame?).

I got around in 1:57:04 (unofficial) and I'm genuinely pleased with that.  It was a bit of a confidence booster really because I've been struggling since March and this is the furthest I've ran for a while.  It's a bit sobering looking back as last year I did 1:43 on this course and in March I did a 1:38, but yesterday genuinely wasn't about PB chasing.  It was about seeing if I could run the distance with no major issues, and I really enjoyed the event.  I'll see how I feel in the next couple of days to see how the achilles are before saying for sure if this event was a success for me, but as I'm typing this I'm cautiously optimistic.

This is a picture of me and a mate who I was running with for a mile or so....

Mentioning Steve Way, in case anyone isn't aware, he is a great British runner, who was third Brit at London, recently broke a 100K record and is representing England at the marathon at the Commonwealth Games.  Reading his blog is mind-boggling....on the day of the race he did 20:22 miles, including the Torbay Half in 67:49, and then did a further 6  miles that afternoon.  This was part of a 132 mile week, with an average of 6:02min/mile.   I think it's safe to say he's a class act, and I was looking forward to being on the same course as him, albeit miles behind!

However, I was getting on my high horse, again, yesterday.  It was only with my wife though, and she's used to it!  I think this chap is a phenomenal and he was wandering around at the start and no one knew who he was.  Even the announcer at the start of the race didn't mention him as someone to look out for (she did at the end, but said he was representing Great Britain at the Commonwealths, which is wrong, as he's representing England).  I know she was only announcing what she was given to read out, but still.

From his blog of the day, him and his wife and dogs camped in a camper van the night before the race.  This is a chap who is representing his country in a few weeks time!

I know there are loads of other athletes doing great things in sports I haven't got a keen interest in, but is it a bit strange that generally they're unheard of?  Or am I on my own in thinking this?  My wife just thinks it's because I'm interested in running that I've heard of him (which is obviously true).  Also, she said the fact that he works hard isn't enough to capture interest of the public, and reluctantly I have to agree with her.  However, I still find what he's doing inspiring and I'm hoping he does well in Glasgow..

He has a range of "Don't be shit" shirts to support him through the Games, and I've ordered one...

Here he is in the final straight.