Yesterday I managed to run for the first time in nearly three weeks after successfully surviving the near death experience that is ‘man-flu‘. Please note this is something only men can understand because for some reason women, and especially my current Wife, do not understand this potentially fatal condition. I had six days off work which culminated in a 4am call to the mobile doctors and a request from them to go to hospital. They were thinking heart attack,  I was thinking pneumonia, my Wife was thinking ‘it’s a bloody cold , get over it!’ (I told you , they don’t understand?) In the end I decided I didn’t want to bother anybody and there was probably really sick people at hospital and if I was going to check out I wanted to do it surrounded by my loved ones and also make it as hard as possible on No1 Wife to teach her a lesson. Luckily I managed to survive to run another day and so the rehabilitation began in earnest.

By rehabilitation I mean wandering about with a ‘woe is me‘ look on my face for a week and letting all interested parties , of which there was one, Mum!, know how I was lucky to be alive , no thanks to my current Wife. (I never did find my bell I used to summon her the first few days when I needed a cup of tea (as all men know a cup of tea cures all known ailments, and doubly quick if you make it sweet.)  I had my suspicions to its whereabouts as I can hear it every time I ‘twerk’… ?) Anyhow I digress….

For my return to running I selected a run with the Northern Suburb Running Group (NSRG http://www.nsrg.org.au  ) a social running group that has been going for longer than I can remember and is always welcoming to new runners, old runners or even runners who have survived ‘man-flu‘ and need some company. (and also someone to talk to about the experience in great detail.) I took Jon along because he always loves company and is still seeking his new Wife after jettisoning the old one. (For any runners who are looking for love Jon is available on tinder and would make a great mate. http://www.tinderdating.com.au   For any of my readers (and my Mum!) under 18 please do not click on the tinder link.)

For the NSRG Sunday long run there was about ten of us and we all thoroughly enjoyed the company and the route taking in a local bushland loop and a lake before retreating from the heat to the local Dome Cafe for waffles and coffee; a runners post long run treat. Actually the conversation post run was probably as long as the run itself, I take this as a positive personally. For all runners looking to either start running or just wanting some great company the NSRG is the place to go, you won’t find a better bunch of runners in Perth. They also spend time in the company of the T-train and a few have jumped on board his coaching programs which seem to be going great guns. ( https://www.tonysmithruncoaching.com  )

Feeling excited about running again I did manage a 8k second run that evening which started slowly, sped up in the middle and ended as it started. No problem, it was about getting out twice which I believe is a massive benefit and improves running quicker than a new pair of Nike Vaporfly 4%’s… (You all have a pair of these now don’t you ? https://www.nike.com/gb/t/vaporfly-4-flyknit-running-shoe-7R7zSn ) probably.  Funnily enough at the end I thought I had a 5:18 average, turned out to be 5:38; ouch. Looking at previous runs on that route (thanks Strava) I was informed this was the slowest, ever, but quite a margin. Was I upset? No, it was never about pace , all about just getting out there on tired legs and putting some time in. I really enjoyed the run, bar the enforced Mark Lee toilet stop in the middle and it served the purpose it was meant to. Remember people Matt Fitzgerald 80/20, Arthur Lydiard and Phil Maffetone. The three wise men of running.

More news in the runbkrun assault on a potential marathon PB this year. I have added a new stand up bike to the stable. (Is two bikes a stable or a garage?) I managed to find a brand new (virtually) Bionic Gen1 from a friend on Strava and I pick it up tonight. I am more than excited as the Bionic (Gen1 and 2) and the Predator were stand up bike invented by an Australian Company (run4) which has since gone out of business due to dubious Chinese suppliers . It’s a pity because these bikes were well built and also built for runners specifically. I managed to get a test ride on a Bionic after I brought the Elliptigo ( https://www.elliptigo.com.au ) and was really impressed with the product. Unfortunately the company then went out of business so finding one virtually brand new is a real find. (I have also sourced a brand new Predator and aim to add that to my stable soon but the Wife is still not overly excited about me purchasing another bike so maybe purchasing another two bikes would push her over the edge? …maybe ? Women really are from different planets, maybe even different solar systems!!!)

Is there alternatives still available on the inter web ?  hell yeah. https://cyclete.com  This bad boy looks the business but is hand built to specific orders rather tham mass produced, that means it very expensive. It looks very, very good but the price is a show stopper for me. For any runners out there with some serious coin to throw about this bike looks very, very good. Unfortunately (I say that a lot when my  current Wife is then also mentioned in the same sentence?)  my current Wife would divorce me if I paid the $10k Australian needed to bring one of these into the country. I’ll get in touch them and see if they fancy sponsoring an old, balding runner with a beard and a blog supported mainly by his mother ? (Actually if you google ‘stand up bikes‘ and check out the images there are some really ‘out there‘ versions; and I mean out there!)

The point of this post is twofold. First, I am recovering from time out from running and when you do this you need to think of recovery as a day by day activity with small progress, be it in pace or distance, the target not reaching the dizzy heights of where you were pre-injury (illness). Matt Fitzgerald summed it up when he stated he actually enjoyed recovery as the pressure of obtaining certain goals was not there. You can get back to the pure joy of running without the need to ‘improve bu hitting targets’. I always think of this when I return from injury and this is why yesterdays second run, with an average pace of 5:38min/k, is still seen as a positive and a small step forward. I loved the feeling of getting out there for a second time and just ‘running’ for the pure love of running, admittedly i could have down without the ‘Mark Lee‘ toilet stop.

Second I am again talking up the benefit of stand-up bikes. Trust me people these are the Nike Vaproflys 4%’s of bikes, forget the usual version, for a runner you need a bike built for improving your running not improving your cycling. (Unless of course you are a triathlete reading this post by mistake; remember its runbkrun not swimrunbikekbrunswimbike.com !) These bikes really do work and I cannot wait to get on my bionic and see what benefit I can gain from this compared to the Ellipitgo. Does this mean I’m selling the Elliptigo? Well I may have mentioned to my Wife I was going to sell the Elliptigo to pay for the Bionic but I suspect this may not happen and I may keep both, funnier things have happened.

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