After the obligatory long run on Sunday me and the posse sat down at Clancy’s Café in sunny City Beach to mull over the weekly events. Due to a suicidal café manager they have stopped serving the best pancakes in Perth and instead offer waffles. This has not gone down well with the boys but needless to say we all ordered the waffles anyhow, after a slight protest which was of course ignored. ( In Perth the customer is always wrong apparently. ?) As we all wolfed down our coffee’s imagine our surprise when the waiter came over with a quiche for the table. There was much laughter among the lads at the thought of one of the boys eating quiche but then Jon put up his hand and took the offending article from the waiters grasp. After a period of stunned silence the banter began in earnest. It started with the obvious comments about Quiche being invented by women so they could enjoy bacon and eggs and not feel guilty, where as there is nothing a man enjoys more than a bacon and egg sandwich smeared all over this face. We then moved into the old Wife’s tales about Quiche affecting a mans sexuality. True to his ‘Banting diet’ regime Jon even ate the quiche but left the pastry, as I tucked into my waffle I wondered if Jon was enjoying his quiche as much as I was certainly enjoying my waffles, with extra maple syrup.
After my post earlier in the week regarding diet, and Jon ordering quiche, the conversation again turned to weight, diet and running performance. The table agreed as a whole that the most important thing is to get to your racing weight and how you get there isn’t important as such. If Jon wanted to eat quiche and test his masculinity then that was his choice. The rest of us ‘real men’ chowed down on our waffles confident our sexuality was not being compromised. Of course the quiche was probably helping Jon’s cause where as you would be hard justified to argue the case for waffles (with extra maple syrup) and weight loss to be perfect partners. I made a conscience effort to put in an extra hour on the Elliptigo in the afternoon to counter the waffles , a small price to pay me thinks.
I have attached the 10 golden rules of Banting below but, of course, have issues with a few of these. The first four are , at a push, do-able but the problem starts at number 5. Imagine skipping a meal, it just seems to alien to me (and all runners really. ). As runners we are normally always hungry as we exercise , the old adage calories out, calories in. The more calories we lose the more we need to refill, common sense surely ? Thus skipping meals is something that never happens. Breakfast, lunch and dinner is a bare minimum. This lead me to number 6, to quote John McEnroe ‘You cannot be serious!’….No snacking ! Runners love to snack as we’re always hungry and truth be told we enjoy snacking.
Unfortunately things now take a big turn for the worst as we look at rule number 7. No sugar, which means no sugar I assume, I had to reread it a few times to make sure I wasn’t missing something? Oh dear, Mr. Banting just lost about 90% of the population with this ‘bad boy’ rule. No sugar means no waffles, muffins, pancakes, do I need to go on ? This for me is a show stopper but we’ll continue on, rule 8 is another hard one to stomach (excuse the pun) as they’re taking out bread, pancakes, waffles again. (Banting really wasn’t a pancake fan was he?) Rule 9 is another tough one because there goes banana’s, our staple go to food after most runs. Banting does redeem himself with rule 10 as eggs are a runners friends but in the Banting diet they become your number one food source. This must have serious consequences for the people around you on a daily basis as eggs can certainly cause some unpleasant smells to be offered to the world, if you know what I mean. (I’m sure Quiche does not have this unpleasant side affect and any aroma would smell of ‘elderberry’s’ ?)
So that about sums it up for me. It ain’t going to happen. I’ll get to my racing weight with extra hard work and it’s a price I’m willing to pay. So as Jon sits at home eating his quiche reading ‘Good Housekeeping Monthly’ I’ll be out on the pavement putting in the extra hard yards needed to justify the pancakes, waffles and ‘all things nice’ I’m about to devour and I wouldn’t have it any other way……
10 golden rules of Banting
1. Remember: this is not a high protein diet. It’s a high fat, medium protein, low carb way of eating
2. Choose real foods that look like what they are, and cook them from scratch
3. Fat is not the enemy. Enjoy it!
4. Eat only when you are hungry; eat until you are satisfied – then stop
5. Don’t eat when you’re not hungry. You won’t die if you occasionally skip a meal you don’t feel like eating.
6. Stop snacking. You won’t need to – it’s just a habit.
9. No (or very, very little) fruit. Think of it as a sweet rather than a health snack.
10. Embrace eggs. They’re healthy, satisfying and very good for you.
So to sum up this post there are diets out there for all people but to me a diet should be defined as a ‘temporary’ change of eating habits that is long term unsustainable. I see it so many times at work where people go on the ‘liteneasy’ diet where the food is delivered to them daily and costs a kings ransom. They do lose weight but look miserable every time lunchtime comes around as I tuck into my smorgasbord of meat, rice and pudding (runners love pudding!) while they are faced with something that looks like it was prepared for a small child who has an allergy for anything that tasted good and loves tuna. Eventually they come off the diet and the weight returns like an old friend as they sneak to the comfort foods that made them smile and they enjoyed eating. This of course is the fundamental flaw in diets, you are changing peoples eating habits by giving them food they don’t really enjoy eating or quantities that are not satisfying. What a diet should do is couple the diet changes with a change in attitude towards nutrition. Once you enjoy eating the food offered it is no longer a diet but a lifestyle change, which is sustainable.
It looks like Jon has embraced quiche and thus he is enjoying the Banting diet and does not see it now as a constraining factor in his daily diet choice. Thus he is at or near his racing weight and running the best I have seen him run in many years. This is a double positive, a new diet that he is enjoying and a performance spike. Of course this is the sacrifice Jon is prepared to make but now he is at his racing weight he can control his urges and maybe treat himself to a ‘macho‘ waffle and maple syrup in the near future. Maybe next week there’ll be more than one quiche making its way our table, we’ll see.
The one reason why a HFLC diet will never work for me.
What William Banting did in the late 1800’s was basically describe a High Fat , Low Carb (HFLC) diet. My friend Jon had taken on this diet and lost a considerable amount of weight and also improved his running, breaking sub3 for the first time in years in the recent Bunbury marathon. Truth be told I think a large portion of Jon’s weight loss was his ability to walk past the fridge in the evenings rather than scavenge like a starving hyena , which is the normal runners actions late in the evening, searching for one final sugar hit. The only fly in the ointment is the guru of all things running and he who must be obeyed, Matt Fitzgerald, is not a HFLC fan. I have attached an article written by Erin Beresini quoting Fitzgerald and his views.
I think the best thing is to research the subject yourself and decide whether a HFLC diet is for you. To really gain the full benefit of this diet you’d also need to train aerobically (a posh word for slow!) for a few months to teach your body to burn fat. I personally reckon you’d have no choice but to train aerobically while starting this diet as you’d be without a runners best friend, Mr. Carbohydrates and his side kick sugar.
I’m curious myself to try out the HFLC diet but it would mean me forgoing my Yelo muffin ( http://www.yelocornerstore.com.au/ ) and coffee and personally I’m not ready to give these up, even if I can improve my performance and even general health. We’re on this planet only once and we give up so much for our running I refuse to lose one of the few pleasure in my life. Myself I’m a believer in putting in massive weekly distance , without worrying too much about pace, eating as healthy as possible with the odd ‘treat’ and enjoying my running without a regimented training programs that must be adhered to. I run because I love running and I eat because I also love eating, restricting myself with a ‘diet’ (because that it basically what you are doing) does not sit well with me. It’s hard enough finding enough time in the day to run while juggling family, work, puppies, Elliptigo time sleep and other ‘stuff’; adding in food as well just becomes too hard. !
Do I believe a HFLC diet will work and do what it says, yep I do; will I change, no. Sorry people but this runner is sticking with the Status Quo and to quote my Dietitian professional running friend David Bryant when I questioned him on this subject he responded ‘Just eat good food’. ( I took ‘good food’ to mean pancakes, muffins (from Yelo) etc..?)
Currently in my running group there is a split on the HFLC diet. Jon has embraced the diet and shut the fridge door while Mark C. has gone down the Matt Fitzgerald path and gorged on carbohydrates and sugar. Both are currently enjoying success with their chosen paths but I suspect Mark C. is enjoying himself a lot more. We’ll see this Sunday when Mark will chow down on waffles while Jon will lose himself in his scramble eggs, I know which one I’ll be ordering.
So digest (excuse the pun) the two articles below and then scurry off and research away, as with all things in the 21st Century it’s all on Google…..
William Banting was a British undertaker who was very obese and desperately wanted to lose weight. In the year 1862 he paid a visit to his doctor, William Harvey, who proposed a radical eating plan that was high in fat but included very few carbohydrates. By following this eating plan Banting experienced such remarkable weight loss that he wrote an open letter to the public, the “Letter on Corpulence”, which became widely distributed. As more people started following this eating plan to lose weight, the term “banting” or to “bant” became popularized.
Banting merely discovered what human beings were designed to eat: what early humans ate 200,000 years ago. Respected biologists, geneticists, paleoanthropologists and theorists believe that human genes have hardly changed since human beings began their journey on earth. If you could put the entire human history into one day, we have only been eating cereals and grains for five minutes and sugar for five seconds, a very short amount of time in our existence. After the success experienced by William Banting on this low-carb, high-fat eating plan, the “banting” diet became the standard treatment for weight loss in all major European and North American medical schools. But in 1959 it was excluded from all the major medical and nutritional textbooks.
In 1977 the US government published the Dietary Goals for the United States, a set of guidelines that advocated a diet high in carbs and low in fat, exactly the opposite of the diet we have been following for much of our existence. It was decreed that we should eat six to eleven portions of grains per day and that sugar was absolutely fine to add to everything. This diet was subsequently adopted across most of the Western world and a plethora of low fat-food products hit the shelves. This has had a disastrous effect on our health. Since the early 1980’s the incidence of obesity and diabetes has risen rapidly. Can we really call this a coincidence?
There is a common misconception that eating fat, especially saturated fat, is bad for you and that it is a primary cause of high blood pressure, heart disease and obesity. This is simply not true and was based on a flawed study by Ancel Keys in 1953. The truth is that a diet high in carbohydrates, particularly refined carbohydrates and sugar are the cause of obesity, diabetes as well as other chronic illnesses. Vegetable (seed) oils and their derivatives such as margarine are also a contributing factor to heart disease, although manufacturers tell us the exact opposite.
This might come as a surprise, but of the three macronutrients in our diet (protein, fat and carbohydrates), only carbohydrates are non-essential for human life. We cannot function properly for more than a few days without eating fat; without an adequate protein intake we develop protein-calorie malnutrition within a few months. But avoiding carbohydrate has no short- or long-term effects on humans, other than the (usually beneficial) effect of weight loss, especially in those who are the most overweight. While we need a constant supply of glucose, it can be produced by the liver from fat and protein and doesn’t need to be ingested as carbohydrate in our diets.
The usual refrain of anyone looking at banting for the first time is “but what about my cholesterol?” There is much evidence to support the fact that cholesterol is not the culprit in heart disease. A bit like a policeman being at the scene of the crime being blamed for the crime – cholesterol will only adhere to a ‘leaking’ artery wall which is damaged by inflammation – to protect you. By living on carbs and sugar those arteries remain inflamed. Sugar is the most inflammatory thing you can put into your mouth, and will continue to rob you of perfect health. Grains are turned into sugar by the body. So a high carbohydrate diet will always foster inflammation in the body, not only in the arteries but the brain, liver, digestive tract and joints leading to many of the chronic diseases we see today which are supposedly ‘incurable’. Many people report relief from all the above in a relatively short time after adopting the Banting lifestyle.
Below is the article quoting Matt Fitzgerald, who is the running guru. Matt is not a fan of the HFLC diet but Tim Noakes is a big advocate , and as we all now Tim Noakes was the original running guru. Maffetone is also a big fan of the HFLC diet and training at an aerobic pace restricting your pace by heart rate. ( https://philmaffetone.com/ )
Before Dr. Robert Atkins launched his low-carb diet in 1972, there was Banting, the fat British undertaker who designed coffins for England’s elite in the 1800s. According to Men’s Health, the guy needed to drop a few kilos, so his doc put him on a high-fat-low-carb (HFLC) diet and, presto change-o, he lived to 82 and was buried in a skinny man’s coffin.
It may seem silly to talk about Banting now, but he’s back from the dead, courtesy of a controversial sports scientist who has been vehemently championing the Brit’s diet for the past few years. Professor Tim Noakes, from the Sports Science Institute of South Africa at the University of Cape Town, even published a book of Banting recipes that sold out not long after hitting shelves earlier this year. There’s just one problem with the diet: It’ll make you slower.
Matt Fitzgerald, author of the new book Diet Cults, has some sobering words for athletes who try to train on fat. “Decades of research indicate that high-carb diets are optimal for endurance and that ingesting carbohydrates during endurance exercise enhances endurance,” Fitzgerald says.
Sports nutrition scientist and European Journal of Sport Science editor in chief Asker Jeukendrup, for example, recently published a paper outlining carb needs during exercise to enhance endurance, suggesting athletes take in small amounts of carbs during training sessions lasting an hour, 60 grams of carbs per hour for exercise lasting two to three hours, and 90 grams per hour for exercise lasting longer than that—regardless of body weight or training status.
Noakes’ diet, on the other hand, advocates eating as little as 25 to 50 grams of carbs per day. While upping your healthy fat intake to around 40 percent of your total daily calories is fine, Noakes promotes a diet that’s 80 percent fat and only 10 percent carbs. Most endurance athletes, Fitzgerald says, should not be cutting carbs.
It’s not just science that shows carbs make athletes better. There’s a lot of anecdotal evidence as well. Eating carbs “is almost a universal practice among the world’s best endurance athletes,” Fitzgerald says. “The typical Kenyan diet is 78 percent carbs, and they destroy the rest of the world in distance running.”
Clearly, there’s a lot going on behind Kenyan running prowess, but the carbs can’t be discounted. “If you care about your performance as an endurance athlete, the safe way to go is a high-carb diet,” Fitzgerald says. “If you go on the high-fat bandwagon, it’s a crapshoot.”
Proponents of HFLC claim the Banting diet is the key to weight loss and improved health and encourages the body to burn fat for fuel. But studies comparing HFLC to nonrestrictive diets found that, over time, people lost no more weight “banting” than they did otherwise. Celeste Naude, a researcher from the Center for Evidence-Based Health Care at Stellenbosch University, told the Mail and Guardian that “the dietary pattern and food choices promoted with a low-carbohydrate/high-fat diet are not well aligned with healthy dietary patterns and food choices known to, along with a healthy lifestyle, reduce the risk of diseases like heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancers.”
Why the fervor? Fitzgerald says the desire to follow a restrictive diet is fulfilling mental, rather than physical, needs. He calls the phenomenon “sour grapes syndrome,” after Aesop’s fable about the fox who couldn’t reach some hanging grapes. Rather than admit he couldn’t jump high enough to get them, the fox decided they must be sour anyway. As Fitzgerald writes on his website, the victims of sour grapes syndrome:
…are endurance athletes who cannot cope psychologically with being slower than they would like to be and who resolve this cognitive dissonance by replacing the goal of doing their sport well with that of doing it “right.” The syndrome is being spread by various movements that promote alternative methods that are contrary to those practiced by the most successful athlete … By latching onto [HFLC], athletes can claim a kind of victory over superior competitors.
At some point, Fitzgerald writes, when a movement grows large enough, “it begins to win converts among athletes who are not, in fact, wracked with jealousy of faster athletes but who simply don’t know any better.” To enlighten those athletes, he cites a study recently published in the journal Nutrients in which researchers compared HFLC athletes with those eating a balanced diet. While HFLC made athletes leaner, it also caused them to lose power due to “impairment of the muscles’ ability to burn carbs.”
The athletes had, essentially, trained their bodies to use fat for fuel and decrease reliance on carbs. The result, Fitzgerald writes, is a reduced tolerance for high-intensity training and impaired “performance in all races except perhaps ultra-endurance events such as 100 km trail runs.” If you want to go fast, your body needs carbs for fuel. Training on a Banting diet makes your body less efficient at doing so, ultimately hobbling most athletes on race day.
The next time you’re thinking about cutting carbs, check your motives. If you’re doing it to look lean or run 62 miles or more at once, HFLC may work for you. But if you want to perform optimally at nearly any other endeavor, don’t ditch your bagels.
Jon, pre Bunting Diet while I was mixing both diets, pancakes and bacon. When it comes to Diets I swing both way !
The event was started by Dave Kennedy 13 years ago as a fat-ass (free entry with no volunteers) and has morphed into this powerhouse of an ultra that sells out in days and is the highlight of the ultra racing calendar. It offers everything a good ultra should and then a bit extra for good measure. Dave explains the thinking behind the ultra below.
Six Inch Trail Marathon is inspired by the famous Six Foot Track Marathon in the Blue Mountains near Sydney.Returning from New Zealand in January 2005 I bemoaned the lack of trail races in Western Australia. I wanted to move to the land of the long white cloud but family and circumstances warranted at least another year in WA. One evening I headed out to run a gravel road signposted “Goldmine Hill”. What followed was a soaking wet 15K with the highlight being running into the Munda Biddi Mountain Bike trail. The Munda Biddi was built to keep cyclists off the 964K Bibbulmun walking track. The first 335K section from Mundaring in the Perth hills to Collie was completed in 2004. I had seen some road crossing signs during the construction and was keen to one day experience the track either by bike or foot. Finding the track so close to my house in Mandurah had me pondering a race in the near future. On my return from New Zealand I had been discussing a possible trail race on a local runner’s message board. I bought the map and found that this town to town section was about 44K. Six Foot which I had dreamed of running for years sprang to mind. “We could have our own version”. I had ridden between the 2 towns, North Dandalup and Dwellingup, and the road was super hilly. I was a little disappointed by the lack of hills when I ran the trail but some less masochistic runners didn’t agree with me. The result is a 46K trail race starting at the foot of Goldmine Hill 1K from North Dandalup and finishing in Dwellingup. This run is designed to be tough but most marathoners can expect to finish within an hour or 2 of their best marathon time
He wasn’t joking about adding an hour or two to your marathon time. I raced it 9 times and my best is a 55 minute marathon delta. That is due to many ‘trail’ challenges including hills (and lots of them), single track trail where you have to watch every step, navigation challenges (I wear two Garmin’s for the race , one with the course plugged in and I still get lost?) , did I mention the hills ? and also just the whole ‘trail running’ thing where you can’t really judge pace as the lay of the land dictates how fast or slow you can run. With the 6 inch you can never get into a road marathon type rhythm where you can concentrate on average pace and enjoy the scenery and the journey. A trail marathon will kick you in the backside the moment you let down your guard and start too drift off, add in ‘pea-gravel‘ ,which is God’s way of teaching ultra runners how to fall over , and unless you bring your end game you are going to end up covered in ‘claret‘. Actually this seems to be the in-thing for the 6 inch finisher, some sort of wound weeping claret, if you don’t have one you are ostracised and scorned !
I’ve done several posts on there 6 inch so search the archives to read about last years run and other general comments. You’ll see I’m a big fan and typing this post now am getting excited of the prospect of lining up again at 4:30am faced with Gold Mine Hill and what is to come. The BK running posse has already entered and it promises to be another Stella event with Jon getting his red spike this year, although there is some conjecture over a possible disqualification pending over the use of (potentially) helium filled arm bands he wore in 2014. Bart’s is conducting an enquiry into this heinous crime (if proved) and his red spike (you get a red spike for completing 6 events) could be in jeopardy. It probably doesn’t bode well for Jon as last year Bart’s got his red spike despite getting an official DQ asterix against name for getting lost one year. Jon, being the owner of the official spreadsheet, was not happy with Bart’s receiving his red spike a year early, in his view. This could turn nasty for all concerned.
Helium filled arm bands, an Ultra runners best friend?
Truth be told the reason Jon is wearing the arm bands was the previous year he found the only puddle on the whole course, in WA it doesn’t rain for months, and then proceeded to through himself into it , get up and slip into again. Of course he was left to struggle alone as is tradition in these events and stumbled to the finish line a long way back, covered in mud. The following year he was made to wear a climbers rope as he fell into the deep ruts up the ‘escalator hill‘ and Bart’s had to jump over him while he again struggled to find his feet.
This is why I love this race, so many happy memories and that is why we keep going back year in year out to these events to add to the memory banks of ‘great times spent with great people, racing great events’, and of course documenting Jon and all his adventures.
This week has been a break through week for me with my calf finally feeling under control, I won’t tempt fate and say completely healed as I saw the scan a week last Tuesday and the tear is there, albeit a new one and a lot smaller. I spoke to my physio on Wednesday and he is the most pessimistic (or realist?) person you could ever meet when it comes to recovering from injury and even he said if I could run 10k without any issue then I should continue to run and build up my cardio fitness. He did recommend not running the City to Surf Marathon in August and I was vague on this point knowing full well I had entered only a few days before. I suggested we discuss this subject again in 4 weeks time, knowing full well that in 4 weeks, if I’m still running, then I’m lining up for my 9th City to Surf in a row, come hell or waters high.
Letting the boys know I’d entered spurred on an avalanche of entires and it seems I won’t be alone on the big day with the two Mark’s entering and Jon. Gareth has ‘footy’ coaching but I’m sure he’ll find a replacement for the big day as , speaking from experience, missing out on these marathons is frustrating, and that’s putting it nicely.
Training wise I have to walk a tight rope for the next few weeks. It’ll be a lot of Elliptigo time (which I love at the moment) and any running will be at a very relaxed and slow pace. This morning for instance I was awoke by one of the puppies early so had an hour to kill. What could I do but go for a run but this was to be a rest day so I had to make sure the run was at a pedestrian pace at best. As it was 5:30am and pitch dark outside this was easy enough and I managed a 5:45min/k average for the 10k. Returning back to the family nest very happy that I managed to maintain this pace and truth be told at the end I was quite tired , which doesn’t bode well.
The Elliptigo is my new weapon in the sub3 attempt arsenal…..I wonder if I can sneak it onto the course ?
Can I break sub 3 ? It’ll be a big ask and my training will need to go very well but that is the target. I’ll plan for 50k this week (maximum) and then increase that to 70k next week and maybe nudge 100k the following week. This will then give me 3-4 more training weeks of volume before a 1 week taper. Add in some serious time on the Elliptigo and I should be in sub3 form. The only fly in my ointment is the last time I was out for a 4 week period I ran the Bunbury Marathon a month later and ran a 2:59.xx time, cutting it very fine. I remember running through halfway at 1:28 feeling absolutely ‘goosed’ and I had to work very hard to scrape under three hours, very hard ! I have the finishing shots and you can see the emotion on my face, it was one of the highlights of my running career, not for the time but for the effort required to dig very deep to get out of a very big hole.
The City to Surf will require another lazarus like comeback to go sub3 but I’m hoping the Elliptigo will be the extra weapon in my arsenal that will allow me to get some serious time on legs without the pounding of running but with the added benefit of being a better workout than cycling. I’ll know so much more in a week or two as my last attempt at returning from my original calf tear went well for a week and then ended up with a new tear, probably due to over training so soon after injury. I certainly ate a large portion of humble pie but it was a risk I had to take with the Perth marathon as a carrot dangled infront of me.
What’s different this time ? The original tear is healed and the new tear is a lot smaller and probably nearly healed as well. I still haven’t got the confidence to add pace to my runs but I don’t have to for a few weeks. I will of course need to eventually add pace as I need to be comfortable running 4:15min/k or better to break the sub 3hr barrier for the 29th time (and hopefully number 26 in a row; remember what I said about runners and streaks; if I was to go over 3hrs I would be devastated, and that’s putting it mildly!)
Right back to training, a big week so far for me , 25k and with a 10k pencilled in for tomorrow I should be able to find 15k over the weekend to hit my 50k target. this will be the first hurdle; next week I add another 20k, hurdle number two. I will feel a lot more confident once I move towards hurdle number three as by then all calf tears will be well and truely healed.
What have I taken from this injury ? The main point is it could have been avoided. I knew I was pushing my limits and the calf had felt tight and sore for weeks before it eventually gave way. If I had rested more, even visited a physio for a massage, done some calf stretching exercises or hydrated better I’m confident I could have avoided this situation. Moving forward I really need to listen to my body more but the old saying about old dogs and new tricks seems to resonate in my mind for some reason. I suppose the only thing on my side is my youth? Still making rookie errors but hopefully learning from them, after all at 50 I still have another 50 years of running ahead of me, I hope my Elliptigo is up to the job, may have to check the warranty ?
There are certain races that a runner learns to love over time as they are filled with golden memories. For me , as I race so often and in the same place (Western Australia) I have a few of these. They would include the Rottnest Island Marathon (you really need to click on this link, Rottnest is just one of the most beautiful places on earth. http://www.rottnestisland.com/ I’ve ran ‘Rotto’ 10 times and have loved every minute. ), the Perth Marathon, the 6 inch trail ultra ( http://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com/ ) and the Chevron sponsored City to Surf Marathon.
This morning after a bumper week of training last week , for a weekly total of 13k, I entered the City to Surf Marathon for the 9th time. This race to me is special for a number of reasons. It was the first marathon I first broke sub 3 hours in 2009 in it’s inaugural year. I have ran two of my fastest marathon times on the course (2013 my current PB of 2hrs 41 min 14 seconds and last year 2hrs 41min 41seconds) , finished top 10 on numerous occasions but best of all won $6,000 once as the first Australian (even with my English dulcet tones) to finish. I am also one of the last 26 runners to have ran all the previous 8 iterations of this race. (see below)
City to Surf finishes 2016
As I have mentioned before runners love numbers, be it your PB time, number of marathons ran, average pace, distance, VO2 max, cadence, numbers of runs a week etc. the list is endless but one of the biggest numbers runners love is ‘streaks’. To be involved at the beginning of a major city marathon, even better in your home town, is priceless and a once in a lifetime opportunity. This is why, even with a calf tear less than 8 weeks, out I am determined to run the ninth Perth City to Surf. (I say ‘run‘ , it may end up being a lot less than that by the time I get to ‘heartbreak hill’ at the 40k mark?)
I worked with Chevron from 2007-2015 and during that time suspected I was being kept on as the ‘poster boy’ for the event as I always seemed to be the first Chevron marathon finisher and normally attracted a bit of media attention. Most of that was mainly aimed at the ‘look at the old guy finishing the marathon in a semi-reasonable time’ angle more than anything else. Not many balding, bearded, mid-life (I hope?) runners at the front of the pack so might as well interview this one ? I have been lucky enough to make the papers, local TV and even You Tube on occasion, much to my kids disgust. Apparently watching your dad on the TV doing press-ups after finishing a marathon is not cool. Actually I seem to have this issue with anything I do funnily enough. (and you can imagine how the Elliptigo is going down at the moment in my house ? http://www.elliptigo.com )
So close to finishing first woman.
There was also the time in 2013 I was nearly ‘first woman’ after running with the lead woman the whole race and then , in the sprint for the line, I was forced to slow so she could take the tape. The beard would have probably given the game away if I had crossed ahead of her and took the tape. At the time I was working for Chevron and reasoned my contract would come under some pressure if I was seen on local TV barging past the first woman in an effort to save a few seconds. Truth be told this was actually my PB run and I still maintain this act of chivalry cost me a few seconds, whether I could justify it cost me 1 minute and 15 seconds for a sub 2:40 is difficult.
Other notable events over the years is one of my favourite photos of Jon barking orders at me in 2010 about 10k into the race. My Garmin watch had died at the start so mentally I was shot before the first step. My plan was to stay with Jon and this group to he finish and grab another sub3. It was about this time I gave up and got dropped like a bad habit. I ended up running alone for the next 30k and finishing in 3hours and 3 minutes. With a fully functioning Garmin I’m convinced I could have gone under 3 hours. Jon was moving into his prime at the time and I was no match for his endurance or speed. Also note this was before the ‘speed beard’ was added to my arsenal and I don’t think I’ve ran over 3 hours with the beard ? (for female readers I would recommend growing a speed beard or any beard really, probably not going to help you attract a ‘life partner’, or maybe…? ) Also notice it was about this time Skins first came out and me and Jon were convinced of their magical properties. I even wore a pair to a 10k once ! We both decided that if the Africans didn’t wear them then we wouldn’t either in the end. Still good for injury prevention on training runs and recovery of course. ( I still remember the first time Karen encountered me wearing skins to bed , for recovery purposes you understand, it was a once only event, I think she nearly died laughing.)
Little Jon laying down the law !
Even got to meet the great Steve Moneghetti at one of the photo shoots for the event when he was the ambassador in 2014. There is a slight resemble, feature wise, as he is also blessed like myself, just needs a beard of course but when it comes to running performances he in a different league, actually a different planet. A genuine nice guy though which is something you find with most good long distance runners. I reckon it is because they’ve been through the same pain we have albeit probably harder , longer and faster; and they are better people for it. This goes for all long distance runners, as a whole they are normally nice people.
Separated at birth ?
There was also the time Mike ran the course and at half way ‘blew his hammy’, he then couldn’t remember his Wife’s mobile number so had to wait until she returned to the family home before calling her and asking to be picked up. Unfortunately for Mike his Wife was the wrong side of road closures and it took her over three hours to get to him. He could have limped to the finish quicker and at least got a finishing medal and probably saved an hour or two hanging around. There was some good karma last year when I got him a free entry and he ran , with very little training, and got his medal he missed from his last failed attempt. The marathon god giveth’ and the marathon god taketh; away.
I have so many more City to Surf stories but will save them for a rainy day when I have run out of things to talk about, assuming that is possible as with each passing day running you are blessed with new experiences, adventures and memories. This is why we run and this is why we are what we are…
What’s better than one calf tear, two calf tears !!
My second ultra sound on the calf (above) revealed I had a new calf tear, albeit smaller, at the top of the original 5cm calf tear. Shown in the image by the ‘black hole’. On the bright side it is a lot smaller than the original one which is healing nicely apparently. I assume shown by the left-most arrow which looks like it shows the top of the first tear ,which is now a long thick black line. Not being a Doctor I could be completely wrong (it has happened before..) but the tear is definitely the ‘black hole’ like image. So more rest apparently, which is what I assumed I would be told.
Truth be told I have been resting rather well recently and this has added another 3kg’s to the racing frame. For the first time in many years I can only just make out my ribs where as normally they stand proud like a WW2 prisoner of war with an eating disorder To a runner a thing to be proud of, to Mrs. Matthews not so, I don’t think Karen realises we need to look like ‘racing snakes‘ to gain entry to the front of the pack club ! Although she may be happier with the bigger me I am not !
So in an effect to find my ribs again I have been spending more time on the Elliptigo and must admit to enjoying the experience thoroughly. The Ellipitgo really is so much fun and every time I use it I have to force myself back to the family home because of either hunger or, more likely, family (Dad’s taxi!) commitments. Today I was out and about on the Elliptigo and called Jon as I was close to his house, ‘playing with’ a good size hill. I invited Jon along to take some photos of me and the Elliptigo with this post in mind. I’ve added a few of his photos below and I hope you take from these photos the look of joy on my face. I am having serious fun on the Elliptigo and working the right muscles, without having to clothe myself in lycra and work the wrong muscles.
There are other advantages with an Elliptigo, because of the longer wheelbase and smaller wheels, combined with extra shock absorbers (i.e. legs) you do get that ‘floating on air feeling’. This is so much better than the pounding you take on carbon fibre bikes as you do battle with the bike paths which, if there are anything like the ones in Perth, set numerous ‘concrete lip’ traps that jar your back into next week. You also lose that ‘John Wayne’ like-walk when you get off the bike after a long ride, even with the extra padded lycra.
Of course the main benefit it the ability to grab yourself a good cardio workout without damaging injured legs. I can ride the Elliptigo for hours where-as if I tried to run, with my original calf tear, I’d be lucky to get 500m without pulling up lame.
I also believe the Elliptigo helps with the healing process as it stimulates blood flow around the calf tear, this is my opinion of course and probably ‘bull’ but even as a placebo it must be helping ? In my opinion a good Elliptigo workout would act like a good stretching session, realigning muscle, without the risk of re-tearing the calf, again my opinion. (Any Doctor’s reading this are welcome to leave comments.)
Another plus point of the Elliptigo is just the fact you are out in the open enjoying nature, in all her splendour, instead of being forced to watch thebold and the beautiful repeats on tv while being sweated on by a rather large executive with hygiene issues. (I am assuming of course you are not ‘the bold and the beautifu’l fans or do not enjoy large executives sweating on you; given the choice of course I’d choose the latter. )
Right another good day on the Elliptigo and I have plans to commute to work every day next week so should rack up a few hundred kilometres, pre-weekend. I must remember why I brought the Elliptigo on the first place though, it was something to do with running but it has been such a long time I’ve nearly forgotten what it was? This of course is a joke, I am as focused on my recovery as ever and after two 4k runs in the week so far (for a massive 8k weekly total, for readers who find it hard to add 4k and 4k. ) pain and niggle free I am confident I will returning sooner rather than later. In the mean time I have my exercise outlet and little Jon on call, what more can any runner ask for?
I am a tad OCD when it comes to emails and never delete them, EVER. On my work computer I have every work email I ever sent from 2005 to the present day for no reason that I can. Once in a while they do turn up some little gems which then become ammunition for a good post.
This morning the boys were carrying on about cramping as three of them suffered this ailment in the last part of the recent Perth Marathon. I ,of course, gave them my words of wisdom ending up with a quote that was our ‘go to comment’ many years ago regarding a famous runner, and general super human, Dave Goggins. (http://www.davidgoggins.com ) He was famous for drinking his can of ‘hard’ and taking ‘suck it up’ pills ; his only rest day was yesterday and his journey never stopped…. anyhow, as always I digress. As you can see from my email below I gave the boys heaps using Goggins as my final point.
From: Kevin Matthews Sent: Wednesday, June 21, 2017 8:43 AM To: ‘Conway, Mark (GE Oil & Gas)’; Michael Kowal; Mark Lommers Cc: Jon Pendse; Michael Kowal; Gareth Dean Subject: RE: THE MARATHON LONG RUN
It seems this ‘cramping’ is becoming a problem amongst us, Jon and the T-train both also suffered towards the end. I think the problem is three fold.
First I don’t know how many times I say it but the marathon starts at 32k and as Jon always says the person who slows down the most wins. !! Imagine if you could take your pace at 21k and replicate it for the rest of the marathon; that is the goal and with training is do-able. To over come this you need experience of running marathons (in my case) or god given natural talent (in Stuart Caulfield’s case, the winner on debut; also Ray Boyd as your trainer helps!! I wonder if Ray would consider training some of us ??)
Second you need to get the gel, electrolyte, water salt combination right; fuel fuels runners ! Rhys has the best idea taken a smorgasbord of gu’s and popping one every 5k or so.. if your stomach can take it this will work !!
Lastly you need to man-the-f**k-up. I’m a big believer in the mind playing games to avoid total melt down (as is Noakes and Fitzgerald of course) , cramps may be another one of the minds games to slow you down. Next time this happens (which it won’t if you take on board tips 1 and 2) tell yourself to ‘toughen up princess and do what Goggins would do, .run through it !!) (http://davidgoggins.com/ )
Also don’t get injured !!!!
While searching my old emails for some Goggin’s quotes I came across another set of email sent in 2010 on a similar subject with the usual suspects again involved.
My final email first and then the trail follows….
Don’t listen to Rhys Jon ..he is the dark side of running…..run till you feel you can’t run anymore then run some more…remember cans of hard and suck-it-up pills…David Goggins does not rest and apart from his ruptured kidney, 4 knee operations, 2 hamstring reconstructions, 1 new appendix and 25 foot operations..and open heart surgery …he has never rested..
From: Jonathan Pendse [mailto:JPendse@thiess.com.au] Sent: Friday, 19 March 2010 10:41 AM To: Kevin Matthews; Rhys James; Macey, Dan D. Subject: RE: slow lunch run – uwa
Does less than 10k count as a run… J
Well I might give myself a day off today (I usually have the day after a race off, and didn’t this week). I’m sure I’ll feel a lot better for it on tomorrow’s 30ker.
Often forget the days off are just as important as the training days.
Cheers!
From: Kevin Matthews [mailto:Kevin.Matthews@gujv.com] Sent: Friday, 19 March 2010 10:27 AM To: Rhys James; Jonathan Pendse; Macey, Dan D. Subject: RE: slow lunch run – uwa
Haven’t got time to read this I’m going for a run……..
From: Rhys James Sent: Friday, 19 March 2010 10:21 AM To: ‘Jonathan Pendse’; Kevin Matthews; Macey, Dan D. Subject: RE: slow lunch run – uwa
I am supposed to be going to boot camp, so will give the run a miss. Was out for a steady one yesterday with Kev, though he was complaining of being knackered.
I include the following specifically for him:
Overtraining syndrome frequently occurs in athletes who are training for competition or a specific event and train beyond the body’s ability to recover. Athletes often exercise longer and harder so they can improve. But without adequate rest and recovery, these training regimens can backfire, and actually decrease performance.
Conditioning requires a balance between overload and recovery. Too much overload and/or too little recovery may result in both physical and psychology symptoms of overtraining syndrome.
Common warning signs of overtraining include:
Washed-out feeling, tired, drained, lack of energy
A compulsive need to exerciseTreating Overtraining Syndrome Measuring Overtraining There are several ways you can objectively measure some signs of overtraining. One is by documenting your heart rates over time. Track your aerobic heart rate at a specific exercise intensities and speed throughout your training and write it down. If your pace starts to slow, your resting heart rate increases and you experience other symptoms, you may heading into overtraining syndrome. Another way to test recover to use something called the orthostatic heart rate test, developed by Heikki Rusko while working with cross country skiers. To obtain this measurement:
You can also track your resting heart rate each morning. Any marked increase from the norm may indicated that you aren’t fully recovered.
If you suspect you are overtraining, the first thing to do is reduce or stop your exercise and allow a few days of rest. Drink plenty of fluids, and alter your diet if necessary. Crosstraining can help you discover if you are overworking certain muscles and also help you determine if you are just mentally fatigued. A sports massage can help you recharge overused muscles.
Note the last point there Mr Matthews.
Treating Overtraining Syndrome
If you suspect you are overtraining, the first thing to do is reduce or stop your exercise and allow a few days of rest. Drink plenty of fluids, and alter your diet if necessary. Crosstraining can help you discover if you are overworking certain muscles and also help you determine if you are just mentally fatigued. A sports massage can help you recharge overused muscles.
Measuring Overtraining There are several ways you can objectively measure some signs of overtraining. One is by documenting your heart rates over time. Track your aerobic heart rate at a specific exercise intensities and speed throughout your training and write it down. If your pace starts to slow, your resting heart rate increases and you experience other symptoms, you may heading into overtraining syndrome.
You can also track your resting heart rate each morning. Any marked increase from the norm may indicated that you aren’t fully recovered.
Another way to test recover to use something called the orthostatic heart rate test, developed by Heikki Rusko while working with cross country skiers. To obtain this measurement:
Lay down and rest comfortably for 10 minutes the same time each day (morning is best).
At the end of 10 minutes, record your heart rate in beats per minute.
Then stand up
After 15 seconds, take a second heart rate in beats per minute.
After 90 seconds, take a third heart rate in beats per minute.
After 120 seconds, take a fourth heart rate in beats per minute.
Well rested athletes will show a consistent heart rate between measurements, but Rusko found a marked increase (10 beats/minutes or more) in the 120 second-post-standing measurement of athletes on the verge of overtraining. Such a change may indicate that you have not recovered from a previous workout, are fatigued, or otherwise stressed and it may be helpful to reduce training or rest another day before performing another workout.
The point of this post is I was probably over training in 2010, according to Rhys, and am probably over training now, 7 years later. In that time I have achieved so much in my running , so much more than I ever dreamed I would, so have I been over training or just doing enough. ? My days of running 700k a month seem a distant memory now as I struggle to make double figures for the week but looking forward I fully expect to be up around the 600-700k a month total by the end of the year and off we go again. Will my calf or another part of my body give way , who knows ? There’s probably a good chance but I’ll have my Elliptigo and/or Predator Plus in my corner so should be able to ward off injury. At the moment I can’t wait after another massive 4k lunchtime run to go with my Monday one. 8k for the week, now that , currently, is what I call over training. Someone pass me a can of hard and some suck it up pills…….
When you’ve as tough as DG even your shirt tears….
Yesterday I ran 4k and it felt ace. The one benefit (if there is any benefits?) of being injured is when you actually get back on your feet the feeling of running is awesome and almost like starting again. Even though it was only 4k at 5min/k average it felt so good to be outside in the sunshine just doing what I love to do, run. Is this a benefit of being injured, not sure, maybe? Of course the longer you are injured the better the feeling.
This was my second attempt at a comeback after the first ended when I ramped up too early with the possibility of running a marathon , what was I thinking with hindsight? Today I have a second scan to check on the calf tear and hopefully confirm that is has at best fully recovered, at worst is smaller than its original 5cm. Either way I will have some confidence moving forward in my rehabilitation.
Returning from injury is fraught with danger of course and I am very mindful that I really need to get it right this time with the year slipping away from me and some very important races appearing on the horizon. You are in a catch-22 situation when faced with this dilemma as you want to be ready for the races ahead but to do that you need to put in the ‘time on legs’, without too much time on legs of course. This is the fine balancing act you need to maintain as you return from a long layoff.
The most important factor is the cardio fitness you have lost over the period of your injury. As I have said many times I’m a big believer in a 3 times rule, this equates to multiplying your time off by three to give you a rough idea of when you can expect to be back to your pre-injury fitness levels. In my case I’m now looking at 6 months minimum, which writes of the year unfortunately. This does not mean I cannot still compete and run the races ahead but I should not expect any PB’s (or PR’s for my American Cousins). Truth be told I’ll be happy to just complete a marathon at the moment, of course by complete it will need to be sub 3 hours, one has certain standards you know and I’m not losing my 25 sub3 marathons in a row streak. As I mentioned in an earlier post runners love streaks or was that steaks , whatever?
Confidence is high at the moment, pre-scan, as my 4k yesterday was pain and niggle free. The calf has felt good for the last week and with the elliptigo work I have been doing last week I am sure the tear is either fully recovered or very close. After 10 weeks I would expect this anyhow but the set back a few weeks ago has left me second guessing my recovery which is the reason behind the second scan.
I am so looking forward to posts on injury recovery and marathon training rather than all ‘doom and gloom’, ‘woe is me’ posts which have been my forte over the last few months. How I miss my double up days and weekly mileage nudging 150k minimum. happy days which seem like a distant memory now. No worries, I am up for the challenge and actually looking forward to my ‘return from injury stronger and quicker ’ posts. Have I written off future PB’s and finally bowed to Father time, no way. This is a speed bump on the Big Kev PB road train and I’m expecting bigger and better things in 2018, especially with the Elliptigo (http://www.elliptigo.com.au/ ) and Bionic (www.run4.com ) in my corner.
I have attached an article by Caitlin Chock for Active.com which has some good points and worth reading…..
The Slow Build
The second you get the green light to begin running does not mean you can jump full-force back into where you left off. It is important NOT to rush things, as patience pays off in the long haul. Gradually increase the amount of time you spend running and supplement the rest with cross-training.
Don’t Slack on PT
Many runners, upon getting over their injury, start to get lax on their physical therapy or other rehab exercises. Don’t get comfortable and forget that, in order to prevent getting injured again, you still need to keep up on your preventative care.
Post-Injury Comparisons
After a long break, you need to chuck out any and all comparisons to your runner self pre-injury. It will only set you up for frustration and can ultimately derail your comeback. Track the progress you make post-injury and take every victory (ie: extra miles, faster workouts, etc.) as it comes. Eventually you’ll return to “old you” workouts and times, but before you hit that realm think of yourself with a totally clean slate.
Miracle of Muscle Memory
Oh how those first few runs will whip your butt! The important thing is to remember that while those first runs will feel like you’ve got legs that have never run a step in their lives, the good news is, thanks to muscle memory, if you’ve been a runner for a number of years, you’ll snap back into fitness rather quickly. The first couple of weeks will be rough, but stick it out and you’ll be motivated by the progress that follows.
One Day at a Time
Being patient is tough for everyone. Sometimes the only way to retain sanity is to take it one day at a time. Rather than focus on how much work you have ahead of you, look at what workouts and goals you can achieve for that day or that week. Set mini goals each week and check them off as benchmarks along your route to making a full comeback to running.
Core, Strength and Flexibility
Make the most of the time you’re not able to run by focusing on other weaknesses. Gain flexibility, improve your core and overall strength; not only will this make you feel like you’re being productive despite not being able to run much, but it will also pay dividends when you are back and running at your optimal level.
Baby Steps Back
If you start to notice old injury symptoms or new injury symptoms creep up, reassess right away. It may mean not increasing your running for that week, or even taking a few baby steps back for the week. Cut back on the amount of time spent running and do more cross-training. Don’t think of this as a sign of defeat; typically, if you catch it and take steps back early, you’ll avoid anything serious and be back on “schedule” the next week.
Positivity and Perspective
I’ll say it again: The biggest deciding factor in how well you can come back from an injury is perspective. Even on the days when you’d like to burn the elliptical or bike to the ground, give yourself a little window of time to vent. But, in the end, get on the cross-trainer and get it done. Look forward to the runs and more miles as they come and do not forget that each mile is NOT a given. Be grateful for them and, as you are able to run more and are back to full training mode, remind yourself not to take them for granted. This will help you remain patient and keep your eyes focused on the long term.
Honestly, coming back from an injury doesn’t stink because, while those first few miles hurt like nothing else and may leave you sore for days, the act of “feeling” like you’re a runner again is one heck of a high. So smile, even if it looks more like a grimace, and have faith that muscle memory will eventually kick back in soon!
Tomorrow for the first time in 10 years I will not be lining up for the Perth Marathon, 9 years straight (and 12 in total) I have ran this marathon but not tomorrow. This hurts, really hurts , tomorrow all my running mates will be waking up with that ‘marathon morning’ feeling, a mixture of fear, excitement and trepidation. Have you done enough training, have you done too much training, is that a niggle ? The most nervous people in the world are marathon runners in the week before a marathon of course. Someone sneezes in the same postal code and you are certain you feel pneumonia coming on or worse. I have a theory regarding the last few days pre-marathon, it is like your start to taper and instantly the mind tells the body ‘that’s it, job done, it’s head cold time just to teach this runner a lesson for putting me through hell in the last 12 weeks’… for 3-4 months pre-marathon you are bullet proof, nothing stops you training, bubonic plague, pah, a morning off; black death, maybe cut the session short by 5 minutes but all this changes when you start to taper. You are like a ‘weak kitten’ with the smallest niggle manifesting itself into a fracture at best or maybe worse; a cough and it’s all over and a sneeze, O’ my God the world is about to end. The boys will be going through this right now, me, I’m sitting here with a cup of tea and two crumpets writing a post feeling very sad for myself.
Of course the elephant in the room now for me is the City to Surf Marathon in August. I am one of only 36 people who have ran all eight and I’ve ran with the number 1 bib twice and even one year had my name on my chest, ‘very elite like’. (Truth be told this was to outdo my mate Rhys who managed to get number 1 the previous year, consigning me to number 2 and Jon to number 3.) It is my PB course ( a 2:41:14 in 2013) and also the course I ran my first sub 3 hour marathon. (2hrs 58mins in 2009). It is sponsored by Chevron and in the days of the ‘Oil and Gas boom’ I actually won $6,000 as the first Australian to finish. I was 7th overall but behind 6 Africans, at the time I had no idea there was prize money for the first Australian finished but the money was well received by my Wife who stole it for one of my Daughter’s private school fees, bless her. Different story now as we are in a recession, last year first prize was a $50 Athletes Foot voucher, which probably gets you a pair of socks. I remember in 2009 the first place was $25,000, got to love a recession.!
The image below shows me ‘winning the event’ in 2013 but what you can’t see if the first Woman about to break the tape. She has been conventiately photoshop’d out. Please note I had to slow to let her break the tape ahead of me as I was working for Chevron at the time, the major sponsor, and they would have been less than impressed if I had barged past the first woman and taken the tape myself. Funny thing was this was my pb run and I still maintain that young lady cost me a few seconds but I am gentleman and ladies always come first, especially when there’s a finishing tape and my beard probably gave away the fact I was not first lady….
Photoshop trickery…
So today was the first day I started to think that there was a chance I was not going to make the City to Surf. This will hurt and hurt big time. Runners love numbers and more than numbers they love streaks and finding a big city marathon and being one of the inaugural runners is the holy grail of streaks for a runner. If I was to miss the City to Surf Marathon in August I would have blown probably my last chance to be an inaugural runner at a major marathon, this is a big worry as of now ! I will know a lot more Tuesday as I have booked in for my second UT scan on the right calf. I’m prying it has shrunk from the original 5cm tear to something more manageable. Am I confident ? Not sure, I’m enjoying my Elliptigo time but it ain’t running and although I feel my fitness is not taking too much of a batting it will serve no purpose if I can’t run. My physio always said missing the City to Surf was a possibility (but he is the most pessimistic person the the world!) but I never really took his view on board until this week where I’m still unable to run. This culminated in a failed attempt on Tuesday where I managed 500m before turning back feeling very sorry for myself. You start to feel you’ll never run again which I know is preposterous but runners, when injured, are the most pessimistic people and will always ere on the worst case scenario when they feel there is no improvement.
On the bright side I’m still young (compared to an 80 year old?) so have plenty of Perth marathons ahead of me and even if I miss the City to Surf this year there will always be next year and running streaks are there to be broken so it had to happen eventually, of course you can be sure I will do everything in my power to not miss the City to Surf. Right another cup of tea me thinks, roll on Tuesday .
Last years Perth Marathon , floating to a 6th place finish but not tomorrow….
On the weekend I made the bold decision to purchase an Elliptigo as my calf tear seemed to feel like it was becoming a permanent fixture and I could not face hours and hours in lycra ! I lined up a test ride Saturday morning and asked the Elliptigo rep to bring round the shiny gloss red version ( as we all know anything red is faster!), which he dutifully did of course sensing a definite sale.
I made a promise to myself that this would only be a test ride as they aren’t the cheapest things but as soon as I saw it I knew it was a sale, I mean what other option did I have? . Once I got on the bike (is it a bike ?) and started to use it the rep could have charged what he wanted, I wanted it and I wanted it now ! (I had a similar feeling when I was searching for a puppy to replace Stanley, I needed a puppy now and nothing was going to stop me. Ended up buying two from Melbourne but that’s a different story. Actually if the rep had brought two along I probably would have brought them both, I’m sure I could have come up with an excuse for such a purchase, maybe if one gets a puncture I have a replacement, a wet one and dry one, different colours ; the excuses are endless? Luckily my Wife was with me when the Elliptigo turned up so maybe buying two wasn’t an option. I think she has learned after the puppy incident that her not being present when I buy things can be costly.)
So off for the test ride we go and instantly I’m smiling. This thing does everything it promised and more. My calf tear was forgotten as I glided on air while running and not riding, perfect. It really is as close to running as possible without running and without the impact of running. For injury rehabilitation this thing is a must but with the added benefit of it is just so much fun. No boring gym wall to look at for hours or pointless TV dribble. I was smiling like a Cheshire cat having a good day looking forward to a fish supper. Lawrie and I cycled for about thirty minutes and when I return to ‘Chez Matthews’ I knew I had had a workout, another box ticked. Finally the best reason for buying the Elliptigo is you don’t have to wear lycra, this is a massive plus as, as runners, we’re not lycra friendly; and that is an understatement. (For all triathletes reading this you may not be as bothered about the non-lycra tick box but I’d probably recommend not donning the lycra for an Elliptigo session, you get enough attention as it is , wearing full lycra may just tip you over the edge and cause accidents !)
After Lawrie left with a sale, the easiest he had probably made truth be told, I was left counting the minutes until No2 Daughters dance lesson in the early afternoon. This would give me the chance for an hour of Elliptigo time on my Balcatta 1k Industrial Park loop. (Funnily enough where I pulled the calf initially 10 weeks ago now.) The session did not disappoint and I had the best hour on a moving object ever. Every loop I got more and more confident and around the 6k mark gave a loud ‘Ye-ha’ as I was just having so much fun. This thing cannot be over stated, you will smile so much your face hurts ! It got even better at around 8k as I started laughing out load. Luckily I had to stop after an hour as I probably would have exploded !
That night I struggled to sleep as I knew , once I had those puppies walked, I had a long Elliptigo session booked. After telling my Wife to expect me back in an hour (yeah, right!) off I went the following morning. What a glorious ride , I started with hill repeats for 10k to get the heart rate up and then a quick 5k speed session before a 25k cruise around the streets and the beach front, just generally having fun. After a few stops to friends along the way I staggered home three hours later , an Elliptigo addict. My legs felt they had a good workout and the upper body had taken a pounding too, perfect. Best of all the suspect calf was barely noticed and pulled up great. This really is the toy that keeps on giving.
Of course there are a few downsides to this machine of joy. Although most women and small children find the Elliptigo ‘awesome’ I have had a few derogatory comments from my male friends. One asked ‘if they made them for men? ‘, very funny Ryan and other comments have been less than complimentary. I must admit before I brought one I was worried about the adverse reactions but once you straddle the beast and get going you feel a million dollars and lets face it I’m a 50 year old balding , bearded runner who looks like he has hasn’t eaten in a while (like a year..), looking good is not something I strive for. (Although my Daughters have threatened to disown me if I come anywhere near their school riding the Elliptigo, go figure.? )
So as you might have guessed I’m a convert. If it’s good enough for Meb Keflezighi, 2014 Boston Marathon Champion, it’s good enough for me. I wonder if this will help me to the Boston Marathon podium, at least we have the same taste in Elliptigo’s ?
