That time is nearly upon us again. And whilst I will be growing a hairy beast on my upper lip for it I will not be raising money for Movember but asking people to kindly head towards my Mera Peak donation. Yes, that's right ladies and gents - it's a 2 for the price of 1 offer. Sponsor me for Mera Peak and get one free Movember thrown in. This offer is not available in the shops. Call now and one of our dedicated handlers is waiting to take YOUR call. That's right, people. Call http://andz-mera.justgiving.com/ now. Don't delay. Be the envy of your friends. Be the envy of your friends' friends. Be the envy of your friends' friends' family. Ok, you get the point.
The other thing about not being a rogue Mo' means I don't need to respect their rules about time to grow. So I'm already working on my beast. And, yes, it's in that itchy phase. Joy.
Monday, 25 October 2010
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Monkey Feet, Broken Knees and Realisation
After the last bootcamp I thought that was it. The game was up. My knees hurt so much I couldn't stand up. If I did stay stood up they would crack and click over nothing. At the time I thought there was simply no way of getting over the fact of being older and that Mera was a big pile of rock too far. But the good thing about scary goals is they make you reassess things and I learned two important things while I was trying to get better.
First up. Trigger points and TB bands. The roller I got on the advice of a friend has been a beneficial, if painful addition to my regime. The principle being that by rolling over the muscle you break up scar tissue and therefore reduce muscle imbalance caused by scar tissue. Did I mention it hurts? Well, putting your whole body weight into it really really does.
Second up. My running gait is wrong. I went for a run last night in the monkey feet to see how far I would get. I won't lie here I didn't have any great hopes of making progress. When you're running with no cushioning between you and the ground you get a very direct feel for how you body is postured and loaded. Once I'd started adjusting to not landing on my heel I became aware that my knees were rolling outwards. Or rather that I was landing on the outside of my feet rather than having my weight evenly distributed. As that realisation dawned I started concentrating on fixing the landing and straightening my knees. Net result. The first run after fearing that my training was over for ages was a 5km run. With almost no pain in my knees today. Well, no discernible difference from yesterday anyway.
I look back at all the aborted attempts at getting fit where my knees stopped working. And looking back what stopped me wasn't my knees. It was not listening to what they were telling me. So, hope has dawned again. Now I have to resist the temptation to make up for lost time with my training and push myself too hard. What I need is a good solid 6 months of training without injury or illness. But, ladies and gents - it's back on.
First up. Trigger points and TB bands. The roller I got on the advice of a friend has been a beneficial, if painful addition to my regime. The principle being that by rolling over the muscle you break up scar tissue and therefore reduce muscle imbalance caused by scar tissue. Did I mention it hurts? Well, putting your whole body weight into it really really does.
Second up. My running gait is wrong. I went for a run last night in the monkey feet to see how far I would get. I won't lie here I didn't have any great hopes of making progress. When you're running with no cushioning between you and the ground you get a very direct feel for how you body is postured and loaded. Once I'd started adjusting to not landing on my heel I became aware that my knees were rolling outwards. Or rather that I was landing on the outside of my feet rather than having my weight evenly distributed. As that realisation dawned I started concentrating on fixing the landing and straightening my knees. Net result. The first run after fearing that my training was over for ages was a 5km run. With almost no pain in my knees today. Well, no discernible difference from yesterday anyway.
I look back at all the aborted attempts at getting fit where my knees stopped working. And looking back what stopped me wasn't my knees. It was not listening to what they were telling me. So, hope has dawned again. Now I have to resist the temptation to make up for lost time with my training and push myself too hard. What I need is a good solid 6 months of training without injury or illness. But, ladies and gents - it's back on.
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