|<<    <<      JAN     >>    >>|

January 2014

16:08 01/01/2014 Wednesday afternoon...

Two hours, three minutes and thirty-four seconds.

That's my time for the 10km walk I've just taken to start the year off.

I've had this ambition to take part in organised 10km races for the past 7 or 8 years, and haven't quite managed it so far. I haven't been consistently fit enough to do that without risking (further) injury. And that's not entirely due to lack of trying. I've had some physical problems that have come up or have been exacerbated by running so I've had several periods where running has seemed to be a really bad idea and I've stopped doing it. And then of course, being a man of appetite, when I've stopped running I've tended to put on weight, which has put more strain on my knees and has made running seem an even worse idea.

So, I've decided to try a different approach to training. Rather than running short distances in running gear and building up the distance, I'm going to start at 10km in walking gear and build up the speed.

Clever eh? Walking puts zero strain on the knees despite my overweight condition (15 stone exactly) and I'm told that walking 10km burns the same number of calories as running 10km; it just takes a little more time.

So, it was a nice walk. Windy and rainy but I was never cold and walked most of it hatless with coat unzipped and sleeves rolled to the elbow to stay cool. I chose a route which is along roads, partly because I happened to have measured an exact 10km circuit from my house with my car's odometer, and partly because the fields are seriously flooded at the moment. I mean wide expanses of deep water. Just not walkable. I'll try and work out some more rural circular 10km routes later on. I have one in mind but I'd need a boat to navigate it just now.

20:28 02/01/2014 Thursday evening...

Two hours, twenty minutes and thirty-one seconds. My second 10km walk of 2014 and it was slower than yesterday. I guess that's partly because it was dark, partly because it wasn't raining and windy (and I felt no need to walk fast for warmth) and partly because I was tired. I guess I should probably not do this every day. Not yet anyway. My legs and feet were feeling tired half-way round and I slowed down. Also, I need to find a different route. The stretch of fast dual carriageway with no footpath was kind of OK in the daylight but in the dark it wasn't pleasant.

The time isn't a problem. It takes two full hours, but I can easily spend two hours on Facebook, or mindlessly browsing the web. I do have time to walk for two hours every day, but I might need more rest in between, at least for a while. I think I'll make a habit of walking or running every day, but limit the 10km timed walks to once or twice a week for the time being. A bit depressing to realise I am that unfit, but there it is. Rest is important.

21:43 04/01/2014 Saturday evening...

1 hour, 49 minutes and 16 seconds. 10km. Walked in boots, no running. It was colder than on previous walks - maybe 5 degrees rather than 10 degrees - and I wore a 'T' shirt plus a waterproof jacket, but a cooler, thinner jacket than before. Consequently I was cooler. I never unzipped my jacket and only took my wooley hat off towards the end. In fact it was only after the half-way point that I began to feel properly warmed up. I wasn't really cold at any point but my hands only warmed up in the second half. It's a clear night and the stars were shining nicely.

But, a faster time and I felt stronger. It was definitely a good idea to take a rest yesterday. It's hardly excessive: a daily 10km walk is nothing really, and the first one was fine, but the second walk was a shock to the system and I needed that break.

The ache I've been getting in my right achilles tendon when wearing these newish boots was better today. Still there but much less. Only lacing up to the second-highest hooks on the boots helps a lot. I don't think it's exactly the fault of the boots as the left achilles has never complained. Maybe the right achilles gets tight from driving...? Anyway, it seems to be getting better as I contunue to walk in the boots. The boots are Meindl Merans, by the way. I'm getting to like them a lot.

So, it's a bit of a crazy plan but I'm also getting to like my plan of starting off at 10km and gradually working on increasing the speed. I can continue with walking 10km every day (or nearly every day) until that's really easy, then add some weight in the form of a rucksack, or else experiment by adding a bit of intermittent running, until eventually I'm in running gear and running the whole way, ...although I suspect I will prefer to limit the full-on 10km runs to once per week or so. The plan has a brutal simplicity. I like it.

I shall follow this plan for three months - until 1st April - and see how I go from there. Tentatively, I'm looking at running in the 10km race at the Midnight Sun Marathon event in Tromsų on June 21st, but I don't need to commit to that until April. That would be a really cool thing to do though.

One other thing I wanted to say. My right knee, which has been giving me increasing amounts of jip over the past year and a half, seems better since I started this 10km walking mallarcky. I had suspected it to suffer a bit, but the opposite seems to be the case. It feels considerably better. I don't know why. It reminds me of the bad sciatica which went away after a few days hiking on hard mountain paths and sleeping on the hard ground in Norway in 2012. My self-protective instincts seem to be faulty sometimes. It might be that I have a tendency to be overly self-protective when I have a physical weakness. It may be that sometimes the best thing to do for weakness is to work at overcoming it with exercise, even though for me that is counter-intuitive. ("Pain is just weakness leaving the body!") Certainly if resting a body part doesn't seem to be helping then it might be worth trying the opposite.

06:40 09/01/2014 Thursday morning early...

Did I say I was planning on running a 10km race in June? Man, what was I thinking!? I just got back from another 10km walk and I'm feeling so rough. I did enjoy it but my right achilles tendon is bothering me and my knees feel stiff. Not cold out there at all. Probably 10 degrees or so. It rained heavily for a while at around the half-way point, then the sky cleared. It rained so heavily that I actually pulled up the hood of my raincoat. (I almost never use raincoat hoods.)

Walking, or running, is a good way to get some time to think that isn't cluttered up with computers, web browsing, radio, other people, etc. I did enjoy the walk overall, and to be fair I was feeling a bit rough even before I set out, but I'm just made aware of how unfit I am compared to how I was a couple of years ago, and that's a bit difficult to cope with mentally. Aware of how far I have to go to regain that easy sense of being able to move and to sustain movement.

I also did a bit of yoga last night. I think that also made me realise how stiff I am these days. But, ...I'll do more. More yoga, more walking. Things will change. All will be well and all manner of things shall be well...

00:18 25/01/2014 Friday evening...

10km walk. 1 hour 58 minutes. My legs are feeling kind of wobbly. I haven't been walking for a couple of weeks and I'm not used to it. Also, I think, that what I've been eating has an effect. I felt better - looser and freer in movement when I was eating much lighter food. I've been eating a lot of cheese and stuff lately. I think my joints (knees mainly) feel better with lighter food.

Anyway, it was a good walk. I took the time to learn some Norwegian on an mp3 player, repeating the phrases and answering the questions out loud into the dark rainy street.

And it rained the whole time, although not heavily. I wore a 100g Tyvek zipped jacket under my red e-Vent waterproof jacket for extra warmth, but soon I found it was too much, so at the one-mile point I came back, dumped the heavier red jacket and continued with just the Tyvek jacket for the rest of the walk. It rained the whole way, not heavily but wind-blown. No water came in through the Tyvek jacket at all and it kept the wind off nicely too, whilst being very breathable, comfortable and quiet. The only downside to the Tyvek jacket is that is has no pockets. It even has a hood, although I didn't use it, being quite warm and comfy under my knitted watch cap. I really am a fan of these Tyvek garments. Oh, and they cost about £3 each, as they are nominally 'disposable'.

So well, I'm glad I did that. I've been feeling a bit despondent because I had not been out walking for a while, and also because I have not been eating so sensibly lately. New Year's resolutions melting away, you know? One good thing about walking is that I can do it even right after eating, whereas running on a full stomach is a big no-no.

Yeah, tired. Nothing more to say...

TOP                      NEXT >>