Tough Mudder Training 17 – One Week Out

It’s one week out and training has exponentially increased over the last two months and yes I haven’t posted in a while so I’ll give you the points and some detail. Since my ankle injury from social basketball on a Sunday where I limped for a few days are as follows;

1. Strength training using the workout bench outside a few sessions 2. Four kilometer morning beach run barefoot whilst raining 3. Running up hills training near Kings Park including Jacobs ladder 4. Several maybe mudder sets at the University of Western Australia. 5. A few cardio and strength training at a park in Crawley 6. Masters game (for those over 28 yo which commenced in the morning starting with ultimate Frisbee, indoor volleyball and finishing off with basketball for the entire day. 7. A ten kilometer run at five AM around the Como/South Perth Area.

When I look at the list and the number of activities I have done in the past month or so I realized how much fitter I have become since commencing a few months ago. Although my weight has not varied more than a few hundred grams.

Only having less than the required amount of sleep I woke up thinking about the fact I had to work on my day off. All the different steps and things I would have to complete coursing through my mind. Waking up alert, with my wife asleep beside me I strapped on my brace and headed out, no headphone just blasted the music through my phone I had a rough idea of the path I would take and my aim was to complete at least 10km. Along the way no more than 5 minutes in, I could hear the buzzing from the overhead power lines as I past them. I begun hearing voices and couldn’t pick them out, it was still quite dark and I was still distracted by the buzzing. I saw three guys heading my way. They looked to have had a big night out but in happy spirits as one of the guys pushed his friend in the trolley and another one seeing how I was going. After I asked “how are you guys going?” one replied good but not that good. Yeah they had a big night out. They said have a good run and I continued at good pace.

There were very few people out. Only a few vehicles and the odd cylist until I hit the foreshore where another runner was coming the other way. Close to half way through my run my body only had a few niggly pains but went away as I focussed on the direction I would take. It was at the 8th kilometer I felt like I needed to start walking and I reminded myself to keep pushing through to reach the goal despite the lack of energy now setting in. At the end I was very close to my start point but hadn’t quite reached the 10 km mark so I ran around near by. Two words ‘Worth it’, to know that I had for the first time ever know this was the furthest I have run without needing to break. Around that point the rain became heavier. I relaxed a little past 6AM with the dogs with some water and juice whilst I made eggs, with my wife still asleep.

See the photos below for some of the things myself and our group are in. In addition my wife injured her ankle playing frisbee so we hope she can compete. Come the 26th, next week approximately 10 of us will compete with great determination. Go Sonlife Team!

Tough Mudder Training 16 – Open Court Basketball @ South Perth

 

 

 

Although the picture doesn’t do it much justice and you may be wondering why it’s called Tough mudder training in the title. This is because I am counting this as exercise. Saturday afternoon I had finished doing the grocery shopping for the week and when I arrived home I realised the weather was holding up and it was a around the 20 degree mark. The sun was still up so I decided to head on down for the first time to a set of courts near the causeway that overlooked the city. Let’s just say it was quite amazing to play basketball in the temperature that we were, with the decent number of people spread across the three courts.

Without much of a break 1.5 hours flew by. When it became dark I sat down and chatted I realised there were multiple miss calls from my wife, whom I forgot to tell I was out at the time and being on court meant I didn’t hear my phone go off. Leaving before the mosquitoes went crazy I headed home for a home cooked meal. Winning!

Tough Mudder Training 15 – Over the Freeway and back

Last minute work held me back and I was not about to head in to heavy traffic by car on the way back. I was supposed to meet my friend before 5. Racing around to get all of my gear I was out of the house in three minutes.

We have recently moved and we now exploring the beautiful area of Como. It’s close to the foreshore and the Kwinnana freeway. This was shorter run as my friend and his wife had plans around six that night. Slowly organising myself at the beginning I was steady for most of the time. Not stopping except for traffic as I powered towards the river and then to the first bridge.

As always my phone doesn’t do me justice it was great to see the setting of the sun on the first bridge. Where I slowed down to take a quick few pics. Running to the other bridge, my friend still trailing behind me we went back over the freeway on the second bridge towards the shopping center and back home. For my friend it was all too much the last stretch as he was struggling to manage the pace and had to move between walking and jogging the remainder of the way home. I tried hard to power back to finish strong. Although this was a much shorter run it definitely good to have run considering the rain was like a light switch being turned on and off.

Tough Mudder Training 14 – Nedlands Family to Church Family

Another late night and bleary eyed I put my gear on the dark in the morning. Sunday was church at the Loftus center, so I planned to run there and put my gear in to my wife’s car as she was driving so I could have a shower after I finished as it had the facilities. I estimated the run to be approximately 7-10 kilometers and planned to be there around 9.15AM.

 

This was my first morning run in quite a while so I drank a cup of water with electrolytes, prior to starting and commenced the downward incline of Stirling highway keeping to the shady parts of the pathway avoiding the light as I turned left on to Hampden and then on to Thomas where the sun directly on me for most of my journey on the low horizon. During this time there was a runner whom at first I thought was a young boy at a glance making pace on me, overtaking it was actually an older woman. Only a slight mistake on my part, at least I can laugh about it.

The fourth kilometer was a turning point where my pace slowed and quickened as I did some unplanned interval training by walking and then running. It probably didn’t help that the elevation was dramatically increasing for the next two kilometers. Running over the freeway to know the center wasn’t too far away gave me confidence to finish strong and well. This reflected in my pace as the last 1.5kms saw a steady pace with the exception of stopping at the traffic lights nearer the end.

The run was 7.92 kilometers but I probably should have done an extra 80 meters to make it 8kms, but didn’t realize it at the time. Average pace was 6.12km/h; fastest pace was 4.50 km/h taking a total time of 49.06 minutes.

I was pleased with the result and my wife was also encouraged that she purchased a new pair of runners to assist her with limiting pains ankles and knees and keeping fit.

Thanks all for your likes, comments and for continuing this journey with me to complete this physical and mental goal. 🙂

Tough Mudder Training 13 – Not the leader of the pack

Definitely not leader of the pack tonight. My wife ran, jogged and walked with Rani our Boxer.  Gab and I commenced, both of us slightly having muscle soreness as a result partner Rani as we meet around quarter to 6 to start.

In less than a week by body recovery has been faster and I feel more confident in my running. Starting off as usual I was strong as we moved past the first few kilometers. During this time my friend Gab was in a need of a toilet. He told me to keep running whilst he looked for a bathroom. Keeping running there was a girl that breezed past both of us earlier who was appeared to be doing interval training. I eventually passed her when she slowed down for her friends as I edged closer to the Mounts Bay Bridge.

On the return I met back up with Gab and unfortunately he told me there was no bathroom, which I thought was the case. We powered on and passed clumps of runners moving in the opposite direction.

The last 1.5km there was the same girl that passed us again as my mate tried to pace her. In addition there was another guy in his 40s who powered past us at almost double my pace. Not great from my ego. I kept to the plan to keep running. My run was approximately the same as the last run with about 5.5km within 30 minutes.

At the end I was tired but felt my health is continually improving each time as my recovery time decreases…

Tough Mudder Training 12 – Steady Improvement / Revised Goals

Unlike many proper athletes and fitness junkies. I find difficulties planning exercise, as discussed in previous posts because I am on call it’s hard to know when I will be called to work. This time last week I was at work til 8.30.

I called up Gab (same mate from Thursday) about 45 minutes before the intended run at 6.30, expecting him to say ‘no’. Rather he surprisingly said ‘yes’, his girlfriend was out and he was finishing work. Great timing!

Meeting at the same start position from the other day. I wanted to run the entire length rather than walking and running and walking etc on the way back from the bridge. This time I revised my own goal and paced out the first two kilometers aiming and seeing how I was feeling. My body still a little sore (muscle fatigued) but not showing the injuries experienced from the other day I pushed on and for the one and half kilometers it was telling that I would require some mental toughness.

My wife after a last minute decision prior to leaving took the dog as Rani (our boxer) was very excited and we took her. She ran and walked with the dog and on the return leg of the run I saw her and wanted to make sure she was doing okay. This is reflective in the picture of the pace (shown below).

 

I pushed on as my friend Gab inched further and further away as I did what I could to keep my feet moving. He was at 50 meters ahead and by every minute he was an adding to his lead til he was out of my view because of the winding nature of the river’s edge. Seeing the where I started, it’s a great feeling especially since I keep the momentum, running right the way through and adding and extra kilometer from the other day. Steady improvement, I’m keen for my next run, hopefully in a few days depending on the work schedule.

Tough Mudder Training 11 – Post Recovery

Run! That’s what was supposed to happen yesterday, due to work commitments I was home way too late the day before.

Making a few calls today to get a few people to go for a run. At the time I was unsuccessful but by the time I drove home through the heavy traffic, making bad decisions by changing my usual route home. Since I had already changed ready for the run, I waited around til 6.30 for my friends and my wife and I drove to their place a few minutes around the corner.  Parking near the UWA grounds we were set with four people ready to embrace the cold.

After a quick stretch (should have been longer in retrospect), my mate Gab started running with me and my wife and his girlfriend walked and talked. He kept telling me don’t worry, keep going ahead if you need to, it was a compliment but I knew after my reoccurring injuries to my left foot and other strains I didn’t have a gauge of my endurance level. Adding to this was it was near the end of the working week and work can be quite draining because of the different demands.

We ran and I was feeling good. Better than I thought. At one point I thought we had completed 2 kilometers turned out we had only just passed the 1st kilometer. I was keen to pick up the pace and he kept close behind me right up the Mounts Bay Bridge and turning around it wasn’t until about half way back to the Old Swan Brewery that I began to slow down and need to start walking. The cold was getting to me and my body was becoming a little sore. Since the pace was going so well it was to think that the change in the performance level as Gab inched further and further away til the point where my wife and friend were walking.

They meet and starting turning around I met up with them a minute later. Details below as shown when I started walking for the final length back to the car.

We chatted on the way back but still felt some of the problems in my body arising. 

I’ll wait and see what happens next run…

Tough Mudder Training 10 – State Youth Games

Rushing of the Western Suburbs after rushing away from work near the airport, traffic was good enough that I was able to run inside to get changed out of my smurf looking gear in to  something more appropriate for a weekend of sport with more than a few hundred participants. With the bus and trailer packed up, some of our crew there plus some high school sport enthusiasts. Driving from Perth it was getting dark and the start of the Winter and Western Australia Day. The first part of the journey was great with plenty of chatter as we made our way to Mandurah for dinner at KFC.From then on the feeling on the bus was more settled despite the popping infused chocolate being shared around the bus.

We settled in at the Hay Park Recreation Center in Bunbury ready for the days to come. Sleeping on the floor with a room filled with close to 30 young people after an opening ceremony with the other church groups wasn’t the best for a weekend of exercise but you deal with the circumstances.

The next day, I was woken up bright and early by one of my leaders to organise people for the day. I was assigned Netball for the morning session and Indoor Beach Volleyball in the afternoon. With it being so cool, my first perspective lesson is to warm up properly, not just a light job around the courts when the temperature was the coldest it had been so far this year.

As for our success rate as a team, let’s just say sometimes you just have to smile and enjoy the sport for what it has to offer. We ran hard and I attempted to understand the game, with the multitude of rules that doesn’t seem to end. Let’s just say basketball was my first choice, however this didn’t happen. Should have mentioned that the netball was played on open courts and I played a majority of the time with the identification position bib over my sports jacket as wind chill factor was a factor. After playing approximately 5 games of 5 minute halves that was enough, more so because of the grasping of all the rules and limitations involved.

Heading back to near our base it was time for lunch and we filled up with burgers before the afternoon. A new group of people as we headed inside to play a sport I had become fond with the year prior. Arriving there and despite the 6 courts being filled with participants and onlookers the coolness was noticeable. The lack of warming up near my groin didn’t help much either as I move about in my skins hoping that I wouldn’t cramp up. The games were 12 on court and we played 6 games total. It was encouraging to have a few wins, but in competitive fashion miss out on a finals position, ranking 9th out of the 24 teams that were competing. There was one moment at the end where I went down in to the sand on my knees and both legs; calves, thighs and hamstrings pained and felt tight as I felt the wave of uncertainty as I stood back up. 

So after one day, I knew I was not a spring chicken, cold weather and sport don’t mix well with me and the skins being worn were not assisting as I thought they might. Another night began and a swelling group of people occurred as more joined us for the Saturday events. They discussed the wins, loses and draws from the activities from the day such as boccie, ultimate Frisbee, bowling, badminton and more.

The evening was an opportunity for charity groups to come along and promote including; Compassion, Red Frogs and more. One of the events included a half court basketball shooting. Although I’m not sure exactly how it works, for every half court shot made a water purifier would be sent to a place in Africa. Not going to dwell on the detail as at least there was positive progress being passed on to a place in the world less fortunate than our own. Having a steak dinner for approximately 1000 participants and helpers would not have been easy but the organisers pulled it off. But for the displeasure for some mistook cheese for mustard. There was spluttering and a flurry of red faces in the crowd that night. Made me laugh. After a few hours and a guest speaker Morro, a Chaplin from the West Coast Eagles, a team in the Australian Football League with a some great acoustic inspirational songs our group left. 

Saturday night I slept well as my body and mind reflected the way I was feeling. Sleeping took place just past 11 PM as most people except for those under the 25 age brac  ket talked, messed around and eventually got the idea to go to bed.

The next day was not going to be as fruitful as today, things were about to change but at least I was going to receive close to 7 hours of sleep…

Waking up the mess, people were eager to go as one can be early morning. It was a reverse day with Beach Volleyball for half the day and Netball to finish. In the process I found out or Pastor/Team Leader was unwell and ended up in hospital, which by default the responsibility fell on me to have things organised. This including the logistics, teams, buddy system and generally running of the day as people went o their respective events.

The long story short is that I went to all events and it was similar to yesterday, except with a few more wins in Beach Volleyball and even more crushed in the netball. I struggled to move around the courts for all events. On the plus side I ran in to one of my former colleagues and had a chat to see what things had changed. Good times and yes plenty had changed.

Another BBQ in between the day but I was ready for an early night, which I did after I supervised some of the younger crew burning off yet more energy before they could sleep. Lights were out at 10PM.

We drove home the next day after a major pack up and mistakenly setting up my camera over night in winter, only to find no charge in the morning. Driving a majority of the way back to Perth one of the cars following had engine problems and subsequently needed to be towed approximately 120 kilometers home. My wife and I were shattered and decided to get a few things done around the house and sleep mid afternoon. What a weekend of sport. For which it took plenty of time for a majority of my recovery.

Thanks for bearing with me for such a long post! 🙂

Tough Mudder Training 9 – Crawley River Side

Body clock woke me up again! Being a Saturday thought it would be a great time to get a decent amount of exercise for the week. Trying out the skins purchased earlier as the weather continues down lower the temperature. Still about 5 degrees Celsius.

Headphones on already to go, I run in to my parent in laws friends preparing for a fishing trip. I will point out at this point I’m already pushing myself to go for this 13 kilometers in the required time,as I was having a men’s breakfast at 8.30 AM and was expecting my friends to come and pick me up early. So I decided whilst I was running to give them a call to pick me up on the way.

After a few moments of small talk with our family friend I started running, not thinking my same injury on my foot in my left foot would still be sore. 200 meters in to the run I started to feel it. Might have been smarter to turn around the crawl back in to bed.

Keeping my stubbornness I keep going. My body was feeling good, but the cold and my foot were not friends. Whenever I slowed down to make a phone call or take a photo the warmth on my left foot allowed the pain to crept in. I keep going running through the pain I managed to get to about 5 kilometers within that time I called up two friends to come and pick me up to no avail. I pushed through the last kilometer watching a multitude of cyclists taking up a majority of the lane. Traffic caused to slow down and change lanes. It wasn’t just one or two groups there were at least half a dozen. Probably making their way through  to the roundabout and doing plenty of laps to meed the slight hill at Crawley and back to the river’s edge

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Friends arrived about half an hour late to pick me up to meet our breakfast schedule. I sat on a bench near a car where I heard noises coming from the four wheel drive that was probably parked up over night with the shades still on. Cut a long story short we were late after my mate driving almost caused a crash whilst indicating out in front of the cyclists who were traveling faster than expected in a group of about 15-20 guys and girls on bikes fully decked out in tights. Good news is I made to breakfast on time but for the remainder of the day I was limping around.

One week later from this event, not keen on the running as I might end up needing a pickup due to this injury.

Next week is State Youth Games in Bunbury. 2 hours south of Perth for 2 full days of different exercises! See how I fair.

Training Session 8 – Mounts Bay Road

Saturday afternoon at 1400 hours my wife has her Ultimate Frisbee training so I decided to go for a run to the Kwinnana bridge from the University of Western Australia. In retrospect probably should have ran the 10 meters to hit 7 kilometers.

Discussing my run I went  hard and was up to 5.49km/hour when I looked before the 3 kilometers mark. It probably helped that whilst I was running NNE direction along the river the wind was on my back, in addition I could feel the rush of cars coming in my direction.

My upper body and core work out the day before I could feel that fatigue  definitely slowing me down slightly. For part of the run I felt a stitch coming and I tried what I could to control my breathing and slow down my run until it eventually went away. Between the 4-5 kilometer mark was somewhat hard to keep focused. The last few kilometers I regained my focus and managed to finished my longest run for almost 2 years.

When I returned back to my wife’s training, I took a breather for about 15 minutes. They then invited me for a scratch match where I subsequently played for the remainder of the training. Think that was the reason my left foot hurts today because of the turning and re positioning required caused post practice pain.

If my body is my temple then my temple feels like it needs a few days or reconstruction. It feels good through 🙂