My last run of 2014
The last week has been quite strange, as I spent a lot of time thinking about the laser surgery that I was going to have on Saturday… or at least, I spent a lot of time trying NOT to think about the laser eye surgery.
On Saturday morning, I wanted a distraction, so I decided to go to Southampton parkrun to give sub 25 minutes another shot. I needed to convince myself that it wasn’t a fluke, but after a disappointing track session on Thursday evening, when my lungs decided to give up after 3 x 1km, I wasn’t expecting great things.
I’ve now seen some photographic evidence of my PB run last week – it wasn’t pretty, but at least it’s a bit more proof that I did it!
Anyway, I digress. This weekend, my friend Teri was doing parkrun. She had conceded that she had imbibed too much wine this week to make a PB a realistic option… therefore, she decided that it was her mission to get me to run fast.
Teri has two lovely children, who seem normal and well-balanced, but her ‘Tiger Mom’ personality definitely came out on Saturday morning, and I’m quite surprised that the Teri-ettes have not reached international levels of success yet!
Teri started out with some gentle coaching and encouragement, with the occasional incitement to ‘Surge!’, but by the final 500m, army drill sergeants had nothing on her, and I was scared of what the consequences might be if I didn’t finish in under 25 minutes.
Fortunately, the tough love method worked:
I may be able to fit in a gentle jog before the end of the year, but there will be no more parkruns for me until 2015 now. I’m also happy to report that my laser eye surgery seems to ahve been successful, so fingers crossed I’ll get some new goggles for Christmas! 🙂
Here’s what I’ve been reading this week:
Relay Runner Accidentally Steals Spotlight from Dallas Marathon Winner
View from the sofa: ‘I’ve been riding since 5am – two days ago. It’s been really fun’
Marriage proposal mapped out by Portsmouth jogger’s app – check out the GPS dinosaur!
You can’t detox your body. It’s a myth. So how do you get healthy?
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Congrats!! That is awesome!
Well done! And looking forward to hearing about how the eye thing all works out. You know I am intrigued. Will you be another convert making me think I should think more seriously about it?! Happy Christmas 🙂
Nearly a week after having it done, I’ve not got any regrets. The first evneing was agony, but since then, I’ve not had any pain. It’s just very bizarre waking up in the night and being able to see everything. I’ve not tried driving in the dark yet, so I’m not sure how good my night vision is, but I’ve been warned that it could take up to 6 months for that to settle down. I want to go out and buy some new goggles, even though I can’t swim until mid January!
Congratulations, well done on all your athletic achievements.
I couldn’t help but notice your running style is “heel strike” – very obvious in the photos! This way of running is very harsh on one’s joints. I used to be a heel striker but was alerted to a better way of running by a chiropractor friend – pose running or fore-foot running, where it’s important to land on the balls of your foot and not allowing your heels to touch the ground. It’s too complicated to explain in full here, but if you’re serious about running faster and more efficiently (therefore better able to endure the iron man running section and the training required) go to http://posemethod.com/pose-method/
It took me two full years to change completely, and I so much enjoyed the ease of the 56km Two Oceans Ultra Marathon, where previously I really struggled on the down hills. Down hills are easy now and uphills are less effort.
Let me know if this helps you
Richard Healy
Event Director, parkrun Fish Hoek.