First Post

So, this is the second attempt I've ever made at blogging. The first died a not-so-slow death. I'm resolved to make more effort this time round.

These pages, I hope, will be somewhat similar to my favourite Blog, The Straight Dope. The SD does have a slight agenda in pushing a particular type of training regime, popular in the US, called PX90 – as well as other similar workouts with silly names like BeachBody, Ripped and TonsOfGuns (I imagine). But it also keeps an open mind in discussing different training theories, is happy to learn from various sports including climbing, cycling and running, and never takes itself too seriously. Most importantly, sometimes it doesn't discuss any of those things but will just post a really great video.

I will, obviously, be discussing the things that I find most interesting regarding fitness, conditioning, weight loss, sports etc. I will also be documenting my life as a personal trainer and kickboxing instructor, and my own training as a runner, kickboxer, and someone who generally wants to achieve and maintain good, all-round strength and fitness.

Which leads me to the here and now. Currently I'm not really doing much in the way of training. Almost two weeks ago I suffered a stress fracture in the third metatarsal of the right foot. It's hardly life-threatening but it's painful and makes getting around on two feet quite awkward. How I got the stress fracture is probably a good lesson in how not to train for an ultra marathon.

I've run at least one ultra every year for the past 4 or 5 years now. This year, as my first full year as a self-employed personal trainer, I simply haven't found the time to put in the miles. Up until April I was doing regular long runs coaching a client for the London Marathon. The rest of my training at that time was geared towards the short-term energy pathways: sprints, circuits, lots of kickboxing. However, the new mix of training was working and in March I smashed my half-marathon PB, running 1hr 25mins. Since then, I hadn't run more than about 7 miles in one go. But, I wanted to get an ultra in this year.

Scanning the Runner's World website I noticed an easy-ish looking 30-miler along flat footpaths in Bishop's Stortford, home to one of my very best friends. A chance to combine pleasure and pleasure... But I only had two weeks to train for it, and the first was blighted with a heavy cold. I knew I was fit enough to run 30 miles – that is, my heart and lungs were more than up to the challenge – but, as any fitness professional will tell you, training is all about specificity. That is, if you want to play football well, you've got to practice playing football. If you want to run well, you've got to run.

The week of the run I decided to put some miles in my legs. Two runs of 15 miles were dealt with so easily, almost surprisingly so, I thought I was ready. Come race day, there had been a lot of wet weather. On the Thames-side paths I'd trained on I'd used my VivoBarefoot Neo Trail shoes, but the race director of the Stort 30 had said that this race would mainly be on graded footpaths. Hard-ish ground underfoot convinced me to put on my Vibram Five-Fingers Speeds. At 9 miles I was cruising. I was moving between 12 and 15th place but it was muddy. Very muddy. I could feel my feet digging for grip, no matter how much I tried to relax them. After a while, my right foot felt tight, as if the muscles in it were cramping. It didn't seem too serious, like something I'd run off. Then I hopped around a woman walking her dog. Suddenly the tightness in my foot changed to pain. I stopped, took off my shoe and tried a massage. But when I went to stand, I realised I was going to struggle to walk the mile to the next checkpoint, let alone run another 21 miles.

It was my first DNF in a race. I was less upset than I thought I'd be. The pain was such that I knew there was no way out other than to hand myself over to the race marshals (who were all wonderful by the way).

So, what's the lesson? Since April I've trained hard. I've thrown sandbags around, swung kettlebells, done plyometric drills, a hundred different varieties of lunges, squats and calf raises, push ups, pull ups, sit ups and medicine ball twists, done plenty of kickboxing – all in bare feet or barefoot trainers (in fact, I spend all day either bare foot or in barefoot trainers). It wasn't the footwear that got me injured. It wasn't a lack of fitness. It was a lack of specific strength.

My feet and legs are strong, but they were conditioned for short-ish, fast-ish work. Not the long, slow grind of 30 miles. Okay, I only got 9 miles in, but the week leading up to the race I'd suddenly placed a huge endurance demand on my body, quite out of the blue. It was idiotic. Suddenly upping my weekly mileage from about 14 miles to 60, in one week, was bound to lead to injury.

Since the injury, I've done very little exercise. I took a week off to brood on my stupidity. This week it's been the kids' half term and my free time is spent entertaining them. Now I'm focusing on a training program that will keep my fitness, build some strength, and doesn't require me going swimming. Sadly, I think the pool might be the only option to keep the cardio topped up. But I've acquired a weights bench and barbell, and I'm putting together the bones of a bodyweight circuit that keeps the weight off my right foot. Let's see what happens!