After running only a few times in the last month due to my interior tibularis muscle in my left leg bothering me I had turned into the king of low impact exercising at the gym at school. Yeah it felt good to be able to exercise without aggravating my injury, but oh my is exercising inside at the gym the most boring thing ever! Ever!!! Doing an hour on the ellyptical at the gym is so mind numbingly tedious, especially when its 25 degrees out and sunny. It's shirtless running weather and I'm inside.
Last week I went for short run outside on the flat pavement and it felt good, made sure I iced and stretched super good after. Woke up the next day still feeling good in my legs. So a couple days later I went for another morning run of only 6 km, and felt good again. So fast forward to today (with daily trips to the gym in between) and I decided to do a longer run.
Heavenly! I parked my car at a park, figured I would stay on trails so it was easier on my legs. Run on the greenway along Mission Creek, stayed on the flat for the first 13 km, which was nice to start. The sun was shining, nothing but my shoes and running shirts. This is how I like to run. For the last 4 km I hit some easy trails across the creek. And I pushed hard, love it.
Now I just need to remember to take it easy and not go out for a run that long every day while my ant. tib. is still recovering. Must not let my excitement get the best of me.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
May long weekend will be a test of endurance.
I found the website for the Elk Ultra (or some name like that) in Victoria on Saturday May 1st and was contemplating it, but I wasn't sure if I would do it, after all I could just do a 50 k run in the trails here in Kelowna. But then when I was running the half marathon in Kelowna someone reminded me of the Vancouver marathon. So I figured one race seemed like not enough of a reason to go to the coast, but if I did two races it would be a hell of a super duper weekend. So then my long weekend will look like this. Saturday May 1st, 50 km Ultra in Victoria. Sunday May 2nd, Vancouver Marathon (full).
The last time I did a 50 km run I did it in 4:45. The trails are apparently quite flat in the course in Victoria so I figure I can do a sub 4:30, but I'll be pushing for at least 4:20, which will mean maintaining a pace of no more than 5:12min/km which I think is very doable over that distance. I just need to make sure I don't push too hard and start out too fast. I'll try and stay around 4:50min/km for the first hour and see how it goes from there.
As for the marathong. My best race time for a marathon is 3:58:10. Barring a catastrophic amount of residual pain from the day before I'll definitely be setting a new personal best. I've run several sub 3:45 marathon distances on training runs since the 3:58:10 marathon time. My safe goal time for the race is to break 3:45, which means maintaining a pace of 5:19 min/km or better which is so doable. I think I'll push to try and maintain a 5:00 min/km time which would be very satisfying after doing 50 km the day before, and would mean a time of 3:31. So if I get under 3:40, I'll be very happy.
I didn't do very much running this in March. I was still feeling a lot of pain in my left leg around my interior tibularis. I only went on 4 runs and 6 bike rides. I went to physio 3 times and went to a massage therapist 4 times (thank you school for providing those free services). My leg is starting to feel better, it no longer hurts while walking, only mild pain when walking upstairs, biking is only slightly painful after the fact and running is still not so good. Having too much schoolwork this month was a blessing in disguise to help me recover from injury. And I was good enough to set a personal best in a half marathon. I can now maintain a pace of 30 km/hr on my road bike for an hour. Next month I'm gonna see if I could get that up to 32 km/hr. Well I'm sure I could do that quite easily if I avoided hills but that would be no fun.
March totals:
Run: 40.61 km, (average of 10.15 km)
Bike: 171.47 km, (average of 28.57 km).
Longest Run: Half marathon
Longest Bike: 50.07 km
"If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon. . . or two in a weekend."
Keep on running.
Nazzer
The last time I did a 50 km run I did it in 4:45. The trails are apparently quite flat in the course in Victoria so I figure I can do a sub 4:30, but I'll be pushing for at least 4:20, which will mean maintaining a pace of no more than 5:12min/km which I think is very doable over that distance. I just need to make sure I don't push too hard and start out too fast. I'll try and stay around 4:50min/km for the first hour and see how it goes from there.
As for the marathong. My best race time for a marathon is 3:58:10. Barring a catastrophic amount of residual pain from the day before I'll definitely be setting a new personal best. I've run several sub 3:45 marathon distances on training runs since the 3:58:10 marathon time. My safe goal time for the race is to break 3:45, which means maintaining a pace of 5:19 min/km or better which is so doable. I think I'll push to try and maintain a 5:00 min/km time which would be very satisfying after doing 50 km the day before, and would mean a time of 3:31. So if I get under 3:40, I'll be very happy.
I didn't do very much running this in March. I was still feeling a lot of pain in my left leg around my interior tibularis. I only went on 4 runs and 6 bike rides. I went to physio 3 times and went to a massage therapist 4 times (thank you school for providing those free services). My leg is starting to feel better, it no longer hurts while walking, only mild pain when walking upstairs, biking is only slightly painful after the fact and running is still not so good. Having too much schoolwork this month was a blessing in disguise to help me recover from injury. And I was good enough to set a personal best in a half marathon. I can now maintain a pace of 30 km/hr on my road bike for an hour. Next month I'm gonna see if I could get that up to 32 km/hr. Well I'm sure I could do that quite easily if I avoided hills but that would be no fun.
March totals:
Run: 40.61 km, (average of 10.15 km)
Bike: 171.47 km, (average of 28.57 km).
Longest Run: Half marathon
Longest Bike: 50.07 km
"If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon. . . or two in a weekend."
Keep on running.
Nazzer
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Campus to Campus Half
This years Campus to Campus Half Marathon wasn't really a campus to campus, the University is no longer a sponsor It seems, so the race started at the college and ended at the college. The course was mostly flat except for a 3 km stretch heading from Clement to Cerise Rd to Mountain Rd. I was quite thankful it was a flat course as hills do not make my strained anterior tibularis muscle feel very special at all.
Coming into the race I had two goals. First, I wanted to beat 1:40 and second, I wanted to at least break my personal best of a half marathon time of 1:44:58. I know I can beat 1:40, and have done so on training runs several in the last three months, but beating that time today was going to be totally dependant on how my legs felt.
The course was flat for the first 5 km. I felt good and I did it in 23:18. Something I find neat about this race is that they have a relay race for the half also. So every 4 km or so all of a sudden there's a batch of runner with fresh legs to pace against. It pushes you a bit harder.
The next 4 km were still flat, followed by the beginning of the only uphill portion of the course. I think it was around the 8 km mark of the race I started running with someone. I feel kind of bad because I didn't even catch his name. His goal was to finish around the same time as my goal so we ran together. It's always nice to be pushing back and forth with someone else. At the 9 km mark the steep part of the hill started. Did this 5 km section in 24:18
There was 1.5 km of more hill, which took us to the first corner of the road on Knox Mountain. And then downhill followed by more flats. This flat section is probably the nicest section of the course taking us through the boardwalk on Okanagan Lake and Waterfront Park. Did this 5 km section in 24:33. The 5 km splits were starting to slow down, but that's ok. My leg started to hurt at the end of the climb around the 11 km mark, and around the 15 km mark I realized unless I was able to put in a nice kick at the end I wasn't going to break 1:40
The next 5 km were along lakeshore road and then back on Richter. Did this section in 25:17. I lost my running buddy at the 19 km mark. At a corner near one of the parks on Lakeshore there was a group of girls holding signs for the runners. One of the signs said "marathoners go further" I laughed and shook my head. Someone else told her the sign wasn't very nice. I thought it was awesome.
Did the last km in 4:30. The guy I was running with for most of the race finished in 1:41, and I finished in 1:42:30. Both of us beat our personal bests! I beat mine by 2 minutes and 20 seconds. And I beat last years time in the same race by 30 minutes! (The year leading up to that was not a good year for running). It would seem the 1 minute for every pound rule applied.
Overall, it was a good race. Always fun, I hope next year the University gets back on board.
1:42:30 HECK YEAH!
Nazzer
Coming into the race I had two goals. First, I wanted to beat 1:40 and second, I wanted to at least break my personal best of a half marathon time of 1:44:58. I know I can beat 1:40, and have done so on training runs several in the last three months, but beating that time today was going to be totally dependant on how my legs felt.
The course was flat for the first 5 km. I felt good and I did it in 23:18. Something I find neat about this race is that they have a relay race for the half also. So every 4 km or so all of a sudden there's a batch of runner with fresh legs to pace against. It pushes you a bit harder.
The next 4 km were still flat, followed by the beginning of the only uphill portion of the course. I think it was around the 8 km mark of the race I started running with someone. I feel kind of bad because I didn't even catch his name. His goal was to finish around the same time as my goal so we ran together. It's always nice to be pushing back and forth with someone else. At the 9 km mark the steep part of the hill started. Did this 5 km section in 24:18
There was 1.5 km of more hill, which took us to the first corner of the road on Knox Mountain. And then downhill followed by more flats. This flat section is probably the nicest section of the course taking us through the boardwalk on Okanagan Lake and Waterfront Park. Did this 5 km section in 24:33. The 5 km splits were starting to slow down, but that's ok. My leg started to hurt at the end of the climb around the 11 km mark, and around the 15 km mark I realized unless I was able to put in a nice kick at the end I wasn't going to break 1:40
The next 5 km were along lakeshore road and then back on Richter. Did this section in 25:17. I lost my running buddy at the 19 km mark. At a corner near one of the parks on Lakeshore there was a group of girls holding signs for the runners. One of the signs said "marathoners go further" I laughed and shook my head. Someone else told her the sign wasn't very nice. I thought it was awesome.
Did the last km in 4:30. The guy I was running with for most of the race finished in 1:41, and I finished in 1:42:30. Both of us beat our personal bests! I beat mine by 2 minutes and 20 seconds. And I beat last years time in the same race by 30 minutes! (The year leading up to that was not a good year for running). It would seem the 1 minute for every pound rule applied.
Overall, it was a good race. Always fun, I hope next year the University gets back on board.
1:42:30 HECK YEAH!
Nazzer
Monday, March 22, 2010
Duhr...
Running without a plan should be the plan. In life in general when you force rigid rules of who, what, where, when, why and how on to things you take the fun out of everything. The same can be said about running; when you complicate it you stray from the reasons that should be the driving force for why you run. Call it what you want; peace, harmony, an ordered soul, Zen, just for fun. Running itself should be the goal and the destination. Training plans do nothing but add clutter and distractions from the real joy of running. If you are not yet ready to run a certain distance you should not go sign up for a race of that distance, instead you should enjoy running until you happen to get physically capable of running that distance and then register for it.
Perhaps this is a very fine distinction, but a race should not be looked at as an opportunity to see if you can in fact do what you’ve been training for. But instead should be regarded as nothing more than a confirmation, a replication perhaps, of what you already knew you were capable of.
I was watching a documentary on youtube (actually I didn’t make it through more than fifteen minutes but apparently it’s quite good) called “The Spirit of the Marathon” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BRSw-B4-2E the movie says that it follows several runners of different abilities as they prepare and then run the Chicago marathon.
One person that they were following was an older man. Here is a quote from him “People ask me why I run marathons, I run it for the t-shirt . . . it’s my subtle way of saying I did something that most people can’t do”. This is wrong on so many levels. Running, sport, or any other activity is not something that should be done so that you can brag to other people. There is a reason the saying ‘humility is a virtue’ has stuck around. I pity the person that has run the amount of miles needed to prepare their body to the point that they are capable of running a marathon for no reason other than being a braggart. I can’t imagine how unhappy those runs must have been. Also, I really don’t like the notion that running a marathon is something that most people can’t do. Anybody can do it, it’s just that some people choose to other things with their time than running.
There are some better moments of the documentary though. There is a runner that has a particularly inspiring quote near the beginning about what finishing a marathon means. He says “when you cross that finish line, no matter how slow, no matter how fast, it will change your life forever”. Truer words have never been spoken. Being able to do run 42 kilometres is pretty amazing. Perhaps the reason that particular man was able to say something so nice was because he never won the prize of prizes in marathons, Boston, he only got second place. He never got the big bragging rights.
If people want to do a marathon that’s great and I respect the effort that they put in to complete it, however I just don’t understand why people would possibly want to start such a massive training program if the goal is achievement and not enjoyment.
Is it capitalism that taints our world so much that people turn to marathon running in an attempt to gain their piece of the pie? Capitalism, through its concept of the ‘American dream’, puts such a focus on being one of the “haves” in society and makes people feel worse if they fail to the point that they become one of the “have not’s”; and the gap between the rich and the poor in society keeps growing so we get more people becoming the “have not’s” which leads to people trying to find outlets to make them feel better about not getting to the top of the money pile. They failed at getting notoriety through money, which society tells them is the most important, so they turn to something else which seems to be running more often for people. Yes, it is super duper that they are running and exercising, but it is a meaningless pursuit if they are doing it for inharmonious reasons. Run for yourself; not to show off. Run because you enjoy it; not because you aren’t good enough at what you really wanted so you need something to lord over your friends with. Sure it’s a great accomplishment; but all you did was something that every single person in the world could do if they could be bothered to put in the training. Our bodies were designed to run.
Life should be about doing things you enjoy, not about receiving accolades. If your life is such that you need to turn stack up a pile of t-shirts to prove yourself then you need to rethink your value system. Maybe try some drugs to reacquaint yourself with your Zen or something.
“Something is done best when you do it with the reckless abandon of a child that hasn’t yet learned society’s limits of how it’s supposed to be done”
Keep on running
Nazzer
Perhaps this is a very fine distinction, but a race should not be looked at as an opportunity to see if you can in fact do what you’ve been training for. But instead should be regarded as nothing more than a confirmation, a replication perhaps, of what you already knew you were capable of.
I was watching a documentary on youtube (actually I didn’t make it through more than fifteen minutes but apparently it’s quite good) called “The Spirit of the Marathon” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BRSw-B4-2E the movie says that it follows several runners of different abilities as they prepare and then run the Chicago marathon.
One person that they were following was an older man. Here is a quote from him “People ask me why I run marathons, I run it for the t-shirt . . . it’s my subtle way of saying I did something that most people can’t do”. This is wrong on so many levels. Running, sport, or any other activity is not something that should be done so that you can brag to other people. There is a reason the saying ‘humility is a virtue’ has stuck around. I pity the person that has run the amount of miles needed to prepare their body to the point that they are capable of running a marathon for no reason other than being a braggart. I can’t imagine how unhappy those runs must have been. Also, I really don’t like the notion that running a marathon is something that most people can’t do. Anybody can do it, it’s just that some people choose to other things with their time than running.
There are some better moments of the documentary though. There is a runner that has a particularly inspiring quote near the beginning about what finishing a marathon means. He says “when you cross that finish line, no matter how slow, no matter how fast, it will change your life forever”. Truer words have never been spoken. Being able to do run 42 kilometres is pretty amazing. Perhaps the reason that particular man was able to say something so nice was because he never won the prize of prizes in marathons, Boston, he only got second place. He never got the big bragging rights.
If people want to do a marathon that’s great and I respect the effort that they put in to complete it, however I just don’t understand why people would possibly want to start such a massive training program if the goal is achievement and not enjoyment.
Is it capitalism that taints our world so much that people turn to marathon running in an attempt to gain their piece of the pie? Capitalism, through its concept of the ‘American dream’, puts such a focus on being one of the “haves” in society and makes people feel worse if they fail to the point that they become one of the “have not’s”; and the gap between the rich and the poor in society keeps growing so we get more people becoming the “have not’s” which leads to people trying to find outlets to make them feel better about not getting to the top of the money pile. They failed at getting notoriety through money, which society tells them is the most important, so they turn to something else which seems to be running more often for people. Yes, it is super duper that they are running and exercising, but it is a meaningless pursuit if they are doing it for inharmonious reasons. Run for yourself; not to show off. Run because you enjoy it; not because you aren’t good enough at what you really wanted so you need something to lord over your friends with. Sure it’s a great accomplishment; but all you did was something that every single person in the world could do if they could be bothered to put in the training. Our bodies were designed to run.
Life should be about doing things you enjoy, not about receiving accolades. If your life is such that you need to turn stack up a pile of t-shirts to prove yourself then you need to rethink your value system. Maybe try some drugs to reacquaint yourself with your Zen or something.
“Something is done best when you do it with the reckless abandon of a child that hasn’t yet learned society’s limits of how it’s supposed to be done”
Keep on running
Nazzer
Monday, March 15, 2010
Breaking Personal Best's!
I am running in the Campus to Campus Half Marathon on March 28. That's 13 days away, and on February 28 I strained a muscle in my lower leg. Other than a horribly painful 4km run/4 km walk I didn't run for 12 days. Then I fixed my bike and I'm easing my way back into exercising in the hopes that I will be fully healed by the time the race comes around. I told a friend, who knew about my injury, that I intended to break my personal best for the half marathon distance. His reaction seemed to be rather incredulous, telling me I was nuts. To which my reaction was;
"I would rather live a life pushing myself to the limits with reckless abandon than to sit around cautiously waiting for my body to heal".
On March 28th I will break my personal best for a half marathon of 1:44:58. I set this personal best three and a half years ago in the first race that I entered. When I ran this race I never trained with a fancy GPS wristwatch like I do now, I just ran. I didn't worry about how fast I was pacing when I trained, I just tried to keep up with my mother's dog who ran a hell of a lot faster than I did. During the race where I set my personal best I was running for myself, I didn`t think about anything negative during the race, I had no stupid thoughts in my head. And boy did I ever run faster than I should have been capable in the last 5 k of that race. I will do it all again in two weeks.
This was me in that race. Drenched with sweat the way I should be at the end of a race. I wore those same shorts while running today. And quite disturbingly I the shoes I was wearing in that picture haven`t yet hit the garbage bin. Perhaps I will take them to the store and buy an identical pair for good luck.
It is truly amazing how one`s body and physical abilities are affected by lack of happiness and stress. Very soon after that race I allowed my life to be led down a path that I shouldn`t have gone down. I was unhappy, making life decisions based on trying to please other people and ignoring my own wants, and I was getting fat. The last two years Campus to Campus half marathons have been times of 2:23:24 in 2008 and 2:12:59 in 2009. Only a year and a half after I ran a half marathon in under 1:45 I took 38 minutes longer to do it. One minute extra for every pound I added to my body through unhappiness.
This was me at the end of the 2008 Campus to Campus. You can see the fat around my belly. The shorts that I wore in 2006, and that I wear now... they didn`t fit me then I had got too big, I wore stretchy waist band shorts. You can see the look of disappointment on my face. The registration form for that race had a section asking for your expected finish time. I put down 2 hours, I figured even though I wasn`t in that good shape surely I couldn`t do that much worse than I had before. When I was crossing the finish line the announcer called out my name, and he said `just a little bit off of his goal time of 2 hours` ouch.
Since the 2009 Campus to Campus I have done a lot of running and biking. And I enjoy it again. I have run a sub 4 hour marathon, and the last race I ran in I ran at a sub 5:00 min per km pace. In total since the 2009 race last year I have run 1315 km and biked 1110 km. I feel great, I feel ready, and I am going to beat 1:45 in the half marathon, hopefully even 1:40.
Reckless abandon in pursuit of physical pleasures is super duper!
Keep on running... or biking.
Nazzer
"I would rather live a life pushing myself to the limits with reckless abandon than to sit around cautiously waiting for my body to heal".
On March 28th I will break my personal best for a half marathon of 1:44:58. I set this personal best three and a half years ago in the first race that I entered. When I ran this race I never trained with a fancy GPS wristwatch like I do now, I just ran. I didn't worry about how fast I was pacing when I trained, I just tried to keep up with my mother's dog who ran a hell of a lot faster than I did. During the race where I set my personal best I was running for myself, I didn`t think about anything negative during the race, I had no stupid thoughts in my head. And boy did I ever run faster than I should have been capable in the last 5 k of that race. I will do it all again in two weeks.
This was me in that race. Drenched with sweat the way I should be at the end of a race. I wore those same shorts while running today. And quite disturbingly I the shoes I was wearing in that picture haven`t yet hit the garbage bin. Perhaps I will take them to the store and buy an identical pair for good luck.
It is truly amazing how one`s body and physical abilities are affected by lack of happiness and stress. Very soon after that race I allowed my life to be led down a path that I shouldn`t have gone down. I was unhappy, making life decisions based on trying to please other people and ignoring my own wants, and I was getting fat. The last two years Campus to Campus half marathons have been times of 2:23:24 in 2008 and 2:12:59 in 2009. Only a year and a half after I ran a half marathon in under 1:45 I took 38 minutes longer to do it. One minute extra for every pound I added to my body through unhappiness.
This was me at the end of the 2008 Campus to Campus. You can see the fat around my belly. The shorts that I wore in 2006, and that I wear now... they didn`t fit me then I had got too big, I wore stretchy waist band shorts. You can see the look of disappointment on my face. The registration form for that race had a section asking for your expected finish time. I put down 2 hours, I figured even though I wasn`t in that good shape surely I couldn`t do that much worse than I had before. When I was crossing the finish line the announcer called out my name, and he said `just a little bit off of his goal time of 2 hours` ouch.
Since the 2009 Campus to Campus I have done a lot of running and biking. And I enjoy it again. I have run a sub 4 hour marathon, and the last race I ran in I ran at a sub 5:00 min per km pace. In total since the 2009 race last year I have run 1315 km and biked 1110 km. I feel great, I feel ready, and I am going to beat 1:45 in the half marathon, hopefully even 1:40.
Reckless abandon in pursuit of physical pleasures is super duper!
Keep on running... or biking.
Nazzer
Friday, March 12, 2010
February Summary
I decided I'm going to start tracking my running totals and such on a monthly basis. This is a bit after the fact for February. And my Garmin was malfunctioning the first half of February so I only have times for the last half of the month.
Longest Run: 46.10 km, Kelowna to Drought Hill near Peachland and back along the highway. 4:38:05
Longest Bike: 34 km, Lakeshore Road just past Bertram Park and back.
Hardest Run: 34 km run from The Greenway up to the start of Little White Forest Service Road. So many hills, pretty sure this was the final straw that messed up my calf muscles on my left leg.
Fastest Runs:
5 km: Feb 17 (24:27)
10 km: Feb 24 (50:30)
21.1 km: Feb 21 (2:02:28)
42.2 km: Feb 21 (4:13:57)
Run Totals: 271.44 km (15 runs) Average: 18.10 km
Bike Totals: 72.74 km (3 trips) Average: 24.25 km
Longest Run: 46.10 km, Kelowna to Drought Hill near Peachland and back along the highway. 4:38:05
Longest Bike: 34 km, Lakeshore Road just past Bertram Park and back.
Hardest Run: 34 km run from The Greenway up to the start of Little White Forest Service Road. So many hills, pretty sure this was the final straw that messed up my calf muscles on my left leg.
Fastest Runs:
5 km: Feb 17 (24:27)
10 km: Feb 24 (50:30)
21.1 km: Feb 21 (2:02:28)
42.2 km: Feb 21 (4:13:57)
Run Totals: 271.44 km (15 runs) Average: 18.10 km
Bike Totals: 72.74 km (3 trips) Average: 24.25 km
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Being injured is no good.
I have only run once so far in March. My last Saturday run of February I ran 34 km, much of which was uphill. The nest day I did a 12 km run where I really start to feel pain. The next day I woke up and I was limping. Shooting pain up the front of my left leg. Every time I walk up the stairs I can barely put pressure on my left leg. People have even commented to me how it looks like I am limping when I walk.
It took me a few days to figure out what was wrong with my leg (all the while I've been icing it while I'm at home). At first I thought it was the iliotibial band bothering me, but I've had that before and there was no pain above my knee, in fact the only time it feels like my knee is in pain is when I step.
So I think this is the problem.
This is the muscle that you use when you push off with your feet while running. After doing some research it would seem the list of possible ways to over exert this muscle includes:
-running too many hills (definitely did that)
-increasing weeky mileage too fast (possibly, I went from 150 km in December to 200 km in February to 275 km in February)
-pronating (I am a pronator)
-the more a pronator runs the more they are likely to get bothered by this as the pronating causes an extra usage of this muscle.
-not wearing motion control shoes (I was wearing older worn out shoes that I shouldn't have because they were more comfortable for shorter runs, rather than sucking it up and wearing shoes that are more comfortable on long runs).
In 16 days I'm running in the Campus to Campus Half Marathon. I hope my leg feels better by then.
I finally fixed my bike, took it for a spin around the block to make sure everything was working fine and it was. Even better was the fact that the lower impact exercise didn't bother my leg. So I think I will be safe to bike a little bit to keep my fitness level while my leg gets better.
Lesson learned: don't be a dumbass and wear the right shoes.
"No one ever drowned in sweat" - anonymous.
Keep on running... or biking.
Nazzer.
It took me a few days to figure out what was wrong with my leg (all the while I've been icing it while I'm at home). At first I thought it was the iliotibial band bothering me, but I've had that before and there was no pain above my knee, in fact the only time it feels like my knee is in pain is when I step.
So I think this is the problem.
This is the muscle that you use when you push off with your feet while running. After doing some research it would seem the list of possible ways to over exert this muscle includes:
-running too many hills (definitely did that)
-increasing weeky mileage too fast (possibly, I went from 150 km in December to 200 km in February to 275 km in February)
-pronating (I am a pronator)
-the more a pronator runs the more they are likely to get bothered by this as the pronating causes an extra usage of this muscle.
-not wearing motion control shoes (I was wearing older worn out shoes that I shouldn't have because they were more comfortable for shorter runs, rather than sucking it up and wearing shoes that are more comfortable on long runs).
In 16 days I'm running in the Campus to Campus Half Marathon. I hope my leg feels better by then.
I finally fixed my bike, took it for a spin around the block to make sure everything was working fine and it was. Even better was the fact that the lower impact exercise didn't bother my leg. So I think I will be safe to bike a little bit to keep my fitness level while my leg gets better.
Lesson learned: don't be a dumbass and wear the right shoes.
"No one ever drowned in sweat" - anonymous.
Keep on running... or biking.
Nazzer.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Hills make my calves turn to mush...
Today intended on running further than I did. But I think I pushed a little too hard while doing hills.
I had planned on running anywhere from 45-60 km today. I suppose I should have chosen to do mostly flat running for distance like that. Parked my car by the Greenway and started down the trail. The first two km were along the greenway on gravel/dirt and were flat. Because I wanted to run a long distance I was trying to maintain a slower than normal pace (6:00 min/km at most) but I'm not so good at this and ended up doing 5:00 min/km.
After that I hit the road and started my uphill climb. 12 km up paved rd. There were a couple spots were it flattened out for 200 metres at the most. Overall elevation change of 550 metres over the 12 km. I wanted to try and maintain a nice slow pace of a minimum of 7:20 min/km. But instead I ran this section at an average of 6:13 min/km.
I wanted to run up to the trestles, but the forest service road that led to them had far too much ice and snow on it to be comfortable to run uphill on. I made it a km before giving up and heading back down. Came back down a 6 km stretch of the road I had just ran up in 36 minutes (dropped 300 metres elevation). I only dropped my pace by 13 seconds / km coming back down. So strange. My calf muscles started to feel it here.
Rather than doing the smart thing and continuing down the road and heading back to my car the easy way when I could tell my calves were starting to feel it, I decided to do some more uphills. 3 km uphill along a road (18 min, 200 metres elevation change) and I was at Scenic Canyon Regional Park.
Scenic Canyon Regional Park is so nice. The last section (which is where I usually start) has hills up and down for 5 km. I started out still feeling okay here. It had snowed two days ago, and rained the day after that so the trails were rather muddy. And going up the hills on mud was no good, so I started walking up the hills. And then my calves started to scream at me. Did the 7 km section of the Park in 45 minutes. Stopped for awhile at the parking lot to stretch. And I just couldn't get going again.
I walked for 2 km, then ran for 2 more, then walked the last km to my car. 34 km total today. I think I found out how many hills I can comfortably run at that pace. I don't know how to slow down. For the last 5 years of running my goals have all been directed at going faster and faster. Now, I'm training for an ultra marathon and the death race and I want to slow it down. If I were to run the death race at the pace I ran today I would finish in 12 hours. Which is just incredibly impossible. So I really find myself unsure of where to slow down. Everywhere? Or just while going up hills?
Lesson learned today: I need to slow down going up hills if I want to be able to comfortably run 50 k + runs.
"The God’s will not do for man, what a man must do for himself."
Keep on running.
Nazzer
I had planned on running anywhere from 45-60 km today. I suppose I should have chosen to do mostly flat running for distance like that. Parked my car by the Greenway and started down the trail. The first two km were along the greenway on gravel/dirt and were flat. Because I wanted to run a long distance I was trying to maintain a slower than normal pace (6:00 min/km at most) but I'm not so good at this and ended up doing 5:00 min/km.
After that I hit the road and started my uphill climb. 12 km up paved rd. There were a couple spots were it flattened out for 200 metres at the most. Overall elevation change of 550 metres over the 12 km. I wanted to try and maintain a nice slow pace of a minimum of 7:20 min/km. But instead I ran this section at an average of 6:13 min/km.
I wanted to run up to the trestles, but the forest service road that led to them had far too much ice and snow on it to be comfortable to run uphill on. I made it a km before giving up and heading back down. Came back down a 6 km stretch of the road I had just ran up in 36 minutes (dropped 300 metres elevation). I only dropped my pace by 13 seconds / km coming back down. So strange. My calf muscles started to feel it here.
Rather than doing the smart thing and continuing down the road and heading back to my car the easy way when I could tell my calves were starting to feel it, I decided to do some more uphills. 3 km uphill along a road (18 min, 200 metres elevation change) and I was at Scenic Canyon Regional Park.
Scenic Canyon Regional Park is so nice. The last section (which is where I usually start) has hills up and down for 5 km. I started out still feeling okay here. It had snowed two days ago, and rained the day after that so the trails were rather muddy. And going up the hills on mud was no good, so I started walking up the hills. And then my calves started to scream at me. Did the 7 km section of the Park in 45 minutes. Stopped for awhile at the parking lot to stretch. And I just couldn't get going again.
I walked for 2 km, then ran for 2 more, then walked the last km to my car. 34 km total today. I think I found out how many hills I can comfortably run at that pace. I don't know how to slow down. For the last 5 years of running my goals have all been directed at going faster and faster. Now, I'm training for an ultra marathon and the death race and I want to slow it down. If I were to run the death race at the pace I ran today I would finish in 12 hours. Which is just incredibly impossible. So I really find myself unsure of where to slow down. Everywhere? Or just while going up hills?
Lesson learned today: I need to slow down going up hills if I want to be able to comfortably run 50 k + runs.
"The God’s will not do for man, what a man must do for himself."
Keep on running.
Nazzer
Monday, February 22, 2010
Pictures! Yay!
I biked up Knox Mountain today and I thought I would take my camera and post pictures, figured I'd take a pre-emptive strike against anyone reading the blog and not knowing what places I'm talking about. I realized after the fact that I didn't really take any pictures of the Mountain itself, but instead of the view of Kelowna from the Mountain. And I intended on going to another high point in the city except I got a flat tire. So not impressed with that, but oh well.
That is the view from the top of Knox Mountain while standing underneath the gazebo. The trail to the right leads down the mountain and is super fun to run down. Across Okanagan Lake is Bear Creek Park.
That pic is standing at the same spot, except facing West rather than North. (I think).
That's a shot of downtown Kelowna, with WRB Bennet Bridge in the background. Last week I ran across the bridge and then ran to past West Kelowna and back, it was a rough and hilly 46 km run.
I live approximately between the tree in the foreground of the photo and the apartment building to the right of the tree. Living in the valley is nice and all, but it means I need to run at least 5 km to get to any hills. The snow capped hills at the top of the photo; the Kettle Valley Railbed is in there, I think it's part of the Trans Canada Trail. I can't wait for that snow to melt!!! Ran that to Penticton once in the summer, and biked to Penticton and back on that trail in the summer once too. I think next week I'll park closer to there and do a 50 k run up the hills into that area, perhaps if I take my camera and stop every 15 minutes to take a picture it'll force me to slow down my pace for my LSD's.
Not much of shot here, in fact it wasn't the best day for photos with the clouds. You can't see it very well at all, but hidden behind the tree on the right of the rockface on the left is Myra Canyon. It's a pretty nice run, and I guess that's where I hope to end up on Saturday. There's 18 trestles that have been rebuilt from the old railway. The hardest part about planning a long run like that for the weekend is staying hydrated when I plan on running somewhere that has absolutely no bathrooms or running water. I suppose in late February I'll probably be running in snow, and there should be plenty of running water to refill my bottles so it should be easier to stay hydrated than a summer run.
I love these videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgCZksn1nPw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU8dWfi0l9M
Hidden deep within the recesses of our body's evolutionary past is a runner - free your natural spirit by running.
Keep on Running
Nazzer
That is the view from the top of Knox Mountain while standing underneath the gazebo. The trail to the right leads down the mountain and is super fun to run down. Across Okanagan Lake is Bear Creek Park.
That pic is standing at the same spot, except facing West rather than North. (I think).
That's a shot of downtown Kelowna, with WRB Bennet Bridge in the background. Last week I ran across the bridge and then ran to past West Kelowna and back, it was a rough and hilly 46 km run.
I live approximately between the tree in the foreground of the photo and the apartment building to the right of the tree. Living in the valley is nice and all, but it means I need to run at least 5 km to get to any hills. The snow capped hills at the top of the photo; the Kettle Valley Railbed is in there, I think it's part of the Trans Canada Trail. I can't wait for that snow to melt!!! Ran that to Penticton once in the summer, and biked to Penticton and back on that trail in the summer once too. I think next week I'll park closer to there and do a 50 k run up the hills into that area, perhaps if I take my camera and stop every 15 minutes to take a picture it'll force me to slow down my pace for my LSD's.
Not much of shot here, in fact it wasn't the best day for photos with the clouds. You can't see it very well at all, but hidden behind the tree on the right of the rockface on the left is Myra Canyon. It's a pretty nice run, and I guess that's where I hope to end up on Saturday. There's 18 trestles that have been rebuilt from the old railway. The hardest part about planning a long run like that for the weekend is staying hydrated when I plan on running somewhere that has absolutely no bathrooms or running water. I suppose in late February I'll probably be running in snow, and there should be plenty of running water to refill my bottles so it should be easier to stay hydrated than a summer run.
I love these videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgCZksn1nPw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU8dWfi0l9M
Hidden deep within the recesses of our body's evolutionary past is a runner - free your natural spirit by running.
Keep on Running
Nazzer
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Running too far? Whoops...
Today I should have done A LOT of homework because I did a fair amount of procrastination all week. So I went to the library at school and made the mistake of sitting at a computer that had a view of outside. I was only able to fight the urge to go for a run for 4 hours, then I had to leave and go running. It was just too nice out to not run.
I got home and within half an hour I had jammed a PB & J sandwich down my throat, slammed a litre of water, taped my toes, changed and packed my backpack with water and gatorade.
I only intended to go for a short 20 k run, but somehow at the 13 k point I had managed to not do anything close to turning back towards home. And those first 13 were all uphill from downtown up KLO Rd and Up McCullock road to Scenic canyon regional park. And then of course the next 3 km in the park were some nice hills. I really should have limited my run to a max of 20 k or so, my pace heading out was far too fast to comfortably run more than 20.
A few km into the parl there was some constructioon happening on the trail which was nice because they were putting in a series of steps into the really steep sections. I'm glad it was still light out for that section though, because there was some rebar posts sticking out of the ground. That would not have been fun to run over in the dark, even with my headlamp. Right at the bottom of the canyon near Mission Creek I heard some violent coyote sounds. It sounded as though a pack of coyotes were fighting each other or were attacking some other animal. Scared the crap out of me, and the sun had just set and I was left hoping whatever animals I had heard were on the other side of the creek; although that would be little comfort as that section of the creek is shallow enough for any animal to run through. But I made it to the parking lot on East Kelowna Rd without seeing any animals. Whew!
I specifically plan mu runs to go by bathrooms near the parks so I can refill my bottles. But when I got there some security guard had just locked up the bathroom, and I had never seen it locked before. But he was easily convinced into unlocking it to let me fill up. What a pleasantly surprising man! He was rather amused by my headlamp, it made me chuckle. And then he sort of mocked me for running while EVERYONE else was inside their homes watching the Canada/USA hockey game.
Running the Mission Creek Greenway is SO nice at night with a headlamp. You really do lose track of time and distance while night running, which is a good thing. So I'd run 30 km by the time I finished on the Greenway (passing by all the portapottys on the trail) and was into residential area before realizing I desperately needed to relieve myself. When nature calls, any bush will do. Chose a tree at the front of somoenes yard, and I'm pretty sure their living room light was turned on while I was taking care of business; hope they enjoyed the view!
By the times I had hit 38 km I was really feeling it in my calves. Started to get the feeling that I should actually plan and properly prepare for longer runs by eating better the day before. Whoops. And perhaps I should do a better job working in some walking time considering my goal is adding distance to my runs, and not to run faster.
I'm fairly satisfied with my toe taping which I started againi last week. I only got one very small blister on my second toe today. Which will be gone tomorrow.
"Running long and hard is an ideal antidepressant, since it's hard to run and feel sorry for yourself at the same time. Also, there are those hours of clearheadedness that follow a long run."
-Monte Davis
Keep on Running
Nazzer
I got home and within half an hour I had jammed a PB & J sandwich down my throat, slammed a litre of water, taped my toes, changed and packed my backpack with water and gatorade.
I only intended to go for a short 20 k run, but somehow at the 13 k point I had managed to not do anything close to turning back towards home. And those first 13 were all uphill from downtown up KLO Rd and Up McCullock road to Scenic canyon regional park. And then of course the next 3 km in the park were some nice hills. I really should have limited my run to a max of 20 k or so, my pace heading out was far too fast to comfortably run more than 20.
A few km into the parl there was some constructioon happening on the trail which was nice because they were putting in a series of steps into the really steep sections. I'm glad it was still light out for that section though, because there was some rebar posts sticking out of the ground. That would not have been fun to run over in the dark, even with my headlamp. Right at the bottom of the canyon near Mission Creek I heard some violent coyote sounds. It sounded as though a pack of coyotes were fighting each other or were attacking some other animal. Scared the crap out of me, and the sun had just set and I was left hoping whatever animals I had heard were on the other side of the creek; although that would be little comfort as that section of the creek is shallow enough for any animal to run through. But I made it to the parking lot on East Kelowna Rd without seeing any animals. Whew!
I specifically plan mu runs to go by bathrooms near the parks so I can refill my bottles. But when I got there some security guard had just locked up the bathroom, and I had never seen it locked before. But he was easily convinced into unlocking it to let me fill up. What a pleasantly surprising man! He was rather amused by my headlamp, it made me chuckle. And then he sort of mocked me for running while EVERYONE else was inside their homes watching the Canada/USA hockey game.
Running the Mission Creek Greenway is SO nice at night with a headlamp. You really do lose track of time and distance while night running, which is a good thing. So I'd run 30 km by the time I finished on the Greenway (passing by all the portapottys on the trail) and was into residential area before realizing I desperately needed to relieve myself. When nature calls, any bush will do. Chose a tree at the front of somoenes yard, and I'm pretty sure their living room light was turned on while I was taking care of business; hope they enjoyed the view!
By the times I had hit 38 km I was really feeling it in my calves. Started to get the feeling that I should actually plan and properly prepare for longer runs by eating better the day before. Whoops. And perhaps I should do a better job working in some walking time considering my goal is adding distance to my runs, and not to run faster.
I'm fairly satisfied with my toe taping which I started againi last week. I only got one very small blister on my second toe today. Which will be gone tomorrow.
"Running long and hard is an ideal antidepressant, since it's hard to run and feel sorry for yourself at the same time. Also, there are those hours of clearheadedness that follow a long run."
-Monte Davis
Keep on Running
Nazzer
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Barefoot Running
Today I went barefoot running at a soccer field. It was pretty awesome. It was a little cold out (2 degrees celsius) so my feet got a little cold.
It felt so amazing to have my toes be able to hit the ground unencumbered by an annoying shoe, feeling the grass in between them at every step. The skin under the heels of my feet got a little frozen near the end.
When I put my shoes back on to run home from the park it felt rather strange. Perhaps the strangeness was from the numb feeling from my heels. But I felt like I wanted to rip off the shoes and just run barefoot again. If only I could have ran home on a trail rather than needing to run on pavement.
Nazzer
It felt so amazing to have my toes be able to hit the ground unencumbered by an annoying shoe, feeling the grass in between them at every step. The skin under the heels of my feet got a little frozen near the end.
When I put my shoes back on to run home from the park it felt rather strange. Perhaps the strangeness was from the numb feeling from my heels. But I felt like I wanted to rip off the shoes and just run barefoot again. If only I could have ran home on a trail rather than needing to run on pavement.
Nazzer
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Mmm, Hills.
Today I ran from Kelowna to a little ways before Peachland along Highway 97. I went to the bottom of Drought Hill and then came back. 46 km in total. Four hours and 35 minutes. The last three km were rather ugly, I was able to power through all the hills withouy stopping, but the bridge on the way back in to town did me in. I guess I just didn't have the juice to do that last climb.
The first 4 km were flat from my house to the bridge. Then I had the bridge, which has a short stepp climb. Followed by another short (probably 500 meters) steep climb up bridge hill. Then a good 4 km of medium incline. Gentle flatish areas for awhile leading up to Westbank, and then a 1 km climb up near the Glenrosa exit. Down Drought hill, turned around and cam back drought hill. That was about 4 km of steep climb. Then came back.
Kept fairly well hydrated throughout. Stopped at three gas stations and an A&W to fill up my water bottles. Stopped to stretch out my legs a couple times. Overall, only walked for about 1 km total out of 46 km. It was exhilerating.
Nazzer
The first 4 km were flat from my house to the bridge. Then I had the bridge, which has a short stepp climb. Followed by another short (probably 500 meters) steep climb up bridge hill. Then a good 4 km of medium incline. Gentle flatish areas for awhile leading up to Westbank, and then a 1 km climb up near the Glenrosa exit. Down Drought hill, turned around and cam back drought hill. That was about 4 km of steep climb. Then came back.
Kept fairly well hydrated throughout. Stopped at three gas stations and an A&W to fill up my water bottles. Stopped to stretch out my legs a couple times. Overall, only walked for about 1 km total out of 46 km. It was exhilerating.
Nazzer
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Sometimes people are so pleasantly surprising.
Today I went running and decided to do some hills. So I hit Knox Mountain. Knox has a paved road going up it that is 3.8 km long, as well as a series of trails running up and down the mountain sides. I think the elevation change on the road is around 900 ft.
Usually I just run up the paved road once, and then come down a trail, and then back up half way on a trail and home for a 10 k run. It makes for a nice short hour long easy run.
Today it was raining. And I just LOVE running in the rain, it cools you down so nice. Keeps the body heat down and it feels like I don't need to carry as much water with me when I run. All day when I was at school all I could do was stare out the window and the beautiful rain clouds forming.
So when I finally started running it was wonderful. When I was running up the road around the second turn some random guy that was walking down the road yells out to me "YOU RULE!". It just made my day. I ran up and down the mountain twice today without stopping once, felt so good. Thank you random dude for making my day and giving me encouragement.
Usually I just run up the paved road once, and then come down a trail, and then back up half way on a trail and home for a 10 k run. It makes for a nice short hour long easy run.
Today it was raining. And I just LOVE running in the rain, it cools you down so nice. Keeps the body heat down and it feels like I don't need to carry as much water with me when I run. All day when I was at school all I could do was stare out the window and the beautiful rain clouds forming.
So when I finally started running it was wonderful. When I was running up the road around the second turn some random guy that was walking down the road yells out to me "YOU RULE!". It just made my day. I ran up and down the mountain twice today without stopping once, felt so good. Thank you random dude for making my day and giving me encouragement.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Running; a self analysis.
Today I intended to run a short 10 km run. But I ended up running 21 km, mostly through trails that ran along a decent sized creek. It was too tranquil to stop running. I beat the shit out of my legs running up and down hills, and it was awesome. After some solid uphills I got to glide down 5 km of downhill on roads on the way back to my car... which I subsequently couldn't find and ran around for a kilometre trying to figure out where it was. Such a beautiful night for a run. Reading break is coming up soon. I think I might do a massive run that week, and it will kick ass.
When I run I forget where I am, I forget the troubles of the day, I forget about the person that I no longer want to be; I leave the person I am ashamed of in my shadow as I run. Every moment I run is a new moment of Zen like enlightenment, pure quality.
My muscles ache, screaming at me that they’re not willing to go on, so I run further. My toenails fall off or turn black, but I don’t notice. My muscles cramp after hours of running, but I push through it and it goes away. I see the mountain, it may get the best of me the first time perhaps even the second or third time, but I kick that mountains ass eventually; I make it my bitch. I feel the pain through my body as I run further than I should, I ignore it, and then I conquer it and I glide. And then I push further, and harder; one peak turns into the next. And I overcome. Zen.
I see my breathe in the cold night’s air, and I see me. The hair on my arms stands up as I get goose bumps, and I feel me. My breathing makes a steady beat as I run, and I hear me. The sweat pours down my face, and I taste me. When I run through the mountain trails, I smell the world as it’s meant to be. As I run past the deer in the mountains at night they see me, and they don’t run from what they see. And I get to know my body. Zen.
As I run, I fly. When I push my body past the point of comfort, I fall back into the rhythm of what feels natural and I push harder. With less effort I kick harder, my feet feel the force of the unnatural pavement even less as they spend more time in the air. Free from the constraints of what I am forced to be on a daily basis, I fly. As I spend more time running, I become more able to fly, spending less time on the ground. Less and less restricted from the processes of itself, my body savours the moment. My normalized body tells me that I cannot run this far, that I should not do this; but I will not listen. I choose to fight the normalization. And I reconnect with my body. Zen.
When I run, I can run on anything. Running through mud, I feel it and my muscles know. My gait adjusts to whatever I require; be it gravel, pavement, rocky mountain slopes, puddles, sand. I can run on anything and my body will carry me through it without flinching. And I know my body will take me wherever I make it go. Zen.
As I run, I reconnect with my senses. I recollect The Form of Neil that I forgot. My body reminds me that there are no limits, that there are no bounds, normalization is not natural. And I remind myself as I run. When I am weary, I run and show myself that weariness is nothing more than an external standard placed upon me; and that my body will not accept weariness. When I think I am incapable, my body will show me that yes, I am. When I think that a distance not doable, my body will take me there. When I think there is no reason to smile, I am reminded that I am aware of myself and I smile. My body opens the door to connecting with my Form. Zen.
Drivers try and run me down when I run, and they wave at me and tell me I’m number one. And I know I am loved. Zen.
I’ve met my hero. And he is me. So I smile.
Zen.
When I run I forget where I am, I forget the troubles of the day, I forget about the person that I no longer want to be; I leave the person I am ashamed of in my shadow as I run. Every moment I run is a new moment of Zen like enlightenment, pure quality.
My muscles ache, screaming at me that they’re not willing to go on, so I run further. My toenails fall off or turn black, but I don’t notice. My muscles cramp after hours of running, but I push through it and it goes away. I see the mountain, it may get the best of me the first time perhaps even the second or third time, but I kick that mountains ass eventually; I make it my bitch. I feel the pain through my body as I run further than I should, I ignore it, and then I conquer it and I glide. And then I push further, and harder; one peak turns into the next. And I overcome. Zen.
I see my breathe in the cold night’s air, and I see me. The hair on my arms stands up as I get goose bumps, and I feel me. My breathing makes a steady beat as I run, and I hear me. The sweat pours down my face, and I taste me. When I run through the mountain trails, I smell the world as it’s meant to be. As I run past the deer in the mountains at night they see me, and they don’t run from what they see. And I get to know my body. Zen.
As I run, I fly. When I push my body past the point of comfort, I fall back into the rhythm of what feels natural and I push harder. With less effort I kick harder, my feet feel the force of the unnatural pavement even less as they spend more time in the air. Free from the constraints of what I am forced to be on a daily basis, I fly. As I spend more time running, I become more able to fly, spending less time on the ground. Less and less restricted from the processes of itself, my body savours the moment. My normalized body tells me that I cannot run this far, that I should not do this; but I will not listen. I choose to fight the normalization. And I reconnect with my body. Zen.
When I run, I can run on anything. Running through mud, I feel it and my muscles know. My gait adjusts to whatever I require; be it gravel, pavement, rocky mountain slopes, puddles, sand. I can run on anything and my body will carry me through it without flinching. And I know my body will take me wherever I make it go. Zen.
As I run, I reconnect with my senses. I recollect The Form of Neil that I forgot. My body reminds me that there are no limits, that there are no bounds, normalization is not natural. And I remind myself as I run. When I am weary, I run and show myself that weariness is nothing more than an external standard placed upon me; and that my body will not accept weariness. When I think I am incapable, my body will show me that yes, I am. When I think that a distance not doable, my body will take me there. When I think there is no reason to smile, I am reminded that I am aware of myself and I smile. My body opens the door to connecting with my Form. Zen.
Drivers try and run me down when I run, and they wave at me and tell me I’m number one. And I know I am loved. Zen.
I’ve met my hero. And he is me. So I smile.
Zen.
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