Paras’10 preparation week 11 & 12

March 23-29
Remember the probe attack of the flu last week? Well it hit in full force this week….

Monday 23rd
….. supressed by flu attack, no effective counterattack possible
Thursdag 26th
….. pinned down, need AIR support

Gutted I can’t train…..just frustrating not to getting anything done.

Friday 27th
… Broke trough the lines to find reinforcements… Got back with Xylomethalazine and Acetylcysteine, a counterattack is underway. Better life trough modern medicine…

Did a dynamic rifle match on Sunday 29th, went quite well. Was able to put some speed in the course of fire and ended up 11th out of approx. 60 contenders..

March 30th – April 5th
April 1st
…Decided that living in a sub sealevel bit of the country wasn’t going to be an excuse not to train inclines. So I got on and bought a membership at the local gym. Training inclines on a treadmill is not really the same as a good tab outside but it’ll have to do for now.. Only minor gripe is the gym won’t allow my bergen inside the gym itself. House-rule about big bags on the training floors …. Anyway, I’ll get started on it and see how to compensate for the weight

Now I need a playlist to listen to, just to overcome the sheer boredom of running on something without the horizon changing…

Paras’10 preparation week 10

This weeks blog is presented by the Flu because it’s the little things in life that matter…….

Woke up Thursday with a slight fever, sore throat and a cough that resembles the sound of a hungry Galapagos sea lion during mating season.

I’m so very much annoyed by this…. got in two good tabs this week, was very much looking forward to doing another two this week.

So what did I get done this week…. A very nice 8 km w/ Bergen in 01:06:16. And we started pushing beyond 10 km toward the full distance. 12 km with Bergen in 01:41:50 was the result of that one. It was actually quite warm that day, but was able to reach deep and push on….

@Legendphysio Skins socks do rule indeed!

Hope this flu thing will pass soon, I don’t have time to be sick.

Paras’10 preparation week 9

Progressing into week 9 of working towards this years Paras’10 in Catterick, training is often combined with ways to be more effective, faster and/or stronger.

So this weeks blog is brought to you  by my good old mate pain…without who there is no gain as they say. However, with the right tools one can go further and harder. These tools to me often are, loading my Bergen more efficiently. Lace up boots wisely. Eat & drink right and wear the right socks.

Up till now I was wearing normal Falke trekking socks and thicker socks when hauling a loaded bergen. These worked all right for the feet, still having my pinky toe destroyed with multilayered  blisters once I reached the 10-12 km point. Thicker socks lessened this problem but hotspots remained.

Via twitter I came across Skins compression socks, sized trough the largest bit of the calf muscle instead of normal shoe size these socks offer compression on the lower leg as well as provide with little bits and pieces to prevent chafing and enhance shock absorption.

Thursday I took them out for a 4 km run in pants/boots and Bergen (time 00:31:46), I always get a bit of pain the first kilometre in the shins. This run was no exception, although it got better a lot quicker.

Even if placebo…I’m a believer in Skins socks

Paras’10 preparation week 8

A long time ago I decided to install a Twitter account just because I could…. Never quite understood or appreciated the importance and power of 150 word messages. Since I started this blog I linked it to both my Facebook, Google and Twitter accounts. And much to my pleasant surprise I saw some, what I consider, bigger names in the tabbing/endurance race world that started following me on Twitter.

It finally occurred to me that Twitter especially is a very hands on and personal way to connect and communicate. I gained renewed interest in this type of social media. The stories shared and tweets posted also inspired me to train harder for this years Catterick Paras’10 and made me want to look beyond this event. Where do I want to go with this type of sport?

Where as the goal in last years 10 mile tab was to finish  under 3 hours period, I am finding myself more fired up to push harder en reach deeper to move faster. That’s a big change in personal motivation.

I saw this quote I retweeted today and I do think it’s fitting.. :”It’s better to try and fail – than not try and still fail.. Be determined – Be strong – Be humble”.

Meanwhile, one might ask, where’s your training results of this week. Truthfully, I haven’t been out this week. Last week I developed a bit of a sore in the left lower leg which is healing up fine this week, decided not to push for injury this early in the year (got a bit wiser in that..).

Will try in the next days how things are working out and be back out there fully next week…
So I got out there on Saturday for a 8 km tab with 20lbs bergen and ended this week with an improved time of 01:05:29!