matoatoa’s BodyBlog

in Samoa where people died and villages were washed away. It was a sad day down here in the South Pacific. I have frends and relatives there. The tsunami was expected to come here too but arrived much depleted of its energy. This is what I thought about as I made my way around the wet windswept bays on my evening run…50 mins

yep, thats right…for some reason the front of my shins swelled up when I went for my run tonight and really slowed me down. It ws like all the muscles or tendons down the inside of my shin and across the top of my foot ballooned up or something. I had to stop and stretch it out like it was thick cold chewing gum. Because of this I didn’t run as far as usual. I also had to cut my run time short to 45mins to allow for a stop at the supermarket. Hate that…The bays were being hit by a light northerly breeze so the waves were not too big. The tide looked like it was low too. I saw a cop car with its lights flasing nearly run off the road. I smelt the burning rubber even in the breeze… and there was another mad photographer with tripod trying to shoot the harbour lights. It’s interesting what happens after 10pm at night on that winding road.

on the treadmill last night meant I burnt 940 cals in 50 mins. A moderate pace but I was sweating in there. Some guy on the treadmill next to me - quite big ran at a crazy pace for about 20 minutes, sending vibrations through the treadmill machine and the floor with every thigh flinging hip twisting footstep.He managed to maintain his balance while pounding the mill and adjusting his i-pod at the same time! What a monster!!! Then the staff chased us out of the gym….

Especially when you are running into a southerly headwind. I still managed to run a quick pace getting around my ‘track’  faster than usual despite the wind. A few minutes short of 50 mins…say 47mins. My resting HR was good today @ about 64bpm. It is amazing how quickly the body can transform…just gotta make sure you don’t get a big head about it. 

so I didn’t run on monday night but I ran 53 minutes tonight. A friend asked me to draw a pirate map so I stayed up late to finish some thumbnails for him. I need to do a full version by Friday. The run around the bays tonight was peaceful and calm. A group of students were out with their tripods taking photographs of the harbour lights from the rocks. I needed a good run because I was in a chair all day in a room with 30 other people and we were not allowed to leave the building.Needless to say I sprinted out after the long and boring workshop after 8.5 hours…ay caramba!

I still went for a run. It was a hard 35 minute run cos I didn’t go last night.

when you are running. I said to my son, do you know what I hate most about running? he said "no", I said "running". Thing is when I am out there I actually enjoy it but I am always glad when I finish. Anyway, I did another 50mins around the bays tonight. The wind was gentle and the tide well out. A few people were on the waterfront, walking, sitting looking out to sea, sitting in their cars watching some weird guy go running past…I find already that I am running further in the same amount of time. The capillaries must be opening up.

I would be wasted. The road I run along the bays follows a line of cliffs. At the foot of the cliffs are houses. If a tsunami came while I was running, I’d have to scale the cliffs while avoiding rock falls from the earth quake that precipitated the tsunami(…sorry random thought while running). It was dead calm around the bays tonight, so different from last night. Every night I round the point a plane is taking off from the nearby airport. Same scheduled flight every night…roughly around the same time. I rang for 50 mins but further than my previous runs. I am running pretty steady and slow, trying not to get "puffed’ out too soon. I want my cardiovascular system to adapt at a steady rate, build my capacity slowly, increase my "steady state" of effort. I am low carbing it, but not in an Atkins style. I will eat carbs on pizza night and try not to gte carried away on sat and sunday. I need to check kids homework now.

I ran for 50 mins round the bays into a northerly and then returned with the wind at my back. The sea was breaking over the sea wall and splashing the footpath and me. I could see the white caps and foaming water in the darkness. It was weirdly very peaceful out there despite the elements. … and they fixed the streetlights!!!

Didn’t run on weekend due to pizza night, rugby at pub night and family at movies night…expensive but deserved.

I did 50 minutes on the treadmill followed by a litre of water down the hatch. Good hard run…