Runningmonkeys

This week I’ve started a new habit of doing a gentle, full body stretching routine last thing before I go to bed.  I start with my hands and work all the way down through my legs.  I expected it would feel good, but not this good.  By the end, I find that I am so […]

[Read more →]

Here is a quick illustration that I found by chance.
Stand with your back to a wall (a strong, not easily damaged wall or at least someone Else’s wall).  Lift one foot off the ground and place it on the wall a bit below knee height.
Now take your foot off the wall and sharply send it back […]

[Read more →]

A journey of 8 months starts with the first few weeks (and all that cliched wisdom).  I finished the first three weeks of my conservative, gradual, perfect base training phase last week.  This was three weeks of running 8kilometres 6 times a week at about 5:04 per kilometre.  Nice easy base distance.
This next three weeks […]

[Read more →]

Running can be a reasonably painful experience for some.  They suffer from all sorts of blisters and chafing, muscle soreness and joint aches.  These are minor issues that typically go away quite quickly.
Realistically, the main pain of running comes from injuries.  These can range from the low intensity, short duration injuries like a pulled muscle […]

[Read more →]

The words relax and run are very seldom seen together in the same sentence.  Most people on this planet seem to think that it is impossible to relax and run at the same time.
Most runners have realised that they can use running as a trigger for mental relaxation.  For many of us, the simple ritual […]

[Read more →]

I have been running with the Pose Method, more or less successfully, for quite a few weeks now, and so I have taken the opportunity to re-read some sections of the book to pick up where I am going wrong.
The main points that jumped out at me were these:

I was hitting the ground with the […]

[Read more →]

Umeboshi is the Japanese Pickled Plum.  They are eaten by the Japanese in many different situations.  A lot of Japanese people eat a couple with their breakfast every day.  Many Japanese Obento (lunch boxes) have a small Umeboshi on top of the rice.  They are used as fillings in rice balls and other recipes and […]

[Read more →]

Today we are sitting at the front of a typhoon.  It has been coming up from Okinawa and is just starting to show up here. 
First thing this morning I went running in the rain and I didn’t see any other runners.  All I saw were people huddled beneath umbrellas or giving me strange looks through the […]

[Read more →]

There has been a lot of debate over how much sleep the average person needs to get by.  We are told that below a specific threshold, the average person, loses the ability to think clearly, operate productively and relate effectively with others.  This threshold is supposedly along the lines of 6 hours per day for an […]

[Read more →]

So, here I am in the second week of my brand new training program.  So far I have fulfilled 100% of the running I specified, but that has only been 9 runs.
The program includes a long gradual base phase as per my posts on base training.  I picked a maximum mileage of 105 kilometres per […]

[Read more →]