Running Styles

'Can anybody tell me how they run?' asked Hauling My Carcass in a post about running technique but the more interesting question is 'should anybody change the way they run?'. More specifically sould they attempt to change their footstrike?

Do I know how I run?

To answer the first question: yes, or at least I have a fairly good idea. I like to monitor myself when running , checking my balance, sense of muscular movement, ease of movement, breathing etc, etc, and so I think about my footfall moderately frequently. One of the attractions of running is the feeling of physicality and the sense of a working body and to get this I like to pay it some attention to how things are going.

I know for example that I land on outside of my midfoot, roll over to the ball of the foot and then push off. That is what it feels like and also what it looks like on the treadmill when buying new shoes but the best evidence is the wear pattern on old trainers. They can never lie because they show the results of all your miles - the actual physical evidence. The picture above is the sole of one of my current shoes. You can see the main area of wear is (A) , where the rubber on the bottom outside-edge has worn right down to the level of the hard-plastic midfoot bridge. The outside of the front of the heel (B) also shows wear because it gets in the way as my foot comes down at a shallow angle (I do not land on my toes) and area (C) shows wear from pushing-off. The heel at the back looks almost untouched.

I did not choose to run this way, like most people when I started running my only concern was how far I could go and I certainly did not think about how my foot should land. I ran the way that came naturally and I continue in the same style. As I am not particularly injury prone (though not injury free) my attitude is that it works well enough and so there is nothing much to worry about. But if I were to worry I would not start with questions of heel strike versus forefoot strike because I think that is determined by the rest of my form (e.g. I think I land on my midfoot because I take short strides and land under my body). I would start by looking at balance.

I made this point in an earlier post about watching two people in the gym. They both had good form, were fluid in their movements, compact but relaxed they were running easily and well but one landed on the heels the other on the forefoot. Their good style had more to do with being upright (i.e. not bending from the waist), having a relaxed upper body (i.e. their arms moved easily without tension), and not landing too heavily (their leg turnover was quite high).

The thing is that all of these components of good style can be worked on independently, without having to dismantle everything and start again in a very self-conscious way. For example I think shoulders are important for your whole posture and when they are relaxed everything moves more easily. If you feel your shoulders are too tight when you run you can work on them, over time by making them your run-thought, every time you go out and gradually changes can be made. If you feel you bend at the waist, similarly you can work at keeping your hips in a straight line. You can also do strength exercises for the upper body and core to help with these two areas. In this way changes can be made to the running style - incrementally

Should runners change their style?

This brings me to the second question should you change your style? My answer is perhaps but not necessarily. If you are running injury-free and are happy with your progress then there is no reason to change. The idea that there is one perfect style is a snare and delusion. We run the way we do because of all sorts of adaptations our bodies have made over a long period of time and all of us have different relative strength in the different muscle groups. The way we run reflects that. If it is working don't mess with it.

However if there are problems with injury or lack of progress you can look at the general principles of good form and gradually work at things and if necessary switch a few running sessions to build general strength or flexibility.

But what about Pose?

But should you make a wholesale change and do something like Pose running? Of that I am less convinced. Going right back to zero and becoming a beginner once again is a hellishly difficult ask and it might not deliver what is promised. As far as I know the only systematic testing of Pose running was done at the University of Cape Town under the aegis of Tim Noakes. Conclusions from the study can be read here and here (they are part of a series of blog posts about running style (front page here), which are full of good observations). One of the more interesting findings is that Pose running does not reduce forces on the body, instead it transfers them to different parts so that whilst heel strikers typically have more knee injuries, those trained in Pose had more ankle problems.

The problem with Pose is that it promises to reduce injuries and so evidence to the contrary is significant. A common response is to suggest that it is not the technique but the implementation i.e. the poor, injured runner was not up to the task of running properly but this causes more problems than it solves because it means the demands of the style are so high you can never be sure you are doing it properly. That uncertainty must put an almighty dent in the simple pleasure of getting out the door and running.

For many people though Pose obviously works and the sincerity and zeal of its advocates cannot be doubted. For that reason I would not want to dismiss it, I just don't think the advantages are as clear-cut and inevitable as those advocates suggest (otherwise everyone would do it and looking at the runners in the World Athletics Championships this definitely not the case). Like every other intervention related to the human body there is complexity and the outcomes are not necessarily homogenous.

The trick for all runners is to find out what works for them personally. This involves learning from the experience of others, reading, and finding people whose judgement they trust but most importantly trying things out. Running is empirical and theory is only meaningful if it shows results on the road. That is one of the reasons I like it - everything is there to be tested.

As for Pose - it seems a long haul before it is perfected and you could evaluate the benefits. I am not sure I would have the patience

A Lack of Adventure

This is another picture from my holiday: two people paddling along the great, grey-green, greasy Charente River, towing behind them, in a little inflatable trailer, their camping gear.

I imagine a holiday, with no fixed objectives except to start out each morning and either see how far you could go in a day or stop off when you reached somewhere interesting. I imagine constant exercise but not flat out, not exhausting, the sort of exercise that build strength over time. I imagine the feel of fresh air on the cheeks and the contemplation of quietness of isolated places. Above all I can imagine the two men come home to tell their friends about the miles travelled, difficulties overcome, and the satisfactions of the trip.

Then I think about myself and how my routines lack adventure : no big trips, no long stretches of open road or open waterway. Mostly what I do is run, fairly regularly, around a limited number of routes, trying to be alert to what I pass and find freshness and satisfaction. In many ways this is enough and it contributes mightily to my mental balance, but gives me no bragging rights. I have not made extended trips such as cycling coast to coast from Wales to East Anglia, as have IrunbecauseIlikeFood or Red Rocket nor have I thought of any imaginative challenges like Adele, and I have certainly never had any desire to test myself to destruction by trying to run between the 4 capitals of the UK like Eddie Izzard.

Perhaps I should extend the range of what I do? Certainly I should give it some consideration.

At the moment my only plan is to give the marathon another go - to try to find out whether the satisfaction outweighs the pain or vice verse. I would like a definitive answer but my suspicion is that there will be none and, just like before, I will find myself looking at a tangled mess of emotions. Nevertheless trying to answer the question is my current quest and that will have to be enough for the time being.

The French Paradox

The French Paradox is that whilst the national diet is high on saturated fats the rate of obesity and cardiovascular death is amongst the lowest in the western world. This does not mean of course that everybody is thin. People are all shapes and sizes and I love walking around places like this brocante looking at people as well as the now redundant objects. This man's full belly somehow adds to the character of the place.

Lately I have become more interested in variations in the human body. I started by looking at the way people moved and their running styles, making connections with different builds and then noticing how every part of the body has its own unique pattern. It is well known that hands are individual but even a simple body part like the calf can vary amazingly. Yoko Ono first made her name with a film of scores of naked bottoms, just showing how they differed so what I am saying is not new. It is just part of my ongoing project of trying to look at the world with fresh eyes.

It is a weird side-effect of running that I now look at people more closely.

Weight is part of form but it is not everything. Sometimes I wonder if we all spend too much time worrying about our own weight and tut tutting about other people's. In my gym there is a board where people post their targets and resolutions and almost all of them are about losing weight. Hardly any are physical challenges such as beating a pb or learning a new skill, which be far more interesting targets. Why is weight so often seen as the most important thing?

Probably it is a surrogate based on the assumption that we would all be happier, more vigorous, better looking and enjoy life more if we were lighter (or for some people heavier). This is may or may not be true - I don't even know if weight is a symptom or cause of unhappiness.

My feelings about my own weight are rather functional: I want to lose a little because I think it will help my running. The main aim is to try to run a marathon without feeling whipped and beaten in the second half and I am sure that the less useless weight I carry the better. However it is proving difficult and I have only lost about 4 lbs since the beginning of the year but I am not too upset because my main strategy is to run more miles and so far that is going OK.

It is interesting that I don't lose weight with increased training. Part of the reason is that I become more concerned with maintaining energy levels and refuelling than with dieting; but it is very, very difficult to eat only what the body requires, and no more. Running 5k and eating for 10k is however the easiest thing in the world. On the other hand I prefer that to under eating and then passing out as happened to President Sarkoszy.
How does one find the right balance?

Which brings me back to the French paradox, which isn't really much of a paradox because traditionally they don't snack much, they have modest sized portions, and cook things from scratch using good quality, fresh ingredients. That is all one needs to know, all one needs to do: eat well but moderately and take pleasure in food. Everything else will then take care of itself.

Sunflowers

One of the pleasures of running the same routes repeatedly is familiarity, whilst one of the disadvantages is …. familiarity.

Some mornings you can wake up and be a little tired of the thought of going to the same place but somehow when you get out you see new things, subtle changes, an evolving landscape or different activities, and the run is still interesting, still fresh. When you go on holiday to a place you know but see infrequently you can get the boost of the genuinely new so that each run is an exploration whilst still knowing where you are going.

I still like to look for changes and the best crop in all the whole world is sunflowers. Every day they look different and running between the fields of yellow is fun. They are tall, the right height to be looked squarely in the face.


In only a couple of weeks they change from having a greenish tight centre to a full old semi-globe before the petals drop, the head droops and the colour dulls. These two pictures were taken from the same field and shows how they move through stages.

I also like how , for agriculture, they are sown in straight lines and stand like soldiers but there are often one or two who are contrarians - standing to the side looking in the opposite direction. I am always amused when things break ranks.


Like anything they look different in different light. In the high sunlight they open up and you see the brightness of the yellow petals whilst when conditions are gloomier they close and look more tousled, slightly browner. As in the final photo.

Morning or Evening

Morning or evening are the only times to run as the meat of the day is too hot. My choice is morning as evenings are much more suited to gentle strolls around the village. One of the great pastimes is to walk around to look at all the properties to see if there have been any changes - places for sale of new renovations, that sort of thing. There are about 150 people in the village of whom about 25 are outsiders who have bought dilapidated properties to renovate. most they are English but apparently on the scale of things they are more acceptable than Parisians.

The evening walks took us in loops in the countryside around the village and these pictures were taken about 9:30, when the sun was setting.

Morning running has the advantage of discipline: I had to be out by 8 at the latest, or it would be too hot. This means there can be no procrastination or general messing about. It has to be wake-up get dressed and go! So every morning (bar two) I woke up at 7:15 and ran before breakfast.

There were two great advantages. The first was that I saw the countryside whilst it still felt fresh, whilst the second was that when I was out the bakers van visited, so I returned for a breakfast of fresh French bread and croissants. Brilliant. Unfortunately it is a routine I have no hope of replicating at home.

Ah well I have my memories.

Back Again

It has been over three weeks since I last posted. Although I have been away for most of that time, there is no excuse for the gap since Tuesday, except that I am finding it difficult to get back into my normal routines . So sinews need to be stiffened, resolve needs to be strengthened and blogs need to be written.

Our holiday was in a small village near Matha (which in turn is fairly near Cognac), where my sister and brother-in-law have a house. We go there quite often and love the peace of the countryside and the way our normal world first fades and then totally disappears. No internet, TV or radio - no need to know about anything happening anywhere else. A house, a group of people, daily tasks, outings, eating and drinking - and that is all there needs to be.

The countryside is perfect for running - open and rolling, with traffic-free roads. No run is flat but for every long drag up there is a lovely long slope down. As well as the roads linking the villages there are masses of small vine roads to give the farmers access to their crops, so you can run on good surfaces but feel as if you are running through the fields. There are no hedges, or other barriers to block you in so you can stand up straight, look out and see for miles.

The agriculture is interesting . Our tradition is for farm houses to be isolated - on their farm. Here the farmers all live in the village and travel out to their surrounding land. For an outsider there are no clear lines of demarcation between the land of different farmers, just as there is nothing between the different crops - they butt up against each other so there can be a vines next to wheat, next to sunflowers, next to maize, with trees as windbreaks. It is probably close to how things were before land enclosure - more like medieval strip farming but done in a modern way. Except that there are no animals. A generation ago every farmer would also have kept a few animals but the economics have now changed.


So here are a couple of photos of the landscape. I will amuse myself over the next few posts with some more photos and might even make some ludicrously convoluted attempt to link them to running.

A Short Break

So Juneathon has ended and it's time for a change. Time for a holiday

I will be in France and out of internet contact for the next 17 days so this blog will be going dark for a little while. But from the 20th I will be back remembering runs on the country roads of the Charente and posting a few pictures.

Good running everybody and I look forward to reading about all your exploits when I return

And in Conclusion: Juneathon 09

The only appropriate way to mark the end of Juneathon was by running my stock run, to Nash Mills, along the canal. It might be my ordinary run but I feel very lucky to have a nearby canal and a route that never gets boring. No matter how often I run it I should never take it for granted.

Actually the whole idea of celebrating the ordinary ties in with one of my central aesthetics, which is to look closely and find what is interesting in the commonplace. So my final picture for Juneathon is also appropriate: Mr Postie delivering mail to the lock keepers cottage and a small house boat in the lock. The postal van shows that even in a town there are out of the way places that do not fit easily on a postal route and need special arrangements and how these arrangements are made so that everybody can have their mail delivered.

The boat was also interesting. Two days ago I talked of the variety in boats, how some were factory smart and gleaming and others were more lived-in. This boat was in the latter category but with the added character of being mostly homemade. There was a basic hull but everything else looked extemporised, even down to the outboard motor - very few of these vessels have outboard motors. The man who owned it operated the lock and then pulled the boat through with a rope and I thought of the old days of barges being pulled by horses. A tiny moment of connection with the past and another reason to celebrate being by the canal.

Juneathon The Final Countdown.

I exercised on 29 of the 30 days so I didn't quite succeed. The fail day was spent decorating and was not totally idle but should not really be counted. The days when I walked were also a bit soft but let's not get too picky.

The days were spent as follows:

Runs outside: 17
Gym sessions (including runs): 4
Cycle rides: 2
Yoga lessons: 2
Homemade yoga: 2
Walks: 2
Fail/decorating: 1

I ran on 21 of the 30 days
Total Distance Run: 244.32km
This means that over June I averaged 8km a day running and for me that is a bit of a triumph

In The Shade of Trees

Another hot day and the only place to run is under trees. So it is out to Ashridge for my" Monument to Memorial +" run (i.e. from the Bridgewater Monument to the War Memorial by Berkhamsted Golf Club and back plus an extra loop). Most of it is along bridleways and footpaths and well shaded but the occasional bits in the open seemed very warm and heavy.

There are masses of footpaths in Ashridge but on all of them it is the same - near the car parking areas you will meet people walking their dogs or their children but in only a short distance the paths are empty. There is always a good chance of seeing deer and today a couple crossed my path. I like when they cross the path and then pause to look at my oncoming frame, labouring and ungainly, before disdainfully fluidly leaping away. Sometimes I stop and move very slowly towards them to see if I can make eye contact. I like it when this happens but today was not one of those days.

Even though I was running in the shade the heat took its toll and it felt hard. However I felt good about the way my heart rate stayed down. At last I am beginning to see some sort of training effect at the same pace my heart rate is a couple of beats lower than it was at the beginning of June. Not much of a return for all the effort but a return nevertheless.

Juneathon Day 29 stats:

Run distance: 17.2km
Run Time: 1hr 40min

Running in the Shade

In the hot weather it is good to have places like woods, or the canal to run - so much cooler than the roads. Unfortunately I have to do a certain amount of road work to get to and from the canal so the difference is noticeable. You can feel the heat being reflected from the concrete and coming from the canal it is like running into a warm blanket.

This morning I was early enough for the run to be pleasant - no middle of the day nonsense for this inveterate procrastinator. Oh no I was purposefully out of the door before nine (my plan had been 7:30 but lets not dwell on the odd, lost hour and a half). So I was out there with the dog walkers and a few other runners.

My plan was to run fairly easily, keeping my heart rate down, which I was doing quite well until I noticed I was catching up another runner and I knew I would speed up. It is unconscious urge but I knew I would not be able to stop myself. If I overtake someone (not something that frequently happens) I like to feel there is a perceptible difference in speed -not be like one lorry overtaking another on the motorway, so I raise my pace. After I had put a good distance between us I reverted to the slower speed and wondered what it was all about. Oh the psychology of running has many odd corners.

One of the things that keep running by the canal fresh is looking at the boats and the way they differ. Some have a lived-in shabbiness, whilst others gleam with bright paint and shiny brass. Today's picture shows some of the homely touches of flowers and ornaments on the roof.

Juneathon 28 stats:

Run distance: 10.5k
Run time: 60 minRunning in the Shade

Moments of Calm

A hot clammy day so I decided to go to the gym where there is air conditioning, except that it was broken - awaiting repair, so the room was very hot. It was suitable for Bikram yoga but I was programmed for running and weights. Wow did I sweat!

The actual session was OK but when I showered. I couldn't get myself dry. I was just too clammy. So my clothes became slightly damp and I went down to the nearby green to sit down, look around and hope the slight breeze would dry me off.

Doing nothing on a hot day is very pleasant. There is something peaceful and harmonious about watching the world go by when everybody is moving at a slightly slower pace. I was sitting on a seat on the boundary of the cricket pitch, whilst people were getting ready for a match later in the afternoon and everything was being done at a very steadily. The photo shows the view (if you look closely you can see that the stumps have been set-up) and it set me thinking about how much I like the idea of town/village cricket, where the pitch is an open space used for recreation, bordered by older houses and a couple of pubs. There is continuity here, a touch of nostalgia, but something alive, enjoyed by people of all ages.

After I had been sitting peacefully for several moments I suddenly knew what I liked about exercise and running - the moments of complete stillness you can find when you stop. It is not the same as stopping banging your head against a brick wall, you are not stopping something you don't enjoy. It is more like a clearing-out. Exercise empties you so that you can enjoy being calm

Juneathon 27 stats:

Gym time: 1hr 15 min
Run distance: 7k
Weights: arm press, back, crunch, calf lifts
Stretches: lots

Heavy Air

This morning was very grey and the air felt heavy, as if you were pushing through it. Everything was just a little bit harder.

One of the great mysteries of running (actually any activity) is why your mood and capabilities can vary so much. One day it can feel easy, as if you are floating (well actually that is a bit of an exaggeration as my running could never be described as floating) other days, the same route can feel like a treacle mine. You can look at all of the usual suspects: sleep, diet, amount of exercise, or general health, but sometimes there is no obvious answer except that all of us have good days and bad days and even the average ones are variable.

To me the key indicator is the comparison of mood between the beginning and end of the run. Almost invariably I feel more content, lighter in spirit, and that the time has been well spent. Even on bad days there is usually some satisfaction to be had and I feel better for having run.

Sometimes things change on the run itself. Today was a good example. I woke up feeling very lethargic and had to bully myself to get out of the door and for the first couple of km my legs felt very heavy but strangely things changed. I let my legs find their own rhythm and my mind wander so that the run went in a blur. When I got home I realised that I had enjoyed myself.

Today's route was along an old railway line , just an out and back to this bridge.

Juneathon Day 26 stats

Run distance: 7.6k
Run Time: 42 min

Horses on the Moor, Yoga in the Sports Centre

The picture is a fake as I did not take it today but it is only two days old and I thought there is always a place for a picture of a horse taking a drink of water, especially as it is near the sports centre where I go to my yoga class.

The horse is one of a number that graze freely on Boxmoor during the summer. Mostly they coexist quite happily with all the people who walk across the land or settle down for a picnic. However they are not pets and do not react well to being bothered. A couple of weeks ago a ten year old boy tried to feed them apples, spooked them and was trampled. Luckily he survived, with some broken bones, but could have been very serious indeed.

I was thus very cautious when I took this photo.

Today was yoga day and I am beginning to relax into the idea that I can't do most of the postures very well. Instead of feeling 'damn!' and trying to fight it I thought 'OK well lets see how far we can go' - a much better attitude. There were still moments where I thought that bodies weren't designed to move that way but on the whole it was easier.

I will continue both as an exercise in humility and with the hope that it will help my running. (The idea is not that it will make me faster nor will it increase my stamina, rather it should increase my range of movement and so reduce my chances of injury). Doing it as an auxiliary activity puts me in a different position to most of the people in the class, for whom yoga is far more central but, as with anything, there are many paths.

Juneathon Day 25 stats

Yoga: 90 min

Twenty Three and Twenty Four

It is first thing in the morning and you know it is going to be a hot day. The only sensible time to run is now, before breakfast or in the evening. For once I am sensible and get out early and therefore start the run feeling pretty pleased with myself. In fact I feel infused with good feeling and notice everything. I am more aware of when pedestrians are likely to swerve into my path, or which groups will give me room and those who will block the path, which people will exchange a greeting and those who will determinedly look at the floor. I sense these things and look at my surroundings more clearly

In fact the mood continued throughout my run. When I stopped to take this picture I noticed a big fluffy dog leaping up at some waste bins and had a nice conversation with the owner. It was convivial, the sort of thing that happens at the beginning of a good day. Her bernaise mountain dog was a splendid, friendly animal but I have no idea it copes on a hot day with such a thick coat.

Actually I don't know how I would have coped if I had run later. I went to Cambridge today and passed some runners. On man in particular looked to be really struggling. His face was very red, sweat was pouring from his brow and his form was laboured. That could have been me, I thought.

Juneathon 24 stats:

Run distance: 7.7k
Run time: 41 min

Day 23 was very low key. I knew my legs needed a rest and so confined myself to going for a a nice easy walk. Under normal circumstances I would hardly count it as a Juneathon activity but as a recovery from a long run it was perfect.

Restless Legs

I am here at 2 o'clock in the morning typing this and I really, really want to be fast asleep but sleep is impossible. It is not because my mind is racing or I am worried about anything, and I have not overdosed on caffeine. It's because of my legs. They are restless, itchity and will not be comfortable or stay still. So instead of tossing and turning I am sitting at the computer waiting for the paracetamol to dull the messages from legs to brain, to give me the opportunity to doze off.

It is the result of my latest Juneathon effort - a long run, that obviously took more out of me than I realised. But my current state is further proof that you cannot rely on enlightened self interest to always provide the best results. My legs for example, obviously need sleep to repair any exercise damage but they are rebelling , preventing what is best for them. They have no idea.

Ha! I always thought enlightened self interest was a rubbish economic theory used to justify unfettered greed but I always thought that the body was self regulating and knew what was best for itself. So that is another assumption that has proved not quite correct.

Anyway I know that I will soon sleep and tomorrow everything will be fine. It has happened before and probably will again. I don't know if it is common with other people but for me it is a signal to be a little easy for a day or two.

Update: Although I wrote that last night I didn't post it because I needed to sort out a photo from my run.

Ducklings, I need to show ducklings as they are very cute this time of year. A couple of days ago I passed someone standing on the very edge of the canal, bending forward, to get a good angle for his photo of ducklings. For a micro second I thought how it would only take the slightest nudge for him to end up splat in the water, like someone from a silent comedy. I smiled to myself and carried on.

My picture involved no such danger. These mallards were snuggled up in the shade of a bridge and I was able to get quite close without disturbing them.

Juneathon Day 22 stats:

Run distance: 26k
Run time: 2hrs 33min

Juneathon 21

Another 10k run - my most frequent distance.

Today I waited until lunch time, for no particular reason, which meant that when I reached this pub it was full of people sitting by the water, having a drink and relaxing. Not for one moment did I think that this looked like the best thing to do on a summer afternoon. Oh no not me - I am a dedicated runner with sweat on my brow and a route to complete. The most I will do is stop to take a picture of Sunday leisure.

It is Father's Day today but I don't know if it makes any difference to patterns of behaviour, with families more likely to go out together. The limited evidence of this run would suggest not. It is just the same other days and I passed a very long line of men fishing - not a family activity.

Juneathon 21 stats:

Run distance: 10k
Run time: 57 min

Juneathon 19 & 20

Sometimes the news baffles me. Apparently, we learnt this week, the Queen is going to have. Cue acres of wasted news print (and of course the Sun in its wonderfully modest way claimed it was all their idea). But where is the story in the Queen allowing her gardeners to grow fruit and vegetables in a tiny portion of the Buckingham Palace garden? As most stately homes have a kitchen garden this small plot is hardly a green breakthrough. It is certainly not a proper allotment.

Proper allotments are communal, have an ethos of make-do and mend (like coloured plastic bags to scare away the birds), and ideally sheds. They are productive retreats and this is one of three I might pass on my runs.

There Is nobody about because it is first thing in the morning - a pre breakfast run. I sometimes like to do this on steady/easy days where the run is an hour or less. The whole idea is to get out of the door before I realise what I am doing (kit on, a drink of water and then gone). There is plenty of time to wake up on the warm-up jog.

On good days you see the world waking up and you feel as if you are unfolding the day. Juneathon 19 was such a day.

Juneathon 19 stats

Run distance: 10k
Time: 56 min

Saturday was a gym day as I realised that I had not done much resistance training recently. I started with 5k on the treadmill, which included some faster intervals , before moving on to the weights machines.

I suppose, if I was serious, I would learn a few routines with free weights but I am quite conservative and stick to the machines. I don't know why, probably a psychological block that thinks the free weights area is for men with broad knotted shoulders and wide biceps who grunt when they lift. I imagine a filtering device (like they have at Alton Towers where they won't let you on a ride if you are too short) in this case it would be a hole with the message 'if your arm can pass through this, you are too weedy'.

So I stick with the machines and work on the assumption that if I do enough of them I will cover most of the major muscle groups but today I feel weary so only do half the number I should.

Juneathon 20 stats:

Treadmill: 5k
Machines: abs, back, leg press, shoulder press.
Time: 1 hr

Thursday is Yoga Day

Yoga is my new activity for June and today was my second class i.e.1.5 hours of finding out how many things my body cannot do.

Most of the other people in the class have obviously been doing this for years and seem to lack tendons - they have nothing that stops them folding themselves flat from the waist, stretching their legs out, or twisting through 180 degrees. With me there are all sorts of conflicting forces.

Nevertheless it is interesting to notice how my body works: the bits that are strong, bits that are weak and the areas that just do not like being disturbed from their comfort zone. In common with many people who run, my hamstrings are tight and all the exercises that involve both straight legs and bending are quite uncomfortable. As my core is also relatively weak so things like the boat pose find me out big time. But nevertheless I quite enjoy struggling and sometimes there are fleeting moments of triumph, such as holding the crane (but you will notice that this pose involves no stretching). I am determined not to be discouraged by the gap between the example of the instructor and my slapdash approximation.

I know I will never throw a perfect shape but I'm not sure I want hyper-extended joints. I just want to find my own balance between strength, stamina and flexibility. This is a way of working at my weaknesses

Juneathon Day 18 stats

Yoga: 1hr 30 min

Looking at Street Signs

This sign is an example of what can happen when you go for a run: you notice something, think about it a little bit, and then see other examples so you end up thinking about it quite a lot.

Today I became preoccupied with the our streets are visual cluttered with signs and posts. It started when I noticed a 'Have you paid and displayed?' sign that was more visible to the adjacent road than it was in the car park. It might be a useful reminder but not if it is facing away from the parking spaces; so why would they position like that? I then started to see how the streets were full of all sorts of signs, a whole jumble of them. Mostly we take them for granted, hardly see them, but if you start looking they are everywhere.

We may block them out but subconsciously I'm sure they crowd us in, and the more notices there are they less you notice them. Fewer must be better. The sign in the photo shows this is not the ethos of the highway engineer. It is almost as if they want to fill any empty bit of pole. What does it matter that it is actually a finger post for a cycle path? We must be told to buckle-up our seat belts.

Anyway the run itself was just a gentle 6k, perfect for letting the mind wander. Road signs might not be the most uplifting subject but that is the thing about running, you often don't chose what you think about - it just happens.

Juneathon 16 stats:

Cycle: 16 miles
Time 1 hr 10 min

Juneathon 17 stats:

Run: 6k
Time: 36 min

Goin Slow

My attitude to long runs is a bit feeble. For anything under 2 hours I am perfectly relaxed , and know I can do it and be in reasonable shape. Anything over and I worry about strength leaking away, struggling to finish and ending up with a mild feeling of defeat rather than satisfaction. So at the moment I am working at normalising runs of 2 - 2hr 15min. So far this Juneathon I have done three.

In some ways yesterday's was the best for two reasons. The first was run on the trails of Ashridge, amongst woods but also with lovely views of open the open countryside. The second was that I had a breakthrough in being able to run at a lower heart rate, which probably meant I was using more fat for fuel and could keep going for longer without feeling weak.

Trying to run at a lower heart rate does not sound like much of a trick - all you have to do is slow down, but I find it a struggle. There is an internal rhythm that almost unconsciously imposes itself so that whenever I try to run slowly it gradually picks things up and when I try to run faster it is a brake. The result is that it takes a great, conscious effort to try and make my sessions have sufficient range but I am working on it. Slowing down has the problem of not feeling a little bit laboured, just not quite right, but I think I am finding out how to take it down a notch and be more economical.

Anyway in my own sad way I was extremely chuffed, when I looked at my run stats, to see that my average heart rate was 3 beats lower than last week. Only be a small difference perhaps but it felt quite significant.

Today's picture comes from where my route emerged from the woods to meet the Ridgeway, with views over the rolling downland landscape.


Juneathon day 15 stats

Time running: 2 hrs 17 min
Distance: 23.4km