Born to be a Paleolithic Fainting Goat?

Sometimes, there's just too much information for this little girl to process.

I am born to run, but do it so badly I need physios with needles and massage therapists with thumbs of steel and Chi running books, and yoga, and oh-just-the-right-shoes to keep me going. And I need timers set on my watch or spreadsheets with calculations to warn me when I need to eat and drink, because I certainly can't rely on my body to know and tell me. And I need special food. Low GI, alkaline-forming, antioxidant rich food. Don't forget the cruciferous vegetables. Kale. With omega 3 oils drizzled over top (don't cook them, for goodness sake, or it's a saturated fat!). And protein, but not just any protein. I need Branched-Chain-Amino-Acids. I am an athlete, after all ;)

Two PhDs from rather different nutrition camps

I need to be vegetarian - no, make that vegan like Scott Jurek, in order to be healthy and win. But fruitarian Michael Arnstein is about to release a book about how fruit saved his life. Or at least improved his running. I don't know, maybe it was just that he was on a diet of leftover pizza and diet root beer before. But then, I've read that Anton Krupicka eats like that. Works all right for him. But wait, now there's The Paleo Diet for Athletes. Yup, I just had to buy it. This little vegetarian just has to know what "science" is contained in this "diet" that is all the rage but getting some seriously bad press.

But because I'm still running the "ultra" of Tim Noakes' 400+ page Waterlogged book, I'm not sure when I'll get to read all about meat and potatoes.

Noakes continues to bring up good points about physiological controls within the body that act to ensure a person can't die of dehydration unless they get lost in the desert for a week (i.e., most of us probably don't need timers and spreadsheets to get fluids in). He also highlighted some very useful information on exercise-associated postural hypotension (EAPH; but one very unfortunate typo on page 53 called it 'hypertension'). This (hypotension, of course), he cites as the major cause of runners collapsing at the finish line. Dehydration would cause you to collapse during the race, when "strain on the heart and circulation is the greatest." But when exercise stops and then the person collapses, that's almost certainly due to blood pooling in the legs - below the heart - not being pumped back up anymore because the calf muscles have suddenly stopped. Less blood getting to the brain leads to nausea, dizziness, and fainting. In fact, fainting is a natural, adaptive physiological response by the body - it's supposed to faint! Because that gets your heart at the same level as your legs, so blood is more easily transported back up to your brain. Isn't the body smart?!? No, we're not quite fainting goats, but I certainly prefer to think that if I feel like collapsing after a race, it's nothing to panic over. It's just my body saying, "Hey, put your feet up, kid!"

Myotonic (fainting) goats finishing an ultra?

The beautiful thing about this argument is that all you have to do to treat the person afflicted is lay them down (if they aren't already collapsed) and elevate their feet above their heart (exactly what first aiders are taught to do to treat shock). The person should recover almost instantly. Then you know it's not dehydration.

How many times I've seen runners collapse after an event, get thrown on a stretcher sitting up, and pumped with saline.... I've often wondered... I mean, how coincidental is it that they made it to the finish line before collapsing!?!

Trail Running Laws

A whirlwind two weeks has gone by. Many times "blog post" has made it to the top of the list, only to have some other mini-emergency (that includes grocery shopping!) usurp it. I am still looking down at a pretty long "do" list on my desk, but nothing in red ink tonight ;)

Citizenship run - do I look different now that I'm "dual"?

I've been down to the track the last two Tuesdays in a row and eeked out a few second PBs in both the 4k and the 5k. Quite happy with that, because there's a lot of mileage and hills in these legs right now, plus I run to and from the track, too. It certainly helps make the whole thing a bit more rewarding, because running short track races is HARD! Those guys think running ultras would be hard, but I never feel as bad finishing an ultra as a 3k! (Maybe I'm just doing ultras wrong?)

The citizenship ceremony was short and functional. As my Canadian family said, I kissed the queen and hugged the roo. Then I was off for more fun hill running with mates to celebrate! 

Cape to Cape track - there were humpback whales!

Last Saturday I made a long drive down to Geographe Bay - 3 hours south of Perth - to do a 3 hour run with a minimalist footwear hippy-type on a section of the Cape to Cape track. Then it was the same drive home. It was hard at times to convince myself to go, but I just had to watch the Australian Geographic video on this place to win myself over again and again. And I got 6 hours of nutrition and ultra running podcasts to listen to on the way, which was really enjoyable. I never have the time for podcasts and am fortunate not to spend much time in the car normally. It was a great day, meeting new trail runners, learning more things trail and ultra related, and even trying some new foods, courtesy of the huarache-wearing runner.

Last Sunday there were just three of us out for a long run (well, the fourth was late/lost/MIA)- with two of us choosing the 50k option. I finished the week with 147km and +2600 mtrs, happy and well.

This weekend just finished, the distances are starting to shrink. But midweek speed attempts increased. On Saturday I hosted two PTS Beginners+ Trail Running courses. That means an 8k hill-interval session in the morning, then another in the afternoon, as I run up and down hills, offering runners advice on technique. I love seeing people's skills improve and their smiles as they build confidence and start enjoying the sport more. Rewarding day and fended off all the ticks.

I couldn't resist it when we passed this little waterfall today

Today a group of us spent the morning at a great national park, dripping in sweat in the heat and lapping up every bit of water we could find! It won't be long before not a drop will be seen around the hills - summer sucks the moisture out of our "sunburnt country."

Meeting some new trail runners these past couple weeks and running the PTS courses gave me pause to consider the Five Laws of Trail Running...with apologies to Deepak, as I have been a bit overwhelmed with his "Laws" of late ;)

Law #1: The Law of 100 to 1. Forget your road running background Forget 4.30 pace or 5.30 pace or even splits. In trail running, if you want a number to focus on, use this: 100 metres of climb is worth about 1km on the flat. Do the conversion first before you tell your road running mate how "far" you ran on the weekend.

Beware, even this could be a secret race...biggest splash.

Law #2: The Law of Secret Racing. You may think you're out for an easy run with your mates. But be aware...there is always secret racing. New guy comes out with the group? Yup, just watch all the secret racing. First, the new guy has to 'race' others to show he's not weak and is worthy of the group (if not stronger than the group). Second, the veteran runner has to 'race' said newbie to try to induce vomiting in newbie and ensure pecking order is established ;) See everyone get to a turnaround point and come back to you? Be careful - it could be a secret race. If you don't touch the summit/pole/bridge/tree, you might lose, without even knowing it!

Law #3: The Law of Gear Love. Anything you carry on your back for more than 1.5hrs, up and down hills, over 15,000 strides must be loved. That includes your shoes, shirt, pack, fuel, and headlamp. You will hate shonky gear or bad fuel. And trail running is all about love. So don't forget about the gear love law.

Applying Law #5 liberally here! Flies and drippy sweaty heat at 8.30 AM!

Law #4. The Law of Pride. Barring a bit of healthy secret racing, pride has no place on the trails. You might get nauseous, feel a blister coming on, run out of water, feel your pack chafing incessantly, or realise you forgot to pack your fuel whilst on a 3 hour run. Trail running with others is a team sport. One man goes down and you all might be going down. Letting small issues become big issues because of pride is a selfish thing that affects your trail running mates, too. Being reduced to a walk because of vomiting, lack of fuel, or a blister puts a damper on the trail running party for sure! Maybe someone else could have helped you solve the dilemma before it was a disaster.

Law #5: The Law of Lies. Sometimes it's too hot. Or cold. Or windy, rainy, icy. There are snakes, ticks, brambles, bears, hills. And you say "this sucks." Beware, as this is your road runner mind that has accidentally forgotten where it is. Your trail runner mind knows. You lie. This is fun! How great to be in nature, out of the city, getting fitter by the minute! Tonight I can eat chips and drink beer guilt free! Your fun on the trail will be directly proportional to your lie rate. Take some mates out with you on the trails, because group lies are more powerful.

Track n Trails

Only four weeks before I head east for Coast to Kosci! I'm really looking forward to this one. I haven't raced hard since the May-June TNF100 and Kep Ultra, so I'm itching to go!

John Gilmour 10k track night

And the training is really enjoyable so far, too. I haven't hit a "sick of this" phase yet (plenty of time, with 4 weeks to go!). I'm being very good with my body's self-care (well, massage therapist Nathan would say I could always do more, but I did ice my Bib foot at least once last week). I've even booked an extra 30 minute massage into the week. And the Bib foot is tolerating speedwork. I just enjoy the weird throbbing and pins-and-needles at random times when I'm working at the computer. I wonder if my foot will ever be normal again.

On Tuesday, I skipped the track session because I had a hammy insertion/popliteus tightness that I didn't feel comfortable to push. So opted for a tempo run that felt fine and more self-massage and stretching to get the niggle out. Wednesday night was a half marathon of mostly hills. Thursday night, a short easy one. Friday night I heard about a 10k track race, so went down to that. Most races are on Sunday mornings, which always clash with my long runs.

I aimed for a sub 42 minute goal. Aimed and missed by 10 big fat seconds. Yes, it was a 2 second PB. But no, I'm not happy. Here's a Garmin lesson for anyone who uses it as a lap timer as I did: Every time you hit "lap" (as I did every 400mtr), Garmin writes a bit of info into a file. It takes about a second to do that. Then it starts counting again. Yes, the main timer keeps counting accurately. But when I'm on the track, I don't look at the main timer/total lapsed time, because I can't add 100 seconds to each lap whilst running my guts out. So I just keep the "current lap" on the screen. For the 10k, I aimed for 100 seconds per lap. That would give me a 41.40. I figured I might fall adrift, but would try to stay under 42.00. My first lap was 97sec, second was 99 sec. Then I settled in. Several got away on me at 101sec, but the last was 92sec. Thus, I was stumped when I saw my total time as 42.10. And when I got home and reviewed the file in Garmin Connect, each lap seemed one second longer - I was seeing a lot of 102sec laps. How did it happen?

I woke up Saturday morning at 6.30 AM with the revelation that there must be a 1 second loss on the lap counter as Garmin is writing to the file. So I tested it, running my Garmin and a stopwatch side by side. After 10 x 100 sec "laps" I was out by 10 seconds.

Crossing Sullivan's Rock at the beginning to cache water for later

Further proof I didn't run the race right was that my HR was back down to 38 that night and I ran 15k the next day with nothing noticeable in my legs. Damn. How frustrating! The thing that made my night, though, was watching my great running mate, Karen, smash out a 3 minute PB! A great reward for her last season of efforts.

On Sunday I loaded 9 hours of fuel into my pack - Hammer Perpetuem, Solids, a few gels (I'm starting to enjoy the occasional gel for variety, where I never much used to). Also for variety I packed a couple BelVita breakfast bars. It's a strange story about those bars! One morning I got up early, opened the door, and there on the porch was a box of the bars with a helium balloon tied around them. I thought they must be targeting the neighbourhood. But no, no one else seemed to have them. I can only think that Woolworths used my Everyday Rewards card info to somehow decide I might be good to target. Well, if that was their goal, I guess it worked to some extent! As a packaged food, there's no way I rate it as high quality. (But miles ahead of those awful muesli bars I see people trying to eat on long runs!) And they have 15.5% fat, which is certainly not needed during a run. The fat is to be expected, of course - it's a biscuit. When Halloween came last week, I was in the shop, stumped at what I could buy for any kids who came by. It wasn't going to be artificial colour white sugar lollies. Not from me. What would be "treat-like" but still sit well enough with my ethics? I spotted the BelVitas - and they were on sale for 50 cents!

No kids turned up. So I had 6 packets sitting around. I figured at an easy pace on a training run it would work fine - similar to a PB and jam sandwich. I just made sure to time when I'd eat them...like at times when I was running easy or waiting to regroup. Never during a hard-work time like a climbing or "chasing" section.

Mt Cuthbert, I think. Always mixing up the two names!

I headed out with some Phat (Perth Hills and Trails) runners to do variations on a "6 Peaks" theme. Mileage choices ranged from 31km to 61km. We started almost right away with a climb to Mt Vincent at about 500 mtrs, then down and back up over 2km to Mt Cuthbert. The weather was a rollercoaster, as well. We started in the sun at 7.30 AM and were routinely wind-swept, drenched, and baked with sunny humidity every 45 minutes. We did an out-and-back for the first section, so got to bag the "peaks" twice. After 30-odd kilometres, Tash and I farewelled the blokes, who all had their excuses ;)

We then headed out on a fairly flat 5k section towards Mt Cooke, to bag a fifth peak. It's a beautiful summit with great flora and big boulders and mostly very runnable terrain - and climbs to nearly 600 mtr. From there we could catch views north to Cuthbert and Vincent and beyond and south towards Dwellingup. I had some moments to enjoy the views, as my last time up there was a year ago almost to the day when I was doing the Bibbulmun FKT record. That morning on Cooke, after 101km the day before and 4 hours sleep at the roadside at Sullivan's Rock, I didn't enjoy any views!

The climb of Mt Cooke

I ran down the backside of Cooke a few km, whilst Tash started her run back towards the car. I wanted one more hill climb. So down I went, in order to go back up! I got back to the summit and was so happy to be on the home stretch, facing a great big descent, ready to chase down Tash somewhere ahead. I love those descents where you get in the zone and just feel like you're flying and hopping from one point to another - it was great to just be focused on the terrain and my body's movement in space.

It was almost an hour before I caught Tash! And she was out there to set a PB that day, too. She had been inspired by our little Muay Thai kickboxer powerhouse Jamie from the rogaine. Tash had never run more than a marathon in distance and certainly not with the hills we were doing. She said, "I'm not stopping until I get to 50k. Wanna stay with me?"

"Hell, ya!" I said. Though I couldn't promise not to cry, because I do get a bit emotional when I see people achieve amazingly cool goals they set for themselves. We needed another couple km to get to her goal, so I found a new bit of fire trail we could do. I dug around my pack and found some of my favourite Buderim Gingerbons, which picked up Tash's spirits and soothed her tummy.

Somehow, ironically, I lost Tash in the last 500 mtrs to the carpark! You come off the trail onto Sullivan's Rock, which is a huge granite slab. Cairns mark the way. I ran to the second one and looked back. She was gone. I thought, "How strange, did she vomit? Or fall?" I ran back and yelled. Then out to the granite again. Getting off the slab can be tricky, because you can't see the tiny single track bush trail in the distance at the bottom. But if the cairns are built up, you follow those. I thought they were quite built up. But had a look around and couldn't see her trying to get off the slab anywhere else. Back to the bush to yell. Back to the cairns.... Okay, time to try the carpark. Sure enough, there she was!

Tash and my Garmins - 111km between us for the day!

Tash got her 50k ultra and I got 61k with the sheepdogging and extra I did off the back of Mt Cooke. Plus 1700mtr gain.

My week's total was 130km with 2200 mtr gain. So using the 100mtr gain = 1km rule, it's good for about a 150km week of "flat" running (though I definitely don't want flat running!). Very happy with that and especially because the body is doing so well.

I'm finally shedding the extra kilos I put on after TransAlps, too. I hate having to calorie restrict! But by just being that little bit more careful for a few weeks and running a bit more and harder sessions, I'm getting the results. And still enjoying my huge mound of cereal, no fat yoghurt, chia, and Udo's Oil every morning! Yum! The best part of my day.

Wednesday I become Aussie and am celebrating with a 35km trail run. All welcome to join me :)

Walking the Plank?

I was browsing through my assortment of brekkie reading material (running mags, for the most part!) and came across an article on core training for runners. The argument was made that a lot of our common core exercises such as the plank or push-ups on a wobble board are probably doing nothing to help us improve performance.

Use a kettlebell & have abs like this? Oh, wait, first I need to shed the fat hiding my abs!

Well, this is interesting! If I don't have to do planks anymore, I'll be a happier girl! I read on.... studies have shown that core stability exercises given to active runners result in some improvements in muscle endurance (yes, I can hold the plank position longer), but no improvement to my running strength and power. Oh. That's deflating. It's not actually improving my performance. So why on earth am I doing it?

Why? Because I was told. Because we all "know" that you're supposed to do core exercises. So, can I really give them up?

Naturally, I needed to go to the source of some of the references to read the papers for myself. One of the first things I learned is that this notion of doing core stability exercises basically came from the rehab physio's bench. After an injury (or maybe even when coming back from an off season), developing some basic muscle endurance through the core may be "prescribed." Now it's just ended up prescribed to all of us. A bit like saying that because Billy's vision improved when he got glasses, we should all wear glasses. And never bother to check our vision again, but just keep wearing those same glasses forever.

Healthy, active runners are not the same as injured runners. Gee, that makes sense.

I checked out an interesting review by Willardson (2007; Core Stability Training for Healthy Athletes: A Different Paradigm for Fitness Professionals, Strength and Conditioning Journal, 29(6) 42-49). Improving strength and power comes from low intensity and high velocity movements of the muscles. When on a very unstable surface like a wobble board, there is a "stiffening strategy" that actually opposes the intended direction of movement. So you are just activating opposing muscles to the ones you're trying to power! Like putting the brakes on with the accelerator at the same time. This review of the literature included core exercises done with a lot of stability (e.g., a squat in a machine), with moderate instability (e.g., a squat with free weights), and with a lot of instability (e.g., a squat on a wobble-board).


When looking at the functional connectivity of the core (a huge group of muscles through the lumbar spine and pelvis, such as the internal obliques close in and the hip flexors like the psoas further out), these muscles work dynamically - never one in isolation. Which is why the case for using a wobble board instead of a static plank came up in the first place. But this literature I looked at is suggesting that we've gone from one ineffective thing (static planks) to another (throwing kettlebells around on wobble boards). As healthy runners, we might get better at our static planks or wobble-board kettlebells, but it's not helping our running performance.

But, before sending the kettlebell out to walk the plank... a theory was put out there in Willardson's review.... "ground-based free weight movements might be better for the development of core strength and power due to the force, velocity, and core stabilizing requirements that are similar to the demands of sports skills."

Our bodies move in three planes

The author of the running mag article I read that started this exploration provided a few examples of what he thought were appropriate exercises. One, for example, is along the lines of standing with one leg in front of the other, arms straight out and locked as if clutching an imaginary club, and swinging rapidly from side to side. That would seem to tick all the boxes...good ground stability, "free weight" movement (yes, you can do it with weight in hand), and velocity.

But still, we're runners, not baseball players, so is the core really an area that needs to be "powered up"? Will this kind of dynamic exercise improve my running performance? Given the limited time for training, am I better to be doing eccentric calf work and going for massage?

I'm not sure. Neither are the researchers, from what I read. But the core really is at the core...it's the dynamic connection between our arms/shoulders and our legs. When I lift a foot in running, the core and pelvis rotate in response and stabilise me so I don't tip over. When I land, the core helps absorb the energy and prepares for its release with the next step. There must, therefore, be some amount of strength and power in that area that is so central to the running machine. And I would think it even more critical when said running is done on unstable, twisty surfaces (technical trails) and/or at fast speeds. So I'm thinking I'll give up my static planks (which really were disappearing in favour of push-ups, anyway) and look at some of this dynamic movement stuff, keeping my feet firmly on the ground! But I might save money on the kettlebell and just use a bottle of beetroot juice ;)

With those thoughts in mind, I guess it was okay that I missed the planks this past week, but spent the time with the sports chiro and massage therapist. I had a few great results in training for Coast 2 Kosci. On Tuesday, I headed down to the track for the "long" events on offer. There was a mile event and a 10k. Well, on a track I prefer to say 10,000 metres. It sounds longer that way. Because it feels like it! Rather than run the 5k there and back, I opted to drive over and save my legs in attempting a PB.

The 2011 10k Masters State Champs, where I set my last PB. Really, it's me!

Going hard in the mile, I set an ambitious PB goal (6 minutes). I could tell in the first lap that it was not sustainable. But pushed on to see what would happen. I ended up 1 second behind my PB. Whilst I say, "That's okay, I'm not a sprinter" I know I'll keep pushing for something closer to 6 minutes!

Then, the 10k. The fellow next to me says how he took it easy in the mile in order to save himself for the 10k. Geez, that might have been a good idea.... I had my PB from the State Champs of 2011 written on my scrap of paper: 43.58. I set another ambitious goal: 42 minutes. That's 50 seconds per 200 metres for 25 laps. Straightforward.

Starting out, I tried to tuck in behind three blokes for protection from the wind. Laps one and two saw me lose 7 seconds right there, as their pace wasn't the pace I had to be doing. So I had to go out on my own. It took a few more laps, but then I got into my rhythm and just stuck to the plan. Even found a little energy to "kick" at the end (my version of a kick!), finishing in 42:12! A very big PB!

I love it when my world gets this simple.

Friday night saw me headed down to Nannup (I love Nannup, ever since the folk fest getaway weekend) for a 12 hour rogaine. I had managed to get a state champion rogainer to join me in a teaching session. The goal was to go "moderately hard." I feel like I've hit the limits of my navigation skills on rogaines and needed an expert to show me how to improve my map reading. So the rule was that I would get to stop us as needed to say "I don't get it - show me how this feature looks like this on the map."

We had a good start to our team - a serious navigator and a serious runner (the serious navigator also happens to be a pretty serious runner, too!). All we needed was a serious Muay Thai kickboxing expert (doesn't every team need one?). Fortunately, we found her! But the poor thing had never done "endurance" exercise like we ultra runners think of it. That is, she hadn't run/hiked more than 3 hours before. But she's a little powerhouse with a focus that would shatter glass. And she can fix a blister or change clothes faster than anyone I've seen, too!

Ready for the race briefing

So, with a plan to have a navigation lesson, whilst keeping a young rogaining novice alive, we set out at 10 AM Saturday with a hot day of bushwhacking ahead of us. And at 10 PM, after 51km, we finished as 1st place mixed team!

But after the track, a hill session, tempo work, and the 50k 12hr rogaine, it was all I could do to muster up a 6 minute pace for a 10k "recovery" run on Sunday! And hooray for the Monday rest day!

Simple Answers Wanted: Apply Within

Running is so complicated!

Is polenta high GI or low GI?

Do I drink exactly at my sweat rate per hour during an ultra? Or do I drink exactly "to thirst"?

Do I always eat 4 calories per kg of body weight during a race?

Are Hokas the shoes that will prevent running injuries? Or is it Inov-8s?

The longer I'm in this running gig, the more I'm learning that simple answers are rarely useful ones. But the desire of the black-and-white mindset! After all, many of us would say life is busy and complicated enough. If someone could give me the formula.... "Eat 140 cals/hr of Perpetuem, drink 524 ml/hr of water and wear x-talon 212s. Tape your left pinky toe with Rocktape, use an UltrAspire pack, drink 117 ml of Coke at the 57 km mark. Wear Compressport calf guards and yell "Yeee haw" at the start line. Then you'll win."

And never have nausea. And never be injured. And always want to run, every day, even the long, hard sessions, even after a really crap long day at work when it's 40 degrees and you have no one to run with.

On my Sunday run, I noticed my hands were swelling up a bit. This happens occasionally. When I race, I take off my rings, just in case. I was trying to remember...was that due to dehydration, overhydration, low electrolytes, too many electrolytes, a full moon??

Sunday's luscious but hot 4hr hill run - summer's coming!

Researching it to refresh my memory, I learned this: swollen hands are a reliable indicator of NOTHING.

However, two years ago, I took it as a reliable indicator of something. I just can't remember what. It would have been the first thing I googled.

Now, as a more discerning googler, I can find evidence arguing that swollen hands is caused by dehydration, overhydration, heat, and increased blood flow to the extremities. If I searched long enough, I'd probably also find it is caused by a full moon.

Having only reached page 29 of Tim Noakes' 400+ page "Waterlogged," I realise already that I started the book wanting to find "the answer" to hydration. He is, thus far, very verbosely setting the stage for his main argument - that runners should be drinking to thirst alone. They should not drink a prescribed amount or drink "before" they are thirsty, in order to ward off the dreaded monster of Dehydration.

I wonder how heavy the can is?

Though his initial arguments are sound to me, I am already thinking that the supposed answer in this book... Drink to Thirst... is too simple. I agree with the opening arguments - humans are incredibly well adapted biologically/physiologically to survive. Bipedalism is smart. By standing up, we expose 60% less surface area to the sun than 4-legged creatures.We don't have much hair (which would help protect against the sun's radiation), but that's more than offset by the fact that we have more sweat glands than any other mammal. We have biological controls like the hormone AVP/ADH that act to keep our sodium and fluid balances just right. Chemicals are released that tell the kidneys to retain or expel water. The brain will protect itself from death by slowing us down if we try to cook it by running ourselves into heatstroke. In fact, if we don't slow down enough, it will basically give us temporary paralysis to shut us down. Very smart brain, wants to survive.

So far, I'll give him two points:

(1) Humans are biologically adapted to survive. We have a physiology and hormones that promote our ability to cool ourselves during exercise and to maintain a balance of water and electrolytes to survive during endurance exercise (That said, we're also bloody inefficient, in that 75% of the energy produced by our muscles when we run is wasted as heat, not propulsion - we're like incandescent light bulbs!).


(2) The kidneys have a limited capacity to process/excrete fluid. The maximum is likely around 600 ml/hr in smaller athletes like me with an upper limit of less than 1000 ml/hr for the biggest of athletes. (Of course, some fluid is lost to evaporation/sweat, as well, but this intimates a maximum a person could drink before becoming overfull of fluids. And interestingly, one of the first signs of excess drinking in test subjects was diarrhoea).

But can everyone simply run with such a simple formula? Drink to thirst?

He's got 370 more pages to convince me. At the size of this book, I might become Booklogged before I get to the finish line.

Warp Speed

Einstein said we can't travel faster than the speed of light. And trying to travel anything close to those speeds is suicide, anyway...just ask any bug after its hit your windscreen.... Oh, no, you can't.

Complicated. Even with all those helpful arrows ;)

But I've been writing this blog post in one form or another for nearly two weeks and I'm sure I'm in a time-space discontinuum. As you approach light speed, everything around you is supposed to slow down. That's not the way my world looks!

Maybe it's warp speed. I've created my own gravitational field and am expanding space behind me whilst pulling the future in. All the while, effectively standing still, according to the Trekkies. Actually, that sounds not unlike a description of quicksand, too! I think I need a retreat (that's where I stop and the rest of the universe keeps going).

So...the major updates ...

I passed my citizenship test last week! Quick, who can identify the colours of the Torres Straight Islander flag, adopted nationally in 1995? Or what the colours mean?

The last step for citizenship is that I go down in 4 weeks to pledge my loyalty to Oz and Aussies and promise to obey the laws. I am allowed to bring a "holy book" to swear on, so I'm just deciding between AURA's September Ultramag and the Endurance Athlete's Guide to Success :)

A couple middle-aged springboks sighted on trail savannah

Other good news - I took my speedwork deprived Bib foot (along with rest of speedwork deprived body) down to the track. Downed my beetroot juice and some caffeine. Ran the 5k to get there at a bit of a "tempo" pace, being late (oops). Arrived as they were doing the 60 metre event (I skip that one). Hit the 3000 metre and set a 24 second PB! Rested for the 5 minutes it takes them to run the 400 metre event and then ran the 1500 race with a 12 second PB! Total surprise. (Though, in all honesty, I always felt my previous 3k PB was an underestimate of what I should be able to do). Ran the 5k home with my headlamp at LSD pace.

But the bad news. I set a push-up PW! Okay, not quite a worst, as I think I could only do 5 or 8 when I started back in 2011. But I've gone from a best of 29 at one go (nose to phone) down to 17! Not unexpected, having taken over a month off. Exercise is very fair that way - do the work, get the results. Back to work I go.

Sunday's 32k +1000mtr solo run after a 5k bitumen race (won $25!)

I haven't quite hammered out my Coast to Kosci training program yet, but I have done a few things. Booked accommodation. Booked myself into a 12hr rogaine at the end of October. Booked myself to go do the Stirling Ridge Top 46k Walk/Run/Scramble the following weekend. Printed off a photo collage of Ellie Greenwood, Julia Fatton, and Lizzy Hawker and put it front and centre on my desk. Seriously. Written on the sheet it says, "BE THIS GOOD."

The brain does not know the difference between reality and dream. I can, therefore, use that to my advantage ;) Fortunately, none of those ladies are entered in C2K, either. That might confuse things.

My final bit of big news. I ate an orange Hammer gel today. Trust me, I didn't want to. But I had a few "odd" flavours around and have been needing to use them up. But I've told myself a story that I only like chocolate and espresso. Well, I was wrong! The orange goes up there with my other favourites. Totally mild like the orange-vanilla Perpetuem. Nice. I wonder what other flavours are in the fuel bowl?!?

I'm off to bed so maybe I can actually read a few pages of Waterlogged before my batteries go flat. Then we can have a nice sciency blog post.

Home

Before the age of 18, I lived in no less than 7 places. Seven "homes." As an adult, I can immediately list off another 10 "homes."

One of my favourite homes for 8 years. A 16x20 foot shed on 8 acres.

In my 20s, conversations on the phone with my mum used to go something along the lines of

Mum: "When are you coming home?"
Me: "I am home."
Mum: "No you're not. Home is here." (i.e., wherever she was)
Me: "No it's not. Home is wherever I'm living at the moment."

Two and a half months ago, I left home in Perth and have travelled through 10 countries, including places with former homes and extended family homes in China (yes, I lived in China), Canada, England, and Switzerland. In two days I go home to Perth.

Perhaps if I'd lived my whole childhood under one roof I wouldn't have such a nomadic approach to home. But home for me is no less satisfying than anyone else's home; I'm pretty sure of that. Home is a place of refuge. It is the place to launch oneself from and the place to run back to when the world is that little bit too scary or exhausting. It's the place to charge the batteries and scheme the next adventure.

At home inside my first Aussie home

I have a little refuge in Perth. On Sunday, I'll be back under its roof, making a cuppa on the gas stove that likes to blow out when the wind blows down the chimney. I'll be wearing my down booties as I plod around the wooden floors, cursing the lack of central heating in Australian homes. And outside the crows will mock me with their song that sounds like a big belly laughing "Haw haw haw!"

I have a lot to look forward to. Two days after returning, I write the Australian citizenship test. I get to spend some time with children in my psych practice. On 11 October I'm giving a talk on trailrunning at Mainpeak. On the 29th, I'm speaking at a conference of Oracle users. In between, I'll enjoy some long runs on favourite trails with mates I haven't seen in a whole season. Perth Trail Series planning will continue and I'll be leading some trail running courses in November.

On 7 December, I hope to run 240km from a beach in NSW to the top of Australia's highest peak, Mount Kosciuszko, at 2,228 metres. It's the Coast to Kosci race and my application has been accepted :) What better way to celebrate a new citizenship?!

I'm toying with a 50km/6hour track race in late November (record attempt), but I think it's probably too close to the C2K.

The post-TransAlpine recovery.... I have been running since four days post-race. I'm running 5 days/week at an easy pace with my "long" run restricted to 1.5 hours. Even though the little niggles I had during the event are gone, I know there are tendons still under repair. There's no way the body can be at 100% yet. Even though I didn't race hard, it was 8 days straight over mountain passes with fast, hard descents. I'll stick with this "base" recovery plan for another 10 days or so, giving myself a full month post-race recovery. Then... I build! Let's see if the "Bib foot" will finally tolerate some speed work in November!

As for Rolf, it wasn't compartment syndrome..."just" very bad inflammation of the tibialis anterior and retinaculum (our diagnosis). He's started short runs again :)