Running and Runner's knee. Shoes, Sand, and Stretches.

Running and Runner's knee. Shoes, sand, and stretches.

Hello, sorry about the lack of posts over the last few days. Real life sort of caught up with me!

Runner's knee!

Oh boy, I have a pain in my left knee and it would seem to be runner's knee. This, apparently, happens if you run in:
a) the wrong shoes
b) any shoes at all
c) barefoot
d) on roads
f) on soft sandy surfaces
g) fast
h) slow
i) too long distances
j) up/down too many hills
k) direct trauma to the knee
l) flat feet
m) weak thigh muscles
n) tight hamstrings

I bet I could find more causes if I looked hard enough! I suspect in my case it is not helped by the fact that one leg is weaker than the other.

So...what to do?

Having just entered the 10k race at the Christchurch Marathon (3rd June) I don't really want to stop running. On the internet some people seem to manage to run through it and it gets better, and some don't and have to stop. Looking at the list, some things I can do something about and some I can't.

The plan.
I have reduced my distances for this week.
I will only run alternate days, and I will only run for half an hour. I will set out for 15 minutes, then turn around and come home.

I will ice and use ibuprofen to reduce swelling after running

I will run on the flat (no sand dunes)

I will work on strengthening my thigh muscles and stretching my hamstrings. The hamstrings on my game leg are much tighter than the other.

I will review the effects in a week.

Other than running, the diet is going OK, but I am often eating twice a day at the moment, with the running. I have moved the five hours of the 'fast 5' to 2pm to 7pm. This means if I am hungry I can eat early afternoon.

The next post will be all about eating and overeating. Causes and solutions. Watch this space!

Weight Loss, or Inches Lost?

More about weight loss...or inches lost. Gravity, mass and weight.

Last time I blogged I noted that I was not losing weight. A trawl around the net proved I was not alone. It seems running does not make you lose weight. In fact it stalls your weight loss.

But on closer inspection it seems things are not all they might at first appear.

Here is what I have learned, noticed, or inferred.

First of all, I have been measuring myself at various times since this journey began. Sadly I do not have my measurements from when I started, back in September 2010, but I do have some from a week or so after I started zero carbing in early November 2011
Here they are:
Waist: 41"
Hips: 46"
Thigh: 26 1/2"
Upper arm:15 1/2"
I did not measure my boobs for some reason, although I started measuring them later.

I measured again on 12th March 2012, 5 months later and exactly one week after I had started running. My weight was 85kg, about the same as now, although I have seen 84kg on the scales.

Waist: 36 1/2"
Hips: 44"
Thigh: 25"
Arm: 13 3/4"
Boobs: 41 1/2"

And here are today's measurements, about 8 weeks after the previous set.  My weight is still 85kg aprox.

Waist: 35"
Hips: 42"
Thigh: 23 1/2"
Arm: 13 3/4"
Boobs: 40"

So although I have not lost weight, I have lost almost as much in inches over 8 weeks as I did in the previous 5 months.

So why is this? And what do I think about this?

The first thing for me is the realisation I do not actually care what  weigh! Weight, of course, is merely the force of gravity upon a mass...in this case my mass! I would weigh less on the moon. I am more interested in my mass, the amount of matter contained within me. In real terms, can I fit my mass into those jeans?!

And my mass is continuing to decrease, even though my weight remains static. And this has to be good.

It also brings up another physics question. How has this happened? We can compress a mass into a smaller space, anyone who has stuffed a sleeping bag into a stuff sack knows this, or think of compressed air tanks. Those tiny tanks can hold enough air for a diver to remain underwater for several hours.

However, nobody has compressed me! And compression often means a change in matter. In the sleeping bag example, part of the mass...the air in this case...has been expelled. In the compressed air example, the compressed air has actually changed state from gas to liquid. Thankfully I have not been compressed into a liquid...it would make it hard to type my blog amongst other things. But something must have changed for my weight to remain constant whilst my mass has decreased. I am still living in the same house, at sea level, so we will rule out moving to a planet with a greater gravity than earth and assume the change is within me.

I tried to steal a photo from a website to illustrate what seems to be happening, but it won't let me so I shall post the link instead here. What you see is a photo comparing fat and muscle density. Basically for the same weight the fat has more mass. The muscle takes up less room in your body.

If I have been converting blobby yellow fat into nice sleek muscle tissue I will take up less room in the world. I will be smaller, but I may weigh the same on the bathroom scales.

And here is the bottom line: yes my mass will fit into those jeans!

And I assume that in due course, I will also start losing weight as well, but whilst I am building muscle this may not happen. I am getting fitter, and smaller however, so all is good.

And now I am off for a run!

Running and Weight Loss

Weight loss....or not!

I am running regularly, and I am very strict with my diet. One would think I was losing weight hand over fist...but I am not. So this post will try and explore why....and what I intend doing about it.

The internet is full of advice...most of it contradictory!

Yes! You can lose weight by running, get your shoes on!

No! Chronic cardio makes you gain fat and ruins your joints!

So what is a woman to do?

I have been over and over articles on the internet, and come to no sane conclusion at all. One common problem is eating back the calories you expend running (for calorie counters) or eating carbs more freely (for low carb people). I am not doing this, in fact I am stricter than ever about my diet. This of course leads to another possibility, the 'starvation mode' theory. However I find it had to believe we actually managed to hang around on the planet if our bodies cannot manage to go more than an hour or two without food. So I am not too sure about this one.

Then there is the difference between a young man with 20 pounds to lose, and a 50 year old woman obese and with metabolic syndrome. I get fed up reading about someone who made a minor change or two to their diet, took up jogging or badminton or whatever, and lost 15 pounds and feels so much better. And it only took 3 months!

Us metabolic syndrome types have it very different indeed. And there is very little on the internet about how we may react differently to running than those without metabolic syndrome.

So having got exactly nowhere, I decided to start from another point.

What do I want to do?

Run. I love running, I want to run longer and further. I enjoy it.

So I shall continue to run. Regardless of those who say it makes you fatter.

And I cannot run and only eat one small meal a day, so I shall add in another meal. Yesterday, after a hard run (for me) I was dizzy and faint and nauseous. And it was only 10 am and I don't eat until 6pm! This obviously is not going to work, so I shall try eating another small meal mid morning, after my run. At the moment I am still zero carb, so I shall continue that, just eat slightly more.

I shall report back!

My Big Run

Hello, I'm back again!

Now I know you are out there, reading this blog!, I can see I have had visitors, quite a lot of them, but I don't know who you are. And I don't know if you want to talk about weight loss, or running or both...or even about earthquakes.

So I shall write about running today.

I have told you about my run/walk programme before, and technically I am on week 7 of that (run7 mins, walk 1 min, repeat 30 mins or so). However when I was away on holiday I decided to do some hill work. I live by the sea, and have nothing bigger to run over than a sand dune.  So I thought I would trot uphill for 7 mins, then trot back down again, and repeat.

But I sort of changed my mind.

I ran right to the top of the hill!

I started at the village below, Le Bons Bay, on the Banks Peninsula, South Island, NZ, as you can see, it is right at sea level! 

I trotted uphill as far as I could. When I thought I was going to be sick, I stopped and walked until the nausea passed and then I jogged on again. The photo above is taken from the first time I stopped to walk. Taking pictures is an excuse to stop completely!

This is another time I stopped to walk...even higher! The village is now out of sight around the corner of the hill.

About this time I thought I could do no more. I so wanted to reach the top, but every time I thought I had got there....another top appeared, even higher up! I decided to go to the next top, and if that wasn't really the top, I would go back down.

The top!

I made it. This is the signpost at the top of the hill to prove I got there.

The view down the Lavericks from the top of the hill. I didn't run down to Lavericks as I would have to climb out again and I was not sure I would be able to do that, so I turned and came back down again.

Coming down was almost as hard as climbing up, but in a different way. By the time I got to the bottom my left knee was complaining, but thankfully it stopped when I reached flat ground. The next day I was very, very, very stiff though!

So I went for a walk on the beach! 

I am very proud of myself. I never could have even walked up there a year ago. And now I ran it...not all the way, I walked some bits....but even so I am so proud! I ran a short jog at an easy pace the day before we came home to loosen the stiffness. Even though I am very slow, I ran for 30 minutes without the walk. I think the hill climb has done me some good. 

Let me know what you would like to talk about. Running? Weight loss? Earthquakes? Anything else?

Cheers! And have fun today!

A Zero Carb Running Blogger

My story is up to date, I am a runner, and will do my first 5k race on 20th May. I am a committed paleo eater, who often eats zero carb. And I am successfully losing weight.

And I am enjoying blogging.

Next week I am going away. We are renting a cottage on the Banks Peninsula, where we do not have to worry about tsunamis  washing us away at night, and were the rock is older, and solid, and even if there is an earthquake there will be no liquifaction. The house is wooden with a light tin roof. We will be able to relax.

So there will be no updates until 20th April. I hope you have enjoyed reading my story, and will call back in a weeks time to catch up on the blog.

The Genesis of Running.

The genesis of running....well my running, anyway!

For a few weeks, I didn't care a great deal about dieting. But after a bit the acid reflux got to me and I went back on the paleo diet.

As my mind began to clear again, I started to think about running. I wanted to be able to run. I wanted to be fit. This was a matter of safety for me. My mind felt that if I could run to school, it wouldn't matter if the bridges were down. I could ford the river (or swim if it was high tide) and run to school, to the other side of the city, or wherever. This seems a bit overdramatic when I read it now, in cold blood. But this has been a difficult year or so, and maybe I AM rather overdramatic at the moment!

I talked to daughter 1, who is a runner, and to daughter 2 who is not, but fancied giving it a try. Then I made an appointment with my doctor. I have not been to the doctor for years, and as I am almost 50 and had a back operation 7 years ago, I thought I had better ask if there was any reason I shouldn't run.

It was my back that was worrying me. An accident 7 years ago had resulted in a spinal operation, that left me walking with sticks. After 6 months I dispensed with the sticks but retained a limp. My left foot was floppy, I could not lift it up towards my shins, or walk on my heels. I tried boots and braces, but found going barefoot was the best. I wore warm socks inside in winter and went barefoot as often as I could. The foot/leg got gradually better, but I always limped when I was tired, or wore stiff shoes. Heels were a no-no.

Fast forward 7 years, and you would never know anything had happened to me...unless I was very tired, or wore clumpy shoes. Thick soles were hopeless, and I sought out shoes with thin, light, flexible soles.

My doctor couldn't see any reason why I shouldn't try running, as long as I stopped if it hurt my back. So I gave it a go the very next day. I have a pair of trainers with super dooper running soles. I put them on and set out for a jog.

It was hopeless. My left foot was slapping down on the ground with very little control and my limp came back. So much for that bright idea.

The next day daughter 2 came for a visit. She asked how the running was going. She had been inspired by a book called 'Born to Run' (link and review in due course) where running barefoot, or in minimal shoes, was expounded. I already knew I could run barefoot...I chased the puppy on the beach barefoot daily...but I had no idea people actually RAN barefoot, nor had I heard of minimal shoes.

Daughter 2 and I found a start running plan at Active Canterbury, link , and I went out for Day 1 on Monday 5th March. I was totally barefoot, and ran on the beach. That night I came home and entered a 5k race to be held on 20th May!

I have been running ever since (all 6 weeks!) and I have discovered I love it. I now have some minimal running shoes, and can run without flapping or limping. I have taken it very slowly, and so far have not been injured. I never run more than 2 days in a row, and never rest more than 2 days in a row. This allows for a lot of flexibility, but I usually got out for 2 days, and then just take the 1 day off.

And this week I started back on the zero carb again.

Phew, up to date at last! That is my story. Now I will carry on blogging about things that interest me.

Oh yes, and the statistics for those who want them.

Female, 49 years old. 5'7"

Start weight, between 105 and 110kg. (The highest I ever saw on a scale was 108, but I know I was heavier than that)

Weight today 85kg

Goal 70kg.

Zero carb no more....

UK 2012
Almost up to date at last. The story is nearly completed. I am very excited to see I have some readers! Hello! And thank you so much for stopping by to read my blog. I would love it if you could leave a message to say hi.

And to new people, who have not been here before, my story starts with the first post of the blog. You can find it at the bottom of the menu on the left, or you can just go to the bottom of the page, where it says 'older posts' and work your way back to the very first post.

So I flew off to the UK again. The diet went to pot. It started on the plane. As my first stop was Australia, I couldn't take any food with me. By the time I got to Bangkok I was famished, however there was nowhere to buy food there as we went through straight to a waiting area and then back onto the plane. The next time the food came around I said yes. The tray was the usual mixture of horrors, but there was a bread roll. And butter. I ate it. Then I ate the meal. But not the desert. I also ate the next meal. Then I reached Dubai. Our plane was late and there was a rush to get through the airport to the next plane. Dubai to the UK. I had been looking forward to this leg, as I had used my points to upgrade to business. I had never been in business before, and it was great! When the food came round, a white tablecloth was laid on my table, and I was given a menu. I chose the steak.

I also ate the warm crusty rolls, and the 2 lovely chocolates. After all I had blown the diet anyway, so I might as well enjoy myself.....

And anyway I could always eat properly when I got there, long haul was an exception, wasn't it?

And I was on holiday.

And I had been doing so well I deserved a break.

Oh yes, all those well worn excuses, one bread roll and there they are, back again!

When I got there it was obvious Dad was not well, and a hospital visit soon after I arrived confirmed this. There was no more they could do. We had a great time, though. I was there 2 and a half weeks, and Dad and I had some great chats. We even got out for a drive one day. There were a number of things to sort out, which we did, but we also managed to have a good time together.

The food was funny. Dad could only eat tiny amounts, and he needed variety. He could only eat a thing twice before it turned to ashes in his mouth. And he needed to eat every hour. So everyday I set out shopping to find nourishing different things. I would come back with a scotch egg, a slice of ham, some strong cheese, and some crackers. Dad would eat a sliver of egg, and a cracker and ham. An hour later he would have another cracker and a sliver of cheese. That would be it for the crackers. An hour later and another sliver of egg and cheese, and that would be scotch egg and cheese off the menu. Guess what mother and I had for lunch? You've got it, scotch egg, cheese and crackers.

The next day would be the same. This time I might make a casserole, dad would manage a spoonful twice and then he would be unable to tolerate it any longer. This led to some hilarious meals as the rest of the family used up what was left over. It also meant any trip out turned in to a hunter gather expedition for novel tastes.

I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed it! After a zero carb diet, all these different foods were wonderful. And of course I was eating bread. Lovely bread, white crusty bread, dark sough-dough bread, nutty wholemeal bread. I had bread for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

By the time came to leave, I was eating sugar as well. Chocolate, fudge, yogurt coated banana chips....

The flight home was great. Business (on points) to Dubai. Dubai to Bangkok in economy, and amazingly, from Bankok all the way home...an upgrade! Let us just say...I enjoyed the food, particularly the sticky date loaf.....

6 days later, my father died.

Sod the food.