Archives for October 2014

Pram Running – Top tips to keep you moving with baby on board.

OperationMove · October 29, 2014 · 1 Comment

Running with a pram is not as simple as popping bub in your stroller, tying up your runners and heading out. There are a few things to consider that will help make the whole experience so much more enjoyable for everyone involved, as well as making it more likely that you will be able to keep going without injury.

General advice when considering running with a baby in a pram indicates that it’s not a great idea before bub has excellent head control, usually about the six month mark. Up until then walking is recommended.

You don’t need a fancy running pram to start clocking up the kilometres. I started running with a twelve year old Bertini which I was lucky to inherit from my older sister. It is a fabulous pram and reasonably easy to push, given its weight. Having since been blessed with a Bob Ironman (the Rolls Royce of running prams) I would recommend that if possible you lock the front wheel(s) in a straight position. This will take some getting used to but in the long term makes running so much easier, not having to worry about steering adjustments as you go.

Please be safe. If you run on hills and have a safety wrist strap, use it. No one wants to see a runaway stroller on the road. If you don’t have a safety strap you may want to consider staying away from hills when running with the pram. And always strap your little mate in. I’d hate to imagine what damage a toddler could do, climbing out of the pram when you’re running at speed, or even just reaching out and getting fingers caught in the spokes.

My other hot tips for running with a pram, in no particular order:

* Make sure your passenger is happy:

Miss J was only six months old when I started running again. I tried to time my runs to coincide with her naps as she didn’t really love the pram at all to start with. Otherwise I found myself trying to puff out verses of ‘The Wheels on the Bus’ in between intervals or worst case, carrying her and walking home, while still having to push the pram! As they get older toys, books, snacks and drinks all make it more enjoyable for your passenger. And don’t forget to be sun safe. A good sun shade also doubles as a fly and mosquito net.

482200_10151598658652784_1550509366_n — Happy Passenger!

* Maintain your running form:

My mantra when running with the pram is ‘Head up, shoulders back, don’t lean on the handlebar’. Don’t forget to swap hands regularly to avoid getting unbalanced, I often run fifty paces then swap. This also helps distract me on days when I’m just not feeling it. Really try and concentrate on running as normally as possible, except for the hand pushing the pram. For example, don’t swing your free arm across your body, keep it going front to back and keep an eye on how your foot strikes the ground. Don’t lean forward. On flat ground you should be able to push the pram with minimal effort, don’t grip the handlebar and just push with the palm of your hand.

9A98B74F-865E-4628-A00E-1ECF795EDC84 — Good form. This is not what it looks like 😉

*Maintain your pram:

Check your tyre pressure regularly and keep everything according to your manufacturer’s guidelines. Treat your pram as you would a bicycle. This will make sure your passenger stays safe and make pushing the pram that much easier for you.

MickisIphonetoOct2014 1720 — Make sure you have a pump on board in case of emergencies.

*Adjust your expectations:

Don’t forget you are working with additional resistance compared to solo running. Depending on your model of pram and how big your passenger is and whether you have one or two on board (!) you could be pushing an extra 40kg or more! Allow for this when looking at your pace and don’t be disappointed in your times. I went from a 28min/5km when running solo to 40 minutes for the same distance and that was on a good day! You will notice the difference when you do get a solo run though, you will feel like you are absolutely flying.

39B492B5-CD0B-4D76-8BF2-9CB93541DF31 — Be proud of your pram running efforts!

*Don’t try to get in a super long run with the pram unless your bub will sleep most of it!

I once tried to do an 18km training run with Miss J on board. The first 9km were fabulous as she slept from about the 2km mark. But then we had to stop for a chat with a passer-by (Runners with prams out on the highway, 15km from the nearest visible house, are often cause for passing motorists to stop out here!). So she woke up. Running 9km home with a babe who hadn’t had enough sleep and was cross was horrid and took twice as long as the first 9km. And three hours in a pram is too long for anyone! Overall I found running with Miss J to be one of the best things I have ever done. She has learnt that running and being active is completely normal and often asks when we’re going running. And pushing the pram means I don’t have have to worry about where to stash my water drink, snacks and phone. They all go in the pram console!

What pram running tips would you add? I’m looking forward to learning to run with two on board the pram early next year, have you got any suggestions for making that leap?

My Half Marathon

OperationMove · October 27, 2014 · 10 Comments

13 days ago I ran the Melbourne Marathon Festival Half Marathon. I’m still pretty in awe of myself! Someone suggested to me in June last year that I could run a half marathon and it seemed like such a hilarious and unrealistic idea. But it didn’t take long for it to become an achievable goal for me.

There are a few angles I could take when writing about this – I could focus on what I had to overcome; the 3 months off running to rest and rehabilitate my feet, the daily exercises set by my physio, the wondering whether a half marathon would even be physically possible for my body. I could focus on my training plan; I mostly devised it myself and it wasn’t that great, and there were many runs missed due to minor injuries/niggles, school holidays and sick children, and a bout of the flu. I could focus on the people who helped and inspired me; but to be honest there are too many.

Every time I start typing I realise in order to recognise everyone, I need another 1000 words. So I’ll just keep it old school and write about the event itself.

I was super excited the morning of the event but also quite nervous and a little bit emotional. I lined up at the start line with some of the OpMove team – Lee, Emily and Nikki; my aim was to try to keep up with Lee, who was aiming for a 2.10 finish time. It was an ambitious goal for me to go that fast but I figured I could start out that pace and just take it from there. I was running a distance that was 3kms more than anything I’d previously done, and all my previous long runs had been at an easy pace, so I was really unsure of how I would go.

When the race started it was so busy and crowded that I couldn’t position myself next to Lee, however I could see her up ahead and I kept her in my sights for the first 5 kms or so. Although I wasn’t running flat out I could soon tell that I was running at a pace that wouldn’t be sustainable for me over 21kms. So I let go of my 2.10 dream and just concentrated on keeping myself at a realistic but challenging pace. I stopped to refuel with some shot bloks at the 9km mark; it reminded me that I need some practice in this area as it took me over 1 minute to stop, open the packet with sweaty fingers, gobble them down and them gulp down some water afterwards! I was still feeling pretty good at this stage especially having slowed down slightly.

At around the 12km mark it started feeling a lot harder. My feet, legs, hips, even shoulders (what is with that?) were all hurting but I just kept pushing through it. It was also getting quite hot and I felt that perhaps Albert Park Lake was the least shady place on earth.

Running back up St Kilda road after the 15km mark felt extremely hard. I was surprised afterwards to see that I was still doing 6.20/kms at this point because I felt like I was running through quicksand. I tried to distract myself by watching the full marathoners running alongside us, and being happy that I wasn’t running another 23 kms! There was the odd runner collapsed on the side of the road, being attended to by St Johns. You could almost hear a collective sigh of relief from all the runners as we entered the shady part of St Kilda road.

I slowed to a brief walk at some stage on St Kilda road and it didn’t hurt any less than running so I figured I should keep running, that way it would all be over more quickly. I also stopped for a quick shot blok at the 19km mark, hoping that it would miraculously make my legs stop screaming (I didn’t realise they could do that). Not long after this point while running through Birrarung Marr, I spotted a blonde with an Operation Move top standing next to her bike. I immediately yelled out “Pinky!” and gave her a high five so hard that I was surprised I didn’t knock her over. It really spurred me on and I picked up the pace, I was actually overtaking quite a few people so I was feeling pretty badass.

Then I saw the bloody footbridge looming ahead…at least this year I knew it was coming! Last year it was a most unwelcome surprise. My plan was to power walk up the bridge and run like hell down it.

By the time the momentum of the downhill had subsided, I only had about 500m to go! I knew my husband and son would be waiting alongside the final straight somewhere, and watching out for them was a welcome distraction from the pain in my feet and legs. My toes, oh my poor toes that have caused me so much grief this year, they held up so well all day but they were starting to cramp and curl up in a ball and it took all my focus to keep them straight, just like my physio and I had talked about. Rounding the last bend I saw Kate, Jo, Rachel and Dannielle jumping up and cheering me! Oh those wonderful women. And then just before the finish line I saw my wonderful husband and son …. they’ve supported and encouraged me so much … I ran past them and gave my son the biggest high five ever. They looked so proud.

And then I was done. I was so relieved. I did it. I gave it everything. I did it in 2 hours and 15 minutes. I thought there would be tears but I think I was too exhausted. The tears finally came….right now, as I am typing this, reliving that wonderful day that I worked so hard for.

I couldn’t have done it without my fantastic team at Operation Move – all the advice, encouragement, laughs…running is so much more a team sport than I thought it would be.

And will I ever run another half marathon? Hell yeah!

Rachel’s Race Report

OperationMove · October 24, 2014 · 4 Comments

The weekend before last I travelled from Brisbane down to Melbourne to do the 10k event at the Melbourne Marathon Festival. I was a little nervous but mostly excited because not only was I going to run in Melbourne I was going to meet a number of the Operation Move team in person for the first time.

I originally signed up for the MMF last year and was going to do the half marathon with a few of the other Operation Movers. It was going to be our first half marathon. However early this year I injured my ankle and knowing I needed to train for the half and I hadn’t run / walked more than 5k before I started to panic about it. My mental health takes priority so I decided to take that pressure off and switch to the 10k. At the time I was going to be doing it on my own but that didn’t matter – my main reason for going to Melbourne was to meet people, to meet the team.

As it turned out another couple of people injured themselves in the months leading up to the MMF and also switched to the 10k. So instead of doing the run by myself I got to spend that 10k with a couple of absolutely wonderful women – thank you Jo and Kate! One of my team mates on the run was still nursing a knee injury and so we ended up walking about 7k of the distance but we stuck together and I know I had a better time than I would have if I’d decided to take off and run by myself.

One of the advantages of us doing the 10k was that we could then be at the finish line for the half marathon and cheer on the lovely ladies doing that event. It was fantastic – so exciting looking out for your team and cheering their hard work and achievement. Then we headed over to the marathon finish line to look out for our marathon women. It was amazing when we saw them – I cannot imagine running for that amount of time and we all cheered so loudly for them. I had to head off to my hotel soon after they crossed the finish line and as I was saying goodbye and hugging everyone there may have been a few happy emo tears shed.

Thank you Operation Move for not only an amazing weekend but for getting me to the point where I have now completed 2 x 10k events and started thinking that a half marathon is achievable.

Meet a Mover Monday – Mandy

OperationMove · October 20, 2014 · 1 Comment

Welcome to Meet a Mover Monday! Everyone has a story, and each week we will introduce you to one of our OpMovers so you can learn a little bit about theirs. We are all at different stages of our journeys, but we all started in the same place. This week, say hi to Mandy.

Who are you?

Hi, I’m Mandy. I’m verging on 40 with a husband and three children by my side. They keep me pretty busy, but I throw a bit of part-time office work in the mix. Life is never dull.

I love to be creative and can often be found crocheting or trying my hand at something homemade. I’m a total contradiction considering myself a real home body yet on the flip side, gosh I love to travel.

When did you start running and why?

A little while ago now! In 2011 I decided I was starting to verge on middle age and didn’t want to feel old. I mentioned this to another mother at kinder who was super fit and liked to run. She suggested I do a fun run. The run for kids was coming up and she recommended it. However, she convinced me to really go for it and do the 14kms as opposed to the 5kms. I think I had a moment of craziness and before I knew it I was signed up.

I’ll probably always hold the Run for Kids close to my heart. Being my first real run and all it was very very overwhelming and emotional. I would run thinking “I can’t believe I’m actually doing this” and at the time I was a blogger and I just couldn’t wait to share with the world how good it made me feel.

Following on from this I tried to continue to run but it was very up and down. Since that first run in March 2011 I’ve run the Sydney City 2 Surf, many Mother’s Day Classics, along with the Color Run and other local events and most recently completed a half marathon in the Melbourne Marathon Festival.

The Color Run was a great experience because we got the whole family moving. Even my (3 year old at the time) made the 5km. Needless to say he feel asleep sitting up at lunch, but it was great to include the kids in the experience.

What is your favourite distance?

Having now completed a few events at different distances I think I can confidently say 10km is my favourite distance. I love to spend my spare time with my kids and often find I don’t want to prioritize hours out of my day for long distance training. 10kms is good, because whilst I haven’t yet cracked the 1 hour mark (not far off) I’m more likely to get out there and just do it if I’m giving up an hour vs giving up a few. And on the flip side it still requires a lot of effort, so I still get the rush of achieving something.

Top 3 must have gear?

Smart Phone

Arm Band

Good Runners

I’m pretty basic when it comes to running. I need something to distract me so my phone in my arm band, churning out either music or podcasts is my savior. I doubt I’d even get out there without this. And good runners are a no brainer. This year when I bought myself a new pair of runners whilst they weren’t cheap they obviously weren’t suited to my feet. Boy did I know about it, fortunately the store where happy for me to exchange runners for something better tailored to my needs. It makes the world of difference.

Fave run post fuel?

I don’t really have a post run routine. If I arrive home at meal time, I’ll have that, whatever that might be, otherwise I might have a protein shake.

What do you listen to when you run?

Mostly I listen to music. On a long run though, I can get bored with that so I’ll turn to podcasts. It has to be a good one though. It’s good to have people holding a conversation, you feel like you’re a part of it and it’s a great distraction.

Tech lover or naked runner?

Obviously I’m a tech lover, if I haven’t got my iPhone I feel like it’s impossible to run. Crazy I know. However I did get caught up in the whole tech aspect of running and got myself a Garmin, was tracking everything and then I suddenly discovered I don’t really care about all that. Sure I like to know how long it takes me to complete a run, but I can do that via my phone. So after only several months I ended up selling my Garmin to another runner.

I think I’m more of an old school runner, I don’t tend to post to social media etc. I don’t know why exactly but I guess I don’t want to feel like I’m bragging to a bunch of people who don’t give a damn. That is why I especially love Operation Move. I’ve slowly learnt how nice it is to share your run with others, however in this instance it is with people who actually care. I like that, it feels more directed.

Words of wisdom to new runners?

Have a crack. You might surprise yourself.

I do a lot of interval running (run/walk/run) and started to beat myself up about it. I decided I wouldn’t consider anything above 5km until I was running 5km consistently without stopping. But then I realized I was just limiting myself. So what if I went for a 10km run and part of it was interval, I was still moving further, I was still improving my fitness and that to me is worth so much more.

I am most proud of?

Two things, firstly I’ll always be super proud of the day I went and ran the Run for Kids, the emotion behind doing something I’d never tried before and believing in myself.

Secondly my most recent run the half marathon. I so didn’t think I was going to get there. I had a number of injuries that slowed down my training and in the week before I really didn’t think I was going to make it to the start line. People would ask me if I was excited and I’d say “not yet” because I think deep down I really thought I’d bitten off more than I can chew. But you know what, I decided to just have a crack. What’s the worst that can happen, I tire out and I walk it, at least I’d not live with the regret of not giving it a go.

And you know what happened, I finished it, I ran over the finish line, totally exhausted but absolutely buzzing with my achievements.

If you’d like to share your moving story, please email your answers and a photo that you love to editor@operationmove.com.au

You never know who you might inspire to get moving!

Taking some ego out of your running

OperationMove · October 15, 2014 · 4 Comments

The other day I was going for a nice easy run and I looked at my watch and I didn’t like what it said. Because it said over 7 minutes. Which is such a ridiculous, arbitrary meaningless number. But it does make sense why I have that reaction to it. I worked really hard to get under those 7 minutes. And then I worked really hard to get under 6 (for some of my runs). So it can be easy when I’m on a long run to allow that kind of thing to plague me. To think that the run is no good because it’s too slow.

The truth is, that is my ego talking it’s not science.

I like the science of running. Actually that’s a lie. I love it. It is my favourite part. So if I read somewhere that you have to do this run this way and that run that way, I’m going to research it to see what the science behind it is. Because there’s a lot of junk science floating around. There are also a lot of approaches to other sports that just don’t translate in running. One of those ideas is that the best way to improve is to run flat out all the time. Or that if you do a run and it’s really slow, it’s somehow of no benefit to you. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth.

The fact is that to run something below your ability on purpose requires you to put your ego to one side a little bit. Sometimes that is hard. Which is why when I do my long runs in 8 minute km or 7 minute km I take a photo of it so people might see it and know that is what a long run is supposed to look like. It’s not supposed to be fast.

The slow run does a few things:

It builds your aerobic fitness

It gets distance in your legs with minimal risk of injury

It increases your speed at the same effort level over time.

It conserves your speed for speed workouts that will actually benefit you like intervals and tempos.

If you don’t run them slow enough, you get none of those benefits. And for the most part what stands between you and a slow enough long run is a bit of misplaced ego. Save that ego for your fast runs, then it actually comes in handy.