I'm generally fairly fleet footed and it isn't often that I trip or stumble and I don't often fall - usually reserved for forest orienteering events.
Sure, I do occasionally catch a toe or foot and end up lurching forward, but it isn't a common occurrence.
Tonight I clipped a toe on uneven paving and about a kilometre later I landed on the ground after clipping something else. I think that this is maybe my first or second road tumble ever - in more than 20 years!
I was on an uneven sidewalk (dirt and rough uneven paving in places), going around a corner and moving aside for an approaching pedestrian. And next minute I was skidding across the dirt surface and my running buddy, Rob, was helping me up. It happened in a flash.
When it comes to forest running, I'm well used to expecting to trip and stumble and sometimes fall. There's just no getting around running on pine needles, stepping on a hidden branch that flicks up another branch over which you're guaranteed to trip. I don't always fall - lurching is more common, but occasionally I end up with a soft landing on a bed of pine needles, which is usually A-ok.
But this time I wasn't expecting to trip - or fall - so it was a bit of a surprise more than anything else.
I've got a grazed left knee and a grazed right palm. I may have a bruise on my left hip tomorrow from landing on it. But otherwise no other aches, pains or injuries. Phew!
Hopefully that's my tumbling done for the next two decades!
Wednesday, 11 June 2014
Boxing: Round 2
Following my one-on-one boxing session with Vuyo on Friday morning, I hit the Undisputed Fitness Gym on Monday and Tuesday evening to try their group 'Boxfit' class. The class mixes up a bit of this and a bit of that with boxing elements to give a superb all-over workout that left me quite worked over.
The Monday night class focused of functional fitness with 30-second boxing combos (punching bag) mixed in with squats, push-ups, jumping jacks and other. After the initial warm up exercises and a short outdoor run, we rotated through 'stations' in smaller groups - boxing ring (sparring with a coach), punching bags and the mat. Sit ups, squats, push-ups, planks were the order of the evening. Phew!
The gym is only 3km from home so it is perfect to run to and from, which is what I did. I was feeling pretty tired on the run home.
Last night I was back for more. Surprisingly I wasn't as stiff in the arms and chest and shoulders as I'd expected - although I could definitely feel the effects of Monday night's session.
The class last night mixed in even more boxing - punch bag and some sparring - with a ton more push ups. Oh yes, I can feel my muscles calling my name today. We also did a bunch of wicked ab drills at the end of the session - it's easier to roll over to get up than it is to sit-up today... I felt better on the run home but this morning I've got a number of stiff spots that are sure to be more pronounced tomorrow.
There's a good mix of men and women, young and old. I chatted to a few of the people last night - a friendly group who encourage each other to work harder.
I went into trying this with the view of just giving it a go. I've got more than enough hobbies and activities and disciplines (many way too neglected) to take on any more.
While I don't intend to become a member here, I really do like this place. What stands out for me is that this is an independent gym and the owner, Byron, is there teaching classes, helping out and chatting to the participants. The gym is clean and neat and tidy and it has a warm and personal feel to it. I've been made to feel very welcome by Byron and the enthusiastic trainers.
Having spent 16 years at Virgin Active (formerly Health & Racquet Club), I can attest to the value of a training facility where the owner is interested and invested in you - much like the yoga studio where I feel very at home. Not all studios have this same warmth and personal feel - it's all about the owners and how they've setup their facility.
Undisputed Fitness Gym (Bedfordview) scores big-time points with me and I look forward to trying a few more classes next week.
The Monday night class focused of functional fitness with 30-second boxing combos (punching bag) mixed in with squats, push-ups, jumping jacks and other. After the initial warm up exercises and a short outdoor run, we rotated through 'stations' in smaller groups - boxing ring (sparring with a coach), punching bags and the mat. Sit ups, squats, push-ups, planks were the order of the evening. Phew!
The gym is only 3km from home so it is perfect to run to and from, which is what I did. I was feeling pretty tired on the run home.
Last night I was back for more. Surprisingly I wasn't as stiff in the arms and chest and shoulders as I'd expected - although I could definitely feel the effects of Monday night's session.
The class last night mixed in even more boxing - punch bag and some sparring - with a ton more push ups. Oh yes, I can feel my muscles calling my name today. We also did a bunch of wicked ab drills at the end of the session - it's easier to roll over to get up than it is to sit-up today... I felt better on the run home but this morning I've got a number of stiff spots that are sure to be more pronounced tomorrow.
There's a good mix of men and women, young and old. I chatted to a few of the people last night - a friendly group who encourage each other to work harder.
I went into trying this with the view of just giving it a go. I've got more than enough hobbies and activities and disciplines (many way too neglected) to take on any more.
While I don't intend to become a member here, I really do like this place. What stands out for me is that this is an independent gym and the owner, Byron, is there teaching classes, helping out and chatting to the participants. The gym is clean and neat and tidy and it has a warm and personal feel to it. I've been made to feel very welcome by Byron and the enthusiastic trainers.
Having spent 16 years at Virgin Active (formerly Health & Racquet Club), I can attest to the value of a training facility where the owner is interested and invested in you - much like the yoga studio where I feel very at home. Not all studios have this same warmth and personal feel - it's all about the owners and how they've setup their facility.
Undisputed Fitness Gym (Bedfordview) scores big-time points with me and I look forward to trying a few more classes next week.
Runtastic, funtastic
I don't often run with my mobile phone on me. Very rarely and usually only if there is another runner/s with me.
I heard about the Runtastic app yesterday and what caught my attention is that someone at their computer can login and watch you moving on the map (Nevarest offers similar functionality for sports events).
I loaded the app on my phone last night and will try it this afternoon when I run with my friend. I did login on my computer to watch the tracks of a couple of people - quite amazing.
You can search for people that you know are on Runtastic and if you know they're out running/ biking/ paddling (like in a race), you can follow their movements. It's like following an adventure race online. Hahahaha.
Also, say your partner heads out for a long run, you can keep tabs on them from home to make sure they're ok and to know when they're returning home.
Runtastic uses mobile towers for your location or GPS for greater accuracy.
There are loads of training apps available and I think they can be super fun - especially for online tracking of friends and relations participating in events like the Metrogaine next week Wednesday (18 June) and the rogaining events at the end of July.
So, I'll give it a try tonight to see how it works but I'm not going to change my habits any time soon to be running regularly with my phone (risky) nor posting workouts to social media. Not my thing. There are super motivational functions to these apps, which are cool, but which I don't need. It's really the tracking - and online following potential - that totally appeals to me - and I see this as being great fun to use at races.
I heard about the Runtastic app yesterday and what caught my attention is that someone at their computer can login and watch you moving on the map (Nevarest offers similar functionality for sports events).
I loaded the app on my phone last night and will try it this afternoon when I run with my friend. I did login on my computer to watch the tracks of a couple of people - quite amazing.
You can search for people that you know are on Runtastic and if you know they're out running/ biking/ paddling (like in a race), you can follow their movements. It's like following an adventure race online. Hahahaha.
Also, say your partner heads out for a long run, you can keep tabs on them from home to make sure they're ok and to know when they're returning home.
Runtastic uses mobile towers for your location or GPS for greater accuracy.
There are loads of training apps available and I think they can be super fun - especially for online tracking of friends and relations participating in events like the Metrogaine next week Wednesday (18 June) and the rogaining events at the end of July.
So, I'll give it a try tonight to see how it works but I'm not going to change my habits any time soon to be running regularly with my phone (risky) nor posting workouts to social media. Not my thing. There are super motivational functions to these apps, which are cool, but which I don't need. It's really the tracking - and online following potential - that totally appeals to me - and I see this as being great fun to use at races.
Monday, 9 June 2014
Running wild at The Wilds (O)
Yesterday was the final event of the orienteering Urban Series at The Wilds in Houghton. We decided to group a bunch of the short-distance events together to create this series and it seems to have worked quite well to bring in some newcomers.
I think I've only just got my quota (five of the nine) of events to get listed in the rankings... we'll see when the log comes out.
This The Wilds event was a nice local and accessible one - probably about 15mins from home for me. I haven't been to The Wilds for at least two years so, while I know the general layout of the place, I don't know the area very well. The one thing I do remember from my very first run there is how challenging it can be to read the paths on the map. Many little paths that are difficult to read while running.
The navigation was very straight forward with nothing tricky. In some places there was an option or two but generally quite obvious. The one place where I did pause to consider options was from Control 18 to 19. The only reason I chose to take the path was because I didn't want to risk getting any more blackjacks (grass seeds) in my tights. Hahaha. I heard afterwards that this was a good option; the route was clear initially but then there were blackjacks on the approach to the control.
This weekend coming we've got the Gauteng Orienteering Champs - three-days of orienteering. On Saturday afternoon is the sprint event at the Woodlands Office Park. This is going to be purely fast running and quick thinking on easy running terrain.
What I'm really looking forward to are the Middle (Sun) and Long (Monday) courses - especially the Long. The nav should be quite technical and challenging - just want I'm craving. Being in the Centurion area the terrain should be typical grassy and rocky highveld.
I should have some nice 'don't-do-what-I-did' routes to show you afterwards. hahaha
I think I've only just got my quota (five of the nine) of events to get listed in the rankings... we'll see when the log comes out.
This The Wilds event was a nice local and accessible one - probably about 15mins from home for me. I haven't been to The Wilds for at least two years so, while I know the general layout of the place, I don't know the area very well. The one thing I do remember from my very first run there is how challenging it can be to read the paths on the map. Many little paths that are difficult to read while running.
The navigation was very straight forward with nothing tricky. In some places there was an option or two but generally quite obvious. The one place where I did pause to consider options was from Control 18 to 19. The only reason I chose to take the path was because I didn't want to risk getting any more blackjacks (grass seeds) in my tights. Hahaha. I heard afterwards that this was a good option; the route was clear initially but then there were blackjacks on the approach to the control.
This weekend coming we've got the Gauteng Orienteering Champs - three-days of orienteering. On Saturday afternoon is the sprint event at the Woodlands Office Park. This is going to be purely fast running and quick thinking on easy running terrain.
What I'm really looking forward to are the Middle (Sun) and Long (Monday) courses - especially the Long. The nav should be quite technical and challenging - just want I'm craving. Being in the Centurion area the terrain should be typical grassy and rocky highveld.
I should have some nice 'don't-do-what-I-did' routes to show you afterwards. hahaha
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