An old friend

Don Ritchie is a World class Ultra runner I met in 1979 when he set the 100 mile road World record in Flushing Meadow New York. I am honoured to say that we have been friends ever since. This is a very nice article about him.  http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk/donritchie/.

Visiting old places

This evening I will be traveling by bus to Ljubljana, Slovenia, where I lived for 3 years. I will arrive early in the morning and will try to get out for a run soon after. I find it helps to shake out the stiffness I sometimes get from sitting on the bus. I will be there for 6 days and will give a talk on Sport and Meditation. I will also get the chance to go for a run in some of the old places in used to run on regular basis when I lived there. Hopefully I will get a chance to visit the Sava river. maybe even run in snow.
I will hopefully update on how things go when I get back.

On we go

Well 1000 days have come and gone and I am still running everyday.The mornings are becoming colder with still the occasional mild one, My enthusiasm to go out and run each day has not changed and so I continue. After my bout of flu my fluidity has seemed to come back though I do have the odd morning when an old ache will change my running gait a little. Some of the people I saw out there in the morning earlier in the year I am seeing again, so that is nice.

The latest

Well of course it has been a while since I posted anything here. The summer was interesting in Sarajevo. Much cooler than last year, though there were a few hot days. I have managed to keep my running streak going and just this morning completed 1000 days, which is just short of 2 years and 9 months. I a few ideas of things to do to mark my 60th year, but things didn't seem to work out.
Sometime in the next few weeks I should be giving another talk at the Sport Academy here in Sarajevo and we will see how that goes. Will try to post a bit more frequently. Bye for now :)

Sports Academy and such

On the 29 th of May I gave a talk on Sport and Meditation at the Sarajevo Academy of Sport, around 70 students and teachers attended. within a few days a few of the students contacted me and I was invited to run with some of them at the Sarajevo Athletic club, we did a 40 minute tempo run. It is my plan to run with them when I can and get to know the club.
Back in March while running a half marathon I experienced a cramping problem with my right calf and for some reason it said hello to me during this mornings run, 3 1/2 months later. I played tennis in hot sunny conditions on Sunday and had a sore right buttock for a couple of days, they are probably related but do not appear to be serious.
I am approaching 900 days on my running streak and will hit 2 1/2 years shortly after that :)

Running shoes

Someone asked me the other day, "What running shoes do you recommend ?". Well that is hard to say, I could simply say the ones that are best for you, but then it depends on how you are planning on running.
In my early years I would often try shoes that my friends would say were really great shoes regardless of brand name. My main requirement was that they felt good on my feet, but I would find that some shoes would give me problems. Some of them would give me cramps across mt foot, others would give me knee pain, but I would try them all. Eventually I found that for me Addidas and Asics were the best shoes for me. They felt great on my feet and never gave me problems. I had friends that swore by Nike or Saucony, so you see it begins with trial and error. Once you have found the make of shoe that is best for you then stick with them, when I tried other ones later in life I ended up with a nice pair of walking around shoes. Within the brand of shoe you choose you will find ones that are good for the type of running you are doing, whether light ones for short fast races or more stable ones for longer races. I personally alternate between Addidas and Asics and find they are best for comfort and running style. Some running shops will let you try out the shoes in the shop or a few steps outside before buying and you can see how they feel on your feet. I don't go in for the fancy new claims that the shoe companies have for improved design , I just like a basic shoe that feels good on my feet when I run.
I hope this is  answers the question a little, just find the best shoe for you and stick with them. When you change shoes a lot it changes the structure of you running style. :)

World Harmony Run/ Peace Run.

The Oness-Home Peace Run  began life in 1987 then after the events of September 11, 2001 was suspended for a short time re- emerging as the World Harmony Run, after reaching it's 25th anniversary last year it was decided to return to the original name and so 2013 is a transitional year, it is also and off year meaning that it consists of mainly regional and local runs.
On May 1 I joined the run in Zagreb Croatia and visited 2 schools there, then we moved on to Vukovar where we visited 2 schools in the area and in the afternoon of May 3 we attended an event that we had been invited to by the President of Croatia and presented him with the Peace torch, it was a very nice meeting. Finally on the weekend we went to Brcko in Bosnia and Hercegovina and on  Saturday presented the torch to the Mayor and Deputy Mayor at the city hall. Quite an eventful few days.

This Sunday I helped my friend Elvir run in the Run for Europe 4k race, we ran a time of 19:31 he had been running 30 minutes for 4k in training so was very happy with his time.

Lower Back and Hip pain

For the last 3 or 4 days I have been having some lower back and right hip pain, this is something that I have experienced from time to time. I have had much worse things happen to me in multiday races so this kind of thing doesn't stop me from going out for a run. In fact what I usually find is that after a few awkward steps the tightness and the pain ease and my run goes on without too much of a problem. Of course if the pain increases when you run than you have to think about rest or treatment. What I am saying however is don't let a little soreness or tightness stop you from going out for your run, you might just find it helps :)

800 Days

So 9 days ago on what is known as Palm Sunday around the world I completed 800 days in my current running streak. For some reason it was not a comfortable run, I felt a little tired, but it was done and I was happy to reach this milestone for only the second time. In just a short time I will reach the half way mark towards my personal best of 4 years 6 months and 8 days. Who knows if I will reach it or pass it I just know that as long as I have the feeling to go out and run everyday I will :)

2 miles and Half Marathon.

On the last weekend of February I was in Banja Luka and though the weather was cold and icy I decided to run a 2 mile race on the track at the Borac stadium. I didn't feel that great so my plan was to run easily and steadily. My time of 18:27 was of course quite slow, but was just what I wanted the week before my Half Marathon in Nis, Serbia.
March 3 was  the Winter Marathon in Nis, Serbia. On Friday before I left for Serbia I had a little stomach upset but by Sunday morning it seemed fine. The start was cool but sunny and it got warmer as the race went on. I ran nice and steady at around a 9 minute per mile pace and felt quite comfortable.Then between 8 and 10km I started to feel a little uneasy in my stomach, this prompted me to take a trip to the toilet which took about 5 minutes or so. After this break I felt much better, however, over the last 3km I started to feel some cramping in my right calf and the end of my race was a case of me not being able to push as I usually would do. I think this was a combination of some salts lost in my toilet visit and not taking enough fluids later to replace them . My time of 2:32:37 was about 5 minutes slower than last year, but once again my aim is to spend a good deal of time on my legs at this time of year. This has been my training plan for the last 3 years.
Mainly though the race is well organized and it is nice to participate in it each year.

Snowy run

I was out just after 6 this morning and there was about 3 1/2 inches ( 8cm ) of snow on the ground. Here in Sarajevo they snow from most roads and footpaths pretty quickly, but there were still some areas where I was running on soft and slightly crunchy snow, which was pretty nice. I find that when the footing is not so sure because of uneven surface due to the snow your upper legs seem to get a bit of a work out, that maybe they don't get normally. When I got home I did me little series of exercises and then I fixed myself some oatmeal with some sunflower and sesame seeds added, a little milk and sugar. I had 2 hot bowls and it really set me up for the morning.

750 days

This morning was quite blustery, but the temperature was around 10C so not too bad. Actually if not for the wind it felt quite warm. I felt a little sore from the core exercises I have been doing but I finished well and my run this morning made it 750 consecutive days, so I am quite pleased with that.

Flexibilty

When I was younger I used to do weight training in the winter to supplement my running. Well over the last few years I have been telling myself that I need to get more flexibility, but of course I would either forget this  or just do it for a couple of days then stop. Well this winter I have finally got around to it and now usually after my morning run I do a few exercises  to strengthen my core and some yoga to improve my flexibility. I have noticed an improvement in the way I feel when I run and the last few days my sleep seems to have also got better. As time goes on I will add  more and plan to continue throughout the year and not just for the winter.

Winter running

Over the last month or so I have had the opportunity to experience some very cold running conditions including snow and some warmer ones with rain,but managing to get out there and run is the most important thing for me. I remember many years ago while participating in a 24 hour race a runner from Michigan, I believe his name was Ron Berber, said to me that he felt that running a mile in the cold of the winter was like running 2 in the warmer months. I guess he felt the muscles work harder and you get more of a benefit. I have a tendency to gain weight over the winter and I find that the running helps me keep it down a little and of course one wears more clothing and I feel that the extra weight maybe helps to strengthen the muscles a little. In the past I have also done some light weight training. All this usually means that once Spring comes around I tend to be a bit more prepared for it.