Melissa Berkley

So I must admit that for the past couple months I've been delinquent. As Darren put it, I abandoned my readers. But it was by no means intentional.With training for the UWI half ,work and a few other things it is hard to find the time to sit and write. UWI half training is over now and I have a little more time on my hands, so here's an update on what's been going on with me of late.

Well, in my last post I promised to search for some core strength exercises to share with you all. I have kept my word and I found a website with some really good exercises which I have tried and found to be quite effective. You can check out http://www.pfitzinger.com/cc.shtml to find out more about these exercises.

One exercise which I've grown to love is the Swiss ball crunch which usually have my ab muscles feeling sore for days at a time but in my opinion is better than the regular crunch. This crunch helps you to use more ab muscles during the workout. You can check out  http://www.pfitzinger.com/cc1.shtml for more swiss ball exercises for core training.

So I'm four weeks into my training for UWI 1/2 and I must say that this training programme is testing my committment to consistent training. I have always liked sleeping in late. For me, getting up before 5:30 am, especially on weekends is unheard of. But in order to follow my training programme I need to get up early and this means dragging myself from the tv at night so that I could go to bed and get enough sleep so that I could have a good run the next morning. There have been times when I've left my house wishing that I could still be curled up under the sheets somewhere in dreamland and then there are the times when its ridiculously humid and you feel like all the energy is being drained out of your body. But all in all I cannot say that I regret making this committment. I am too excited about this race to not follow my programme through to the end.

So far the runs have been good. I've completed a total of 106 miles over the past four weeks. I bought new trainers in July and the soles are already beginning to wear down so that means I'll be shopping for new shoes at the end of the month.

But  one challenge that I must say I have faced is the quest the for stronger abs. I have been on a quest for this for a long time and I can't seem to apply the perfect formula that would give the abs that I want. Despite the fact that I have lost a considerable amount of inches on my waistline, I must admit that I am not yet quite satisfied, especially since I've learnt that strong core muscles result in more stabilty when you run and decreases your likelihood of sustaining injury. I read somewhere that even though we feel that while we are running most of the work is done below the waistline, it is the core musles that are hard at work trying to maintain stability; helping you to maintain good posture during long runs.

Its seems that everyone has a different solution to offer. One person told me you don't neccesarily need to change your diet you just need to do plenty abdominal exercises and that will be fine. And someone else said that you must complement your ab workout with cardio so that you can burn that fat and then do the ab exercises. This I think makes more sense than the first suggestion but what about the issue of food? I've heard eating too much carbs can deter fat loss. But I am faced with a dilemma as to how I can achieve a balance. As someone who is running almost everyday of the week I need carbs for energy so how do I know when I've crossed the threshold; that I have consumed enough carbs to refuel after a long run. I haven't been able to find the answer to that question as yet. I'm doing some online research and I hope that I could find a workable solution. If you have any suggestions, feel free to leave your comments.

I'm also searching the web for some ab exercises that I could use...Stay tuned to find out what I come up with.  If you have any websites that you can recommend feel free to post them and I'll be sure to check them out. 

This week I have officially committed myself to  training consistently for UWI half marathon on November 2nd. I have a training programme that I'm going to try to follow as closely as possible and I am excited to see how things will turn out on race day. Over the past couple weeks I have been getting in as much as 20 - 24 miles a week and though for some this may not be much milage, I am happy about it because I've been able to balance my schedule and get those runs in at all costs.

When I look back and reflect on the last six months, I continue to surprise myself over and over again. I had always been intrigued by runners who had the heart to run such long distances but I had never dreamed that I would try it myself. If anyone had asked me last year if I would be running half marathons now and thinking about doing a full length marathon next year, I would have laughed. Given my fitness level then, I would have thought it impossible for me to reach that stage.

So  here I am now, all excited about running; curious as to how far I could push myself; trying to build not just physical but mental endurance as well. Unlike all the other workouts I've done in the past, running takes the most out of me physically and mentally and I love the challenge.

For the UWI 1/2, I have not set a time in which I would like to finish because I would like to be preoccupied with doing my best rather than racing the clock. I think that I would run a better race if I look at it that way.  I'm also going to work on building that mental endurance so that I could have the courage to bear the pain, especially in the last couple miles of the race. I also want to not sustain any injuries while training for this race. Now I know that that may be wishful thinking but I really don't want to have another experience like the one I had at Bulter 20K. I'll do what I have to do to avoid that at all costs.

So I'll keep you folks posted on how my training goes. It includes tempo runs and repeats along with some long runs and if I stick with it, my longest run would be 16 miles before the half marathon in November. This should make running 13.1 miles alot easier. Stay tuned...

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Of late I have learnt the importance of wearing the right shoes for running. Ever since I've started running, I have sustained a couple injuries including that pain underneath my foot that I endured at the Butler 20K. It turns out that I had a case of plantar fasciitis. This is a painful inflammatory condition caused by excessive wear of the plantar fascia, the thick connective tissue which supports the arch of the foot. Plantar fasciitis is common in athletes as it is brought on by excessive running, jumping or other activities that can put stress on the tissue and can lead to tearing and inflammation. But improper footwear is by far one of the most popular causes of plantar, especially if your shoes do not fit properly or does not provide adequate support and cushioning for your foot.

After doing some online research and talking to some experienced runners who know a thing or two about running shoes, I discovered that everyone's foot is not the same. I was referred to www.runnersworld.com. This website gives foot diagnostics by using a wet test and provides a guide for choosing running shoes based on your type of arch

Check out the site and you would see that basically,there are three types of feet , and this can determine if you are a normal pronator, an over pronator or an under pronator. I took the wet test and found that I am an over pronator meaning that I have a flat foot or low arch. So I need to wear motion control trainers which provide extra support for the arch of my foot.

Runners world.com is also very useful when it comes to choosing the right shoe. Many times the sales reps at the shoe stores do not have the expertise to help you choose the right trainers, so runner's world gives you shoe reviews and helps you to find the right shoe for your foot in what ever brand you like to wear.

Also, another important thing is that you should ensure that you change your running shoes at least every 6 months. Excessive running causes the cushioning to wear down and this can also cause injuries.

So if you have not done so yet, do a foot diagnosis and ensure that you are wearing the right shoes for your foot. Trust me it makes a big difference. My new motion control trainers are much more comfortable than the ones I used to wear and I look forward to running with less injuries.

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It took me a long time to decide whether or not I would do the Bulter 20K. It was not as easy a decision to make as when I decided to try my first 15K on June 1st. Before that, I had only run 9 miles once before and as a new runner,most people believed that I shouldn't push myself so hard at such an early stage. But I did it anyway and finished the race in 1hr 32mins. The Bulter on the other hand was another story. This race is famed as one of the hardest races in Trinidad because of its undulating course and the three steep hills at the end .

Gradient map for Bulter's 20K copy

I had heard stories of persons who made attempts at running this race and fainted before they got to the finish line and someone told me that the race was so hard that after running it I would never want to run again.

But after much deliberation I decided to try it. The race was only a couple weeks after the 15K and I decided that I would try to do as much preparation as possible.

I managed to run as much as 12.6 miles at least once before the race but I was still doubtful about whether or not I was prepared for those hills at the end. But despite my doubt, I must admit that as race day grew closer I began to get excited and anxious and the night before that faithful day, I must confess that I had so much butterflies in my stomach that I couldn't sleep properly.

On the morning of June 19th after a long journey to San Fernando, I assembled with everyone else at the starting line and at the blast of the horn, I set out on my journey to Fyzabad.Things started really well. The plan was to run my own race and pace myself, gradually increasing speed after every 3 miles or so. The weather was perfect. No rain, no hot sun. And I was no longer nervous. I was confident that I would finish this race despite all the horror stories I had heard.

But after the 5th Km, when I wanted to increase my speed, an injury from which I thought I had fully recovered resurfaced to haunt me. Earlier that week, I experienced a dull pain underneath me left foot, just before my heel. I had decided to rest it and didn't do any running for about four days before the race. The pain went away and I thought that everything was fine but at the Butler 20K, the pain came back and with every step it hurt much more than it did earlier in the week. The pain moved towards my instep just before my toes and I felt as though someone was trying to break the bones in my feet with a stick.

I began to panic. The last thing I wanted was to reach the finish line in an ambulance. I had travelled from far. I had been thinking about this race all week. I had to finish this race and I decided that despite the pain, even if I had to run slowly for the next 15Kms, I was going to cross the finish line running. But eventually my muscles warmed up and the pain went away and for the next 10Kms, I ran with all my heart and soul.

Eventually, I met up a contender from the 15K, a middle aged East Indian man, whose technique amazes me. He plays mind games with his competers and I had fallen for the trick at the 15K and fell for it again at the Butler. Whenever he catches up with you he runs just in front of you, so close you could almost reach out and touch him. When he hears you coming closer to him he speeds up to make you feel that he's trying to outrun you, then he lets you overtake him, making you feel like you've suceeded at passing him out in the race. Then about a couple miles before you reach the finishline, when you forget all about him. He surprises you by racing past you so fast that you are unable to catch up with him.

About 5Kms before the finish line, he caught up with me. At that point the pain that I faced early in the race had returned and the hills were getting steeper with each mile. I was disappointed in myself for falling for his trick twice in a row and even more disturbed by the fact that I was in too much pain to even try to catch up with him.

Folks, the hills at the end of this race are hard. I had seen a map of the gradient of the course beforehand but I didn't visualise that it was going to be so steep. And the worst of it all was that you face these hills at the end, after your legs have been stressed out for 9 miles. 

But nevertheless, I faced each one at a time and was determined to run all the way to the finish line. For the last couple 100 yards I had some help from a friend who had finished before me. She ran with me almost to the end and I was moved because at that point I really needed it. I was in alot of pain.When I crossed the finish line the clock said 2hrs 11mins and I felt good. This was a respectable time given my circumstances.

Inspite of the pain I would do it again in a heart beat. Next year, I am going to run this race again for sure. And the second time around I will be prepared for those hills and my East Indian friend and his mind games.

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I'm the chick on the right. - October 2007

After being away from sporting activities for so long it feels good to finally be back in shape. During my school days, I was always involved in come kind of sports. I played hockey, trained for competitive aerobics and had a short stint with track and field but after school life changed, work became a bigger part of my life and sad to say, I spent most of my spare time watching TV and eating.

Eventually, the pounds began to pile on and when I met my ex-classmates the first thing they would say is; " Oh my gosh!! You get real big!!!". These comments didn't exactly work well for my self esteem despite the fact that they insisted that this weight gain was a sign that life was treating  me well. Everytime I looked in the mirror I would tell myself that I had to do something about my growing gut. But these things are easier said than done.

After years of complaining, when I started the first semester of my final year at university I said enough is enough. I decided that a hectic schedule was no longer an excuse. In the midst of all the research papers I had to write

Me December 2007

and my final year thesis, I hit the campus gym at every possible opportunity; I changed the way I ate and sort the advice of the fitness instructors on having a structured workout plan. I began to see results almost immediately and was elated when I lost my first 4 pounds in a month. Though that may not seem like much I was estatic. My plan was working! I was on my way to being skinny again!

Now, about 18 months later, I've lost as much as 37 pounds and I feel that I am in the best shape than I've ever been in 5 years. I've committed myself to continually develop my workout plan and to making fitness an integral part of my lifestyle.

Recently, I represented my company on a team to compete in CariFin 2008 Urban Challenge and quite unexpectedly after having placed among the top 5 females, I have renewed my passion for running. I decided to start training harder and more consistently and I have begun to enter races. So far, within the past two months I've participated in a 5K, 15K and a 20K. I am happy to say that in each race I've run all the way and finished in a respectable time and I feel proud. And I look forward to running many more races and seeing how much I can improve in terms of speed.

LOL.. If anybody told me last year that I would be running this much now, I would have never believed them!! If I could do this anyone can.

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