764th

am i not running or racing enough?

2010-11-04T15:55:00.000+00:00

away for the weekend, so only managed to fit in a 3mile jog on Sunday morning.. but that was better than nothing. and with this mild weather and some quaint and pretty autumnal Warwickshire countryside, i quite enjoyed myself.. apart from some goon beeping their horn without reason as they passed. yeah.. thanks for that..

Tuesday club training: pyramid. and quite a pyramid it was too: 400-800-1200-1600-1200-800-400 with 200m walking recoveries between the first and last three and 300m recoveries between the middle three. i actually managed a good pace throughout and was pleased with my performance. no timing, so i don't know what speeds we were hitting. but i'd say we were still sub-7min/mile during the 1600m, and that was definitely the slowest. i'm guessing the 400s were around 75s.. maybe?

meant to run at lunchtime yesterday: a slowish 5mile recovery, but i forgot my towel, and found out i needed to go buy a few things out up town. instead i ran today - and tackled the full 6miler for the first time in quite a while. it was actually my intention to run 8miles nice and steadily as a mid-week long(ish) run, but my leg speed picked up after the warm-up mile, and i didn't really control it too well. felt pretty good building up a sweat in this mild weathe,r and the tracks in Hyde Park weren't too busy. ended up coming down the east side of the park at a fair lick - probably approaching 6min/mile pace. [not wearing the watch at the moment, as i need a new battery.] it was one of those pace-sessions that occur quite rarely: your breathing goes all relaxed and the leg speed continues to increase - and you end up flying, feeling a bit like you're floating on air.. didn't really want to get to the bottom it felt so.. right.

will go out again tomorrow, probably a 5miler - maybe speed up it a bit in the middle.. will have to see how the legs and the Achilles feel. no problems as yet. the intention is to run a 7miler on Sunday morning too. there's a great run from my house that takes me through Lewisham, over Blackheath and down and round Greenwich Park, before returning up and over the other side - through the Cator Estate. hope i get the time and feel in the right place to do it. will hopefully swim with the kids too..

the question in the title of this post comes from what i'm overhearing at the club sessions. one guy there had run a 10k that previous Sunday, another had run 12miles the night before, and another hadn't had a day off running for three weeks! no wonder i looked and felt so fresh-legged in comparison.. felt a bit of a fake running round near the head of the group - with just 3miles under my belt in the previous 4 days.

the lack of miles in my week can't really be avoided - and i'm building back up quite well now. i had a great deal of hesitation about overstressing the Achilles after i started back - but i think i can get more relaxed now.

one of the guys there - Steve - asked for what i'm training at the moment. i mentioned London in the spring and perhaps the Tunbridge Wells half in February, but i got the feeling that he was looking for something more immediate. even the less speedy guys there are picking up 10ks here and there - or turning up to be a club rep at a 5k x-country meet if they can. leads me to think that either i'm less committed to racing - or even running - than these more seasoned club members or i'm not organized enough about racing - and i'm perhaps missing out on a good thing by not racing regularly - or maybe it's just that i don't have the time these guys might. the latter seems highly unlikely, so maybe i need to ask around a bit and gauge opinion. my feeling is that i don't commit to races so easily. i like to always do as well as absolutely possible. so the idea of showing up regularly but only rarely getting a PB seems quite alien. maybe it's just me - maybe i've still not done enough racing to feel more relaxed about 'taking part'. it's whether racing would benefit my training - and i think it might - that's the clincher..

the week that just was..

2010-10-29T14:16:00.000+01:00

last week i didn't manage to get to the #runwithmo @buparunning event organized for Thursday lunchtime in Regent's Park. i knew i'd be too busy and so i ran on the Wednesday instead: 4m, usual route, about 30min.

this week: after a long weekend away in Budapest, for which packing was minimal (and my running shoes were banned), i came straight back to Tuesday night club training. that entailed a good warm-up with 3x100m strides then into the good stuff: we ran 6x1000m with 200m recoveries. i don't know the times we were clocking for the 1000s, but it felt fairly fast, probably 6min/mile pace. turned out to be excellent exercise and i was very happy to push home hard on the last lap. we ran the park to warm down, then i trundled off home, where an excellent couscous salad was waiting! really felt it in my calves the next day, so had to have a good stretch out, but no trouble in the Achilles any more..

Thursday i'd hoped to go out with one of the guys from work for a recovery run, but neither was available. i ran by myself and stretched it out to the 5mile loop up into Hyde Park. the first and last miles i covered quite relaxed as good warm-up and warm-down. the middle 3miles i started in at around 7:10 and built through to around 6:20. i didn't have my watch on me, so those speeds aren't accurate; just what it felt like. to make it a bit harder, as i was feeling good in that middle section, i tried out 3-3 breathing, instead the regular 2-2. it makes quite a difference! it's supposed to build up strength in your diaphragm if you remember to belly not chest breathe. it gave me something to concentrate on and the time went by quite quickly. i really like finishing along the road that runs the length of the northern side of the Serpentine. it's nice and flat, slightly downhill, and if you get on top of the camber, you have a lot of space around you..

racing goals, aging and being reasonable..

2010-10-19T14:05:00.000+01:00

yesterday: 4miles at 7:20. pretty good turn around the park. was ultra-anxious, as usual, about the Achilles, but it seemed to hold ok. felt great yesterday evening, but is stlightly achy this morning. probably connected to it being cold and that i haven't fully stretched it out yet.

today will see me turn up later for my second session with Kent AC. last week was really good fun, and i liked the people and the feel of it. don't think we're back on the track yet, so that likely means we're back out in a poorly lit park somewhere. we'll see..

was thinking this morning about racing and my plans - and my age. i'm 38 now, and i guess you could say i've come to it later in life than most. i started up only a couple of years ago and have only raced a handful of half and full marathons - definitely so compared with some of the seasoned veterans on the courses who must be of an equivalent age. it leads me to think about what i want to accomplish - and how much time i've got to do some of those things. i'm running London next year, and that's always been a big (probably the biggest) wish for me - ever since i arrived 8years ago. but what other races do i want to run - where? and how?

well, another race that came to mind, and probably spurred this whole line of thinking, was the Boson marathon. entries for 2011 have just opened and closed - it filled up the same day! i like to sound of it because it comes in the right end of the year (for what i'm used to in marathon prep) and also the fact that you have to qualify. don't know why i like that, but there's definitely a draw because of it.

so London this year, Boston next year, then? well, then i'll be 40, and I guess i'll have to reevaluate my racing strategy. i've been pretty lucky this year to have clocked a sub-3hr marathon. i'm going to try my damndest to beat that next year - by a few minutes - now i know going sub-3 is possible for me. the following year, i'd guess i'll still be capable to run at those speeds. but after that i don't know how long it'll go on before i start to fade in the speeds i can pull off. i know i'm a decent runner, but i also know that i have to train very hard (find it difficult to do anything else to be honest) to get up to these standards. maybe a few years down the line i'm not going to be physically able to match what i can achieve now. how's that going to feel? when it happens - and who knows? maybe it's a while off yet - i think it's going to be hard to accept. i wonder what it feels like to know you're past your bests - no more PBs..

there are definitely some halfs that sound attractive, and probably a fair few more fulls that tickle my fancy.. it's a full intention to run at least one a year. maybe when i get on a bit and the times aren't so important, i'll be more open to running more than one a year - just to participate - and get that great feeling of achievement and belonging..

first club session..

2010-10-13T21:14:00.000+01:00

so after some missed commitments - weights, swim on Sunday, stretching.. - i lined myself up to attend the Kent AC training session on Tuesday night. i got back from work and picking up Joe by six, then had some nuts and raisins to top up before making my way down to the Ladywell Arena for just before seven.

it was immediately clear to me that there was a good social group of people - mostly women - gathering there. i announced myself as a newbie and, after the coach there got my PB for the half, got taken to meet the A- and B-groups. their coaches hadn't yet arrived, so i took a turn round the park as a warm-up with the A-group. i wasn't on my own as a new recruit. another guy from nearby was also there for the first time. he had a similar background in running to me - although had run four marathons. we learnt from the A guys that their's was a pretty good gathering of talent. they said it was hard to get a good group of people together in London, because of everyone being so widely distributed. one of the group was away at the CWG, and i learnt that another there had a 67min half to his name and finished 30th at London this year. pretty clear this was going to be a fair bit too quick for me..

when we got back we had a chat with one of the guys from the B-group, who were going to do 6 x 1200m round the park. [the track is still closed - til next Friday - for resurfacing etc.] he was happy enough with my 10k PB but it sounded like i was going to get stretched. i decided to drop down again and take it easier on the Achilles this week. turns out that was a good idea..

so - back to the social group. it was quite a mixed bunch, but everyone in good spirits and really friendly. we headed up to Hilly Fields Park on the hill above the running track. there we did hill repeats. the uphill-downhill stretches were maybe a minute or so long, and we took 3min breaks in between pairs. from my count i think we did 4 repeats up-and-down. it took its toll, but i was pleased with how it went. i did well on the uphill sections, but took it easy on the downhill to protect my heel. seemed like the best thing to do considering even this session was probably beyond what i should have sensibly been doing in my rebuild to full training.

we jogged back and i pretty much headed straight back home. i cold-showered immediately, and had a plate of the delicious lamb stew Poll had prepared earlier - and i'd had to bear not eating between six and seven. i RICEed the ankle with 2 x 20min ice after. while it's still tender at the base of the tendon - and remains so now - it doesn't feel like it did when it came on. now it feels more controllable. i took some ibuprofen this morning to help it along, and i'll probably keep that up twice a day for a little while.

so, all in all, it was a major success. i can see me progressing up to the B-group there - if that works for them too.. would be great to get really pushed at least once a week alongside some good club runners. i think it'll stand me in great stead for any future races. very happy i went..

more running done..

2010-10-08T16:31:00.000+01:00

ran yesterday: 4mi at 7:15-ish and Tue: 4mi at 7:00. Also swam 1km on Sunday and ran the previous Thu (4mi again).

i think the runs this week were probably just a little too high-tempo. we got out and started to enjoy getting back into the old rhythm - we even thought there might be some muslce-memory involved. i suffered yesterday afternoon, and worried through the evening that i'd knocked the injury back a few weeks by going at it all too hard. seems as though some anti-inflammatories and RICE has done the trick however. probably won't run at the weekend, as planned, but will definitely do another 1km session in the pool on Sunday.

having had confirmation that i'm in London next year has made me think about what i need to do to properly prepare this time. i have to think out which races to go for in the run-up and how to grade the training and diet to make sure i'm on top form on the day. thinking of fitting some trail runs into the schedule, as that's something that's taken my fancy recently. maybe..

neither of my good friends got in via the ballot, but that was to some extent expected. i don't think either will take the charity route either (just too much commitment), so it looks like i'm on my own. hopefully i'll be able to muster some supporters for the route. with the new mile rate cut-down to 6:27 for a 2:50 i'll need all the support i can get!

as long as the Achilles holds out and seems ok enough, i'm going to try my first session with the local running club, Kent AC, on Tuesday. the track is still closed for it's refurbishment, but they are still holding sesssions down there - in the park i think. should be good..

we go running again..

2010-09-28T20:09:00.001+01:00

just 4mo since we last ran, me and my colleague from work ran again this lunchtime. we did a very easy going 4mi up to the bridge across the Serpentine in Hyde Park. it was great to get out and especially so as we'd been looking forward to it for quite some time. his knee's been bad and my Achilles needs no further explanation. it seems to have stood up to the challenge. I'll probably have to wait till tomorrow morning to really fond out but seems ok now. will ice it well in a few minutes.

I think we've both realised that you can't just knock out the runs now. this break has been very frustrating so I've got to do everything supportive to the running - the stretching, icing, swimming.. - to keep me out on the roads.

with the results of the London ballot out next week I'll see who'll be running with me in Apr 2011, and thus who'll be training with me too..

another step in the right direction...

2010-09-21T17:42:00.000+01:00

this time it was actually a real step.. in fact, quite a few. simply round the parks again for a slow 2.5m jog, but it was pain and ache free.. and i can't tell you how happy that made me. i stretched-out both Achilles at 10:30 this morning, then ran at 12:30.. stretched again directly after, then showered and iced (as best I could with the ice-pack i'd brought from home this morning) it for a good 20min. stretched again this afternoon, and it's feeling ok. there's a slight twinge down the Achilles itself, but it's not painful in the pinch test, so i'm guessing there's definite movement towards recovery.

what these couple of runs have taught me is how unfit and unbalanced i've got. totally lost my running form and felt quite stiff in my running style throughout. seemingly a large amount of work to get back to full fitness.

but i guess that's what training for a sub-3hr marathon teaches you.. just how fit and fine you can get - then just how bad and poor you feel when you lose it. and i do mean poor - it's a definite loss to find yourself breathing heavily at a mile in.. at a point where you'd just be waking up previously. however, the silver lining is knowing that feeling is there to attain.. and the fun you can have getting back to it..

calcaneal bursa..

2010-09-20T13:33:00.000+01:00

i've got this feeling that, as the physio was kinda bemused about this being your regular Achilles problem, his other suggestion could be the one: calcaneal bursitis. my feeling is that this fits as well as anything else and kinda points to the longevity of this damn thing. same treatment - rest, ice, Achilles stretching - but a slightly different explanation. don't know what good it does me knowing this - or, at least, suspecting this..

oddly, pinching my Achilles last night i could feel nothing.. which was almost unbelievable. it's back a little this morning, but i suspected it wasn't gone gone. i guess it's just an indication that it's in decline. which is alright by me.

i'll go ahead and try another short jog tomorrow, then hopefully another swim on Wednesday, if possible. maybe some weights tonight too.

have the highlights to the Great North Run taped, so going to check that out this evening. apparently it was quite an odd race with Gharib tearing off early before the great man - Haile Gebrselassie - pulled back the lead to then leave them all between six and seven miles. Magnificent time too.. 59:33.. wow!

how does it stand..

2010-09-19T16:46:00.000+01:00

so it definitely feels better. but still hurts and is stiff. but better. don't really know how to describe it - but there's an improvement. the run on Friday didn't lead to extra pain on Saturday morning, but it does still ache and definitely painful when you pinch the Achilles itself.

swam 1km this morning, and it felt great..

probably going to end up phoning the physio back and getting the doctor's number mind..

think i'm back at it..

2010-09-17T16:44:00.000+01:00

saw the physio last night, had some massage and acupuncture again and i'm going to try out three running styles: exaggerated heel-to-toe landing, on grass and uphill. if any of these work to not produce extra ache in the Achilles the next day there's an indication of how to proceed. if i try all of these and nothing's doing i call him back in two weeks and get referred to a sports doctor who may well end up injecting cortisone - or something lovely like that.

so i ran today. did the heel-to-toe around St James and Green parks. and i seem to be ok. we'll see about extra ache tomorrow morning, but as for now, there's very little discomfort. have to say that at the start of the run i was feeling the base of the heel quite badly, but that wore off after about five minutes.

a little excited that this means i can build back up to full fitness, so i'm going to need to restrain myself from going out for any 40min 10ks too soon.. which was bread-and-butter just two months back.. all the same, if i can combine a few short runs with some swimming and other stuff for a few weeks and see where that puts me, maybe, just maybe, i'll be back in happy valley.

weight, by the way, now 11st5lbs. coming down nicely. [eternally hungry.]

tentative today..

2010-09-16T16:38:00.000+01:00

i've got the physio appointment later this afternoon, and it's always the case that i'm a little itchy before going. on the one hand, i'm happy because there's a chance he can finally get me back out the door again, but on the other i have the opposite fear.. not that it's a persistent injury that will never go away, but that this time will be like the others - that there won't be a solution on the horizon, or that his prescription for fitness won't work out. my hope is that it will be some ultrasound. we'll see..

also burning the candle at both ends at the moment and not getting enough sleep. from every pro-runner's blog or interview you can see that rest and sleep are a huge part of their life - as much as the exercise. that goes for everyone i guess.. but channel-hopping late into the night then expecting to jump out of bed sparky early the next morning can't go on too long before it has a detrimental effect. and i love going to be early. what's wrong with me!?

holding out a little hope..

2010-09-14T14:03:00.000+01:00

managed to get a good swim in on Sunday morning. only 0.5k but was the first serious exercise in a while and felt great. will probably try and get to the local baths for an early-morning or late-evening session in the week too. planning a weights session tonight given time. and the long-awaited physio appointment looms - Thursday evening. i do hope he can implement something that is practical. even the smallest of jogs - down the road after Joe on the way back from nursery pick-up - has caused it to inflame. seems like a devil to get rid of. even getting the idea that it might be chronic, but drawn back from that idea by the physio's last summary of it as just 'mild' - and that it really does hurt very little (just persistent).

otherwise, on a trip to the park and a walk past the running track i saw that it's getting resurfaced - and maybe refurbished, which is great. their website says it will reopen sometime in October. maybe it's just due a refurb or perhaps there's something connected to London 2012 - a training facility, perhaps?

why do we do it?

2010-09-08T16:20:00.000+01:00

i'm probably not entirely clear to myself what i'm attempting to do by blogging my (non-)running and even with the running itself. does it get like that for everyone? you start into something, it turns out to be really good fun, you get more and more enthusiastic about it, turns into a hobby, turns into a sort of obsession, you suffer a few set-backs, you hit a few highs, you settle back in to it being part of 'what you do', you maybe become a little disillusioned (see here), you look for a way to reinvigorate yourself.. well maybe that's it, eh? you have to keep things fresh, make some changes..

i've got a physio appointment booked next week (no chance to get in there sooner, which is a shame..). i think i should look at that as part of a turning point. i can't take this injury as a the big downer that sinks the ship (i'm getting some of those vibes from myself lately).. i should think of it as the reason to try some different things, to go at the training in a different way. it could be that i look at London next year as my last competitive outing and just relax into doing a few runs for fun. [don't really think i can let myself do that, but i should consider it..]

i'm certainly going to investigate the local running club. i've talked about it enough. i'm also going to look into different forms of running: trail running (should be easy to access and so is a fairly likely candidate - as well as getting me out into the countryside), fell running (much less likely, but we've talked about going camping in the Lake District next year, and i'd love to coincide our trip with the chance to see one of the big races) or ultra running (even less likely, but never say never - i've got that kind of obsessive personality and enough sheer obstinance that could make it a good fit). overall, i just need to get back running - and soon..

hunger strikes and getting going..

2010-09-07T16:32:00.000+01:00

i'm on a diet. i think i've lost a single pound (already!). i'm really hungry most of the time. this could easily make me very easy to annoy and send into a bad mood. but i'm doing ok. don't know how long i can take this constant hunger, but we'll let it ride for now and see what good i can do. i'm guessing that as my stomach sinks back to a reasonable size (after the gluttony of recent weeks) i'm going to be happier with the smaller, more infrequent portions getting served up. we're actually doing ok. Polly made a fantastic spiced chicken dish with chickpeas and last night we had smoked haddock with asparagus, spinach and a poached egg. heaven!

will be calling the physio later to book an appointment for (hopefully) tomorrow night - and (hopefully again) i can persuade him to do some ultrasound to the Achilles. if i could only get back running, the weight loss would be easier and i would be a whole lot better person. this is the lightest but worst injury i've ever had. i can't help feeling i'm making a meal of it too.

getting back to training is a hard thing. it should be easy. in fact it would be easy if i could run. i'd be out there in a shot. but training on my rowing machine or doing weights or bodywork is a different matter. there's a hurdle i need to get over before i feel enthusiastic enough to do it. i also need to find the time on the week days. looks like it's going to have to be an early morning workout and evening stretching. with a schedule i should be able to make myself do the necessary. i know i'll feel better for it..

back from holiday, not back from injury..

2010-09-06T14:13:00.000+01:00

i can hardly believe it, but this tendonitis is still holding on. my only thought now is to book myself in for some ultrasound and see if it will dissipate from that kind of treatment. definitely now missing the half later this month, which doubly annoys me because i bought the t-shirt too. only bedwear from now i guess..

back from holiday and very overweight and underfit. the diet started yesterday, and so the exercise regime needs focus. again, oppositely, i can't really believe it that i've let myself slip to such levels of sloth, but i can feel those love-handles weighing me down .. it's not good. will work out an exercise plan tonight. might even post photos of my progress to incentivize my diet, as i find it so hard to leave lovely food alone.

current weight: 11st 8lbs (162lbs). target weight (for now): 11st (154lbs).

still no shifting it..

2010-08-20T18:42:00.000+01:00

so I'm stuck in some endless loop of laying off the running, stretching the calf, then checking the Achilles .. and finding no change. i honestly thought I detected improvement this morning. but when I checked, I was wrong.

think I'm going to sort out some swimming and probably see if I can get the physio to do some more ultrasound. I'm pretty sure that's the only thing that's had any effect as yet.

last year..

2010-08-11T21:34:00.001+01:00

just happened to be checking on my calendar for this month last year.. and maybe i shouldn't have. what was there waiting for me? a full schedule of half-marathon training in preparation for runtotthebeat last year at the end of Sep.

guess what's happening now.. am i pushing out fartleks, sprint-training, regular 10ks in the week? nope.

it'll come back. patience, patience..

how it stands..

2010-08-10T08:37:00.000+01:00

it's simply not happening. neither the recovery or the rehab. the Achilles is showing minor signs of improvement, but I'm not stretching the calf enough and not really working at getting it all back together. think I need to sit myself down and have a good think about where this is going. I've blown the chance of being fit enough to shoot for a 1:20 at the Windsor half on 26 Sep, so perhaps I need to just give myself a reasonable target just for getting round. that, at least, is achievable..

two weeks down and no better..

2010-08-06T14:34:00.000+01:00

i've let this fall back in the preceding weeks simply because i have felt so down about the running. i tried to keep a positive outlook over the first few weeks after getting the Achilles injury, but it didn't shift and is still hanging around. it's lifted a bit, but the short runs recommended by the physio didn't work and just made it worse. i took a personal decision to simply rest it - apart from lugging luggage in and out of a festival last weekend.

it's definitely reducing in intensity and i think there's light at the end of the tunnel. however, as i've got no training or running to report, this column is going to be dormant for a while.

i'm thinking i might well post short updates every day just to keep it ticking over and document the improvement, but the try and make something out of a day when i can't train is first difficult in itself and second quite demoralizing in that i have to admit each time that i'm not running still.

all that said, i've worn the trainers in quite well now, and they feel very comfortable. let's hope i get to really wear them out soon.

the physio knows best (especially when he says what you want to hear)..

2010-07-23T16:00:00.000+01:00

so i went to the physio last night - Paul this time, not Kevin. Paul took a good look and decided it wasn't so bad an injury after all (well i knew that, kinda..). He gave the tendon a good massage. [apparently, the Achilles is such a big tendon, it has a well-formed para-tendon around the outside, and it's the stickiness between that and the inside tendon, during periods of inactivity (sleeping in my case) that causes it to be stiff when you stand or get up. interesting stuff, huh.?] he then - to save time apparently - stuck a few acupuncture needles in my calf. [oddly, he asked if i'd had it before - and i had, for my shoulder, about 5years back - and whether i responded well - which i did, it was great. apparently, you can be a good responder to acupuncture or not.. take from that what you will.] then.. he went on to explain that the latest thinking is that Achilles problems may well stem from stiffness in the lower back - the fifth (if i remember rightly) vertebra. so he gave me a some massage and back-cracking for good measure.

i didn't know this before, but there some definite over-pronation with my right foot - and this could be the cause of the problem. i've got a new stretch to try out. usual calf stretch against the wall, but instead of the back foot being flat to the floor, before the stretch you raise and hold the inner arch up off the floor, thus rotating the knee outwards and stretching a slightly different way to normal. i tried it, and i could definitely feel a stronger pull on the outer-part of my calf. so we'll give that a go.

best of all: i can run again! i've had to pop up to the London Marathon Shop to get new trainers for better inner-arch support - more on those tomorrow - but i can start again. his advise was to start on a routine similar to a regular marathon schedule. so i guess i can go out and very lightly cover 2-3miles at the start and gradually build up. what a relief..

a video: me and the Mall..

2010-07-21T15:53:00.000+01:00

so as a bit of a change, i thought i'd post a video of myself down on the Mall pondering about - guess what - running..

apologies for the background noise - the congestion charge is obviously not working quite so well as they thought.. also, apologies for my rambling style - this is actually the way i talk, not just because i've trained a camera on myself..

resolution and commitment..

2010-07-20T17:57:00.000+01:00

i wrote a decent post about how i value running and how it compares to blogging in some way.. but it got lost in the ether during publishing, and i've not got time to replicate it now.. [grr]

it mostly aimed towards me working harder at myself and getting into better shape no matter what..

have to go and call that physio..

what can i say..

2010-07-19T16:27:00.000+01:00

i started this blog to catalog the fun i would be having while running around London and in any of the races i entered. but when you get an injury you just can't shake, there ends up not being much you can say. how i wish i was running today. it's a beauty out there. nice and warm, a slight breeze.. boy, i'm frustrated!

up, down, square one..

2010-07-15T13:21:00.000+01:00

after the excitement of visiting the physio last week and being pepped up with the work he did on my calf and Achilles - then advice on the right kind of exercise, i thought i was well back on the road to running again.

but that's simply .. not .. happened.

i religiously (alright, i missed a couple) followed the regimen of four to five sessions of 30-40 reps. [it was 'eccentric' stretching, by the way, not 'cyclic' as i'd written before.] but after a day of two, the load on my already tight (from the physio workout) calf was starting to tell. i was stiff all the time - not just after getting up in the morning, and i could tell that it was exacerbating the Achilles pain. so around about Tuesday, I decided to stop the exercises for a while and let my calf muscles recover fully. in the meantime, i've been icing it in the evening and taking a regular top-up of ibuprofen to hopefully work-out some of the inflammation. don't know what the effect of all this is just yet, but i have the feeling that it's getting - very slowly - better.

Zemanta just threw this item up as relevant to my post. looks kinda helpful - can't hurt.

i've decided that all this inactivity, while frustrating because i can't run (my, by far, far, far favourite form of exercise), is no good. no news there obviously. but i think it's starting to affect my sleep (currently quite restless) and definitely affecting my waistline. gonna work out a plan for upper-body strengthening and some sessions on the rowing machine - which shouldn't really stress the Achilles too much. Plus there's a good feature on core-strength exercises in runnersworld this month that i'll probably borrow from too. without a plan - or at least a list to tick off - i don't have the motivation to do this sort of workout - versus the pure enjoyment that motivates me to go running.

the cure: cyclic stretching..

2010-07-09T16:21:00.001+01:00

went to the physio Wednesday night for a session of excruciatingly painful deep massage (calf has now overtaken hip for greatest ability to cause pain), some ultrasound (quite the opposite experience - i was lying on my front and even asked him 'what are you up to now?', when i heard the gel lid click open) and a pretty cool stretching exercise.

the basic problem is that i had tight calves before the marathon back in April (which the physio advised at the time would probably even help in the race - so we agreed to leave them tight), and have simply not done enough stretching to compensate for that stiffness and the added strain from the marathon and training since. so my Achilles has simply been taking the strain - and recently, with the increase in speed work - it's decided to protest. can't blame it really.

the massage was torture. he literally had me screaming for pain, like a baby.. i'm man enough to admit it. the stretches though are great - i knew immediately why they were so relevant.. the idea is the 're-teach' you set of calf muscles that they need to function over their full range - and not pull up short then over-stress the Achilles. so simple.

it's my right Achilles, so: find a step; step up on the edge (usual calf-stretch overhang) on you left foot right up onto the toes; join right foot to left and transfer weight to right; from tip-toes lower whole weight through the range of extension until the right foot is hung off the edge of the step - as far as it will go. this you repeat between 20 and 40 times in a row. and do that four or five times a day. so a pretty intense daily load. in this the muscles stretch out and work at the same time. they learn the range over which they'll be asked to function when you run again.

and the Achilles now? it's definitely getting better from the massage and the ultrasound. i should think within a week or 10 days, i'll be confident enough to get out for a light run or two. happy days!