On the mend...and running(ish) among Ex-Olympians...

Diane Modahl leading the pack at the start line..

After my last blog I had a bit of a rubbish day with a very hot ankle and more swelling for some bizarre reason considering i did bugger all the day before...I think it was probably warning me that if i even thought about attending the Harriers this evening i would regret it.  That on top of colleagues 'un-subtly' telling me i was an idiot for even considering running at this stage, I decided to swim instead.
Front crawl was painful-especially pointing my toes!!...goddammit just as I was feeling better aswell :( so i stuck with breaststroke...falling apart and miserable - not a happy Sam!
The following day, determined to try and maintain as much CV fitness as possible i booked onto a spinning class....i have never sweated so much in my whole entire life, pretty sure i lost half my body weight in sweat, but best of all NO PAIN :D I nearly did a 'Bridget Jones' getting off the bike though!
Rest day on wed (with the exception of cycling to and from my private clinic and getting utterly soaked-i had to treat my patients in bare foot as my shoes and socks were so wet they squelched as i walked and i'd have ended up with prune feet!!).
Soooooo then today came! I always intended to go along to the final Sizzlers 5K as friends were running it plus it was chance to meet some ex-Olympians....there was: Ron Hill (marathon), Diane Modahl (800m), Geoff Norman (marathon), Kevin McKay (1500m), Susan Crehan (10,000m) and few others but can't remember their names! One of them lead a group warm up-a little like Mr Motivator, slightly cring-worthy!

Medal for completing all 4 races-worth all the pain!!??

I decided to have my ankle strapped by the Physio who had a little tent set up during all the races, he was an ex-rugby physio/player and did a great job. I did a couple of warm-up laps, nice and slow and it felt so good that-YES i ran (please don't be mad everyone!!).
I didn't get a PB, in fact it was a PW (personal worse), well of this series, but i don't care, i still got quite respectable time of 20:14 so thats good enough for me! I even got a medal and a spot prize YAY!
Oh and Stockport Harrier won the prize for fastest female team :)

Agony....not running!!!!

After a very frustrating week of no running, my patience have exceeded me...far too much pent up energy and no-where to expel it. The routine of ice packs and elevation has become tired and boring. There's nothing more annoying that getting all settled with the leg up and ice in-situ, then remembering you've left that cup of tea in the kitchen - dammit better get back up again and walk like an idiot into the kitchen to retrieve it...and while I'm there I'll crack open some chocolate or pick and some sweets - Oh dear!

Soooooo after to asking an experienced runner and MSK Physio at work to assess my ankle this week,  I've decided 'to hell' with what I SHOULD be doing and WOULD be advising my patients, I'm gonna go for a run. Said Physio told me if it was him he'd already be running (he ran on a broken leg 3 days after it was diagnosed!!!). I've been cycling to work all week and its been fine, its stiff 1st thing in the morning but that soon eases, I'm no longer on painkillers and thats good enough for me!

So friday afternoon I went for a little 'try - run'-literally just round the block, no more than 1K in total. Ok I'm not gonna lie it wasn't perfect and I wasn't flying (partly due to the OD on snacks this week through boredom as much as anything else) but it got better with time and it didn't give way which is always a good sign! Now I'm not gonna get ahead of myself, I'm under strict instructions from the hubby not to 'overdo' it, so we decided to go for a bike ride instead on saturday for fun and fitness....we got lost following a friends instructions, it didn't help that the phone we were using with said instructions (nigelswheels.blogspot.com) ran out of data usage half way round - we ended up in the centre of Manchester which was fine, but the 3-4 hr bike ride only ended up being 2! On our way back though we decided to take a detour through a park where we used to live and they had MONKEY BARS!!!! AWESOME :o)
So of course I had to have a go...I have better upper body strength than I thought and managed to monkey-walk / swing up and down 4 times before my arms gave out, maybe I'll turn to bar work for the next Olympics if running doesn't work out.....

Anyway today after 10 days of 'relative rest', no pain (unless I poke the injured area very hard!!) and much less swelling and bruising, I've decided, I'm going to the track tomorrow to test my ankle out proper. If it survives the session of 6 x 800m, I'm racing on thursday :D
Keep your fingers crossed!!!

And just as i was getting faster....disaster (again)

Well well well, it's been a bloody long time since I've blogged!
For a number of reasons really, firstly i ended the last one on a high having run a 10mile PB, i then went away for 3 months (mattandsamdownunder.blogspot.com) to OZ and NZ, where i ran approximately 7 times over the whole holiday!

I think the 'rest' (although as you will see its not like it was a relaxing holiday) did my running the world of good. I came back and re-commenced training focusing on speed and shorter distances, got a 10K PB of 41:26, then progressively improved my 'park run' times getting closer and closer to the 20 minute mark.

So i decided to enter the Sale Sizzler 5K series, with an aim to get sub 20 minutes @ least once by the last race (4 in total).

Me and the Ex - 800m Olympian :o)

Race one was on the 5th July, a muggy evening threatening thunderstorms all evening but luckily holding out until after the event!! I achieved 19:40 :D. A great race topped off by meeting ex-olympian Diane Modahl....

I was hooked so the second race was on the 19th July, i managed to knock off a further 22 seconds coming in at 19:18.....is 19 minutes becoming more realistic? Possibly!

Then last night was race number 3, admittedly not feeling on top form following a couple of heavy weekends but still hoping to achieve a sub 20 run.
Following a week of rain the course was a bit muddy but not too bad. The gun went off and we were going, one lap of the race track as usual then out into the park, through a muddy puddle my ankle did a slight turn, but nothing too major (matt will tell you I'm constantly turning my ankle-even in flat shoes!). Then out onto the tarmac where the real problem occurred...the culprit speed bump-it was one of those moments that you could just see in slow-mo.... A complete ankle inversion followed by a few embarrassed stumbling steps but managing to remain upright (phew-otherwise i may have been trampled!!). Me being me (and having had little sprains before and been fine carrying on) i plodded on completing the race, knowing a PB was out of the question but i was there and it just didn't feel that bad! Running buddy Jason appeared behind me commenting that either he was going too fast or i had slowed-it was actually a bit of both and he got a great PB ;)

I came in at 19:55-pretty chuffed with that, all things considered-thanks Matt for egging me on for the final 'sprint'!! (although if he'd known about the ankle he may have thought otherwise!)

Ouuuuuch!!!

I hobbled off, grabbed some ice and made a quick getaway and have woken up this morning with a hugely swollen and bruised ankle.
Been to A&E, X-Ray ok (phew) and now gotta take some of my own advice RICE.....will i be fit to run the last of the 4 in 2 weeks??? WATCH THIS SPACE........

Gotta love Adrenaline...

So I last left you feeling very sorry for myself with an injury that just wasn’t budging-although in hindsight I was being far too impatient, it had only been 2 weeks! So a further week of rest, ice, Pilates-based exercises, stretches and many a foam roller sesh I thought I’d attend the running club for a 2 x 3000m training session as the niggles had stopped.

Warm-up went ok, 1^st 3000m, still alright then the standing recovery, fine-then as I started the 2^nd 3000m it started with a vengeance, back home with an ice pack I figured that was it, I’d give my place to someone else as there was a stand-by waiting list…..but my knee recovered within 24 hours (this was not the case before). So not wanting to make any rash decisions I thought I’d wait until nearer the time (much to Matt disapproval!). I swam once and went on a slow 5 mile run the Friday before the big day and I won’t say it was ‘perfect’ but it would do…I was running, rain or shine……oh and did it RAIN!!!?

It started off a little ‘spitty’, luckily the gale force winds had calmed down from the few days before, but the rain just kept getting heavier and heavier, I felt a little niggle in my knee around the 4 mile mark following a very steep downhill stretch, but then I think adrenaline kicked in and rather that it getting gradually worse over the course of the race, it simply disappeared-RESULT!!

I managed to keep up a pretty good pace considering I’d only ran 3 times over the last 4 weeks  (again I think adrenaline had a major part to play) and I finished with a very satisfying time of 1:13:25 (1:13:44 gun time), 201^st overall and 14^th lady! Soaked to the bone but a better result than I could have hoped for considering the lack of preparation. Great way to end 2011 if I do say so myself!

www.race-results.co.uk/results/2011/stock11.pdf

Back to the core...

So guess what, I’m injured again :o(

Just as it was all going so well, a good 1^st marathon time and consistent park run PB’s, then BAM-PAIN!!! (typical as I’d also just joined ‘run Britain’ and obtained a Handicap and position in the national ladder so had more to work with!!) www.runbritainrankings.com/runners/profile.aspx?athleteid=411483

 

This time instead of the usual left leg niggles in my hip, thigh or knee, it’s the right - coming out in sympathy maybe, or maybe I wasn’t paying enough attention to it when treating my left? Who knows, the body is a weird thing. And my left leg is now better than it’s been in a loooong while-so I’m pretty gutted really!

It all started following a great Harriers session 2 weeks ago, I’d had a pretty lazy weekend and felt a bit guilty as I’d missed a Sunday long run with my running buddy, so I decided to run to and from the Harriers as well as take part in the session which was 6x800m reps. It was a brilliant session and I improved during each 800m and got a few compliments from some of the coaches about how much I’d improved-ran home and was grand! A round trip of 13 miles, made up for the weekend!

Had a rest day the following day as I was working a late clinic, then on Wednesday thought I’d go for a ‘short fast’ run before heading out to meet some friends. Within the first 5 minutes I knew something wasn’t quite right, a slight niggle on the outside of my right knee, then I hit a downhill section only to experience an excruciating knife-like pain right under and lateral to my patella-I couldn’t continue and had to turn round and walk/hobble back (by which time I was 1.5 miles away).

This was BAD!!!

So that was 2 weeks ago today-I’ve done the usual self diagnosis and worked on a few things, also had a colleague who specializes in knees to have a quick look between patients, the diagnosis-Patello-femoral pain syndrome due to weak core (surprise surprise), tight hip flexors and a tight weak ITB-Grrrrr!!!

I did all the stretches, got going on the foam roller again and have done some core strengthening, taped it, iced it – you name it I did it, kept my CV fitness up with swimming (Yawwwwwn). Was all ready to go back to the Harriers today or so I thought before yesterday….so what did I do yesterday? Went for a 16 mile Hike in the Peaks…….serves me right??? Well interestingly all the huffing and puffing uphill was totally fine, it was the damn descent again that made my knee scream. So now I sit here again with an ice pack in situ, utterly fed up- am I going to make it for the Stockport 10mile in 2 weeks…..? Watch this space!

Chester Marathon 'D' day...

So yesterday was THE day of the marathon that I’ve been training for rigidly for the last 16 + weeks. I had been getting increasingly nervous over the last couples of week-all the usual doubts…have I done enough long runs? Did I do enough hill training sessions? How do I taper and what the hell do I eat to ‘carb-load’!!??

Along with the doubts were the niggles that I kept getting, right up to the week before when on a 6 mile, relatively slow run my left calf cramped up out of the blue and I was struggling to walk for 3 days or so! Luckily my knowledge (being a Physio) has been a godsend and I have managed to come out completely unscathed and injury free- a miracle you could say (I’m still slightly shocked and anticipating some kind of pain/injury to set in!).

It’s all been a bit of learning curve for me, but judging by the day, I think I manage to do all the right things……..

So it was an EARLY start, being advised to arrive at the venue around 7:30 and no later than 8:15 due to road closures, we were up at 5:30-for a Sunday morning this is no fun, but my dedicated husband and parents were up an ready to leave by 6:30 (it was still dark!!). As all the running literature advises, its best not to try ‘new things’ on a race day so I had my usual brekkie 3 hours before hand, followed by my banana 1 hour before!

I had mega butterflies in my stomach the whole way, Matt was trying to keep me calm and collected, we arrived by 7:30 to a steady stream of traffic entering-everyone looked so elite but I guess that’s how everyone looks when you start to doubt yourself! I visited the toilet, had a wonder around, visited the toilet, agreed on a meeting place, visited the toilet, and made our way to the starting pens, visited the toilet (yes 4 times in 1.5 hours-must be record!) and caught up with my running buddy Jason before having our ‘before’ photos taken, then we were there, lined up at the start, we went for the sub 4 hour starting pen. The tannoy announced a few things and to be honest I can’t remember any of it-other than something long the lines of 4000+ runners and perfect weather-then we were off. Jason and I had agreed to stick together for as long as we could, running at an 8.5 minute mile pace. Anyone who has done races before will know its pretty difficult to get into the right stride for the 1^st couple of miles, what with all the bottle necks and crowds weaving in and out of one another, but once we were out in the countryside we manage to settle to a reasonably steady pace slowing slightly up a 2-3 mile steady incline around 12-15 miles. There were drinks stations every 3 miles and I had been told to take water at each one-even if I wasn’t thirsty as once thirst sets in, its generally too late (I was a little worried about this theory as, believe it or not I needed the toilet AGAIN before the starting gun went off!!!) I’m not one for the isotonic drinks so stuck with the water and my pouch full of jelly babies.

At 16 mile Jason decided to slow his pace to 9 a minute mile as he was starting to feel it a bit, I was keen to continue as I felt ok so we agreed to see each other at the finish. After this my next few miles were all over the place some in the early 8’s and others in the early 9’s-its much more difficult to pace yourself on your own-even if you do have a GPS with a virtual partner on it!! To be fair there were a few hills going through the villages and few stretches with a lot of fab spectators cheering us on-always helps give you a boost when energy starts to dwindle! Those next few miles all seemed to blur a bit then I hit 22-brand new territory, a bit of fear as I was wondering if I would hit the ‘wall’. There were certainly a few other runners that did (one girls was running sideways for a few meters before collapsing into her boyfriend’s arms-while insisting she was fine and could carry on-he was having done of it!). My wall thankfully never came and at 25 miles I thought ‘sod it’ I can go a bit faster, my last 2 miles clocked in at 8:11 and 7:47 pace-adrenaline is awesome!!! (see pic above taken in the last mile by hubbie cheering me on from the walls around Chester).

All in all a very satisfying race day and first marathon, I think Matt and my parents were proud (and maybe a little shocked) that I manage it in the time I did, I’m still grinning!

Now I feel ready for the next one-bring it :o)


For anyone interested-here's my Garmin data...
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/120253459 

Looooooooooong Run...

Hey peeps, sorry not blogged for a bit, been far too busy training J

So today on the plan was a 22 miler-the longest ‘til the big day, as you know I did 18 a couple of weeks ago, and also managed to sneak in a cheeky 20 with my devoted husband cycling along side me with jelly babies and water. So today was 22 with my running buddy Jason.  I’ve been working on that gammy leg by the way and ‘touch wood’ no new niggles. Got a new pair of trainers to break in before the big day-still shiny a white but I noticed today they are already wearing away on the inside-very irritating! Not sure if it’s a manufacturing fault or just my feet!!!

Due to a bit of apprehension of both Jason’s and my part we decided to strategically place his car en route with fuel at about 13 miles seeing as we had no bike-aid today!! We agreed on aiming at a pace of around 8:45, however as usual we ‘felt good’ so started out at 8:30…..and carried on at this pace until-well actually I though around mile 15-16 however looking at the Garmin data it looks like maybe we reduced our pace much earlier although it certainly didn’t feel like it. By this stage my legs were feeling it (probably something to do with the 5KPB I got yesterday during the hilly park run!!!). So we decided to slow a little aiming at our original plan of 8:45, which turned to 9ish then 10!!!!! Argh, the legs were ‘LEAD’. Then the niggle…..not my usual niggle though, oh no a whole new one L In my right knee this time, my right leg has NEVER moaned. We plodded on noticeably getting slower by the minute, then hit a few road crossings-note to self, DO NOT stop moving your legs while waiting for the green man! It’s like trying to move through treacle with a head wind uphill-not good!!

Note the decline in pace around 16 miles!!

Anyway we made it home, in one piece (just), we reached 22 miles about ½ mile from home so walked/hobbled the rest of the way, no thanks to Matt driving by beeping and waving-yeah thanks for the lift!!!