Wednesday 30 January 2013

not much news here

Not a lot has been happening here in Wharfedale recently.  It must be true because yesterday a reporter from the local newspaper telephoned for a chat to find out about my future plans ... post injury.

He had been reading this blog and knew about the injury but we had a long chat anyway.  About possible plans for this year and next, and training, and the planning that goes into racing very long distances - nutrition, pacing, etc., and why ultra distance runners don't have such a high profile ...

And one or two other running related things.  Not sure when, and if, anything will appear in print.  Depends whether anything more important happens locally I suppose.

I know at the moment I'm only running every other day but using my usual percentage scoring system I reckon the worst run has been about 98% (where 0 is almost impossible to run and 100 is no pain whatsoever).  So I'm feeling really good at the moment.

But running on consecutive days is a different prospect and I'll wait until I've seen the physio again (12 February) before I try that.

Right now though I feel as if I'll be able to take part in an ultra race in the autumn.  No promises though ...

Wednesday 23 January 2013

change here ... for recovery

Haven't posted for a while because nothing has happened here really.  Except that I've been reading an awful lot about weight training ... how heavy, how many, how frequent, etc.  More about that in a future post in the not too distant future.

In the meantime my gout medication was changed earlier this week and I was also prescribed a different rehab regime.  It seems I have been doing not enough passive stretching and far too many eccentric achilles stretches.  225 per day instead of the recommended 90 and that has probably been having a negative affect on my knee causing a patella tracking problem in the left leg.

So now I also have straight leg quadriceps stretches to do three times per day.  But I can also run ... every other day.  Starting at the beginning again with alternating 5 minutes running with the same amount of walking for a total of ten minutes.

Tomorrow morning.

As far as I'm concerned though there's no rush to get back to full fitness so long as it is FULL fitness.

Saturday 12 January 2013

Oh well ...


On Tuesday morning I had a routine appointment with the physio to assess how the first month or running had gone.  After an extensive examination and some tests I was disappointed to learn that four weeks or so of light running has been making things slightly worse with my ankle.

Having recently being diagnosed with gout hasn't helped and the medication for that will probably have to be changed but have no doubt ... I will be back running the races I love.  And that means those that are at least 100 miles (161 km) in length.

Shit happens sometimes I guess ... but cancer had two failed attempts at stopping me so I'm sure I can beat this one too.

Things have obviously not gone too well for me over the past few months but maybe typing out the following song lyric will make me feel a bit better:


LA CONNECTION (Rainbow - 1978)

Carry home my broken bones and lay me down to rest
Forty days of cries and moans
I guess I've failed to pass the test
I've been sent away not a thing to say
I'm banished from the fold
I'm a fallen angel who's lost his wing and left out in the cold

Right now I seem to have a lot of early Whitesnake songs (1978 to 1980) on my mp3 player when I'm cycling.  I guess I'm WALKING IN THE SHADOW OF THE BLUES ... but, you know what,  I AIN'T GONNA CRY NO MORE.


Saturday 5 January 2013

recent happenings

Keir has now returned to University in Coleraine, Northern Ireland.  We were a bit worried about him travelling alone through Belfast when there is quite lot of trouble there at the moment.

He was due to arrive at about 9.00pm and we had asked him to text us when he arrived.  At 10.30pm we still hadn't had a message and we were, by now, starting to get concerned.  Half an hour later we sent him a text knowing that he almost always replies within a couple of minutes.  Another thirty minutes passed and we decided to not go to bed until we had heard from him ... or at least knew what had happened.

Within ten minutes of that decision he phoned to say that he had forgotten to send a text [teenager speak for 'stop worrying'].

Running continues to progress, and slowly improve, which is pleasing.  Running non-stop for half an hour is quite tiring though !!!  Even at 8:30 per mile (5:17 per km).  I know that will soon get better though.

In the meantime Here's something I've recently found which addresses the issue of whether or not to eat/drink during training.  Over the past few years I've read lots of evidence and anecdotes which have been contradictory and seem to be inconclusive as to which is the better protocol.  For me this article by Andy DuBois clarifies everything nicely.

To finish this post I found something on the BBC news yesterday about a man who had recently received a hand transplant - the first in the UK.  And the hospital where the surgery was performed is only 10 miles (16 km) from here.  What caught my attention was that he needed a new hand because of complications arising from gout.  I'll make sure I take my medication and be a good patient.