Well after my revelations at the start of the week with the greatest day ever, maybe not quite that great but up there after this amount of time I have continued to have a great week.  I have limited the amount of running I have done but increased the amount I am doing in the gym.  I now have employed the services of yet another Chris to help my training along.  I met him on tuesday and went through all my ailments, weakness's and decrepidness ha ha! Then I said 'so do with me what you can!', he put me through my paces and we went through a few areas that I want to improve on which was perfect.  The only trouble was I was booked in to see Chris at Epoc the day after ooops!!!

This is perfect now especially for the time being whilst my level of running is reduced.  I have put a little more focus on gym, swim and diet.   My weight has come down again and I am as of today 14st 8lbs which is approximately a stone now since the start of January.  No big secrets or magic ways, just basics!  I stopped drinking alcohol, I am eating slightly less and not as late on with a little more thought into what I am eating and I am keeping up the regular exercise.  What is a little odd is that I seemed to have acquired a taste for Becks Blue non-alcoholic larger and tinned fruit,  not sure if this is me craving the sugars from them but I seemed not be able to get enough of them lol!

My ankle maybe considerably better but it is definitely not perfect yet and I think there is a way to go until it is.  What is great is the pain under the foot has gone unless put under considerable stress like a full day on the court or excessive training days.  This is now just about management, I have to prepare before I train and I need to do the after care.  It sounds excessive and in reality it probably is but like I have said in the past this is now about confidence and the mental game.  I have to know I can rely on it and trust it to not be the weak link so its about getting it back to the level I expect from it.

Not much going on this weekend training wise, maybe Sunday at some point but the rest will be good ready for a good week next week.  Great news last night though, as planning a little trip in the summer to the Alps and climbing a little rock called Gran Paradiso which is approximately 4000m so will be the highest I have ever been up.  Can't wait its exciting stuff!

AWESOME!!!!!

That's how I'd describe it!  The feeling of finally being pain free from something that's hung around for nearly 10 months.  Its the first day I have managed to get out of bed and not had the instant pain and distress emanating from my foot through my ankle, ahhh bliss.  I actually didn't think this day would ever come, it has been that long it almost becomes normal.  It becomes a daily ritual to be hesitant when placing your foot on the ground, it becomes ritual to constantly be thinking of stretching and it becomes a ritual to be constantly adapting your walk and weight transfer accordingly to minimise the discomfort.  It is one of those great moments in life when you realise how great things are, yes I know its only a little injury in the grand scheme of things and there's plenty of people who live daily with no hope of recovery with much worse but for me this is a release and for that I am hugely grateful.

Its not completely over yet, as there is a recovery phase that will include more stretching, mobilization and strength work, yes more new rituals ha ha!   This time though it is the knowledge of the sight of the end of the tunnel.  It means I can gradually increase some distance in my running and hopefully get myself prepared for the tasks that lay ahead.  What's important now is to not go crazy and do too much.  It has to be progressive and built up with constant attention.  Is it in the head, maybe, but too regain confidence there has to be no weak links.  Whilst this has been a weak link there's been an excuse, a way out, something to blame and that is the weakness not the injury.

Now I have to just pray I can get through a long day on the tennis court and not over stress it.  I will definitely be icing tonight as now I know I am close to being back in the game!

 

With every ankle and calf compression sleeve and sock I could find making my new look rather Nora Batty like ha ha!  I decided that after a weeks rest it was time for a gentle run.   After spending 6 hours on the tennis court I felt I was ok to go for a bit of training.  Its been an interesting week seeing how my ankle was developing, from thinking my heel was going to be my problem to experiencing a pain gravitating up from the underside of my foot up the outside of my ankle and up my shin.  I had a massage on the Wednesday and spent the rest of the day excited as was moving about well and not feeling any discomfort, this is it I am free of the pain.  As ever it sneaked up on me and revealed itself yet again the day after.  Although it was much better and I definitely felt like my heel problem had become even less of a hindrance maybe it was the distraction of the ankle issue.  It is all on the mend and resting is not easy, I am allowing myself to do some running but it is limited at the moment.  I am setting myself a new interim challenge with swimming so that I am still getting my cardio and also I will start developing my skills ready for....wait for it....... yes a triathlon!  Its definitely the right decision at the moment to ease up on the running so this should help my motivation to keep working hard even though not out running.

I am now truly loving this adventure racing and Ultra experience and for see my future being around this environment and going beyond the normal and going to extraordinary places to achieve my goals.  A few injuries definitely does not put me off what I have set out to do, if anything it is just educating me further and teaching me how to cope better.  My motivation is very strong but the more I read and experience the more I want to get out there and make these goals and dreams real! 

My only fear is not making my time count, there is so much to do and look forward to having a go at.  Can't wait!

Wow what a great run yesterday!  Well I call it a run but it was more like the Millington Hobble for me, where as Chris was using it as a mere warm up for a later event.   Fresh early start, unlike my mental preparation where I envisioned getting up early, getting a good breakfast in me and heading off to the gym for a gentle warm up and stretch, it was more exactly the opposite ha ha!  Last minute, rushed and zero preparation.  So after numerous attempts at ignoring the forever reoccurring damn alarm ringing out I summoned some reserve energy and sat up weary of my sore ankle from the squash match from the previous evening.  Unfortunately it was much worse than I had originally perceived.  I couldn't even half stand on it, let alone hobble to the bathroom, this wasn't a great start, this wasn't what I wanted after looking forward to my mornings adventures all week! Bugger, was all that came to mind!  After a quick search in the draw with numerous different strapping in I discovered the ankle and foot thermal stretchy sleeve.  Perfect I thought lets see if that helps, well after even just struggling to even put it on I knew it wasn't going to be a good day, this was going to hurt.  Do I run, or do I cancel and let my mate down????

Off we went after a quick detour back to Chris's house, after spending his well deserved restful evening preparing his kit and charging his watch we had to quickly call back and pick it up from its resting place on the kitchen sill ha ha!  It was a cracking morning, crispy white ground with small evidence of remaining snow and ice everywhere.  I climbed out of the van and pretty much collapsed into a crumpled mess on the floor.  My ankle had already given way, Chris just looked at me with raised eyebrows and some words along the lines of 'oh dear!'.   We got kitted up and head off into the wilderness with my knowledge of the inevitable eventually catching up with me at some point, I just hoped to myself I could last as long as possible and not damage it any more than I had obviously already had.

It was a beautiful morning and I battled round with minimal moaning, there was sporadic moments where my ankle turned on the hard bumpy icy ground which was expressed with the odd swear word or screech that bellowed around the valleys.  It was great to be out and like Chris said its miles under the belt, I was still training even if it was a bit slow.  It just kept reiterating the importance of similar training where it mimics or resembles the terrain on which I will be running.

Great day, after crawling back to the van and a pleasant ride back to the car I got home and relaxed in the bath before picking up my daughter from school and limping around like I'd been shot in the leg.  I then spent an hour stretching out my legs while she had her tennis lesson.  Once the initial swelling went done with a little icing that night I felt considerably better and more positive about it.  Although there was the panic text to Helen the miracle physio! Help!!!!

So after a killer day on the tennis courts yesterday I opted for rest afterwards with the promise of some good training on the Sunday.  I made plans to get up early before work and get a good run in then do a stretching session after.  The alarm sounded and I promptly executed the snooze routine, which lasted about 2 hours ha ha!  So with a court booked for an hour pre-work I decided I could use this to my advantage and make up for my recuperation (laziness) from earlier.  What I decided to do was first of all get 5k done on a bike as a good warm up with 10 mins stretching before assembling the circuit training kit out on the court.  This involved ladder routines, various sized hurdles and different exercises, a step board, a skipping rope and a weighted sand bag.  After a few laps of the court and some dynamic stretches I proceeded to carry out a number of routines for a good 40 minutes.  I worked mainly on legs, balance and core with minimal cardio.  I was saving that pleasure for after work.

Once I'd completed a few hours of work I got my winter running kit on and did a little stretching before heading out on a 4 mile run in the chilly afternoon air.  It was great I do enjoy running when its a fresh cool air, which isn't ideal since I have just signed up for the Sahara Desert aarrgghhh! So back to my training thoughts, I could have done a much further run but I am sticking to plan of consistency.  I will be looking at improving the distance next week and building my base level around the occasional long run.  Back to Body Balance tomorrow which will assist me with a good stretching session.

My entry went in last night for the Endurance Life Northumberland 35 miler at the end of Feb which I am really looking forward to as its across beaches and sand dunes.  Great training for MdS 2017, so I can test it out ready for next year if I feel I benefit from it.

So the Spine Race has finished, I finished my book on the Yukon Artic Adventure Race so need to find something else to follow or read now!  Inspiration from others helps motivate your own ventures.  Who motivates or inspires you?

Really pleased with my current decision to improve my base fitness, basically get out for a short run so 5k ish ( but regularly so 4 - 5 times a week.  I have also as before included a PT session focusing on my weak areas which are currently my left ankle and calf and my glutes which haven't been firing probably and recently been causing me some discomfort.  I have also managed my body balance class this last two weeks which is now brilliant as it is a new routine which is focusing on lower back and hips which for me is perfect.  Combined with a massage on Tuesday I am feeling really good, the shorter distance and overall care for me body is paying off as feeling good.  There is a renewed confidence in my body, in the way of feeling that I can manage completing a run and not feeling injured or sore to the point that puts me off another run in the near future.

I am incorporating a regular stretch, which is a short 20 min routine but as often as possible.  This usually occurs during my daughters tennis lessons, so whilst she trains I stretch which is a great way of doing it because I can still watch her and I can make myself do a good hour of stretching.  I then make sure that some of my groups do a thorough warm up session including stretches therefore I can do them also.


Mega enthused at the moment as watching the reports constantly for The Spine race which covers the entire Pennine Way (268 miles).  Such inspiration watching these guys battle the elements and conquer this incredible route.  Yes you guessed it, this is now on my list for future races.  Already excited by the challenge ha ha!

Back to my current training though, next week I will increase the distance slightly and start using the stepper in the gym with a structured method to increase the resistance.  I may also try a spin class just up my cardio.  My main concern at the moment though is my problematic feet, not blisters or toe nails as normal but the overall flexibility within the foot.  Since my heel problem my left foot seems to feel very tight around the sides and moving up into the ankle and then calf. Massage is the only thing I can think of at the moment alongside stretching.

So where to from here?  mmmm steady increase in training load, continued weight loss which I haven't mentioned yet I am down to 95.4kg from 98.6kg the going is good.  Start adding a little variety to the training i.e. spin and swimming!

So the various challenges I have coming up are, Northumberland 35 in Feb, Hardmoors 55 in March and the big one The Hardmoors 110 by which time I'm sure they will be sick of the sight of me.  I have decided on a few new aspects to add to my training through experience which I can now say I have, knowledge of what is needed, and necessity (either weaknesses or from injury take your pick) and future challenges.  What I want to add at the moment alongside good mileage, hill reps and trail runs is core work and Yoga (or flexibility) work.  Some of this is what is specific to my nearest challenges and some of it is looking forwards and planning for the longeavity of my enjoyment in this sport and for my work.

Key areas being:

Calves
Quads
Hamstrings
Hip Flexors
Lower Back
Core
Upper Body Strength
Flexibility
Balance
Recovery

Running on tired legs
Stamina
Running with a pack
Night running
Power walking uphill
Long days (endurance)
Lung capacity


So next job is to find a way to link or tie some of these things together and incorporate them into the skeleton plan I have made.

Books, I love books! What running books have you read, I will list mine next time.