Not 'Running' OK in the UK

Hello......is there anybody out there???

I doubt it, I haven't posted in well over a year, mainly because I haven't been running in that time!

Why? Well partly due to injury, yes I still suffer with achillies problems. If you used to read the blog regularly you will remember this was a constant problem to me. It's not got any better, in fact it's now so chronic that even after a year, every time I try to run the pain returns.

The other reason is that I've found something to replace the running...Speedflex.

Speedflex is HIIT (High intensity interval training) which uses a combination of non weight lifting machines and auxiliary exercises (weighted bags, medicine balls, kettle bells, exercise ropes). Due to the way the machines work and the excercises that you do on them, there is no muscle soreness after the workout so you can train everyday. The machines work against your own effort and resistance. I do this 4-5 days a week, at 7am. It lasts 30 minutes, in a class with a great bunch of people.

I've been doing Speedflex for 11 months now and feel better physically and mentally then I ever was with running!

I miss the outdoor element of running but that has been replaced with long hikes over the last year, as I have done and trained for the 3 peaks challenge (2015) and a 14 peak challenge this year in the Lake District.

The 3 peak challenge last year took me to a place mentally and physically, running had not taken me before. I'm glad I done it but would not do again. The logistics of travelling the 3 countries of the UK in 24 hours and climbing the highest mountain in each of the countries was tough!

The 14 peaks this year was 9.5 hours of walking over some of the higher peaks of the Lake District. It was kinder, still tough, but more relaxed and we had good weather! One thing we did not have with the 3 peaks last year! On Snowdon in Wales last year we experienced some of the worst weather that I, and our experienced guide had seen on the mountain.

Let's move on.....Bad memories........

Will I run again? I'm not sure, it was a massive part of my life over the last 10 years but I'm enjoying my exercise and hobbies more than ever with my spare time now.

I've even made a song! 😂😂😂

I've always enjoyed singing and songwriting and in the last year have teamed up with a local guy to write and record some stuff. We have one song out at the moment but still working on new material. It's a long process especially when we only get together 1-2 times a week but I enjoy it but don't expect to be the next Justin Bieber anytime soon!!!

If you're at all interested or even reading this! Here's a couple of links to the song:

https://open.spotify.com/track/5qROHP4LGTcfF1b5OGOnTD

https://www.facebook.com/2ChasetheSun/

So that's where I've been. I miss the blog, I miss the fresh air but things are going OK in the UK.

Keep calm and carry on walking

A good week starting with a visit to the North East with my sons to see our Newcastle United survive in the top flight of English football (soccer if you're reading this the other side of the pond) and visit the beautiful city of Durham and the Angel of the North.

Fast forward to Wednesday and I was joined by regular running buddy Brian and two other work colleagues, Matt and David for a midweek 12 mile walk. Along with our boss and his girlfriend, the six of us will be attempting the 3 peaks challenge in July.

Brian and myself have done some walking mixed in with our running training but it was nice to be joined by two other members of the team.

Down in the south of England we don't exactly have a mountain like Ben Nevis to practice on but we do have the North Downs, which has plenty of challenging hills to train on.

This panoramic taken near Newlands Corner at sunset shows the beautiful views of the Surrey hills beyond.

The quaint church of St Martha's and the views beyond are well worth the effort up the big hill that gets you here. You may have read my recent post of my struggle and relief of finally running up this hill!

David and Brian taking the lead with Catholic Apostolic church in the parish of Albury beyond.

The silent pool, an eerie still natural spring supposed to be haunted by a drowned maiden fleeing deeper into the pool from a horseman believed to be Prince John in the 1200's.

Another view of the  Catholic Apostolic church, Albury.

The picturesque village of Shere, this was our half way turn around point before doubling back. We didn't give in to temptation and stop at the inviting pub for a quick pint!

Selfie time at the Silent pool....is that the ghost of the maiden beyond....my mistake it's only Matt ;-)

Running up stairs

With only a couple of months to go till the 3 peaks challenge, it's time to get more specific with my training.

The last months training has involved a weekly hilly 10 mile training run, but extra leg strengthening training is required so I'm adding stair running.

The 3 peaks is a walking challenge but I'm trying to incorporate the training for this event into my running. At the end of the day I need to strengthen my legs to cope with walking 9800 ft of ascent so my thinking is that if I can run up hills, walking them should be easier.

If there is one thing a runner wants to take from the famous Rocky training scenes then its the running up stairs!

Go Rocky! (GIF from Gifmania)

Remember Rocky IV , When it comes to training I'm more Balboa than Drago! Who needs fancy gyms and technology when you can train with what's around you for free.

So this week one of my lunchtime runs involved running down to Woking town centre and hitting the flights of stairs in the multi storey carpark. The stairs I used were adjacent to the main lifts, so hardly anyone uses them which made the workout easier. In the time I had, I managed 5 ascents and descents, which accumulated to about 400 ft. Not bad for a lunchtime session and the legs knew they had done it.....*Plays the Rocky music*

My new gym...Woking multi storey carpark!

Beating the nemesis

Nemesis - An opponent that cannot be beaten or overcome.

Last Monday I had a course to attend in the morning in Guildford,Surrey, which ran until around 11am. This meant I was able to squeeze a 4 mile run in one of my favourite run areas before going back to work.

Panoramic on the way to St Martha's

The beautiful North Downs way runs through Guildford and offers some of the best scenic views and trails in the south of England. One of my favourite spots is up by St Martha's Church.

The only problem is to get there involves quite a climb, one I've tried on many a training run but have never managed to run to the top and always had to stop and walk. 

I have managed it once before in 2011 while running the Pilgrims marathon but that was coming up the hill on a different side.

Where hill training was concerned St Martha's had become my nemesis.

The hill to St Martha's (How come hills never look that steep in photo's?)

500 ft climb,steep gradient, legs burning, voice in my head telling me to give up...but something today kept me going, maybe it was the recent hillier runs I have been doing? Lucky there was no one around as I screamed blue murder as I neared the top.

*cue the Rocky fanfare music*

I'd done it. St Martha's, my nemesis for a few years.....had been beaten!

The view from St Martha's (Church on the left)

This made the run back downhill to the car all the more sweeter on a beautiful warm spring morning.

On the way back down

Other runners may find this hill easier than me, some may not even call it a hill, but to me it was big achievement in my own little running world.

Nemesis beaten!!!

3 peaks training

This week was time to crank up the training for the 3 peaks challenge in July. Along with friend Brian, the plan was to run a 10 mile loop on the trails over the ranges; an undulating first mile, fairly flat for the next 4, and then the tougher last 5 miles culminating nearly 700ft of ascent. Then come back to the cars, put on the walking boots and rucksacks, and do it all again but this time walking the loop.

A total of 1400ft ascent on the night is way off the 9800ft we will climb on the challenge but never the less, it was a good training session. 

For one there is no running involved on the 3 peaks event, so the idea of running the first 10 miles was to get us feeling tired both physically and mentally before beginning our walk. Also we started the walk just as the daylight was fading, so we also got used to walking in the dark.

The Lake at night -not the most interesting of pictures!....but 

 you can see Jupiter in the sky!

It was a chance to try out some fuelling as well. It was quite nice to be able to enjoy a chicken wrap while on the move, something I'm not used to while running. Add to that a chocolate milkshake and a berry 'Naked' bar, and it made for an enjoyable feast!

The obvious observation made from the nights activities was that walking is a damn sight slower than running! There were stretches that fly by on the run that seemed to take an age whilst walking. 

While running on trails you have to be focused and concentrate all the time, watching for tree stumps and loose rocks. Walking you don't have to be as alert, so at times knowing the trails in this area so well, at times became frustrating and boring covering the same ground twice as slow and in the dark.

In total we were on our feet for 4.5 hours. Running for 1.5 hours and walking for 3. I was pretty tired, more mentally than physically as we head back to the cars for a second time that night. But that was the aim of the exercise and we both agreed that we gained some good experience from the night. One thing I learnt is that I must purchase some proper walking socks!!!

Carry on Blogging

Note to self: Must blog more!

I've gone a bit quiet on the social media front, I don't do Facebook and I've gone right off Twitter where I would regularly tweet about my running and my football team Newcastle United......I checked in the other day after a couple of months away....I havent been missed..ha ha. Anyway it's nice in the real world not worrying if I got a retweet or a favourite! But hey, we all want to feel loved...right?

But I do enjoy my blog, and need to get back to regular posting. It's a great personal scrapbook to look back on, and once in a while I may post something that someone else out there may find a bit interesting (not just my Mum!)

Right now I'm in a great place with my running. I'm really enjoying it, being relaxed about when and how far to run and not beating myself up if I have a couple days off and enjoy the odd beer and slice of cheesecake!

That's not to say that I'm taking things easy when I do run...no siree! I'm running regular at work and mixing up how I run my lunchtime 4 miles. I'm now throwing in progressive runs, fartleks, hills and tempo runs.

Hills, kill; fartleks and tempos hurt, but the one I enjoy the most is the progressive session. Progression runs steadily increase in pace, so I will usually start at 9:00 min/mile pace, the next mile hit 8:30, then 8:00 and then finish with the last mile at 7:30 min/mile pace. If I'm particularly feeling like I want to smash myself, then I will run 8:30, 8:00, 7:30, and 7:00.....but my God...that hurts!

I think this is a great session as it warms you up with starting out slow, and also gets you used to judging how your pace feels.

One evening a week I run with friend Brian on the trails. We're running around 8 miles but quite a tough hilly route that we hope will help build the strength in our legs for our 3 peaks challenge in July with our other work colleagues. 

After the run, we then change into our walking boots, put on our headtorches and rucksacks and head out for a hilly hour walk so we get used to walking whilst feeling tired. To be honest though walking hills is a hell of a lot easier than running up them and the walk has become quite a nice warm down after the run.

....and that's about it. Im really looking forward to the walking challenge in July and happy to keep the running where it is at the moment. If I can get back to my 13 mile to work every Friday in April, keep up the midweek trail run and the lunchtime running, then I think I've found my perfect running formula.

Walking OK in the UK

New kit time as thoughts turn to walking and the 3 peaks challenge. I've never had a pair of walking boots before and was hoping I could have used a pair of my trail trainers but I'm required to have footwear with some ankle protection. Although the challenge is not until July, I wanted to get my boots early to allow 'wearing them in' time.

So without any knowledge of walking boots I went straight in and ordered a pair of Hi-tec V-lite Sphike hiking boots from Amazon (£43.99). As luck would have it the fit was perfect (I went a size bigger to allow for walking socks) and after 2 x 2 hour dog walks on multiple terrain this weekend....all appears good. Comfortable and lightweight. I'm not sure how waterproof yet as conditions have been dry of late.

Success with the boots, and I appear to have been just as lucky with my other purchase...my Craghopper Kiwi walking trousers, again from Amazon (£19.99). Loose fitting, part elasticated waist, plenty of pockets (9 in total) lightweight and water repellent. Like the boots, really comfortable, so I seem to have struck lucky with these two important parts of the kit. 

Obviously 2 hours of walking isn't quite the same as 24 hours walking the UK's highest mountains, but you've got to start somewhere, and so far so good.

I'm still running 5 days a week, which includes a hilly 7 mile trail run in the dark,with head torch once a week with friend Brian, whom is also doing the 3 peaks challenge. 

The running will obviously be beneficial training for the walking challenge, but we've also got some big walks planned to complement the running training which will hopefully make the 3 peaks as enjoyable as it is challenging.

3 Peaks Challenge

Next challenge...

A marathon...

Not so easy...

What's that, 24 hours to do it in you say...

Easy!....

Walking!...ha!

This gets even better...

Up and down the 3 highest mountains in Scotland (Ben Nevis), England (Scafell Pike) and Wales (Snowdon)...

...GULP!!!

Yep that's I'm upto later this year in July along with 3 of my work colleagues, our boss and his girlfriend.

9800 ft of ascent a combination of walking travelling in a mini bus between mountains and getting very little sleep...at least its in July and summertime...oh wait this is the UK, we could be walking in anything!!!

I cant wait for this adventure, it certainly wont be easy but hopefully my running means I'm fit enough to take on the task, although I will be doing some walking and spending more time on my feet.

Until then, its keep on running.

I tawt I taw a putty cat

I'll let you into one of my biggest fears of running alone on the trails....Big Cat sightings!!! Now don't laugh, I know this is the UK, but I mean every year you read something in the news about one of these sightings!

Come to think of it, would it make much difference if I was running alone or with other people?....Well at least it would give the cat more of a choice I suppose.

Anyway back to the story. Now I'm getting back into the swing of running injury free again, I'm slowly upping the miles on the long run and running back on my favourite local trails.

The route I take on my run takes me on a steady climb until I reach a long ridge that is long, straight and open to the elements and in my head....open to big cats!

The long open ridge in the middle of nowhere, to me feels the purr-fect (ha ha)  place to meet an escaped puma or leopard from a zoo. 

The surrounding heaths and woodland are full of cat food including deer and wild cows, so why wouldn't a big cat feel at home here.

Purr-fect habitat for a big Cat!

I've run this ridge so many times so over the years I've come up with many scenarios and escape plans.

The open top

The open stretch of trail is probably a few miles long with a few scattering of hardy trees that have survived the open elements. 

Yes trees! 

See this is one of my plans, I have two trees along the route which are purr-fect (I can't keep using that joke!) for climbing. 

Tree #1-Low branches for quick climb!

Tree #2 - Good climbing tree and
I can get high!

I imagine myself getting up these pretty quick and although cats are good climbers as long as I get up first I will be able to fend it off with my kicking feet or use some of the large stones from the trail that I would pick up and put in my pockets as I spot the cat in the distance and I head for my chosen tree.

See I've got it all figured out....well nearly, I'm just not sure how long I would be up there for and how will I know that if the cat gets bored and decides to walk off, he's not just sat there waiting round the corner till I come down!

I guess I'll have to carry on working this out each week on my run. I've been worrying about this, on this run for the last five years. So far so good in that time, I've only come across the deer, cow's and dog walkers in that time.....but you never know! Still at least I've got sort of a plan.

What a difference 42064.8 metres makes

What's the ultimate running distance, the ultimate word related to running,the ultimate goal, the most famous of all distances?

I would say the 'marathon'.

The biggest race with the biggest race day crowds, that brings thousands and thousands of spectators to the city streets.

Everyone can name the fastest man over 100m, but how many out there can name the worlds fastest man over the most famous distance of them all?

The world record holder for the 100m has 3.5 million followers on Twitter.

The fastest man in the world to run the famous 26.2 miles has just 2300 followers.

The wonderful world of sponsorship and celebrity!

Goals

I go into this year injury free, coming off the back of a runstreak at the end of last year, I'm in relatively good shape, a few pounds overweight but the best I've come into a new year for a while.

So what now for 2015? Well im quite enjoying the daily routine at the moment which consists of running generally about 4 miles most days. The thing I'm most enjoying though is mixing up the training, doing fartleks, throwing in some hills, running at low intensity. This has mostly come off the back of the runstreak.

If you're running everyday, you are forced to vary your running. You cant go out everyday running at full tilt, so most the time I was paying a lot of attention to my heartrate and keeping it low.

Now with taking 1 or 2 days off a week I can speed things up again and learn from my heartrate stats when I need to rest or slow down.

Im not missing marathon training, I'm quite enjoying the shorter distances I'm training at. This is the first winter I havent done my 13 mile run to work every Friday, getting up at 5am and running in what ever conditions the weather throws at you, and I've done them runs in every type of weather you can think off!!!

So back to goal setting for 2015. Marathon's are off the radar this year (but never say never!) During spring I would like to get back to half marathon fitness, getting my Friday run to work back and then throw a couple of half marathon races in late summer.

To be honest though after the last couple of years I've had with my ankle and achilles just being able to run again regulary, is goal in its self that I've achieved.

Did you know...

Note:

1,022 runners were randomly selected, and asked a series of questions about their running habits. The survey targeted male and females (50:50 ratio) between the ages of 25-50 years old, who all run at least once a week. 

#TomTom

Runstreak....The conclusion

I stopped the runstreak at 50 days...I know, I know, I said 100 days, but it has served it's purpose!

I've not blogged for a while but rather than bore you with regular updates of I ran 4 miles today blah blah blah and repeat blah blah blah, I've got my head down and concentrated on the running.

So, the main reason for taking on this runstreak was a mad last ditch effort of mine to solve my long term achilles problem....Incredibly it worked!

The method to my madness was that if I kept doing something, my body would adapt, running was what it had to do each day and it would heal itself to take on this new and daily workload.

In the first couple of weeks my legs were feeling heavy each day, but about half way through the streak the body adapted like I thought it would and they got stronger....the body is clever like that :-)

Over the 50 days I ran an average of 3.5 miles a day, It would have been closer to 4 miles, but a throat virus towards the end meant some days of running the minimum of 1 mile and a few 2 mile days in there too.

As well as solving my achilles injury getting an illness was the other reason for stopping. The days I ran the 1 and 2 miles would have been rest days. There was very little to be achieved by running a single mile especially in the cold only to keep the runstreak going while feeling ill. Normally resting and recovering in the warm would have been the best remedy.

In the past after a tough workout, say a 4 mile fast tempo run, the next day I would have a rest day but I've learnt that you can still run the next day but you need to just take it easy and run a recovery run, easy pace. I learnt how to vary my runs a lot better, and I used my heartrate as a big tool also, two things I hadn't done in the past. Looking back over the years most of my running was done at mid to high intensity.

That leads me on to a book I started reading towards the end of the runstreak; 80/20 running by Matt Fitzgerald. The book deals with running intensity and benefiting by doing 80% of your running at low intensity and only 20% at mid to high intensity. This logic fit well with running everyday and something that the elite runners use with running upto 120 miles weekly but it works for all levels and racing distances from 5K to marathon.

To sum up, I've learnt more in the last 50 days about my own running than I have in the last 10 years of running, its been that beneficial! 

Going forward, Im going to run a lot more consistently than I have ie. I will probably run 6 days a week but vary the intensity to allow me to do so. It maybe that some weeks I run everyday but without the pressure of a runstreak it doesnt matter if I decide to have a day off each week.

Runstreak update

So I'm at day 28 of the runstreak, I nearly gave it up yesterday a) It was a busy day b) I was feeling a little jaded all day from the 1 or 2.....OK...4 or 5 beers from the night out before.

I got out, I had to get out, It was playing on my mind that I might regret it, so for the first time I done the minimum requirement of one mile. It was hardly worth getting changed for and 8 minutes later I was back indoors. But at least I've learnt that twice around my estate is a mile!

The only trouble I'm finding is my legs permanently feel heavy and every run is coming out at 8:30 average pace except the parkrun's which I seem to get carried away with running against others and the times are quicker.

There's no rest days on a runstreak so I throw in a couple of slow 2 mile runs everyweek which act as a bit of a rest.

Its frustrating not being able to find any real pace or distance with the legs being heavy but this is not about either, this project is just about reaching my goal of 100 continuous days of running and I must keep reminding myself that the biggest benefit is that my Achilles injury that plagued me for the last year is being kept at bay and that I am blessed to be able to run everyday while many people around me cant.

Throwing away the rule book! #runstreak

So I've pretty much tried everything the last 18 months....Resting, stretching, icing, Physio, you name it I've tried it, in an attempt to get over my achilles problems.

As I said in a previous post, I was looking at people who were running every day and at the amount of days running they were accumulating and staying injury free and a seed was planted that eventually grew into me starting my own runstreak despite still suffering with my achilles.

When it comes to diet, everyone contradicts one and other. The raw foodies think they are right, the vegetarians, the Paleo's, the low carb dieters all think they are right....well one things for sure....they can't all be right!!! But when it comes to exercise everyone can agree that we should be doing something regardless of whatever shape or size we are.

It may seem like the norm to be sat on our back sides for most the day and most of us do due to our modern working lives but there is no way that this is how it was meant to be. Whether you want to harp back to the caveman days or even a lot less further back to before we had cars, one thing rings true we had to move our bodies to get around everyday.

My runstreak at the moment consists of mainly 3 or 4 mile daily runs, that's roughly half an hour of exercise each day...I work an eight hour day at a computer, so when you put it in that context even half an hour a day doesn't seem enough does it? Who needs a rest day when exercise is only taking up that amount of time each day. Sure I hope to increase the distance on some of these days but only to probably to an hour.

As well as trying out my theory that running everyday will solve my injuries, another theory I've had is that I'm going to get more benefit stretching immediately after my run when my muscles are warmed up. I stretch like a madman, pushing my calfs and hamstrings to their limits but limits that are easier to reach due to my warmed up muscles.

I'm no physio, I've gone against what a physio would tell me, I started running everyday even though my Achilles were still painful, I stretch till it hurts, all against the rule book but the most incredible thing has happened......im cured, im running pain free, well at least I am to date and I'm now on day 19 of my runstreak. I got to day 4 and that evening was still in pain, I was going to give up the next day, but I woke up the next morning expecting to get out of bed to the usual pain but nothing, and I've not looked back since!

The other nice surprise is that I've trimmed down a bit and I've not changed my eating habits, in fact I've been eating more treats than normal. I've been craving sweet things, I try to get my hit naturally by eating fruit but I've been topping up with biscuits and chocolate and still shedding the pounds!

It's early days but I'm enjoying the smaller runs and have no thoughts of stopping at the moment, in fact the goal is set to reach 100 days. There I've said it...now I've got to stick with it!

Is a runstreak the answer?

The longest runstreak in America is currently still going at 45 years....45 years!!!...That's 16,425 continuous days of logging runs!!!

Lots of runstreaks are logged on social media and it's got me thinking; Is this the solution to injury free running? 

These people are never injured! Is that because of the frequency of their runnning and their bodies adapt and get used to moving these same muscles and limbs everyday? Do their bodies not have time to stiffen up?

I'm still ticking over with my running, a few days a week, four miles at a time, but maybe it's time to put my body to the test, maybe...it's runstreak time!

What have I got to lose, my Achilles have been playing up for nearly a year now, maybe if I run everyday my body will just give up rebelling against my running and let me be?

I'm not talking big miles here, for the time being the max daily amount would be 4 miles. I'm not sure what the official rules are for runstreaking, I'm guessing there must be a minimum distance to count as an official run and I'm guessing that minimum distance would be a mile? I mean surely you can't run to your car from a shop in the rain and count that as a run!!!

So I've kicked off this week with a 4 mile run, (winter is definitely upon us, it poured down and the rain was like ice) tomorrow I'm going to do the same distance but throw some hills in, maybe the next day just a mile?

I know that rest is important but running such short distances, surely won't fatigue the body too much? I mean I sit down for most of the day at a desk, running daily for half an hour is not exactly taxing me and might just be the answer to pain free running!

A change is gonna come

*dusts off the keyboard*

Apologies for the absense from the blog. On the running front, not a lot had changed and I didn't want to write for the sake of writing but now I can update. A few things have changed.

Not big changes, but I am back into some sort of 'running' routine. I'm now getting myself out and running a few miles, taking two days off and then going again. It's not much but it's running again.

Whilst running I'm feeling no ill effects from the achilles injury but can still feel some minor niggles after. That's why I want to keep things to a minimum and just appreciate I can get out there and do something that slightly resembles me being a runner again.

I'm trying hard to get some stretching in, especially with my calfs. Out of all the exercises I've accumulated for my injury, I seem to be getting the best response from foam rolling....Ouchy but beneficial :-)

My swimming routine has tailed off at the moment, something I want to get back on track, but I have been out cycling a few times. 

Now cycling is my least favourite exercise, but I've used it for a purpose and that purpose is getting to and from work. I've only done it a handful of times but it's been beneficial. I hadn't been on my bike for a few years and I threw myself in at the deep end and cycled the 13 miles to work and back at the end of the day. When you haven't cycled for a long time, 26 miles in a day is a looonnnnggg way. The last few miles on the way back I could bearly turn the peddles and was totally exhausted!

I did notice the way that the cycling worked my quads and hamstrings which was something the Physio said would be a benefit to my overall running mechanics.

Talking of running mechanics, I'm still playing around with my trainers and whether to run with the orthotics that I have in my shoe or not. The orthotics are only ones off the shelf but they have been a big benefit in the past with the same injury, but I'm not sure if I'm getting the same effect this time round with them.

The last 18 months have been hell for running, ever since I fractured my ankle jumping off that stupid wall trying to get to the start line off a race! Add to this my achilles problems and I do wonder if I'll ever get back to the volume of running and races that I was doing before. I guess it's just patience and appreciating I can at least do something.

That wall!!!

"It's been a long time coming, but I know a change is gonna come". Sam Cooke

How much longer?

Another week and no running and the saying "You don't know what you've got till its gone" rings so true. All those times when I've been out in the dark and the cold, in the rain, in the snow, cursing, wondering why I run; well I'd happily run in all those elements put together now, just to be out there running.

In my last post I wrote about a trial run and how well it went. It was only 2 miles but the next morning I did feel a slight discomfort in my Achilles so I knew straight away I was not ready yet for a return to running.

I had a good swim session last week, I swam a mile..1600m, I was well chuffed, I swam breaststroke the whole way which is my strongest and preferred stroke. Its the furthest I've ever swam in my life I reckon.

Another bonus was I got out on my bike. Now for those who know me or follow my ramblings, you will know I'm not a huge fan of cycling. I cycled 13 miles to work, a route I would normally run but haven't for a long time, so it was nice to be back albeit on two wheels. I got a lift back home but this week I'll probably attempt to cycle there and back a couple of times.

Cycling will at least strengthen my quads, something my physio told me would help my running mechanics.

What I'm really struggling with is my stretching exercises and particularly my eccentric calf stretches which would help hugely with my comeback to running. I'm not struggling to perform them, what I am struggling to do is actually get around to do them!

Just 10 minutes a few times a day....so why cant I motivate myself to do them????

I can motivate myself to get up at 6am to swim a mile, to cycle 13 miles but 10 minutes of stretching....no way! 

Does anyone else struggle with stretching? Maybe it's the boredom factor? I don't know but I really need to get myself back on track.

It's difficult keeping a running blog up when you're not....er...running, but hopefully it may help with people going through the frustration of injury. If you are, I feel your pain and good luck with your recovery.

Swimming OK in the UK

Swimming is the new running!......Well that's what I try to tell myself as rehab continues.

The last time I ran was 20th July, four and a half weeks ago, which actually feels like four and a half YEARS ago!!! I tell a lie, I actually went for 2 miles last Sunday (but don't tell my Physio!). I went for a very slow plod just to see what reaction I would get from the Achilles. It wasn't great but I definitely felt improvement which is good (accentuate the positives!).

So in an attempt to stop going stir crazy and to get some endorphins flowing, I've hit the pool. I enjoy swimming, I find it quite therapeutic and have now been twice a week for the last few weeks. I will probably up this to 3 times a week because I honestly think I'll be away from running for a looonnnnggg time.

I've been a bit slack on my rehab exercises at the moment (but don't tell my Physio!) which is crazy, I can go out and run for a couple of hours, get up at 6 and swim for half an hour but somehow can't get in a routine of doing some simple stretching for 10 minutes!!!

I will get there though as I know how important these exercises are to make me a better and stronger runner when I get back. Heck, I shouldn't be so hard on myself at least I'm cross training.

I'm not quite sure what the blog posts are going to consist of in the near future while I'm away from running so maybe I'll have to temporary change the name of the blog....Running Swimming OK in the UK.

Go to your Physio!

I've now had two trips to Finefettle, and what I've learnt has been invaluable to my running. I made the point in a previous post that you can scan the internet till your blue in the face gaining all sorts of advice on a particular injury that you're suffering with. The trouble is it is not specific to you. Let me give you an example from my experience.

Information overload!

As you know if you read the blog regularly I'm suffering with my Achilles. Now I have obtained from the Internet many exercises, stretches to help me overcome the problem. But what I've since found out by coming to the good people of Finefettle is....my right leg was shorter than my left where my pelvis was twisted (now been sorted) and my left leg is stronger with more calf muscle tone than the right. So basically I've been running 'Wonky' for a while now!

There is no way on earth I could have known these things from reading up on the Internet without being physically seen by a professional. So although I'm treating my Achilles there is other stuff going on which I would have never known about.

On my first visit to Finefettle I saw Helen an Osteopath and on my most recent visit I saw Alexandra who is a Physio who I will now continue to do my rehab with. So I've had great advice from two different .....

I've now got to do some strength training in my legs, calfs, glutes, core, you name it I'm doing it. I'm not sure when I'll be able to run again, but when I do hopefully I'll have much better form and be a better runner from the strength work I'm doing away from running.

I've started swimming this week in an attempt to keep my fitness levels. I enjoy swimming, and was going regularly last year but the pool closed for refurbishment and I lost the momentum. It's definitely something I want to keep up even when I'm back running. If only I enjoyed cycling as much as swimming and running then I would be in good stead to have a go at a Triathlon.

My lovely Olympic sized 50m local pool

When I started out running and got my first pair of trainers, like most runners I got checked out by the experts and brought a pair suited to me. I overpronate and have low arches and ever since I've always run in a stability trainer. But from my visit to the Physio this week I've learnt that my arches are now high and I should get my trainers checked out again as maybe I need a more neutral trainer. It may not be the answer but it could be contributing to my Achilles problems. Once again some advice I wouldn't have known unless a visit to the proffesionals.

So I'll keep going with my new found advice and hopefully towards recovery. This week has been the first that I've really missed running, I've been ok upto now and even enjoying a bit of a break. Hopefully the swimming will see me through till I can run again.