Last post of the year

Its been a little while since I last posted and the good news is that I am back running again (albeit slowly, for a short period of time and not completely pain free). I went to see the physio the Thursday before Christmas (after a session with Easy Tiger!!). He gave me accupuncture and some other thing where they attach round caps to my calf and blasted it with volts. The next day I felt very sore from all the attention my leg received. The physio informed me it would still be another week before I could start running and then it was 10 min, 20 the next day and 40 the next day etc until the 3rd Jan when I should be completely fine. I asked him about the Coastal Classic. "Whats that" he says "5km race" no try 12 hours. He said I should be completely cured by then and back to normal, the only thing would be lost fitness so if I wanted to push through it I could. I have an appointment with Tiger on the Monday and also the physio. I think everyone is expecting me to be in a bad way.

I was extremely happy to head off work early on the Friday before Christmas. I havent had much holidays this year and its been a crappy year so I was glad to be getting some time off to chill out. Dean and I headed off to my Mum and Dad's place in the Park in my nice new car. On Saturday night we headed to Dean's parents at Bomaderry and on Christmas eve were back up to my parents place. We had an absolute ball playing all sorts of games in their bar room. Cards, poker, darts, fuze ball, carpet bowls...the list goes on. In the mean time it was 2.30 before i got to sleep on Christmas morning. I was a little depressed when I woke up on Xmas morning as this was the first xmas in 6 years that I wouldnt be able to run. I always look forward to my xmas run watching all the kids out playing with their toys (numbers are dwindling as they move their toys to playstations).

I got some awesome pressies. Dean gave me something he made himself with 5 photo frames all linked together by chains with pictures of me doing the Canberra marathon and the frame in the middle had my medal which he also had engraved. It was really nice. Mum and Dad are keeping it at their place until Dean and I get a house of our own. He also got me some "BEC" number plates for my new car. I got my nice new digital camera from Mum and Dad, but I've already had that for a couple of months now! It was a very quiet Christmas Day and Dean headed off to work at 3pm. Boxing day was a lot of fun. We packed the car up with all the leftovers and headed back up to my place to watch the Sydney to Hobart yacht race from my balcony.

Mum and Dad stayed until Friday and I had lots of fun showing them all around Sydney. They always seem to go to the same places, Darling Harbour and Circular Quay so it was fun taking them for a swim at Bondi Icebergs, Coogee and lots of other places in the Eastern Suburbs. Even got to go out to Homebush at DFO and bought some great bargains from French Connection.

On Thursday I went for my 10 min run. It felt like I had forgotten how to run. I could barely open my stride, my hips felt tight and it was actually my knee that was hurting on my left leg. I was thinking before I left that I might cheat and do 15 min........I didnt. 10 min was enough.

Friday I was allowed a 20 min run. I decided to leave it until the afternoon so that I could do a lot of stretching during the day. It was a lot more comfortable that Thursday's run. Every now and then I got a tight pain in my calf but it would go away. My leg hurt quite a bit when I stopped, mostly my knee but since I had run down to Watson Bay where Dean was meeting me we quicky went for a dip and I done some more water running and the cool water made it feel much better.

I'll be heading off to do a 40 min run today and this will be the real test to see how much fitness I have lost. Hopefully not too much. Some good new is that I have been wearing the Aasics 2100's with the orthodics and they feel OK. Finally...phew

Really wish that I was doing the party pooper black stump, but I dont want to push it. Dont think I'm in good enough condition to be doing that sort of run with hills.

Will probably be updating my New Years post with all my 2007 goals. I think there are going to be a few biggies that even scare me !!!

On the 5th day of Christmas....

A catch up since last week. On my birthday it was also Dean and my 4 year anniversary so we went to watch Borat at the Gold Class cinema at Bondi Junction. Not a very romantic movie, but neither of us are and it was extremly funny. We enjoyed getting looked after getting Corona's delivered throughout the movie and a nice cheese platter. We then moved on to a nice Italian restaurant that had just re-opened at the top of Westfield with views of the city.

On Friday night I had my work Christmas party, and since I had been leaving them all early to run the next morning, this was the first one where I could actually let my hair down. Done lots of dancing which seemed to hurt the leg more than running. I got home really late but didnt wake up with a hangover, which I realised in hindsight was because I kept getting a drink but they were taking them away while I was on the dance floor.

On Sunday morning I headed over to Centennial Park for the SWEAT Christmas brunch. I was really jealous of all the people that looked nice and fresh from their Sunday long run. We had an inspirational guest speaker William Tan who is a wheelchair athlete who had polio when he was younger. He told of his story of completing crazy marathons such as on the North and South pole and about becoming a doctor. My Mum had polio when she was younger and was confined to a wheelchair for many years, however, she is able to walk now as an adult although she still has trouble with her feet. I really felt as though I couldnt whinge about my little injury after listening to his story. Later on Sunday Dean and I took a trip out to Running Science and I took some Asics nimbus and 2110 for a spin on the treadmill. I didnt last long because my leg was hurting. It sort of feels like resting isnt doing much. I bought the 2110's as they felt the best and I will check them out on a tready (just doing a couple of k's) tomorrow.

After doing some research into other gyms I realised how good I had it at Fitness First (never mind the show ponies). The other places where so expensive so I managed to cancel my cancelation and I'm heading back to the gym. I have done a couple of spin classes and I feel like I've lost so much fitness in such a short amount of time.

I made a visit to a Physio that Sean and Cindy recommended in North Sydney. He was really good and done some investigating and found the cause of the problem was my hip which was extremely weak and was causing all the problems in the rest of my leg. After one session with him we noticed a big difference and I'm off to see him again tomorrow.

I've still been living in hope that I will be able to enter the Coastal Classic 12 hour. That hope is starting to fade as I realise I am now getting puffed walking up stairs. I have been cross-training but I dont think anything is a substitute for fitness you gain while running. I have also started to develop a head cold, I seem to only ever get sick when I stop running. WARNING: Not running is a health hazzard.

Happy Birthday to me.....NOT

Well, not much to report on the running front. Sean recommended that I cut my mid-week long run short if my leg was bothering me. Dean offered to go on a bike ride which was nice so I done that instead. Its hard to get used to the fact that my but gets sore before I actually get tired from exercising. I headed out for a run at work and went over to the Domain to stay on the grass. I only managed to churn out 4km before I decided it was silly that I was pushing through this and had to do something about it. Holding back tears of frustration I headed back to the office and immediately booked in to see a Physio.

What a disaster. I usually see Fiona and got some guy called Percey. What an absolute tool he was. He diagnosed me with shin splints from watching me jumping up and down on my toes. I'm no medical expert, but I would suspect it would take a bit more examination than that. He then just told me to stop running and ice my leg. Geeze genious, I'm really glad I come to you because I couldnt have found that out by googling.

So, I woke up this morning turning the big '25' and was looking forward to my birthday run, but after putting on my gear I knew it just wasnt going to happen. I had a bit of a pitty cry, iced my leg and then jumped on the cross trainer. This cross training is great but it doesnt replace running. Running seems to control my hormones and emotions, whereas I become a bit snappy, restless, and most probably irrational when I've missed a few sessions.

I've decided to go to see someone who actually knows what their talking about. I have booked in to get a bone scan to see whether or not it is shin splints as I believe its more to do with the muscles. I also dropped in to see Podrunner today and we are on the way to my orthodics fitting, I will be checking out running science so that I can try the Aasics 2110 and the Nimbus to see which one fits well with the orthodics so fingers crossed.

I'm off to feel sorry for myself and eat birthday cake and get drunk.

Damn Concrete....

Thursday, December 7, 2006

So far since my last blog I havent really done much in the way of running. I didnt have a car to get to SWEAT on Thursday morning, but I was really tired so didnt manage a run at all. My leg was still really sore so I decided to stay off it until I saw Easy Tiger during the day. He had to go a fair bit harder on me today, so I felt extremely tender afterwards. It seems my calves are starting to loosen up but the muscles around them are really tight now.

Friday, December 8, 2006

Managed an extremely slow 5km on Friday morning. It was a shuffle where I was hardly bouncing at all. From being really tender after the massage all I could spin out was 7 min k's. I done lots of stretching and icing when I got back.

I had my work Christmas Part on Friday night. We had a James Bond night where we went to watch Casino Royale at La Premiere Cinema. It was nice being in a really comfy chair. I was a bit of a party pooper and left at 12.30 as I knew if I didnt do my long run on Saturday morning it wouldnt get done at all. I couldnt get a taxi and the taxi rank at Fox Studio's was huge so Dean come to pick me up in his cop car to take me somewhere where I could find one. He found one on the way and put his lights on to pull him over. The poor guy thought he was getting booked and was relieved when he found out it was just to give me a lift (there has to be some perks to going out with a copper!!).

Saturday, December 9, 2006

I didnt get much sleep on Friday night but forced myself to get up for my long run. I headed down New South Head Road into the city, around Mrs Macquarie Point, passing the Opera House, down around the Rocks and under the Bridge and turned around and come home. I was implementing walking every 25 minutes as training for CC but after getting to the bottom of Heartbreak Hill I decided to walk the rest of the way home. I kept waiting thinking I was going to warm up soon to get a bit quicker, but it didnt happen and I felt crap the whole way averaging 7 min/km once again. I was pretty much shuffling the whole way so that I was limiting the amount of bouncing. Was very glad to be home. Managed to cover 30km in what Sean says is good training for the later stages of CC where I will be implementing my shuffle strategy!!

I had a big night on Saturday night, drinking and celebrating my upcoming birthday with my parents. Thankfully Dean and my Dad were the only ones with a hangover, I was fine.

Sunday/Monday, December 10-11, 2006

We spent a lot of Sunday looking for cars and I'm still no closer to knowing what I want. On Sunday night Dean and I headed up to Taronga Zoo where we would be sleeping the night at Roar and Snore. We had an absolute ball (except for the guy in the tent beside us who gave us a fair share of snoring). We got to go on a night tour of all the nocturnal animals and went on an up-close tour the morning after where we got to feed giraffes, seals and lots of other animals. It was definately well worth the money and a great pressie from Dean.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Went to SWEAT this morning as I knew I wouldnt do anything if I didnt go. Dean gave me a lift on his way to work. I could tell after the drills that I would be needing to take it easy. I had 4 laps of the lake on my program. I was running at around 6.40/km for the first 2 and decided to call it quits as I had to run into work and that would be enough. Sean recommended some water running and to just contine to shuffle as I dont think completely resting is making it any better. At the beginning of the session I had started to feel as though I was getting an infection which got worse as I headed off for work and I was in quite a bit of pain so I jumped into a taxi and went to see a Doctor before work started. I got my drugs so I am starting to feel better already.

I'm really hoping this is just a niggle that will go away soon so my training for CC isnt too interrupted as its only 3 weeks away now !! After the damage that has been done after running a whole half marathon on concrete, I am now stepping up my quest to get my orthodics fitting properly before CC and I will be completely staying off road from now on as as far as I can see its all pain no gain on the road.

Didnt quite make it to the Tan.....

I felt guilty about missing SWEAT this morning, dont know why as I was in a completely different state!! I didnt get to fit in a run yesterday as I was on a plane early to Melbourne and work meant I couldnt fit one in later either. I think it was a blessing in disguise as the muscle that runs near my shin is still very tight and tender and I probably would have done damage to run on it. I was extremely fidgity this morning and wanted to get out for a run so the plan was to head over to the Tan. Because of how sore my leg was I had to take it really slow. It ended up that I was so bloody slow by the time I made it over to the Tan it was time to come back!! So today was only 4km shuffle for me. I think it done me good though as it loosened up my leg quite a bit and gave me the opportunity to do lots of stretching once back at the hotel. Since my little shuffle this morning it has been feeling a lot better. I am not as scared now going to see Tiger tomorrow as I dont think I will be getting into trouble.

Will probably have to miss training tomorrow morning as well as I dont have a car to get there. It would probably be good for me to have a down week anyway. I just want to be ready for my long run on the weekend as the half has already taken away a bit too much focus off Coastal Classic.

I cant believe how much weight you can put on just by going interstate for a few days. Everyone wants to take you out for lunch/afternoon tea etc. I feel like a hippo. Stepped on the scales at the hotel. I dont have scales at home as I think its dangerous for the mind to be weighing yourself so often. Wasnt happy with what it was telling me, but I have to remember its just a number. I've decided though its nothing but vegies until Xmas !!

Taking it easy

Was scheduled to do a recovery 3km this morning, but my body decided otherwise. I slept like a baby last night, I think I woke up in the same position I fell asleep in.

Most of my body is feeling surprisingly good for having done a half. Usually I am quite sore, especially with a sore back but mostly I feel fine.

My left calf/shin is giving me a lot of trouble at the moment though. One good thing is that it is OK when I am walking around a bit it just hurts really bad when I have been stationary and get up to walk which gives me an indication that its not my actual shin bones. Phew. Have been doing lots of stretching and I will continue to ice it this afternoon. I think I'm off to see Easy Tiger on Thursday so I will need to hang on until then.

I will be missing SWEAT tomorrow as I am off to Melbourne for work for 2 days. Might be able to fit in a couple of runs around the Tan hopefully (in between shoe shopping!!).

I am desperately looking for a car to buy otherwise I will be missing out on SWEAT for a while as I wont have any way of getting there. 8km is a bit too long for a warm up.

BTW, ever since I switched to Beta Blogger I have lost my editing control panel, i.e. the one that allows you to edit text and insert images etc. If anyone knows how to fix it your help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks to everyone for all the congrats. I am extremely excited about doing my next 5km and 10km races as this race has given me confidence that I have a few more PB's in store.

Central Coast Half

Dean and I headed up to the Central Coast on Saturday afternoon. We made a stop at Tuggerah Westfield and I managed to score some really cool running clothes from Rebel (they had heaps more than Sydney) and also stocked up on booze at Dan Murphy's as they had a sale (was in the process of buying a whole case of my favourite sparkling when my Mum called me to tell me it was on sale and she was buying some, gee, wonder who I take after!!)

We arrived at the motel which I booked during the week. I had booked the only motel left which didnt require you to book 2 nights. We turned up and it was an absolute dive. It was like one of those seedy motels that hookers use in the movies. There was an odd looking couple there that were on holidays and were smoking on the front porch and drinking bourbon and coke cans, they were still there when we got back from dinner that night. Dean also told me that they were out there doing the same thing when he got back from dropping me off at the race at 7 in the morning!! We had trouble getting into a restaraunt on Saturday night as everything was booked out but managed to get a seat where all the CR's were having their dinner and they were pretty much leaving as we had got in.

Sleeping in such a tiny bed, the pounding rain and nerves meant I didnt get any sleep at all last night. I did get to have a bit of a laugh though when Dean hit his head on the corner of a shelf near the bed.

We rushed over to the race, and I entered the line for registration which was extremely long. I started to get worried that they would cut off registration and I couldnt enter but all was fine with the race starting 20 min later. Because of the weather I had decided to let myself have a bludge, but after meeting some other CR's that were looking to go around 1.50 I was busted and had to put in a little effort. It was a nice run on a really nice course. Very flat with a bit of a surprise hill near the end, which I didnt notice heading out. I dont think I have ever been so drenched in a run. The puddles were so big and it felt like every time I had drained my shoes I ran in another puddle and ended up with lead feet.

I managed to stay with the 1.50 guys for about 5km but just couldnt keep up. In hindsight, they ended up doing 1.45 and 1.46 so no wonder. I was very inconsistent with my km splits so I had no idea what finish time I was heading for. I really thought I was going to be coming in in around 1.51-1.52 up until I saw the finish line and had 1.48 on my watch and was very shocked. Ended up coming in in 1.50.10 which is a 12 minute PB for me, very very happy. I havent shut up about it all day. I started to think that I could have pushed a little further in the race as I was feeling pretty good afterwards and wasnt really puffed, but then a few hours later I realised how shattered my legs were from running on concrete and got over it.

Dean and I went for a nice big breakfast afterwards and then on to have a beer later before heading off to go car shopping. Was a great weekend and there was some really great efforts from lots of CR's with lots of records being broken this weekend.

Will post some photo's later.

1 Day to go

Had a nice sleep in this morning. Although Dean finished work at 5am and woke me up so it was actually more like just a lie in.

Went out for a nice 5km around Christensen Park just turning the legs over so that I could do a lot of stretching. I have noticed that my left shin has been quite sore lately, but it goes away once I have warmed up. Will have to make sure my running form is well for tomorrow since we will be running on footpaths, dont want to cause any injury.

Just been to stock up on powerade for the weekend. Waiting anxiously to head up to the Central Coast as Dean is still sleeping. He has informed me that we need to leave straight away after the race because he wants to go boozing with his bowls mates back in Sydney.