I'm still breathing...

Yep, I know, AWOL again.

That's not usually a good sign with me - it usually means I'm not doing much in the way of exercise and am eating my way through a Thorntons warehouse.  Not this time though: it's actually all going okay.

By way of an update:

• I've lost 17lb since the late summer weight peak
• I started running - very carefuly - 3 weeks ago
• Longest run is only up to 7.5 miles and this week was the highest at 22
• Exercising consistently 6 days from 7
• Have recorded food intake every single day since the end of September
• Achilles is holding up okay - no pain uless I squeeze it
• I've entered Paris marathon again!

Plan from here is to carry on with the weight loss until Christmas then knock a bit more off after Christmas (along with any festive gain).  That should take me 9lb lower than I was when I ran Paris this year.  I'm already lighter than I was this time 12 months ago.

Training wise its a gradual increase to 30 miles a week by early December, and a long run of about 11.5 miles.  No speedwork, no hills.  Then I'll have a crack at following the Pfitzinger & Douglas 18 week 'up to 55 miles a week' plan.

Right now I'm cautiously optimistic of making it to the start line in April.  If I do I'll stand a good chance of a PB.  If I don't make it then so be it.  At least I'll have carefully given myself a chance.

HOPE EVERYONE ELSE IS FIGHTING FIT!

And here we are

Having posted precisely sod all for the last month or so this might be the first of several in the next few days.  Typical me: all or nothing.


I haven't really had a huge amount to blog about.  No great initiatives, no big leaps forward but no disasters either.  Equally I've had problems accessing some other blogs that I've found today, can be solved by using Safari rather than Explorer.


For what its worth, by way of an update, here's what's happened on my main blogging themes:


Injury
No big changes.  I still get a bit of stiffness each morning, achilles still feels 'odd' at times and the back of my right heel can still get quite tender.  I've been using the podiatrist supplied insoles for 'x' weeks now but there doesn't seem to be any great change.  Mind you, I've not been doing the prescribed exercises for the last 10 days and a little sporadically prior to that so therein may lie the problem.


Running
As the injury hasn't settled down there's been precious little of this.  


I was hoping the insoles would work their magic and decided to more or less write off running for a number of weeks to allow them the time to do so.  After very little running since the middle of May I've become resigned to it (and I will be blogging about this soon) so another few weeks didn't seem much of a hardship.   


All I've been doing is the Couch to 5k programme with the eldest daughter.  This time last year, aged 11, she could (reluctantly) cover 5 miles of trails but she stopped running and this was a way I hoped to get her back into it and provide an accomplishment she could feel proud of.  She's enjoying it and doing really well, and my achilles seems to tolerate tiny bits of jogging.


Marathon Plans
Having cancelled my participation at Chester all my hopes were pinned on Paris next April.  Registration opened last week but a few weeks ago I decided I wouldn't be running.  Due to the date next year the family wouldn't have been able to go and a trip on my own would mean it would have to be a serious PB attempt or I wouldn't bother (as the total cost for registration, gels, accommodation, flights, food while there would have easily been £400), and this wasn't going to be a serious attempt.  


To have had a decent crack at it I'd have needed to start training at 55 miles a week in early December and ramp up quickly from there...to do that I'd have needed to be doing 45 miles a week pain free from mid October...and to get from zero miles and discomfort to 45 miles with none in 6 weeks was just never going to happen.


Bit of a bugger that.


Gym
So, my surrogate running is gym based, which works.  Sort of.


A few weeks ago I came up with a plan.  I like plans, maybe I like them a little too much, as the truth is I'm better at planning than doing; so I opted not to herald it to the blogging fraternity. 


However, the idea was to replicate the time and type of exercise that might be used in a middle of the road marathon plan.  In other words train 6 times a week, with some easy days, a couple of days with weights and cardio intervals and a long session on Sundays.


Rationale was that if I had something with a bit of intensity and structure I'd stick to it more,  feel a sense of accomplishment, find weight control/reduction easier and find transitioning to running easier when the achilles settled down.


As I said that sort of works.  For the first 10 days or so I stuck to the plan relentlessly but since then my adherence has been more sporadic.  I think there are three challenges:

1. If I work away the plan has to give way - the gym can't go with me in the same way a Garmin and trainers could.
2. There's no end objective so less incentive to stick to the plan.
3. If I felt lethargic or under the weather running from home and seeing 'how it goes' was almost always the approach but its harder to get the kit, towel, change of clothes, drink etc ready and drive to the gym on that basis.

Beyond that though its worked OK in that I enjoy my time there.  Its not outdoors, its not as social and it doesn't feel as hardcore but I still enjoy it.  Likelihood is that I'll tweak the plan for the next 4 weeks and get going consistently again.

Diet & Weight
Unsurprisingly its chequered news on the diet/eating front too.  Some days I eat extremely well, others I don't.  As per the exercise, with no firm objective in sight its difficult to stick consistently to any sort of 'diet' so I've hardly tried.  Whilst that still leaves me a long way above the sort of weight I'm happy at the good news is that my weight has stayed level for a couple of months now.  At least its stopped going up.




Overall, I've ostensibly become accepting of my current lot and I'm really not sure if that's a good thing or not.  On the one hand I no longer beat myself up for being unable to run or for having some ice cream but on the other not being able to wear quite a few items of clothing and feeling I don't look/feel at my best constantly niggles away at me in the background.


Time will tell I guess?

Brief update (nothing to do with pants)

The last week has gone pretty well.

It took me until Thursday to truly get back into the swing of things. For the first few days the intentions were good and I managed 3 trips to the gym but I tended to lapse with food either because I was out with work or because I'd eaten too little during the day.

Since Thursday I've been spot on and have also been slowly upping the cardio element at the gym. I'm now starting off with 35 minutes on the Concept2 then do 35 - 40 on the cross trainer. Its not running but I'm hoping its enough to maintain stamina.

On the running front advice was to drop the running for ten days and temporarily wear heel lifts to allow the tendon to heal more easily. It also means I've had to drop the habit of wearing flip flops or being bare feet a good deal of the time. The lifts and ban on being barefoot lasts for 4 weeks.

This advice came from a podiatrist I went to see. His view was that the switch in shoes was too sudden and almost certainly was the cause of the problems. He couldn't see any issues with regards to range of motion, leg length discrepancy or similar and said that I would be a natural mid-foot striker with a fairly rigid foot (sometimes incorrectly described as a supinator) and that I should always avoid any sort of support shoe. Ironic that in years gone by 'specialist' running shops have advised me to go for support and even motion control shoes.

So, fairly happy but there's a challenge the next few days in that I'm staying away tonight (therefore evening meal in the restaurant and cooked breakfast to contend with) and then Sue and the kids are away for two nights following that. I'm also hardly at home between now and Thursday evening and have an awful lot of work to fit in between. Today's train journey may afford some time to work out some strategies to meet those challenges.

Sometimes I cope really well with the temptations of being away but other times I fail spectacularly. What do others do?

2 weeks in Barbados?

Sorry, I haven't been around for a few weeks.

Initially this was because everything was going along swimmingly. After the 1 mile run I did as the physio had advised and did runs on alternate days of 2, 3, 4, 5 and then 6 miles. All without any noticeable increase in stiffness/pain in the achilles. Sure, the runs felt shockingly hard - I described the 5 mile run as feeling more like a 20 mile run by the end - but the fitness was returning as I could see my heart rate dropping with each run despite the increases in distance. In addition I was eating very well, seeing (unreported but notable) changes in weight, resting heart rate and body composition and was at the gym probably 5 days out of 6.

Then, on the 29th I finished work to begin 2 weeks off.

We can't afford to go anywhere again this year so I knew it would be 2 weeks at home but I had a loose idea of how I expected it to be: sunny with days spent by the outdoor pool at the gym, nice walks in the dales, the odd meal out, maybe day trips to York or the east coast, lots of exercise, some nice little runs. It would still be relaxing, rejuvenating and healthy.

It started well. Over the first weekend I went to the gym twice and did an hour on the cross trainer with each visit as well as doing another 6 mile run on the Sunday and some weights. Two days earlier the physio had 'discharged' me on the basis the achilles was steadily improving. Weather wise there were a few brief sunny interludes amongst the light greyness.

On the Monday I did a shorter gym session then had a rest day on the Tuesday. I went to the library and got 4 new books (yes - a trip to the library really was a highlight of my 'holiday'). Also on Tuesday I had an hour or so sat in the intermittent hazy sunshine by the pool before the rain started.

I ran again on Wednesday first thing though I cut it back to 5 miles as I seemed to have a hint more soreness on Monday and Tuesday. The weather that day was dull, gloomy and grey and my mood followed its lead. I spent most of the day lying on the bed reading.

Thursday wasn't much better in weather, mood or activity and this wasn't helped by by achilles feeling sore once again - which worried me and pulled my mood down further.

On Friday I got up and decided to cut the run to 4 miles as a gesture to the previous day's pain but as soon as I set off everything ached and my achilles had me hobbling. I stopped after about 20 metres; went home and went back to bed.

I felt really depressed and whilst Sue and the girls spent the day by the pool (with the sun making a brief appearance in the afternoon) I wallowed in my pit thinking about injury, weight (my diet absolutely fell apart as soon as the weather/mood changed) and the fact that I was half way through the annual 'big' 'holiday' and the weather had been poor, we'd been nowhere, I hadn't been more than 3 miles from home and the resumption of running had been snatched away. I felt like the previous week had been a waste of holiday and a waste of time.

Although the weather remained overcast and dull I picked up a little by the Saturday afternoon, chiefly because we'd collected a dog that we are looking after for 2 weeks. I took him for a couple of walks and that helped lift my mood. I confess I was quite excited as I'd never walked a dog before! I always wanted a dog as a kid but my parents wouldn't let me have anything other than a budgie! Sue always had cats.

Unfortunately the lift was short lived and the next 5 days saw wet, windy, dark days that mirrored my mood. My abstention from the gym continued, as did my comfort eating of all things sweet, sugary and fatty. Gradually my legs/achilles felt better but I didn't try to run and still spent most of the days lazing around reading. Aside from trips to the supermarket I didn't leave the house. I didn't feel at all rested or de-stressed from work and the feeling that this was a complete waste of my 'holiday' pervaded - the fact that the weather had been the worst of an already disappointing summer and that this would prevent trips out somehow felt preordained.

For some reason things changed on Friday. I think I just felt that whilst the fortnight had largely been a waste I at least wanted to end on a high of some sort. It was still grey and it was still intermittently wet but we made a packed lunch and all headed off about 20 minutes north to do a short walk through/around some forest.

For the rest of the family it wasn't a success. Sue doesn't like walking through forests at the best of times and after all the rain it was incredibly muddy which had Sue and Bethan moaning most of the way around. This probably wasn't helped by the absence of signs in the forest and there being far more trails than those marked on the map (but we only got lost once and briefly at that) and Bethan having lots of pain from wearing boots that were too small.

For me though it was good. I do like forests, especially densely packed ones. There's something about them appeals to my psyche - they're dark but there's still a soft light, they're still, completely quiet, peaceful, dry. In them I feel hidden and safe. How about that for a window onto my state of mind? I also like mud and as we walked I thought how nice it would be to run there.

When we got home I quickly showered and zipped over to Bradford to get a new ( and far larger) pair of trail shorts, then we all went out for a huge Indian meal which everyone really enjoyed.

On Saturday morning I proposed to the family that if we walked on both days at the weekend we could go out for a similar meal on Sunday (so my fortnight ended on a high). Unfortunately Bethan raised objections but a trip to Go Outdoors to get her some new boots (her feet have suddenly grown a size and a half unbeknown to us) did the trick and we went out to Nidderdale for a pleasant 6 miles. Even the sun put in an appearance mid-way round leaving me with a burned head!

Yesterday probably got better still. I was up just after seven AM and went back to the scene of Friday's walk - this time with my new shorts and trail shoes! It was only 4 muddy miles and I did get lost several times on dark forest trails but after the first half mile the achilles felt fine. When I got in I changed and went to the gym for the first time in nearly 10 days. After that we did another 6 mile walk, this time near Grassington, before another excellent meal.

Today the achilles feels OK. Nothing too bad. I seem to have put on 8.8 pounds in 16 days (all that I'd lost in the preceding 2 weeks) but I hope a little of that is just water/food from last night's meal out. The return to work and routine will hopefully allow me to get back to the pre-holiday health routine.

I'm a Runner (again)

I hope I'm not being like David Cameron's father should have been (premature) but I think I'm putting yesterday's mile down as a success.

It was only a nine minute mile jog along a straight stretch of canal towpath but it felt fine during the run. Mind you, jogging for even a mile felt shockingly difficult after so many weeks off.

Maybe more importantly than how it felt during the run, it felt no worse than normal after and the same can be said for this morning too - a little stiff, marginally sore but nothing that isn't there every morning. As I also did 80 minutes on a cross trainer and my additional achilles strengthening exercises yesterday its particularly pleasing.

So, rest day today (if a 6 hour drive and 2 hour meeting can be seen as rest) and only a swim in the evening. Tomorrow or Friday I'll push the boat out and go for 2 miles!

Physio's view on progress

Thanks for yesterday's comments. It seems you could work out the physio's advice before I got it - especially Jess's comment on the tendon being painful to squeeze for a long time after being able to run.

To cut a long story short she feels its 'making progress' but that it will be slow, so I need to keep reminding myself of what it was like 4/6 weeks previously. The exercises will continue for another 10 weeks minimum. I am to carry on with the current exercises but add in 2 different types of jumps from a step and carefully try gentle static hopping as long as it doesn't cause a notable increase in pain. The pinch test isn't deemed an important one as she warned that it might be that it will remain sore to the touch permanently.

In terms of running I can start...

...with one mile of straight line jogging (!), and if that feels okay during, after and the next day I can carefully progress; then go back again a week on Friday.

With the achilles taped up with garish blue and pink tape, I shall head out for my jog later on today.

A very pleasing week

One week down and sixteen to go.

After months of being able to do well for 2 days then blow it all (and then some) for the next 5/6, this last week has been surprisingly easy.

I've kept to within 100 kcals of target (either side) each day from Monday to Saturday, then yesterday we went for a family meal out and thanks to exercise and slight moderation during the meal I suspect I stayed within 200 of maintaining - though the nature of what I ate made it impossible to accurately capture.

I can't say that I have found it particularly challenging thus far either. Long may that continue.

On the exercise front its a similar story.

I went to the gym each day, doing a workout on 6/7 and just doing some gentle swimming on the other day. I've very much enjoyed what I've been doing and can see and feel the benefits very clearly already.

Achilles wise its not so clear cut.

On the plus side I've (mainly) been doing the concentric as well as eccentric strengthening, which puts me ahead on the achilles exercise front; and there's been no major aggravation from using the cross trainer. On the minus side it still feels a bit stiff and occasionally a little painful and is certainly still very sore if pinched even slightly.

One sobering moment was when I'd been doing some lunge walks on the running track. At the gym there is a small but useful indoor running track that I'd earmarked as perfect for running drills and plyometrics, so, flushed with endorphins I decided to try hopping along it on my uninjured side and then stupidly did the same on the left. Sore during and instantly very sore afterwards.

I think there's still some way to go.

Off to the physio this morning and it may well be that she'll tell me I'm OK to run. Part of me hopes she does but part of me is frightened that if she does I'll struggle and make the injury worse. Its not often I feel frightened to try something but this time its certainly there.