Well, its a sort of injury update anyway!
I had an ultrasound scan in January but all that showed up was that I didn't have an inguinal hernia, which I pretty much knew anyway, and my groin remained sore.
Once the icy weather passed (we had thick snow on the ground from 15th December to 17th January constantly) everything settled down with the pain largely gone, though I wasn't doing any running.
I had managed to get a temporary gym membership which helped me start to get back into the exercise routine by sticking to the cross trainer and avoiding irritation but its really not the same appeal as getting out running somewhere - despite the increased opportunities to stare at the lycra clad bootys of attractive lasses.
I digress.
Once the scan's results were collected the GP referred me to an NHS physio. The guy I saw was great and genuinely wanted to help but the intervention of the pysio team seems to be mainly a way of delaying people joining the very long queue to see a consultant and he advised me that it would be late May before I'd get an appointment.
He couldn't confirm Gilmore's Groin but accepted that I showed the symptoms and also felt that I possibly had an accompanying adductor tendonopathy and attempted to treat the latter with some simple exercises. After a few days these restored some flexibility and didn't aggravate anything too much so I was advised to try running.
I managed two easy paced 4 mile runs which gave mixed results. On the one hand they felt really hard work (like a 10 mile race) and my quads were sore for a couple of days after; but on the other they didn't give a terrible response pain wise and at least I was running!
That meant alot. For pretty much 3 months I'd felt a fraud describing myself as a runner or seeing others out running, and to actually get out there again was fantastic.
The physio suggested I try to run 'as normal' and see whether the problems were fading away or if they would come back once I ran more typical mileages or with greater regularity. I felt hopeful.
I couldn't test that hope for another week as a virus/ear infection/sinusitis left me struggling to sleep and feeling really rotten. Once that was over I started again and in the last 8 days have ran every other day doing 4 miles, 5.25 miles, 6 miles and 7 miles.
Unfortunately, since after the 5.25 and particularly the 6 mile run I've felt rather more sore and I'd expect that to get worse the longer I carried on and especially as speed and distances increased.
Looks like I'll need the op. I'm generally getting to grips with that idea (despite spending the last couple of months petrified at the prospect of a general anaesthetic) and now my only worry is that the op wont work as there only seems to be a 90% success rate.
Still, I've dilligently (or anallly depending on your view point) typed up my own full 'case history' and I'm off to see a consultant privately on Tuesday.
I'll run twice more ahead of then and will keep you posted!
Friday, 5 March 2010
Monday, 14 December 2009
I duly went to the doctors 4 days after the last post. I tried to run again on the Wednesday, but struggled, and dropped the physic’s letter in the same day.
The appointment was a bit of a farce. The letter had been mislaid at the surgery so she hadn’t seen it and hadn’t heard of the condition but agreed to refer me to radiography anyway, and advised me not to run and despite the arrival of some weird compression/support shorts which might help, I did as I was told and wallowed in self pity for the last 2 weeks; predictably finding comfort in food.
This means I’ve only ran 10 times in the last 9 weeks (with 2 of those being aborted with pain) and my weight is a little over a stone heavier than it was in mid October.
That’s left me bouncing between two extremes of outlook.
If I’m feeling positive I compare myself to this time last year. I’m nearly 2 stones lighter than I was then, have ran slightly more in the last few weeks than I did in the corresponding weeks last year and I’ve ran better as a whole during the year. Even the cautious and flabby 4 miles I did yesterday (after 20 days off) was at a comparable pace to tempo runs at the start of the year, and it’s left me without any great increase in pain.
On the other hand, if I’m feeling negative then I compare myself with where I was on target for reaching by now, only a couple of months ago: I’d expected to be some 22lbs lighter than now and have a solid base of 30 miles a week running since May to set me up for training for a 3:30 in Paris.
I’m hopeful that whilst I can’t expect to do any races, hills, speedwork or long slow runs for the foreseeable future (and that injury resolution could be several months away) I should be able to do 3 or even 4 short easy paced runs a week if I wear the support shorts. If I can that might just be enough to help get rid of a little weight in the new year.
At present I’m hoping to drop a couple of pounds before Christmas, easily rediscover them during a week of festive gorging and then do as I did this year and hit the new year with a bang.
Realistically Paris isn’t going to happen for me next year but there’s an outside chance I might make a May marathon or, more likely, an autumn one.
The appointment was a bit of a farce. The letter had been mislaid at the surgery so she hadn’t seen it and hadn’t heard of the condition but agreed to refer me to radiography anyway, and advised me not to run and despite the arrival of some weird compression/support shorts which might help, I did as I was told and wallowed in self pity for the last 2 weeks; predictably finding comfort in food.
This means I’ve only ran 10 times in the last 9 weeks (with 2 of those being aborted with pain) and my weight is a little over a stone heavier than it was in mid October.
That’s left me bouncing between two extremes of outlook.
If I’m feeling positive I compare myself to this time last year. I’m nearly 2 stones lighter than I was then, have ran slightly more in the last few weeks than I did in the corresponding weeks last year and I’ve ran better as a whole during the year. Even the cautious and flabby 4 miles I did yesterday (after 20 days off) was at a comparable pace to tempo runs at the start of the year, and it’s left me without any great increase in pain.
On the other hand, if I’m feeling negative then I compare myself with where I was on target for reaching by now, only a couple of months ago: I’d expected to be some 22lbs lighter than now and have a solid base of 30 miles a week running since May to set me up for training for a 3:30 in Paris.
I’m hopeful that whilst I can’t expect to do any races, hills, speedwork or long slow runs for the foreseeable future (and that injury resolution could be several months away) I should be able to do 3 or even 4 short easy paced runs a week if I wear the support shorts. If I can that might just be enough to help get rid of a little weight in the new year.
At present I’m hoping to drop a couple of pounds before Christmas, easily rediscover them during a week of festive gorging and then do as I did this year and hit the new year with a bang.
Realistically Paris isn’t going to happen for me next year but there’s an outside chance I might make a May marathon or, more likely, an autumn one.
Tuesday, 24 November 2009
Oh bugger
The whole groin/lower abdominal area felt ok yesterday even with day 2 of my new stretching routine and I managed to get a same day appointment at the physio, pleased to be able to get treatment underway immediately.
The news though wasn't too good. Looks like a psoas injury should have responded to stretching and also to rest and as this has been around for 3 months the physio suspects something else is the culprit.
She did a series of tests, most of which caused no pain whatsoever, and asked some questions about when and where pain kicks in. Net result is that she can't be certain what it is but suspects a condition called 'Gilmore's Groin', and has given me a letter to take to the doctors later this week asking that I'm referred to a specialist. If her suspiscions are confirmed I'd need surgery followed by 6 weeks rehabilitation before running properly again.
On the basis that it could take 6/7 weeks before I see the specialist and another couple of months after that before an operation she's given me a series of resistance band strengthening exercises to do in the meantime. If she's wrong then they may help treatment and if she's right they'll help strengthen things ahead of the op.
If its surgery Paris is definitely out. If its not then hopefully the exercises and stretching will help resolve things ahead of training but starting training itself will be a severe test.
Oh, well. Who said these things were meant to be easy?
The news though wasn't too good. Looks like a psoas injury should have responded to stretching and also to rest and as this has been around for 3 months the physio suspects something else is the culprit.
She did a series of tests, most of which caused no pain whatsoever, and asked some questions about when and where pain kicks in. Net result is that she can't be certain what it is but suspects a condition called 'Gilmore's Groin', and has given me a letter to take to the doctors later this week asking that I'm referred to a specialist. If her suspiscions are confirmed I'd need surgery followed by 6 weeks rehabilitation before running properly again.
On the basis that it could take 6/7 weeks before I see the specialist and another couple of months after that before an operation she's given me a series of resistance band strengthening exercises to do in the meantime. If she's wrong then they may help treatment and if she's right they'll help strengthen things ahead of the op.
If its surgery Paris is definitely out. If its not then hopefully the exercises and stretching will help resolve things ahead of training but starting training itself will be a severe test.
Oh, well. Who said these things were meant to be easy?
Sunday, 22 November 2009
These DIY temporary fillings are good...
...its amazing how much you can eat with them :-s
Managed to get in at the dentists on Wednesday but they can't fix the tooth (which is painless) until 7th December. Oh well.
Another mixed week for me.
Didn't manage to get out on Monday or Tuesday but did manage to fit in a short run on Wednesday. A very short one. A very, very short one. The Ronnie Corbett of courses in fact.
I set off along the same route as I've been doing lately - along the river Aire - but the recent heavy rain meant the trail was very muddy and slippy and often hidden beneath long puddles. In itself that was fine but for much of it I was one slip from the fast flowing, swollen, debris filled river and whilst I'm not a bad swimmer I didn't fancy putting my skills to the test. That put me on edge a bit and even had my imagination going into overdrive when one 'lump' of debris looked to me like a bloated corpse. Nice.
What shortened the run though was that at just under 1.5 miles the trail and river merged where the latter had burst it's banks. It wasn't over by much - not much above ankle depth on the trail - but I knew that even if I picked my way through that the path further ahead would probably be worse as its virtually at river level already. I turned and headed back to the car.
No run on Thursday - work again - but I did get out in the torrential rain on Friday. That was an opportunity to test my new Gore Running jacket - it passed. I took a cross country route across fields to the canal, along the canal for half a mile or so then a mile and a half through the woods before heading for home. About 5 and a half miles and (I counted) 24 stiles and/or fences and lots, and lots of mud.
Yesterday I decided to try a long slow one so did a little over 12 miles along the canal from the edge of Leeds to Shipley. Like the week, it was mixed. I'm pleased I did it and pleased that the pace was as quick as many of the shorter runs of recent weeks but the downside was that I started getting groin pain from before 2 miles. This got imperceptibly stronger until about 9 and a half when it then became really difficult just to keep my left leg lifting and moving.
That's a worry as I've had quite alot of disruption of late and I'm only 4 weeks from marathon training kicking in. Didn't seem too bad through the day yesterday but this morning, as I waited to carry out my marshaling and t-shirt distribution duties at the Leeds Abbey Dash, it was horrendous. I've kept 800mg of ibuprofen on the go since and done quite a long stretching session this afternoon.
Will get off to the physio asap this week and book a few sessions. Really want this right before the mileage and LSRs go up dramatically.
Oh, and I'm toying with the idea of doing Windermere marathon 5 weeks after Paris...
Managed to get in at the dentists on Wednesday but they can't fix the tooth (which is painless) until 7th December. Oh well.
Another mixed week for me.
Didn't manage to get out on Monday or Tuesday but did manage to fit in a short run on Wednesday. A very short one. A very, very short one. The Ronnie Corbett of courses in fact.
I set off along the same route as I've been doing lately - along the river Aire - but the recent heavy rain meant the trail was very muddy and slippy and often hidden beneath long puddles. In itself that was fine but for much of it I was one slip from the fast flowing, swollen, debris filled river and whilst I'm not a bad swimmer I didn't fancy putting my skills to the test. That put me on edge a bit and even had my imagination going into overdrive when one 'lump' of debris looked to me like a bloated corpse. Nice.
What shortened the run though was that at just under 1.5 miles the trail and river merged where the latter had burst it's banks. It wasn't over by much - not much above ankle depth on the trail - but I knew that even if I picked my way through that the path further ahead would probably be worse as its virtually at river level already. I turned and headed back to the car.
No run on Thursday - work again - but I did get out in the torrential rain on Friday. That was an opportunity to test my new Gore Running jacket - it passed. I took a cross country route across fields to the canal, along the canal for half a mile or so then a mile and a half through the woods before heading for home. About 5 and a half miles and (I counted) 24 stiles and/or fences and lots, and lots of mud.
Yesterday I decided to try a long slow one so did a little over 12 miles along the canal from the edge of Leeds to Shipley. Like the week, it was mixed. I'm pleased I did it and pleased that the pace was as quick as many of the shorter runs of recent weeks but the downside was that I started getting groin pain from before 2 miles. This got imperceptibly stronger until about 9 and a half when it then became really difficult just to keep my left leg lifting and moving.
That's a worry as I've had quite alot of disruption of late and I'm only 4 weeks from marathon training kicking in. Didn't seem too bad through the day yesterday but this morning, as I waited to carry out my marshaling and t-shirt distribution duties at the Leeds Abbey Dash, it was horrendous. I've kept 800mg of ibuprofen on the go since and done quite a long stretching session this afternoon.
Will get off to the physio asap this week and book a few sessions. Really want this right before the mileage and LSRs go up dramatically.
Oh, and I'm toying with the idea of doing Windermere marathon 5 weeks after Paris...
Monday, 16 November 2009
Minor trials & tribulations
Its funny how just as you feel you're back in control life can throw some unexpected obstacles in your direction.
Things were going well last week. By Friday morning I'd had a good week dieting and the heavy, morale boosting weight loss of the first week was very much in evidence. After a rest day I was due to run again too.
Then along comes obstacle number one. My youngest daughter was absolutely full of cold, hadn't slept well at all and had a slight temperature so wasn't fit for school. That meant she was home with me all day so no opportunity to nip out for a run during my lunch break. Not to worry though - I could simply run Saturday & Sunday instead.
Time for obstacle number two. Late morning there is a knock at the door and there's a lad selling dish cloths, fridge fresheners and the like. Thanks but no thanks. Then as I run back upstairs I somehow catch my little toe on a door frame. As I do so there's an audible 'snap' and I fear the worst, but as I brace myself for a wave of pain I actually find it doesn't seem too bad. Within minutes though it doesn't look good as the toe swells to be 50% bigger than it's neighbour. It throbs the rest of the day and Friday night and its difficult to walk on. Still swollen and now largely blue, I cancel Saturday's run and don't feel too optimistic for Sunday either.
Saturday dinner and time for obstacle 3 to join the party, as a tooth breaks. That's slightly painful and certainly irritating but a trip to the chemists for some temporary filling mixture limits the damage.
Trouble is I haven't run as planned and, feeling sorry for myself, the dieting stops and is replaced by binging of sorts. Fortunately the tooth precludes sweets but an enormous chocolate cake made for the youngest's birthday party on Saturday (that was cancelled due to her illness) provides a capable stand in.
By Sunday morning the swelling has largely gone and, contrary to expectations, I manage a run. Along the muddy bank of the river Aire and back. Slightly slower than last time but with an occasionally painful toe, lots of slipping and sliding and a wait for a family of runners to pass at one point means that's none too surprising. Positively, at least I'm running again and, passing wait aside, its done none stop.
The chocolate cake hasn't completely gone though - a situation I remedy by early evening. Meaning its turned into a mixed weekend. It wasn't the virtuous, lean, athletic break I'd envisaged but then neither had it turned into the complete disaster that looked on the cards by Saturday morning.
Once again, I'm back on the dieting 'horse' today, and a few days of discipline and the weekend's excesses will be just an insignificant blip.
Things were going well last week. By Friday morning I'd had a good week dieting and the heavy, morale boosting weight loss of the first week was very much in evidence. After a rest day I was due to run again too.
Then along comes obstacle number one. My youngest daughter was absolutely full of cold, hadn't slept well at all and had a slight temperature so wasn't fit for school. That meant she was home with me all day so no opportunity to nip out for a run during my lunch break. Not to worry though - I could simply run Saturday & Sunday instead.
Time for obstacle number two. Late morning there is a knock at the door and there's a lad selling dish cloths, fridge fresheners and the like. Thanks but no thanks. Then as I run back upstairs I somehow catch my little toe on a door frame. As I do so there's an audible 'snap' and I fear the worst, but as I brace myself for a wave of pain I actually find it doesn't seem too bad. Within minutes though it doesn't look good as the toe swells to be 50% bigger than it's neighbour. It throbs the rest of the day and Friday night and its difficult to walk on. Still swollen and now largely blue, I cancel Saturday's run and don't feel too optimistic for Sunday either.
Saturday dinner and time for obstacle 3 to join the party, as a tooth breaks. That's slightly painful and certainly irritating but a trip to the chemists for some temporary filling mixture limits the damage.
Trouble is I haven't run as planned and, feeling sorry for myself, the dieting stops and is replaced by binging of sorts. Fortunately the tooth precludes sweets but an enormous chocolate cake made for the youngest's birthday party on Saturday (that was cancelled due to her illness) provides a capable stand in.
By Sunday morning the swelling has largely gone and, contrary to expectations, I manage a run. Along the muddy bank of the river Aire and back. Slightly slower than last time but with an occasionally painful toe, lots of slipping and sliding and a wait for a family of runners to pass at one point means that's none too surprising. Positively, at least I'm running again and, passing wait aside, its done none stop.
The chocolate cake hasn't completely gone though - a situation I remedy by early evening. Meaning its turned into a mixed weekend. It wasn't the virtuous, lean, athletic break I'd envisaged but then neither had it turned into the complete disaster that looked on the cards by Saturday morning.
Once again, I'm back on the dieting 'horse' today, and a few days of discipline and the weekend's excesses will be just an insignificant blip.
Friday, 13 November 2009
Back on track
So far this week I really have been back on track.
I've logged everything on www.weightlossresources.co.uk and kept comfortably under the target for the week to date.
I've also started running again but its amazing how quickly your fitness goes.
I ran Monday, along the canal to Apperley Bridge and then up onto the road to Woodhouse Grove school and around the fields onto the riverside path back to Rodley: 4.85 miles.
Its a nice route along the river: peaceful, scenic, muddy and quieter than the canal towpath. I did the same route on Wednesday and on neither day did I see another soul along the river. Maybe its the mud that puts people off or maybe they just don't know its there but in certain stretches you feel like you're in the dales rather than between two large industrial cities.
On Monday I stopped twice during the run and felt worn out despite a very modest pace. I was also extremely sore afterwards in the psoas to the point where I struggled to walk the kids back home from school that afternoon. That was worrying as I'd hoped 2 weeks of rest might have cured it.
Wednesday was better. Hardly any quicker but only one stop and it felt slightly easier. Most pleasingly there was no real psoas pain during or after. I'm hoping I can stretch my way through that now.
Marathon training starts in five and a half weeks. If I can finish this week on about 20 miles, then nearer 25 next, then carry on into the upper 20s for the remaining 3 weeks but do that fairly pain free that'll be the best I can hope for.
Neither that nor the likely weight at the start of training will be what I'd planned for but the weight wont be too far out the running won't be too bad as long as the psoas is settled enough to allow a big ramp up in frequency and mileage once training begins.
I guess that all remains to be seen.
I've logged everything on www.weightlossresources.co.uk and kept comfortably under the target for the week to date.
I've also started running again but its amazing how quickly your fitness goes.
I ran Monday, along the canal to Apperley Bridge and then up onto the road to Woodhouse Grove school and around the fields onto the riverside path back to Rodley: 4.85 miles.
Its a nice route along the river: peaceful, scenic, muddy and quieter than the canal towpath. I did the same route on Wednesday and on neither day did I see another soul along the river. Maybe its the mud that puts people off or maybe they just don't know its there but in certain stretches you feel like you're in the dales rather than between two large industrial cities.
On Monday I stopped twice during the run and felt worn out despite a very modest pace. I was also extremely sore afterwards in the psoas to the point where I struggled to walk the kids back home from school that afternoon. That was worrying as I'd hoped 2 weeks of rest might have cured it.
Wednesday was better. Hardly any quicker but only one stop and it felt slightly easier. Most pleasingly there was no real psoas pain during or after. I'm hoping I can stretch my way through that now.
Marathon training starts in five and a half weeks. If I can finish this week on about 20 miles, then nearer 25 next, then carry on into the upper 20s for the remaining 3 weeks but do that fairly pain free that'll be the best I can hope for.
Neither that nor the likely weight at the start of training will be what I'd planned for but the weight wont be too far out the running won't be too bad as long as the psoas is settled enough to allow a big ramp up in frequency and mileage once training begins.
I guess that all remains to be seen.
The downward spiral continues
My newly invigorated commitment at the end of the last post didn't quite live up to it's billing. It lasted a day and a half.
For the first couple of days of that week I managed to half heartedly stick to the diet and on the Wednesday I forced myself out for a run. Instead of going to the canal I ran from home which meant a long downhill followed by a long uphill back again. The route I took lasted only 3.45 miles and I found it slow and very hard work, even on the downhill. That knocked me a bit and I found solace in more fatty, sugary, sweet foods for the remainder of the week - and no more runs.
The Saturday was the first of 10 days off for me and we headed down to Northamptonshire to see the in laws. That meant having dinner at a local pub (where I had the enjoyable but uncharacteristic choice of a mixed grill followed by treacle sponge pudding) and then an enormous Chinese buffet cum banquet for Sunday dinner.
I did run on the Sunday morning, along the Grand Union Canal from Foxton Locks near Market Harborough. It was a good run even though the towpath was nowhere near as good as that near Leeds. It totalled 15.1 miles - the longest since Paris - but I found it very hard work after the 11 miles point, underlining my feeling that its stamina I'm lacking.
You'd think that would have energised me for the week ahead with its opportunity to run wherever I wanted each day and cook some healthy meals, but it didn't. Instead I spent the week pretty much indoors, cooking meals each day, cooking other meals for the freezer ahead of Christmas, and having lots and lots of sweets along with ensuring Sue made a pudding most days.
I can't point to a single reason for that but I suspect its a combination of factors:
- The time of year made both of us crave 'hearty' foods. The clocks had changed and there was a definite feel of winter being on the way.
- I had the vicious circle of not running because I felt bloated and sluggish then over eating because I didn't have the discipline of running...
- I turned 40 on the final day of my holiday and, daft though it seems, I felt pretty down about it in the lead up and on the day.
- Job insecurity and reduced pay lead to money worries and I guess I comfort ate in response.
That meant that by the 3rd November, the second day in my forties :-( , my weight had leapt further to 12st 7.2lb. That's a stone heavier than I'd been less than 4 weeks earlier.
That was depressing - to have been so close to goal and then so far away again - and that led to a week where I didn't quite stick to plan but I did cut back on my 'bad eating' and had a couple of day's genuine dieting. I still didn't run though. That all led to a modest loss of 0.6lb in the week. Not quite the heavy early loss I'd wanted but enough to break the cycle of weight gain.
For the first couple of days of that week I managed to half heartedly stick to the diet and on the Wednesday I forced myself out for a run. Instead of going to the canal I ran from home which meant a long downhill followed by a long uphill back again. The route I took lasted only 3.45 miles and I found it slow and very hard work, even on the downhill. That knocked me a bit and I found solace in more fatty, sugary, sweet foods for the remainder of the week - and no more runs.
The Saturday was the first of 10 days off for me and we headed down to Northamptonshire to see the in laws. That meant having dinner at a local pub (where I had the enjoyable but uncharacteristic choice of a mixed grill followed by treacle sponge pudding) and then an enormous Chinese buffet cum banquet for Sunday dinner.
I did run on the Sunday morning, along the Grand Union Canal from Foxton Locks near Market Harborough. It was a good run even though the towpath was nowhere near as good as that near Leeds. It totalled 15.1 miles - the longest since Paris - but I found it very hard work after the 11 miles point, underlining my feeling that its stamina I'm lacking.
You'd think that would have energised me for the week ahead with its opportunity to run wherever I wanted each day and cook some healthy meals, but it didn't. Instead I spent the week pretty much indoors, cooking meals each day, cooking other meals for the freezer ahead of Christmas, and having lots and lots of sweets along with ensuring Sue made a pudding most days.
I can't point to a single reason for that but I suspect its a combination of factors:
- The time of year made both of us crave 'hearty' foods. The clocks had changed and there was a definite feel of winter being on the way.
- I had the vicious circle of not running because I felt bloated and sluggish then over eating because I didn't have the discipline of running...
- I turned 40 on the final day of my holiday and, daft though it seems, I felt pretty down about it in the lead up and on the day.
- Job insecurity and reduced pay lead to money worries and I guess I comfort ate in response.
That meant that by the 3rd November, the second day in my forties :-( , my weight had leapt further to 12st 7.2lb. That's a stone heavier than I'd been less than 4 weeks earlier.
That was depressing - to have been so close to goal and then so far away again - and that led to a week where I didn't quite stick to plan but I did cut back on my 'bad eating' and had a couple of day's genuine dieting. I still didn't run though. That all led to a modest loss of 0.6lb in the week. Not quite the heavy early loss I'd wanted but enough to break the cycle of weight gain.
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