Sprained ankle

On Wednesday I sprained my ankle,it swelled up plus the bruising came out straight away,so I haven't been able to run since Wednesday which is very disappointing because everything was coming good,

Tomorrow (Sunday) I'm gonna go for a sort easy run just to see how my ankle is.

One week on.....

I have been in  Ebbw Vale for a week and have settled back in quite well, Miles the Cat has also done well in his new enviroment however my mother's cat doesn't seem to like sharing but she is more than happy to eat his food when he isn't around.

The house is officially sold tomorrow then George can make his way from London to be with me and Miles.

I seem to be getting used to the hills, don't have much choice as there isn't alot of flat areas around here, this evening I did a 3 miler which is a route I did last week, I actually found better,my breathing wasn't as heavy and I felt more comfortable...may be I am getting fitter as I shed 20 seconds of this run.

Tomorrow is a rest day,then I will do a few more runs this week plus will start to build up the miles from next week.

The big move and hill running.

So much has happened over the last few weeks, we finally sold our house so it was all systems go to get moving. Wednesday of this week i travelled to Wales with Miles the Cat and left hubby to tie up any lose ends back in london. The move went well and Miles has so far settled in really well,he hasn't yet however had a poo I'm putting that down to him being a little stressed/change of scenery plus I cannot let him out so may be he's not moving around enough as he was an outdoor cat. I know that when he eventually go's it's going to be a big one !

On Thursday I went for a run around my new local area...omg, it was a tough run and so very hilly. I didn't realise how much fitness I had lost until that run. Over the next month or so I will improve and get fitter...fact !!

Slowly doe's it.

Since my last blog I have increased my mileage slowly with my longest run being 5.6 miles. After each run I have stretched my achilles thoroughly and ensured I have stretched it through out the day, the swelling has gone down.
This week I will have done 15 miles once I complete a 4.5 miler tomorrow. Next week I will be adding a few more miles, which will mean a 4th run day will be added.

Will report back next week with the outcome.......

Achilles problems

After my previous blog my achilles flared up and was advised by a physio not to run for at least 2 weeks,stretch,ice, blah blah.
Last week I was a bit naughty and came back running after only one week off (tut tut !!) the achilles was feeling much better. I made a plan of doing 3 x 30 minute runs (Mon,Weds,Friday) with a cycle ride as cross training, this plan went well and without any achilles issues, after every run I stretched well and also iced the area I have also placed heel raises in my running shoes which seem to have helped . Today I was so tempted to go for a run but thought better of it as I knew that it could be the run that flared up the achilles.

The plan for next week is to do 4 x 40 minute runs plus a cycle or two. So lets see what happens, tbh I can't wait to get some long runs done.

5k after 3 days off...

After 3 days of no running due to my achilles being sore I was itching to get back out there this morning. I put on a new pair of shoes, Adidas Sequence as I believe my 2160's gave me the achilles problem. I only planned being out a short time as I didn't want to aggrivate the achilles.

I set off at a good pace around my local area but made sure I was aware of any issues around my heel area. I got back home with 5k under my belt and was very pleased with the result....25mins 25 secs.

Once home I did plenty of stretching, ate and then went shopping.......

Dodgy achilles...

Since my last entry in August training has been going really well,I have slowly been increasing the miles covering 22 miles in one week so was really pleased. I noticed though that my shins were sore, this is always a sure sign that my adidas Salvations were flat. I had a pair of Asics 2160's that were given to me by the Asics rep so gave them a go, did a few runs in them and all was good except I did find that my ankles were becoming increasingly sore,plus over the last week my achilles was getting very tight.

Working in the running industry I know the tell tale signs of achilles injurys. I have crossed of the list : too much too soon,speed and hill work, the only thing I can think of is a change of shoes.

Over the last 2 days I have stretched my calves and worn compression socks,put heel raises in my running shoes and not trained. Today Friday, my achilles feels a lot better, however I will not return to running until Sunday, with new shoes.

Feeling the love again.

I have my running legs back...yayyy !! I still don't have the fitness that I long for or the long runs that I really loved before my meltdown but I am confident that both will return soon.

I have been consistantly running 5 days a week and enjoying the feeling of being out there. This week I will start to increase the weekly mileage by doing one long run a week and will see how I go from there, I may even do a local Parkrun.

The last few months in one blog !

Since my crap effort at VLM training has been terrible I think my poor performance dented my confidence plus I may have burnt myself out.
After a few weeks rest I decided to run a 5k time trial that ended well and happy with my 23.07 finish however my left hip was grumbling the next day and over the next few weeks became a niggle that needed to be stretched constantly...damn !!

So as way of keeping fit and not fat (have still got fat !!) I have been cycling. I have enjoyed it and 3 weeks ago entered my first cycle event London - Southend which was 52 miles. I have been cycling to and from work (18 miles round trip) around 5 days a week.

Yesterday I completed the above event.It was a true experiance and I even managed to do it in under the 4 hrs that I and others had predicted......52 undulating miles in 3 hours 21 minutes. I'm very pleased with my performance, my legs were sore afterwards and during the evening, soa night in my trusted compression tights did the trick and I awoke with nice fresh legs.

Tomorrow I start running again...because I want to and not because I have to.

Post VLM run....

This morning I went out for a 3 mile post marathon run. Legs felt good just slight tightness in left hip, other than that I felt good,so over the next few weeks/months, my plan is to do more speed work,maybe a few parkruns and build up the mileage again and looking at The North Downs 30k in June.

I have now put VLM behind me and I'm just going to look at my medal and feel proud 

The new job is going great, mind you I'm only 3 days into it,the lads I'm working with are really nice and I seem to have settled in well.The commute there is a bit of a 'mare having to take the Central Line in freeking rush hour....and with so many people crammed on the train its also very hot.So next week I will either run to or from work or cycle,either way I won't use the Underground everyday.

My VLM Nightmare....

Got up at 05.45 had my last bowl of porridge and then faffed about checking my kit bag etc. Headed out the door at 07.00 walked to the 15 minutes to the station, normally I'd get the bus but decided I needed to walk and just think about what was going to happen today.

Got to Stratford Station jumped on the Jubilee Line and headed towards London Bridge to get a connection to Blackheath..result only had to wait 10 minutes but by the time train came in the platform was chocka , got on the train by the time we got to Blackheath Station the smell of sweat and deep heat was very over powering.

We headed towards Blackheath up the hill then onto the Heath...so many people.I headed into the blue start got my bearings and headed to the toilet queue, which wasn't too bad I then got changed and headed to the toilet queue again ! 

By now it was 09.30 so I thought I should go to my start pen (3) OMG it was packed and very warm. The race starts but the first few miles seemed very very congested and it seemed to be very warm. I picked up water at the first water station took a few sips and dumped the bottle.By the time I got to 8 miles I started to feel very uncomfortable and was sweating loads,plus my left hamstring was starting to feel very tight,by 10 miles my ham had cramped up and I need to stop at medical for ice pack and massage,I told the guy I felt pretty sick, he told me I was probably getting dehydrated and that I should take more fluids on board
I went on my way,the ham feeling less tight. 

At 12 miles I thought I was going to be sick,maybe a combination of the gels and dehydration,luckily it passed, at 15 miles I felt awful and I could feel the right calf starting to cramp up,by 18 miles I needed medical help again, so a massage on the calf which hurt like hell !! I took a glance at the Garmin and found I was way off my pace so decided to carry on and run to finish.
As I hobbled along another runner started chatting to me, it turns out we had been passing each other from about Mile 8,it also turns out she's a Fetchie, and can't for the life of me remember her Fetch name,so if your reading this I hope you finished safe. I left her at about 19.5 miles by the time I got to 20 miles I was in so much pain that I actually cried  I hobbled past Fetch Point ( I really need to get a Fetch vest ) and dug very deep to ensure I made it to the finish.

At Mile 24 I managed to see some friends who we on the bridge at Lower Thames Street that really cheered me up as I was suffering really bad by now.

Big Ben was a welcome sight and turning into Bird Cage walk I saw the 800 metres, then 600 metres and 385 yards OMG nearly there, and with my arms in the air I crossed the finish line....in 4 hours 33 minutes a personal worst my target was sub 3.45

I have gone over in my head why it went so wrong for me. Why was I so dehydrated when i took fluids on at almost every water and Lucozade station in fact I think I only missed 2 out. I also went through every shower to cool me down.

I used 4 gels plus sport beans so I know I didn't run out of fuel.


I am now the proud owner of a VLM medal and I'm thankful that I was able to finish when I saw so many runners worse off than me.

The day before the Marathon.

Not a lot planned for today,just a haircut and some food shopping then putting my feet up and watch a few Dvd's and of cousre carb loading.
My race kit and race bag is now done.I have checked the train timetables and as long as London Underground provide a good service everything will be fine.
Going to have my last pasta meal tonight and then early to bed.......

2 Sleeps....

As the title says,only 2 sleeps to go until the Big Day.

I'm starting to get a little panicky as I always do before a Marathon with the usual thoughts of, have I done enough training, have I forgotten anything.
This morning I put my name on my t shirt which was a bit of a faff and decided that with the extra packet of left over's I would put my niece's name on the back of the t shirt. So on the front I have Sharon and on the back I have Teagan's Aunt.

I'm now off to make my dinner of Tuna Pasta Bake.....

Last run

I have been training for the Virgin London Marathon since January 1st of this year, so the 3 months of training,hard training is now complete as today I ran my final run of 4 miles before Sunday's race covering 26.2 miles.

This is not my first marathon, actually it will be my 5th however, mentally it has been the hardest and I have no idea why that is,maybe I need a greater challenge, maybe to run further than 26.2 miles,the word Ultra comes to mind.

Over the next few days I will be stretching, foam rolling oh yeah and plenty of carb loading.