Rehab Progress

Apologies in advance for the lack of pictures to break up all this text.  I just need to bang it out this time.

Following on from my last post I have to say that I stand accused, by myself of still not having learned my lesson!

Counsel for my Defence

To a large extent I have followed the physiotherapist’s advice closely.  During the first 4 days, I iced the offending leg, did the exercises and stretches frequently and took ibuprofen as suggested.  After my second visit to the physio, I commenced the additional exercises and continued with the original ones.  I benefited from the application of kinsio taping and even remembered to do the pre-run stretch that is necessary when running while taped.

I think I’ve been 90% ‘good’.

So why am I sitting here looking at the Manchester Marathon website finding out how to transfer my number to another runner?

Counsel for my Prosecution

Clearly, it’s the other 10% that has buggered the job up.  I’m too impatient.  I’ve done too much, too soon.  Again.  And for goodness sake!  I’m fifty-one years old. I should know better!

I started well. In the first week running as suggested for 10-15 mins at a time on flat grass.  But even then, I was probably pushing my luck a bit.  I mean, guess which end of 10-15 minutes I ran for?  Yep, 15.  Those first few runs had bits of soreness, but were ok on balance.

So the next week I increased to 15-20 minutes as suggested.  Yeah, well, 20 minutes. Obviously.  Looking back at my notes – I had some twinges while running and pain the day after, but the day after that was fine.

In the third week I ran with Chris on Saturday afternoon and did 40 minutes, mostly on grass, partly on the road.  I was a bit sore with a few twinges of pain that I managed to run through.  After that, it was painful to walk the next day and I was a bit limpy, but that could be out of habit.  I ran with Sue, on the Monday (our 11^th Commandment run), planning to do 35 minutes, but stopping after 31 minutes.  That was at the height of my sensibleness! I could tell that I wasn't going to be able to run the pain off – it was too sharp and too similar to the pain I experienced at the beginning of all this when I had to abandon my long run.

Pain whilst walking followed on Tuesday and Wednesday and was a bit eased by Thursday so I decided to run one of our club routes.  I did a couple of laps of the field first (complying with the ‘don’t just run on the roads’ rule), then trotted steadily down to Nettleton (about a mile and a half) and Moortown road.  On the way back, Jayne told me I was limping. I was hurting, but was so elated that I could run and the pain wasn't enough to stop me, that I carried on. Then I ran another half lap of the field.  That run was 51 minutes.  It hurt.  I did my stretches.  It still hurt, but I was so pleased with running for that long that I seemed to override it.  I felt happy.  I even said, “if the level of pain stayed at that level and didn't get any worse, I could probably run 26 miles on it.”  That’s ridiculous!  This was a 4½ mile run.  Clearly, if I ran 26 miles, the pain would be unlikely to stay at that level!

Friday, I was in worse pain. It was difficult to walk. I’d been making a conscious effort not to limp (as advised by the physio) but now, I couldn't help it.  I did lots of icing and stretching (not in that order) and was keen to do parkrun on Saturday.  I wore multiple tutus for invincibility, some stripy leg-warmers (thanks Sarah) and a purple wig for comedy effect!  I knew I wouldn't be going at any kind of pace, so I thought I’d go more for fun.  The first lap hurt and I considered just stopping.  But I thought, "come on, get on with it. If you can’t run 5k, how are you going to run a marathon in 8 weeks time?!”  The second lap was on and off and the third was better, but I did walk a bit when it started to do that sharp pain.

I had even more pain just sitting in the car on the short ride to Wetherspoons.  Chris nipped to get me some ibuprofen and paracetamol which I swilled down with a pint of lager! 

Weighing up the Evidence

I was quite despondent at breakfast because there was now some pain in a part of my shin that wasn't affected before, as well as the regular pain I have been having!  Both Chris and Andrew mooted the idea to me that I might take the pressure off myself by deciding not to run Manchester Marathon.  Andrew said it was a bit like when he accidentally got on a run streak and even though he knew he was feeling rubbish on it, he found it very difficult to stop.  But ultimately, he said when he considered his long term goal of a sub 3 hour marathon, to be reached steadily over training this year he recognised that he had to drop one in order to do justice to the other.  It made sense, but I resisted of course. However, I was already considering a run-walk strategy or run as much as I can and see how it goes.

Throughout Saturday, in quite a lot of pain, I mulled it over and talked with Chris some more about it.  On Sunday, we went for a bike ride, to keep Andrew company on his long training run.  Cycling is not painful at all.  As soon as I was walking again, it started.  So I mulled it over some more.  Our Paul phoned and he was asking how the training was going and I told him I was thinking of bailing on Manchester.  He said, “There’ll be other marathons mum, but you won’t get another leg.”   Then I had an on-line chat with Sue on Sunday night, and mulled it over some more.

Emerging Clarity

Through talking it through and thinking about it, I came to realise that I was pursuing two goals that were conflicting:

1.       To follow the rehab plan and get my leg better;  this required building up my time running gradually and only increasing by a few minutes at a time and only IF it felt OK.  OK meaning ‘not painful’, rather than ‘painful but I’ll just call it sore or uncomfortable’.

2.       To get back on my training plan for Manchester and get out on some longer runs.  I was desperate to get to do a 16 miler – for me, it’s that nice distance just before the training starts to get a bit tough.   I needed to get to this and beyond and that would mean increasing mileage rapidly – by greater increments than if I hadn't been out with an injury.

As I write this now, it’s all very clear.  But it took quite a bit of pain to make me come to this point.  Over the last few weeks, I’ve laid in bed before I’ve nodded off and mentally asked my leg what it needs.  Just sort of meditated on the whole thing. If it could have answered, I reckon it would have said, “I need a bloody rest, you silly woman!”  And it has been saying that to me really, hasn't it?  By giving me jip every time I run!

The Verdict

I made the decision late last night to withdraw from Manchester.  Today, I already feel relieved.  Looking at my two conflicting goals, it’s very clear which I need to give priority to!  Number 2 isn't possible without number  1 and I don’t think number 1 can be rushed. 

I'm giving myself a complete week off running this week.  Because I can.  Because it’s not ‘wasting another precious week’s training.’  Because I feel that is what is needed.  I may even have next week off running too – I'm not sure.  But when I do start running, I am going to take my time. Not obsess about building up distance / time.  Focus on doing all the healing stuff and only add a few minutes on if it genuinely feels ok.   I'm seeing the physio again on Thursday and will check out with her that cycling is OK.  I can cycle with runners and use Chris’s turbo to maintain some fitness.  I'm still going with my alcohol abstention until 19^th April – I like to give the old liver a rest now and again.  I’ll also get to grips with healthier eating and lose the few pounds that have crept on.  I’ll have a phase of looking after myself and even though I'm a night owl, I  aim to get some earlier nights. In other words – focus on goal number one.

I think the decision has been knocking on my mental door for a while and I've put off making it because I thought I’d be upset, disappointed with myself, feel like a quitter / failure.  I actually don’t feel any of those.  I feel relieved now and a bit incredulous as to how I've kept up the hope of running Manchester for so long.  I'm sitting with my feet up right now and there’s a dull ache, which will worsen when I stand up.  Of course I needed to rest it.  I am finding it hard to find a sentence to finish this post. I know why. Procrastination.  It’s because I know that after I click ‘post’, I am popping onto facebook and ‘coming out’ about bailing on Manchester.  And that will make it very final.  And even as I typed that, my overriding feeling was, “and that’s OK.”  So, that’s ok.  

I have this postcard stuck up on the inside of one of my kitchen cupboards. I need to heed it rather than just read it!

North Lincolnshire Half Marathon – revisited

4^th May 2014

As usual, it is the eve of my next half marathon and I am only just writing about the last one

This was the half marathon that I nearly didn’t run.  I left it too late and when I went on line to enter, it was full and entry was closed.  My running buddy Sue, unbeknown to me had entered and was planning to surprise me on the day by turning up at the start-line.  When I told her I hadn't got a place, she contacted the organisers and transferred her number to me.  I was so grateful as I wanted to have a crack at sub 2 hours.  Sue insisted that there was nothing altruistic about her deed; she would be only a week back from Australia, still possibly jet-lagged, so was pleased to opt out.  She still volunteered to marshal!

I was slightly nervous in the day and couldn’t quite place why this should be so.  When I did the Blackpool Marathon, I could understand being nervous as a full marathon was an unknown quantity.  But I know I can run a half, so why be nervous?  Sue came up with a probable answer.  For one thing, it was only a month after I’d run a marathon and I’d been recovering from that, not done any long runs and my training plan hadn’t been up to my usual military precision standard!  For another thing, this was a re-run and not only did I want to beat my time from last year (2:23:36) but I wanted to do it sub 2 hours, which seemed a big deal.  Not surprisingly, once I realised why I was twitchy, I settled down.

It was a lovely enjoyable run.  I remembered to take it steady for the first mile and then listened to my gadget (I’m using the MapMyRun app) for my average pace after 2 miles.  I was slightly over the 9:09 minute miles that I would need to finish in under 2 hours, but I wasn’t worried as I know I could go a bit quicker once I warmed up.  I settled down into a nice plod, music playing loud in my ears so that I wouldn’t be able to hear how breathless I was, and took in the scenery. I also posed every time I saw a camera!

There was (as last year) a clock at the halfway point, which is very encouraging. At that point my time was 56 minutes, so I knew that even if I tired a bit and had to slow down slightly, I would still come in under 2 hours.  They were giving jelly babies out at that point too, so I grabbed 2 handfuls and got them down me.  I was using gels too – this was the first time I’d used gels in a half marathon.  I don’t particularly like them, but I practised using them when I was training for Blackpool and I found them so good in providing a bit more fuel that I decided to take a couple with me for the half.  I find that they give a boost and although it is fairly short lived, I seemed to catch and pass people in the minutes soon after taking a gel.

There were about 10 or 12 Caistor Running Club members doing the race, but I hardly saw them once we got doing as our paces are all so different, most of them quicker than me!  I did catch up with one, about 4 or 5 miles from the end and stayed with him for a couple of miles, but then he got a spurt on and finished about 5 minutes ahead of me – an amazing amount of time to gain in the last couple of miles.

I know that Sue’s marshal point was going to be somewhere along the home straight (about 3 miles of straight road), so I was slightly put out when I was about a mile from the finish and hadn’t seen her.  I figured there must have been a change of plan.  And then, just as I turned to go up onto the bridge over the motorway, I could hear her easily recognisable voice shouting encouragement to runners ahead of me.  When she saw me, smiles all round as she shouted, “come on Caistor”, then, “Frannaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.”  A quick high five and I shouted that I thought I was on for sub 2 hours.

It was then just about half or ¾ of a mile to go to the finish – into the Glanford Park Stadium (Scunthorpe United’s football ground).  I love this finish – a half lap round the outside of the football pitch, then down the middle to the finish line.  I managed to speed up slightly as I entered the ground, then really put a wiggle on to pass 3 people just before the finish.  And I did it.  1 hour,57 minutes, 17 seconds!  I couldn't have been more proud.  

Running pose with Sue - except she was marshalling so did a "pointing you in the right direction" pose instead!

This was my second half of the year and in both, I beat my previous time.  That’s good enough, but cracking the 2 hour mark felt fantastic.

Caistor Running Club Team Photo after the race.

So, what’s next?  The Humber Bridge half.  My goal for that one?  Well, a very experienced runner at the club has suggested we should always have 3 times in mind.  One – the time we think we can do, Two – the time we’d like to do.  Three – a ‘dream’ time.  So here we go:

The time I think I can do – beat last year’s time of  02:09:38

The time I’d like to do – sub 2 hours

The dream time – a PB, which would mean finishing quicker than I did at North Lincs, 01:57:17

Getting a sub 2 hours, let alone a personal best on a course as challenging as the Humber Bridge Half, is a tall order.  Seriously as long as I beat last year’s time, I’ll be happy.  But it’s nice to have those other two goals in mind too.

Blackpool Marathon – 6th April 2014

My journey of 26.2 miles

Preparation

After 18 weeks of training, trying out refuelling and rehydrating strategies and practising holding my bladder on longer runs, Chris and I finally set off for Blackpool the day before the race.  I had been giddy for a month and during the two week tapering phase I was buzzing and bouncing off the walls and struggling to concentrate on anything other than getting out there and getting on with it.

We had a nice peaceful evening only wandering as far as the nearest pub for my final carb-loading meal of the day.  I should say ‘meals’, because I ordered a pasta dish, which was very nice, but didn't fill me.  I got Chris to order me a Jacket potato, and then felt the need to explain why I was having 2 dinners to the guy who brought the food!  

Back at the hotel, I carried on hydrating,  put my name on the back and front of my vest, got the rest of my kit ready, lined up my breakfast for the morning and had a very early night.

Unexpected Nerves

In the morning, we left the hotel as late as possbile so that I could do the 18 toilet visits! On the way down to Race HQ, which was only a ten minute walk from our hotel, I was afflicted with a sudden bout of nerves.  This is not like me at all. I’m normally excited, and it was the same today, but accompanied by nervousness and some doubt.  I remembered my last long training run, which was a real struggle; I wondered if I’d eaten enough; I worried about whether I’d go the wrong way when the half-marathoners peeled off to the finish line and I needed to go round again. Chris was brilliant.  He’s been listening to me building up to this for months, and when the nerves hit, he had all the right things to say to me and repeated back all the advice I've received from Caistor Running Club, reminded me how hard I've trained, how I've been really careful about diet and that I'm in the best possible shape to complete this.  As I took my place with everyone behind the start line, I felt much better and eager to go.

There was a marathon and a half marathon starting at the same time. The marathon was two laps of the half-marathon course . There were about 2000 entrants altogether, mostly doing the half. Less than 400 did the full marathon.

At the start - so innocent and excited!

Start like the tortoise.

 I was careful to set off really steady, because it's too easy to get carried along with the crowd and then struggle later. I didn't even put any music on for the first few miles. I just took in my surroundings and chatted to other runners. After 3 miles I shifted to what Sue and I call 'my plod' ...a pace I feel I can sustain for a long time and still talk. I felt relaxed and happy. I had a band round my wrist with names of family and friends written next to each mile. This was a tip given to me by my sports massage therapist to help me through the miles. I thought about each person as I entered their mile and it really helped to keep me going.

Mile 8 is where I was really settled in to a lovely pace...this always happens at about 6, 7 or 8 miles...I get my robot legs on! I had one earphone in with good bouncy tracks that would keep me trotting along at a nice steady pace and nothing that would make me rush and tire early: Madness, Status Quo,  It’s All gone Pete Tong Soundtrack, The Jam, Daft Punk and some tracks from “101 running songs”..  I only used one earphone because I wanted to chat with other people and hear their stories. 

This was somewhere between mile 6 and 7 .... I'm just getting nicely into my 'plod'

Wearing a sign on my back saying “Fran – 1^st Marathon”, meant that I got a lot of encouragement from more experienced runners and many shared the story of their first marathon.   It was also gratifying that on 2 occasions, I chatted to people who had done lots of marathons, who said to me, "ok, I’ll let you crack on; you're going a bit quicker than I want to go!"  Little things like that helped psychologically. 

Bye bye half marathoners.

As I approached the halfway point, there were plenty of marshals shouting, “race split ahead”, and there was clear signing as to which way half and full marathoners should go.  I was in quite a big group of people at that point and when it came to the split, they all peeled off right to head for the finish line, and I was suddenly in loads of space, on my own, and it started raining, which at that point was refreshing.  A quick check round revealed the nearest person in front of me was about 100 yards ahead.  I hardly dare look behind because if I was last, I didn't want to know about it!  I eventually braved it and took a peek.  I was encouraged to see plenty of people behind me.

Something for those who like synchronicity:   my play list was on shuffle. As I finished mile 13 and started my second lap, the track playing was Daft Punk's One More Time. It made me smile some more.  Shortly after that, I was hearing Daft Punk again “Harder, Better, Faster, Stonger”, which made me think of how hard I’ve worked to become better, stronger, and faster at running.

The beginning of the second half was very strange.  I’d gone from having lots of people to chat to, to a much more sparse field with only brief opportunities to talk to others when anyone caught up with me or when I caught up with someone else.

A slight disappointment had been not seeing Chris at the half-way point.  Whenever I’ve run half marathons, I’ve saved a draft text to send Chris a mile from the end (so I only have to touch one button to send it).  I’d done the same to tell him I’d reached the half way point, but the signal was really poor and by the time the text sent, it was too late.  By mile 15 I’d managed to send a quick text saying “missed you. Crap signal” which gave him  time to regroup and find another point that he’d see me.

Here’s my favourite photo (left) .... around mile 14 to 15 – the official photographer caught me just as I was putting my phone away.  I was soaked to the skin, but running comfortably and feeling really happy.  I ran down past the Blackpool Tower, The Pleasure Beach and more pubs than you could shake a stick at, then it was a u-turn at the Golden Mile (for the second time) and pass the photographer again on the way back.  By then, I was so wet that my name on paper on my front and back were disintegrating!

I faired really well up to about 19 miles....Chris got a photo at that point and I'm smiling and sort of half running, half bopping (Status Quo, The Wanderer playing through my ear phones – both in at that point, because there was rarely anyone to talk to by now, so spread out were we) and I don’t

Mile 19 and feeling in good shape.

remember, but apparently I shouted out "I'm feeling good". I know I felt on quite a high at that point, despite being aware that the ‘ex-bad foot’ was giving me some pain and I had a sore left toe.  I had tubi-grip support around my wrist as it’s a convenient way to carry gels. I considered stopping and putting it on my ankle, but decided against it.  For one thing, I’d lose momentum and for another, I was worried a marshal might say I had to pull out if I looked injured!

Mile 20 was good, and was my fastest mile of the race.  It stopped raining for a while and Sue's name was on my wrist band at mile 20 so her pep talk was ringing in my ears, “20 - that’s my birthday, and I’m a Leo, so you better bounce that mile like a Lion”. It helped that I had a back wind and there was a downward slope along the prom, so I was able to get a wiggle on and run a 9:04 minute mile – my average pace was 9:58.

To boldly go where no Fran has gone before

At finishing mile 21, my mind registered that this is the farthest I've ever run so it was new territory. But I remembered what Kath at Caistor Running Club said....when you're past mile 21, it’s just a normal evening club run distance to bang on the end, and you know you can do that. This took me through that mile ok.

At mile 22, I turned back along a very open part of the sea front into a really strong headwind.  It was also raining again. The rain earlier was quite pleasant, but with the wind, it was now quite cold. I'd run this windy stretch on the first lap and it wasn't too bad. But with fatigue setting in and the wind now stronger (not just my perception...confirmed by the race officials and commentary) it was pretty unpleasant.  Everyone I could see was struggling and we were just running really slowly with our heads down.  Now no one was speaking to each other, just exchanging sympathetic glances. From there to about 25 and a half miles I was thinking, "what the hell I'm doing?" (except my language was a little more colourful). I switched the music off because the wind was so loud I couldn’t hear a thing.  I just focused on the people on my wrist list (which I’d had to remove and carry in my hand as it was getting soggy) and the Alzheimer's Society, for whom I was fundraising*.  Chris asked me afterwards if at any point I thought I wouldn't finish. Absolutely not! Only death or an official pulling me out would have stopped me. I have to say, even when I was really slow in those last miles, I was still gradually passing people. Everyone else was cream-crackered too”

* My Just Giving Page for the Alzheimer’s Society will remain open until the 6^th July 2014.  If you are inspired to donate, please CLICK HERE.  Alternatively, you can text CRAZ51 £1 / £3 / £5 / £10 to 70070.  Only costs the amount you donate plus your normal cost of a text and you will get a text back asking you for a couple of details to enable gift aid, which turns every £1 into £1.25.

Finish like a hare

At 25 and a half miles, there's another u-turn to the top promenade. I hadn't run this bit in lap 1 because we continued straight on to the next lap. As I approached the U turn, it dawned on me that it was a flipping (substitute whatever word you think I actually used) steep slope up to the top prom. I was gutted and thinking, "you are kidding me." I thought it would finish me off. However, as I turned up the slope I realised that the rain had stopped and the wind had dried me out, and what's more, that the wind was behind me, pushing me up the slope.  

The red arrow points to me as I picked up speed; the green arrows point to the runners overtook! SmugFucker or what?

When I reached the top, I could see the finish line less than half a mile away. I have no idea how, but I picked up the pace, back to my normal plod. Now I could hear the commentary and see and hear the spectators cheering the finishers in. About 50 metres from the finish I just changed up another gear without even thinking about it and pulled a sprint finish out of the bag, overtaking 2 runners only about 10 metres before the finish!

At the finish, running my socks off!

Immediate elation mixed with exhaustion. I collected my free bottle of water, goodie bag and medal in zombie mode and then stood like a well behaved lost child waiting for Chris to come and find me, which he did, very promptly.  Runner’s brain was in full flight and I couldn’t string a sentence together for quite a while.  Luckily, Chris is used to this and can more or less grasp my meaning from odd words and fragments of sentences!  It really helps to have good solid support at the end of the race. He quickly handed me my hoody and jogging pants to put on to hold off the post-run chills and made sure I drank a good quantity of fluids straight away, and reminded me to stretch.

I completed in 4 hours 21 minutes 24 seconds, which was way beyond my expectations and a very respectable time for a first marathon. I am over the moon. It is the hardest thing I've done in my life (including giving birth), but SO gratifying. 

So that's my first marathon. :-)

Recovery - or - We run so that we can eat more cake! 

We went back to the hotel and I just wrapped myself in a big blanket, drank loads of water and made a few caffeine  (from energy gels) fuelled phone calls to family and friends. I couldn't even make myself get in the shower until 3 hours later!  
My best friends know me so well and had each given me something to be opened only after I completed the race.  Cake!  Fantastic!  One modelled on my own running shoes from Sue, the other featuring stars from Cheryl.  Caistor Running Club's official motto is "We Run for Fun", but the more popular unofficial motto is, "we run so that we can eat more cake!"

I eventually managed to drag myself into the shower so that we could go out to eat. At last, I could eat whatever I fancied and not prioritise running fuel.  So it was a dirty deep fried Wetherspoon's sharer platter, followed by chicken and ribs and chips!  After tea and 3 pints of lager  I'd had enough. I was asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow and didn't know a thing until 6.30 the next morning when I was woken by a flock of seagulls outside sounding like they were having a domestic dispute.

We spent the next day in Blackpool having a look around, and  there wasn't anywhere I didn't ache!  The walking around was very, very slow! We went to Wetherspoons for a pint and a cheap and cheerful lunch.  The only drawback was that the loos were down some stairs.  As I got onto the second step down, lowering myself gently and holding tightly to the banister, I heard a voice saying, “excuse me love”.  It was an elderly gentleman sitting at a table near the steps. “Go round there love, if you’re not too good on your feet,” he said, pointing to the disabled loo, on the same level!  OMG!  I’m not one to take advantage, and my first thought was, “no, I couldn't.” But that was quickly replaced by, “actually, yes, I am in pain and these steps are killing me.” So I thanked the gentleman and did what  I had to do!

Le Tower De Blackpool

Some members of CRC were running the Paris Marathon on the same day, so, as a nod to them, I obviously had to don a beret and onions and have my picture taken with the Faux-Eiffel Tower behind me.

Respect the Distance.

That’s what they say about 26.2 miles, isn't it, and they are right. Sometimes, 26.2 miles can seem a long way in a car, let alone running it.

But if you’re a runner, you can probably train to run a marathon.  In 2011, I could barely run 5k (3.1 miles) and now I've run a 26.2 miles.  It’s not easy.  The training and the distance itself is hard work.  But it is big and it is clever.  

Look after your nutrition, remember your warm ups and stretches, consider sports massage, get plenty of support and advice from more experienced runners and / or from your local running club.  Go for it.  

I've never felt more proud of a medal and I've never felt Smugger than this. 

Two More Halves

An Update Before the Big One!

The Isle of Axholme Half Marathon - 29th September 2013

This half marathon is a relatively flat course and is described as offering the opportunity for a PB.  I wasn't going to enter it because I was a bit hard up, having celebrated my 50th Birthday in style in August.  However, Chris kindly treated me to this one.

At the last minute, Sue also entered it to help her overcome the post-race slump following the Vitruvian triathlon.  I set myself a target of under 2:05 and sort of by default, because we were starting together, Sue had more or less the same target.

As we completed the first mile, I heard a chap, after checking his Garmin, say to his mate, "that's 8:57 ... that's about right."  I couldn't believe it because I didn't think we had set off that fast.  I smiled at Sue and she gave me a look that said, "I'm fucked if I can keep that up."  I also knew I couldn't sustain sub 9 minute miles for the whole race, but it felt good that we'd got quite a jump at that point.

Sue and I ran together for the first 3 or 4 miles and she kept saying, "jog on mate, go for it".  I kept trying to keep us together because I just think she can run the same as me.  In reality, she is much quicker than me over shorter distances (hence she leads our intervals training), but I can sustain a slightly faster plod than Sue over the longer distances.  But after 4 miles or so, a little gap had opened up between us and Sue told me afterwards that she deliberately kept out of my line of sight when I turned around, so that by the time I saw her, I'd know she wasn't going to keep my pace.

This is as I saw the finish line.

I enjoyed this race and pushed myself.  I felt I had to push hard to have any chance of finishing under 2:05.  The sun came out and although there was a strong wind, it was really hot.  I kept trying to dodge into some shade, but there was very little of it and towards the end it was quite a fight against the wind especially on a long gradual incline about a mile before the finish.  I had my gadget on (Map My Run), and knew that I was on track for my target, having stayed below 9:32 minute miles on all but 2 miles and had been quite a bit quicker on a couple of miles. I just kept saying to myself, "just keep tap tap tapping."

In the end, I finished in just over 2 hours ..... just 16 seconds over.  Sue said that she thought I must be going for sub-2 hours, but that never entered my head.  Sue finished about 5 minutes after me and we were both really pleased with our times.

Cue a pose in our SmugFuckers badges .....  I'll write about these another time.

Two Smug Fuckers at the end of The Isle of Axhome Half.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Sleaford Half Marathon 2014 - The Revenge

To appreciate why we called this "The Revenge", have a look at my blog about the Sleaford Half 2013, in which I didn't fare too well, and nor did Sue!

In some ways, I didn't want to enter this one, as the memory of last year was bad enough.  But a bigger part of me wanted to run every half this year that I ran last year so that I can track my improvement, like for like.  Also, there was something about wanting to lay the ghosts of last year to rest!  Obviously, if I was going to do it, Sue wasn't going to be let off the hook, so I bought her entry for her Christmas present. I know.  That's just cruel!  Sue got me these racing grannies for Christmas, so obviously they had to be personalised and ride on the dashboard of the car on the way to the race.

Our only aim really was to finish in better shape than last year and a bit quicker too.  Both goals were achieved.  It wasn't as cold as last year, but it was very windy.  There was one stretch, between mile 6 and 9, that was uphill, head wind and seemed to go on for ever!

Sue was aching all over and ended up with her obligatory blistered toes.  I just had pain in the 'ex-bad foot', which seems to give me a bit of hassle when I run anything more than about 10 miles.  But all in all, we were in far better shape than last year and crossed the finish line together in 02:14:02

We agreed after that - Sleaford. Done.  Let's never do it again. I love our Sleaford T Shirts though - so much nicer than last year.  Here we are afterwards, modelling them in the obligatory running pose.

Overcoming Setbacks

The best laid plans of mice and men...

 

I was 48 when I decided that I wanted to run a half marathon before my 50^th birthday.  I remember clearly the moment the seed was sewn.  Chris and I were in the Pie Pub (AKA the Yarborough Arms at Ulceby) with friends;  Cheryl asked how the running was going and then Baz asked, “are you going to do a marathon then?”  I said that I definitely wasn’t – for one thing, the thought of running for 5 hours or more (26.2 miles) seemed just impossible and for another thing, I don’t think I could hold my bladder that long!  Then the conversation turned to “a half marathon”. I still didn’t think I would have a go at that.  Someone in the company said, “think of what an achievement that would be though,” and the seed was sown! I found my old diary recently and saw my first reference to the possibility of a half marathon.

I didn’t mention it to a soul for ages, because I didn’t want to say I was planning it until I felt that it was actually a possibility of it, but once the seed was sown, it was never going away!  I later bought a book 'The Marathon and Half Marathon: a Training Guide', (by Graeme Hilditch) and found that this is a common experience.

The minute I decided that I would aim for a half marathon than I started to hit a few difficulties.  I overcame them and actually ran 3 half marathons before my 50^th birthday this year and another one shortly after. I’m now training for a marathon, so I thought it was about time I wrote a bit more about the journey to my first half, the setbacks I’ve overcome and and the lessons I’ve learned along the way.

Setback #1 – My Head.

I was gradually increasing my running distance and intensity – sometimes with my running buddy, sometimes on my own, short runs, longer runs (by this, I only mean up to 5 or 6 miles but it seemed a long distance at the time).  All was going well.  But in September 2011, I started to experience frequent, severe migraines, with horrible visual disturbance, excruciating head pain, numbness down my limbs on one side, slurred speech, confusion and sickness. 

I’ve experienced migraines before, mainly in my teens. In adulthood,the migraines settled down to about 2 a year, only increasing again during each pregnancy and then settling again to 1 to 2 a year.

But this time, I was having a really bad attack every 2 to 3 days.  I kept a migraine diary, which unfortunately revealed a correlation between hard runs and severity of symptoms. I never mentioned this correlation to anyone. I think there was a bit of denial; I didn't want to believe that over-exertion was a factor.   

Treatment

After about 3 weeks of this, with no let-up (and when I ended up having time off work) I went to see my GP, who prescribed Propranolol – a beta blocker.  I was surprised, because working in mental health, I know Propranolol as an anti-anxiety medication, but it turns out that it is also often prescribed for migraines (as well as some other conditions).  My GP suggested I should take the medication for 6 months, based on the hypothesis that the increased migraines might be due to ‘age related hormonal changes’ and that hopefully it was just a ‘phase’. I can see his rationale for connecting it to hormonal changes (given my age) because previous increases in migraine attacks had been during puberty and pregnancy - both a time of hormonal change. 

I was told that common side effects were cold hands and feet, severe fatigue and weird dreams.  That didn’t worry me, I couldn’t carry on as I was.

Relief 

 

Within a week, the severity of migraines reduced and within three weeks they stopped altogether.  My hands and feet were very cold, especially at night so I just took to wearing socks in bed.  The dreams were not too bad, but the fatigue was awful. 

But the down side...

On a day today basis, I just felt tired, but when I tried to run, I just seemed to have no power in my legs. I couldn’t believe it! I kept thinking it must be ‘in my mind’ and kept trying again and again.  

I would set off, only at a steady jog and in less than half a mile I’d be out of breath and in a few more yards my legs just would not move. I really mean it - it was as thought they were weighed down with lead. I remember on one occasion I could barely manage to walk back home and by the time I got home I was crying tears of frustration.

I had been doing a bit of cycling, more as a ‘leisure’ thing than anything, but with the added benefit of helping with fitness.  I had to pull out of a Charity bike ride for St Andrew’s Hospice  after only 3 or 4 miles because I just couldn’t make my legs go round!  I was gutted, as I was biking it with Chris, Sue (my running buddy) and her mate Aidy and we’d planned it for weeks. I was really shocked at how I could function mentally, but physically, I just felt rubbish.

The Explanation

After 6 weeks, I was due to see the GP for a review and told him about the level of fatigue and asked if I was imagining it.  He was not at all surprised and explained what was going on:  Beta blockers slow down the heart rate,  When we exercise, our heart rate increases in order to pump the blood around the body and take oxygen (the fuel for every cell in the body) to the muscles in order for them to respond.  So, when I exercised, my heart was trying to increase (as normal) to get the oxygen to my legs, but the beta blockers prevented my heart rate from rising. So my heart rate stayed low and the blood couldn’t pump the blood (and therefore oxygen) around my body to meet the demands of running.  I was grateful for the explanation- at least I wasn’t making it up!  

The Solution

As the migraines had stopped, my GP suggested that I reduce the medication on a trial basis – just not taking a tablet on running days.  He explained that the Propranolol is slow release so one tablet gave me a constant dose over a 24 hour period.  It has a short half life, so, once the 24 hours are up, it would be completely out of my body after another 4-6 hours. I should then be ok to run, and could then take a tablet after the run.  He said that if I remained migraine free at that dose, wait a few weeks then reduce to every other day.

So that is how I proceeded and was able to continue training.  I took to wearing a heart rate monitor so that I could prove the validity of what the doctor had said.  There was a huge difference.  My heart rate for a reasonable, steady run is about 145 bpm.  On a medication day, no matter how hard I ran (or tried to) my heart rate didn’t get above 126 bpm. No wonder my legs wouldn’t work!

When I reduced the dose I only had a couple more migraines on ‘non tablet’ days, and the symptoms were only mild and not prolonged.  So after about 4 months I reduced the dose (with my doctor’s agreement) to every other day.  During this time, I was also losing weight (click here to see how) and running was feeling a bit easier.  I was also reading about training for a half marathon and paying more attention to nutrition, hydration, warming up, stretching and building up intensity / distance gradually.  When I came off the medication after 6 months, I was just over a stone lighter and much fitter and healthier.  I do push myself, but I believe that there is less strain on my body.  Whether over-exertion had anything to do with the migraines or whether it was hormonal changes I can’t be sure. I’m just happy that this was a temporary setback and I haven’t had an attack since early 2012. 

Next time .... my poor foot!