The Liberation of the Trainers

I escaped.  Escaped a poorly tummy, escaped a slightly dodgy knee and escaped from the confines of my house and liberated my trainers.

After being confined to my house yesterday, nervous about being too far from a bathroom, and chained to my desk to study, this morning I woke feeling OK.

I haven't completed a decent run since the 16th December which was the Santa Run and the last few months have been exceptionally busy. So I can't blame it all on my mental attitude but I could feel a decline into my old ways.  Where the sofa was more enticing than my trainers, where a bar of chocolate was more agreeable than a stir fry and where mentally I wasn't being very nice to myself.

And this morning I changed that, I ran my 5.2k route.  I woke, put on my running gear, plugged in my ipod and hit the pavement and there was the merest hint of snowflakes in the air and it was bloody cold but I ran all the way.  My knee was a bit twingy but ultimately fine.

And now I feel amazing and now I remember why I love running.

I have some running goals; to run 5k in 30mins and to run the Bournemouth half marathon in 2 hours.  My 5.2k this morning was about 37/38 minutes (I hadn't charged my Garmin up, so was going by the clock in the lounge as I left). So to help me get there I'll be reading this:

I'll be getting a new pair of these:

Considering entering this . . .
http://www.racetothestones.com/

And will be doing more work on my stability ball!

I'll post progress of times and measurements.

But right now, it's time to continue enjoying my runners high and make some poached egg on toast with a fresh coffee before back to my studies.

Enjoy your Sunday.

Holy Crap, oh . . . .

Yey, parkrun Day

Saturday was my first tentative step back to running following a dodgy knee picked up from a skiing holiday a few weeks ago. Well, it was planned to be my first tentative step back to running.

I've read numerous times, in all sorts of places 'DO NOT RUN ON AN INJURY'.  So as someone who likes to follow rules (I tend to do as I'm told) I didn't run, because I didn't want to make it worse. Anyway, my knee still niggling I eventually went to the Dr.  I had put it off because a little part of me was worried that I would be told 'No more running for you Miss'.  My left knee already sounding like a bowl of coco pops with any movement it makes.

So, sat like a nervous rabbit, explaining the knee situation with the Dr.  The Dr insisted that she bend it this way and that, push it about a bit and then concluded that there was in fact, no serious damage. That I could start running again, gently to start with. That the Rice Crispy sound effect was fine, it was just wear and tear. Woo hoo, I could stop licking the windows at home, I could put my trainers back on, go out, get sweaty, get cold, get the blood going.

Except, nature said 'NO'.

Please do add, at this point, an array of expletives, lots, and as vitriolic as you care to imagine. I fear that I might offend if I were to write my own. Nature decided that on Friday evening, in the time it takes to leave the office to the time it takes to get home, it would present me with a lovely surprise, which saw me rushing through the door, to the WC, making it in the nick of time.  I don't need to go into detail here but believe me when I say that I felt nervous about sneezing or coughing.

Thank you nature for providing a stomach bug right at the start of my weekend. Please add more expletives! So Saturday morning starts with a lie in, not a huge one, but a lie in nonetheless and I felt sad, despondent and quite frankly a bit pissed off. And I miss my running buddies lots.

But we always have choices in life and I had a few:
a) mope around the house, feeling sorry for myself, being grumpy and miserable or;
b) do more hypnotherapy homework, plan my running schedule in more detail, book a few more races and make use of the cosied time up being indoors.

I chose b.

So as I sit in my study watching the merest hint of snow flakes falling from the sky, in my fluffy socks and scomfy hoodie getting on with my work, I must admit to feeling a little bit pleased.

Time for another mug of Ovaltine and some TLC.

Ooooh abs, there you are . . .

Hellooo abs, so long trainers . . .

I haven't been running for a while, well, when I say running, I mean running regularly. There's been snow, and some more snow, it's dark, a slight knee injury, a crazily busy few weeks and here I am confessing my sins, on my running blog.  Confessing that I've hardly run for a good three weeks, unintentionally of course.

Winter
Let me start by pointing the finger at 'Winter', god damn you.  What with your dark nights and snow, menacing dark shadows and icy patches all set to bring down any runner who hasn't the fortitude of Bear Grylls.

I don't have the fortitude of Bear Grylls it has to be said, but I'm not one to give up, more like a dog with a bone, which is not flattering to any woman but I'm not brave in the dark, on my own. I'm very fond of running in groups and with my buddy. Just not running on my own in the dark. Don't get me wrong, I'm not afraid of the dark, I'm afraid of who else might be in it. Having a day job in the Winter doesn't provide an awful lot of daylight hours to run in, if I'm going it alone, as I leave the house at 8 and get home at 6.30 ish.

Monday is Running Club Night
But, there is the running club I hear you cry.  Yes there is the running club, and I did go last week, gingerly but I'll come back to that. I've been pretty busy these last few weeks. With a hypno business evening on a Monday, then the snow stopped play the following Monday, and then I'd gone elsewhere to play in the snow the Monday after that and that leaves me to last Monday, where I did a baby run/jog/walk ish thing.

Generally I run with the club on Monday's and haven't ventured to other running club days, which is all part of the plan this year, but have yet to materialise. I'm a little nervous you see, as there will be what I refer to as  'proper runners', you know the sort, lean and fast and don't need use Chinese Foot binding skills to keep their boobs in one place. Those types of runners.  I know I'm putting barriers up, so it'll be time to get some self hypnosis going on that little mental block.

parkrun
So there, I can abdicate responsibility for Monday's running night and not running in the dark. But what about 'parkrun' surely you've been doing parkrun. Sheepish look from under the eyelashes. No I haven't been doing parkrun either, shame spreading now. But . . . I have very good excuses for not doing parkrun as well.  First week missed: I had a work conference in Telford on a Friday night and didn't get home until the afternoon; second week missed: we had snow, and we all know that snow brings the UK to a standstill. And I didn't go and the reason for this was I was off on holiday the following Saturday, Skiing.  And not having had a decent holiday for at least three years I didn't want to risk a slip that might result in a twisted ankle or knee that would put a stop to a week of Skiing. Then of course I was skiing, another two Saturday's passed and the Saturday just gone I've been presenting at a Wellness Convention.

So it's been an absolute age since I've run, parkrun.  But I am hoping to run next Saturday's parkrun. And I say hoping as I brought back from my ski holiday, not a young Bulgarian husband, but a knee injury.  Nothing major, but my knee joint lets me know in no uncertain terms that it's not especially happy going up and down stairs (but this is intermittent), not very keen on slopes up and down, but very happy to go backwards and forwards.

So with some slight twinges here and there on my knee I figured that perhaps I should listen to my body and let my knee rest this week. I have a particularly hectic week this week anyway so it seems it would fit well to rest up and get ready for parkrun.

The Wellness Convention
So I was lucky enough to present at the Wellness Convention discussing how the mind can influence our health with the aid of hypnotherapy, and in between consultations I booked myself onto a Stability Ball class. Phew it's been even longer since I went to Pilate's, what with studying, clients, running and the day job. I just couldn't do it all.  It's been at least six months, at least.  So Pilate's on a ball, how hard can it be? Well let me tell you I feel like I've had my abs sliced with a Stanley knife, numerous times, while being chased through a slasher horror movie. So that's where my abs are! I remember now, the pain that comes from what appears to be, not doing very much. And I have a certain smugness about the pain emanating from my stomach region, as this means that I've worked those muscles, and worked them hard. So thanks to Marie-Claire Prettyman for putting together the convention and giving me the opportunity to speak, and to Tanya Dominey, who helped me ruin my abs.

As Pilate's is on my menu this year to improving my running and my strength, I've proved to myself just how much I need it.

So my knee hurts a bit in certain situations, my abs hurt like hell, but I am still very excited about getting out running again.  So I'll enjoy the rest, book up my Pilate's sessions and get ready for Southampton parkrun. Trainers watch out, you're going to get a pounding. And here's to hoping I'm not going to wobble like some of the men in the video for Lets Get Physical?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWz9VN40nCA