baby steps....

Not much to report, very slow start but enjoying it regardless.
Two 5k runs in the last week, or rather walk-runs, have certainly reminded me there is a long way to go, but will try not to get frustrated by that and just enjoy the journey.
First one was pretty ugly (42:39!!!!!) second was better although still very slow at 39:23!
As i was plodding around i couldn't help thinking i used to run this in 27:xx, which is far from fast but felt great for my size & ability, although i was 20kg lighter then.
I just want to make sure i can keep going, get to 3 runs a week, then 4 etc and simply form the habit again because i know the progress will come.

Character Building?????

It's been a few months since i've posted because.....it's been a few months since i've ran!
Yet another setback - this year has been a shocker for me healthwise, and i'll certainly be glad to see the end of 2008. Whilst i am overweight, i have been fairly 'healthy' with no problems up until this my 39th year.

It started in February with an eye problem, both were affected but particularily my right cornea. I got to the stage where i was warned i could lose my sight in that eye by the specialist, but thankfully, although it took a few months, by June, my sight was pretty well back to normal and the eye had healed. No more contact lenses for me for a while though.
So, got that over & done with and thought ok, let's get things back on track with the body, and started doing a bit of running with a mate of mine again. that lasted a few weeks but kept getting crook with colds & flu's throughout winter. I did some intermittent running over June/July/August but because i kept getting sick back to back, and each cold/flu was taking 2-3 weeks to shake off, it was a prettly frustrating time, and the running suffered as a result.
Fast forward to early September and i am thinking, ok let's get back on the horse and get running again and lose some weight/get fit for spring. What happens, i get another flu in the first week of Sept!!!!
After 3 or 4 days of it, i start to get some tingling in my lips and and a bit of an earache so make an appt to see my doc for the following day thinking it's time for a full checkup as my immune system is clearly not working at all. When i woke the following morning, my right side of my face was paralysed. Called the Doc, he recommended i go straight to Flinders Emergency and after several hours and a number of tests including a CT scan, it was determined i had Bells Palsy. YAY!!!!
Since then i have been on steriods from the doc, potassium-magnesium tablets from the naturopath, had treatments from physio, chiro, and am now seeing an acupuncturist who is also giving me some nasty chinese herbal medicine to get my immune system fighting back. Most people recover fully from this but it can take some time, up to 16 weeks. It's basically a dysfunction of the cranio-facial nerve just under your ear, which controls all the nerves on that side of the face, and the inflammation renders it all immobile. I am now at the 5 week mark and have tried just about everything but only have about 3% movement on the right side, so feeling extremely frustrated. The first 2-3 weeks were quite painful and physically challenging, but now it's just mentally challenging, trying to stay positive about a good outcome and not worry about looking like 'Droopy Dawg' on one side for the rest of my days!
One thing it has done is galvanised my desire to get health & wellness back into my life, as i tried to do earlier this year. I have had a very stressful year at work and so the balance in my life has been completely out of whack for the last year or two, working 70-80 hours weeks etc so it's time to make a significant change and get my health the way it should be.
As a result of virtually no exercise and long hours with a crappy diet etc, i am the heaviest i have ever been at 130kg, and with a sick body at the moment. The black dog has also been making itself known this year and especially the last month or two. That said i am now starting to get some energy levels back and am determined to make some fairly massive life changes, and get the balance back.
So i am yet again starting from scratch to start running again, watching my diet and had 2 visits to the gym in the last week, but the changes need to be long term and significant so it will be a long journey as 10 years of neglect won't be turned around overnight. I'm looking forward to making progress every day, regardless of how minor, and i will track progress here.

Slowly, Slowly

Ok quick update. Still plodding away and making slow progress. missed a few runs over last week or so due to the flu but back into it this morning at 6am and pumped out a slow 4k'ish.
Really enjoyed it despite the cold but need to make sure i rug up properly. I have some decent Brooks Technical running gear which helps but still fairly nippy out there at the moment.
I am pondering whether to have a crack at the City to Bay this year but will just wait & see how i go. I have not run 12k in 12 months at least so i will have to see how the body continues to progress. I'm not sure whether to go for it but concerned i would be disappointed if i missed my time from last year (71:xx) by too much.
I will assess again in a couple of weeks, but in the meantime just keep plugging away.

Deja Deja Deja Vu

It's fair to say it's been a while since either:
1. my fingers stroked this keyboard with the purpose of making a blog entry
2. my feet hit the pavement with the purpose of making a race entry:)

Therefore it must be time to remove the digit & get back into it!
Since starting serious running (if Steve Moneghetti ever reads this - I mean 'serious' in a, um, relative way:)) in early 06, and progressing to finishing (painfully) the Adel HM that year, I've done very bloody little! What with a nagging PF problem, and a crazy work schedule, i have probably not ran more than 15k in one week for well over a year. A few bitsy 5-7k runs have been accomplished rather sporadically during that time, and a few bike rides but nothing of any note. I have spent almost 9 months of that time working away from home in Melbourne, Yorke Peninsula and Warrnambool, Vic but will be doing no more travel this year so looking forward to getting into some semblance of a routine again! As a result of doing ridiculous hours and being a lazy bugger, it's fair to say i am in great shape - round is a shape isn't it!
I had been doing a bit of weight training at the gym last year and keen to get back into that also, so should have plenty of spare time on my hands.....not.
So I am starting again with this running caper, and frankly, it feels good. 3 runs in the last week, Monday, Wednesday & Friday, all very modest walk-runs from 3-4k up to 6.5'ish k's in the latter two for the week. Ridiculous lengths of time being taken to complete these sojourns but, frankly Scarlet - I don't give a damn:) I am just enjoying doing it, and it has truly reminded me of the simple joys of running again, which I had almost (shame on me) forgotten.

Plans?? Goals?? Simple for now....live & breathe that last sentence again and again for the time being, and always i hope. My competitive urges are simmering in the background but i have learned that lesson before, will do my very best to do it slowly and enjoy it, after all that's what it's all about isn't it? Whether you run the 10k in 33 or 93 mins matters not a jot in the grand scheme of things, as long as it gives you pleasure.
So no predictions of (not that there ever was) a sub 3hr marathon in Adel, or a blistering pace at 6ft track, or even a confirmation that i will make it into the city to bay this year. I am just going to see how i go. I haven't run on these feet for quite some time, and although i hope a year off has truly eradicated my PF issue, i won't know until i pound the streets for a while so we shall see.

I will try and update here every week or so and have blown the cobwebs of my Excel running spreadsheet, so will start to record my efforts there again also. I have also been surfing Coolrunning over the last few days, and have been reminded of the tremendous fellowship our running community has to offer. It's enough to warm the cockles of a man's heart it is! (Where are the cockles anyway?????)
Looking forward to getting back into it, having already taken those first few steps, and will keep you (& me) posted:)

2007 Goals

After a rather frustrating :angry2: latter half of 06 with an ongoing PF problem, I am hoping this injury gets better and I can achieve the following goals in 07.....

sub 55min 10k (56:17)
sub 2:06 HM soft goal for Greenbelt HM in early May (assuming PF improvement)
sub 2:00 HM stretch goal for Barossa HM in late May

and the big one although still considering this - 42.2k of pain/bliss in the Adelaide Marathon in August

Weight loss goal of 20kg for the year (18kg last year) to get back to my fighting weight.

And, either late 07 or more likely 2008, an olympic distance tri or two with an 6ft / ultra down the track...
I can't believe i just put that last bit in print :mellow:

Deja Vu

Misty water colour memories...............
Here I am at the beginning of a new year and close to starting from scratch again. The pod has given me the ok to start running again with a few easy run-walk's but after a complete break from running for the past month or so, as well as minimal running for several month's prior to that, the 'base' that i had hoped to maintain is pretty well gone.
I was hoping to run my 2nd & 3rd HM's in May but will need to assess as i go. I am just about to put a training schedule together for them regardless, which gives me 14 weeks to the 1st one, the Greenbelt, and 17 weeks to the Barossa HM. A little bit tight but I did my first HM last August, with similiar duration at that intensity, although I the PF problem hit 4 weeks before and stuffed up the final few weeks of prep. We'll see how we go.
My first run back last week (5k), in the new orthotics, yielded a fair bit of discomfort with the PF as well as pain down the outside of my left leg. It will take time for the body to readjust to the new position I guess.
Today's run of 7k was much better although uncomfortable but ceratinly feel more positive after it. I will ice the foot tonight and run a similair distance on Thursday and look forward to making further progress.

Doctor's orders - no running!

Ok, after several months of increasing levels of discomfort I have got myself into a podiatrist this week to get this PF problem sorted. I was referred my my physio to Melanie Clarke at POD2 in Adelaide Arcade, and so far so good.
The initial consultation confirmed that I definitely do have Planterfasciatis, and she explained exactly how the ailment works and what I have been doing to myself over the last 5 months or so. Anyway, long story short and orthotics are required to correct the problem of my pronating to minimise & hopefully eliminate the PF problem.
She gave me a simple stretch to do before I get out of bed each morning and that is to lie on my back and tilt my toes back towards my shins for a minute or so giving the foot and pf muscle a good stretch. Apparently the first 20-30 steps we take each morning are important in terms of not reinjuring the muscle, as all the blood & mitochondria flow to the area overnight to do some repair work, and cause the muscle to constrict somewhat. If we then hop out of bed without stretching the muscle out again, it just does further damage. Anyway it has certainly made a difference to me as those first steps are generally the most painful of the day for me, but that stretch has reduced the pain by probably 20-25% over the last couple of days, so quite beneficial thus far.

So this morning I went in again and had my feet cast in Plaster of Paris in order to create the molds for my orthotics, and then dropped them off at the lab for a priority job. Good news is they can turn them around in 48 hours and I have an appointment on Friday to have them fitted. This means I can get used to them over Xmas and hopefully start to do some minimal running in January, because she has recommended no running until then as I will only do further damage/inflammation. It also means I can get a 2nd pair in Jan at reduced cost as my health fund allowance resets on Jan 1st, so that's good.
She is happy though with my intent to get back into running in early Feb and begin a 12 week program to get ready for the HM's in May, and feels I should be seeing some major relief by then. She is optimistic as I have responded well already to that simple stretch she has given me so hopefully the body responds well to the orthotics too. Early days but I certainly hope I am not one of those people who have to suffer with PF long term, half of this year has been more than long enough thank you.
So now that I am back in Adelaide and things have settled down on the job front I can now get back into the fitness program I had planned to strengthen my core and do some cycling, swimming, weights etc as well as some Pilates stretches my physio has given me.
To that end I have joined a local gym on a 12 month membership and plan to start the process tomorrow, so I will keep posted progress reports as i go.