Yume No Chikara

Smiley Happy Pixie!! Saw the physio this morning and his proding of the leg was like pushing a bruise not the normal OUCH FFS OUCH **** STOP (in my head of course!)!!! He advised that the inflamed area that was 2-3 inches in size is reduced down to about 1 CM!!! So it's on it's way out!! Almost gone! Almost injury free!! Oh yes!! Still need to keep up the strectches etc (which had become rare due to feeling down and sorry for meself) and stay off impact exercise for this week but with a bit of luck next week I get to try the leg out! Very happy pixie!

Well I've done 78.6m on my bike this bank holiday weekend and I am totally shattered today! Yesterday I did 15m to meet up with Beanz and Benz at "my pace" then a steady 10m with the girls to finish. We had a great time and just to set the record straight I was talking about supporting Benz on her 145m GUC race not actualy doing it! Not sure about Beanz though! She definately has some 50m event in kent lined up, mentioned it several times in fact! My finger is still "numb" but wasn't dancing after yesterday's cycle which is good! Butt is fine too, it's just the energy levels that have gone walkies! I've worked out that at this rate I will be going to FLM with an 7-8 weeks running taper! Which is a little concerning but hey FLM will be a party! I've decided that I will take a strategy of walking FLM with running intervals, and if I can do 16mm then I will also have a new PB as Abingdon has an offical finish time (Ok so I got lost and wasted ab...

I am NOT a cyclist or doing Tri but I now have some cycling shorts! Top quality Lidl ones!! hehe! Problem was they looked huge so I bought the small. They fit round the waist (oh yes!) and even my a**e (wow!) but the silly reflective strip across the thigh is tight so I have a dent in my thighs! Which means I have to wiggle my way into them but hey they won't be used often, will save my a**e and who knows I may slim into them one day! Anyway today I am off on my bike again but not a massive ride like friday (and yes Beanz spotted my mistake I meant warwickshire not wiltshire!) just a mere 26-30m today! I'm heading off for the Cloud Trail in about 20 mins and will cycle to the other end where I hope to meet benz and beanz coming the other way. Then cycle back with them to the start and locate a pub for some grub! So must change and strap my bike to my car (I could cycle there but the main road looks very unfriendly from a bike!) then off I go! I'll report back later! Cya!

Well I was on me bike at 7.45AM (what!!??) and off on loop one of today's little bicycle round the countryside. After about 2m I was down to my tee as it was fairly warm despite the grey clouds and the time of day. At 8.30 the sun even popped out for a bit, well 5 mins and that was it until this afternoon! One of the villages I went through was Shakerstone - we had been there before so it looked familar which was comforting. I also crossed the A444 which runs through my village so I felt safe. I had to stop every now and then to read the instructions as to where I was going and it wasn't until I was a good 12-15m in that I noticed that one of the villages was call Orton on the Hill - hmm wonder why that is! The instructions mentioned a church and I looked up and yep right up there was a steeple! I decided to stop at the church to read the next set of instructions - OK I stopped as I couldn't breath as I had cycled up the hill without stopping! Within 5 mins I turned the...

Having already decided to have a long bike ride tomorrow coach spans has recommended an even longer ride to help with endurance for the big day (something to do with a complete lack of long runs!) So tomorrow I am off on a 46m figure of 8 ride round the area! I will be in Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Wiltshire! My camelback is ready for filling, sports drink made, bananas packed .... legs shaking .... oh help! I hope to report back tomorrow! I am aiming for about 5 hours but I have no idea really as I don't know the lay of the land and how big the hills are!!

Yes it's getting closer and guess what! Yes this pixie is getting really frustrated at not running :-( I'm listening to my body and noticing every niggle and wondering what it is. I'm doubting my ability to get round FLM with any running although I am still confident I can get round! Having had the consultant say stress fracture and no need to ice or have physio I am almost turning int a coach potatoe. I am still having physio as I want to do everything to ensure FLM is as pain free as can be! but not icing much even though physio disagreed with the Prof and said ice (I ice if it hurts!) I've stopped taking drugs (only take them if it hurts or I have a long gym session planned) so I'm more aware of the aching than before! Problem is I'm only gyming as much as I was running (2-3 times a week) and I know the gym isn't as much of a workout as running, and I haven't been since Friday due to life getting in the way, work being an arse and CBA to go. I do have...

18847 and BLUE start sometime after 9.45AM on 17th April 2005. My long and winding road to FLM is almost at an end ... I recieved the last Marathon News magazine last night and read it with my heart in my mouth and tears welling in my eyes. They tell you what to do, expect and where to go. You get shown the course and it takes up 5 sides of A4 at which point you go - Oh help it's a long long way! I now have the official piece of paper to collect my number - this year it WILL happen! Last year I refused to open this magazine as I had defered and couldn't look so it was all new. Awesome! I will cherish every moment as I won't be back for some time - no more marathons for me until I can run them properly and under 4hrs. My heart is beating rapidly as I type this - perhaps it's the memory of reading the magazine, the memory of getting the "you're in!" magazine, the memory of Paula running a world record time or maybe it's the thought of physio .. oh he...

Been to the physio this morning and he's had the letter from the Prof further to last week's consultation. He's highlighted the calcium thing so maybe he was also thinking bone density like Benzie was! He's also said go back if it doesn't get better Also I don't actually have a stress fracture I have a stress reaction! Which means "carry on like you are and you WILL have a fracture" hence I should be able to do FLM! Physio is saying that yes my milage is low but the problem may have been caused by coming back to running too quickly after that elongated cold I had at Christmas - yes the one that stopped me running for about 4-5 weeks! Did I come back too quickly .... well lets see, a month off and then within the next month or so I had run in training a half marathon and 2-3 runs of around 10m! Hmmm could possibly have come back too quickly! So plan of action - cross train like mad, ice, stretch my calves and tone my butt muscles to reduce the pronati...

Right ok we have 37 days to go which I think calls for a HUGE wibble! So here is may plan and I would really appreciate some feedback especially from the BT folks ( Ruth? Leon? Beanz ?) This week and next - cross train on the bike and stepper and swim if time allows!! After that I will try to re-introduce some plodding, now I thought that a good way to prevent me from doing too much too fast too soon etc I would do BT work. Now previously I have said that if I only have 30 mins lunch then exercise is a no go, but if I do BT work and start at say 20 mins then this IS possible and I could do this say 3-5 times in week one without hurting myself .... she thinks! Also what would be best? A long walk at the weekend in a "time on feet" manner or do long bike rides and combine these with stepper work at home? This is my plan leading up to FLM and I think that BT work post FLM will also be an excelent way to recovery and if I continue then this should fit into my "get fitter an...

Bad news - I DO have a stress fracture Good news - it's already starting to repair Bad news - no running for another couple of weeks Good news - FLM is on - but it will be a slow walk run enjoy the day thing He said "as long as you accept that London will be walk and run and the run will depend on the leg and that you pull out if you get persistent pain the you can do London" No need for physio, bandage, support etc just cross train like mad and stay off the leg as much as poss. Happy pixie now Having been given my 3rd chance at FLM (1 getting a ballot place, 2 deferring to 05 and 3 today's news) I have had my last packet of crisps and choc bar this afternoon until after FLM

Ok So I can't run but I still have FLM to look forward to (at the moment!) so I MUST get out and do something. Friday I almost skipped exercise as I was tired and fed up at work but I did go to the gym (it was too cold for the pool!) where I did 30 mins on the stepper and 30 mins on the bike .. and yawned a lot! Today when I should have been down at Reading getting a half marathon PB I again almost opted for the sofa when hubby said " thought you were going out on your bike " so feeling guilty off I went. The roads round here are still hilly even when I opted for a flat route as I didn't want any standing up on the pedals hills. I pulled on my trainers and the toe said "hello I'm here!" so I wondered how long I would last, but I did the whole of my route - all 10.29m of it in just under 55 mins . My butt was sore, I was frozen solid and tired but home. I then made a drink of Lucozade and located my iddy biddy baby home stepper. 5000 steps later ( 62...

Ok picture the sceen.... need to change a light bulb in a light that is flat against the ceiling. Gets ladder. Thinks about safety, realises that slippers with no backs could cause an acident by slipping and therefore hurt leg that is already hurt! so decides to be sensible and remove slippers. Goes and gets the ladder then stubs toe of left foot *that be the one that doesn't hurt* against the wooden bed, hops about muttering under breath whilst 7yr old laughs and says "you should have been wearing your slippers!" 90mins later Tesco run done ... sit down to inspect damage suspecting I may have cut said toe as it was sore. Oh no, said toe is black and swollen and sore!! Despite having taken my Ibruprofen this morning it was still very sore! Just hope it isn't broken! Good job I wasn't running tomorrow after all!

Well I went back to the physio this morning for another session of painful massage! Yesterday I walked to Aldi and back (just over 10 mins each way) and I said it was probably more tender as a result. He said that he was "quietly confident" that the injury wasn't bony or a stress fracture but was still concerned due to the tenderness being on the bone. If asked to put his money on it he wouldn't like to say. So following a chat with the lovely people at BUPA I now have a consultant appointment with Prof. Batt at Nottingham's Park Hospital. He is a Sports Injury specialist and will be able to say if I need an MRI scan. The appointment in next Wednesday 9th March. Andy (the physio) said that the treatment would be about the same with the addition of an air cast if it was a stress fracture. Only snag being if it is a bony injury then this would mean NO FLM and no running for about 8 weeks not 2 weeks. In the mean time I am continuing with lots of calf stretched (ever...

Been to physio - NO running or impact sport for 2 weeks. I have excessively tight calf muscles and also weak hip muscles which makes me over pronate more. He did deep massage on my soleus and I could easily have screamed - really really painful, total agony! So NO to Reading and Ashby. I have to ice 3 times a day for up to 30 mins calf stretches - 20 a day minimum holding for up to 30 seconds each hip exercises 3 times a day back for more pain on Friday In 2 weeks time we will start to consider running again. If the problem still occurs then he would like and MRI (expensive) scan as the pain is very close to the tibia, but he doesn't think it is a stress fracture. Why? Well the pain after Bramley and after Friday's club run was less than the original pain. So I can swim (less desired option as the CV work is less), cycle, use the X trainer and the stepper. Do my stretches and exercises and pilates is also excellent. I could still go to Reading and cycle round like last year but...