Fractious and stressed

It's a stress fracture. Not the best news in the world frankly, but I will just have to live with it.
It hurts, but not excessively (unless I try running of course)
I have anti-inflammatories and painkillers which should do the trick of calming it down and all I have to do is wait for the healing process.
I am amazed at the way our bodies heal themselves - Ok there is a little bit of scar tissue here and there but if we never healed we'd all be dead by the age of about 3.
I just wish it was a little bit quicker. Like instant. Instant's good for me.

What have I done...

I will find out when I get to casualty I suppose.

What happened was, I went for a run on the downs yesterday, in the merrell shoes, and was going very well. It's a lot harder running off-road in those things but I honestly thought it would be good for building core strength, foot strength, everything really.
And for a while I guess it was working fine.

But, after about 1/2 an hour I felt a sharp pain in my left foot. A bit like cramp, so stretching the thing out should have done the trick, right?
But it didn't. And it's no better 24 hours later.

I have a feeling it's a stress fracture: it all adds up. (well google can make you believe anything can't it)

So this morning I"m off to A and E to see what's what. It does hurt although I can bend my toes. Stairs are a challenge.

And the ramifications? Well, if it is a stress fracture, then it's 6-8 weeks off the running. Not a problem in the depths of winter, but now???  I will have to replace it with something else - the upstairs at the gym has aerobic machines - rowers, stair climbers and the like, so I guess I will have to take up statics again. Work? Fuck knows. 'Scuse me, but it couldn't really come at a worse time.

Hacked off.

Still here...

...just not out running

It's only a matter of time.

My current excuse is the heat - spring has finnaly sprung and it's jolly warm out there

Felt like I was missing out on the Bristol 10k last Sunday but I don't think I would have been able to do it.

I really need to get back into this running thing to counteract the middle-age spread threatening to overwhelm me...

36 hours...

...is how long it takes for muscles to really kick in with their aching after a session.

I went for a run on Tuesday evening (in the Merrells, so I was asking for trouble...) and this morning my calves were stiff and aching.

But my achilles were - are - fine.

Does this mean I've made the swap? I can't run heel-striking any more, it feels too wrong (although going downhill is still an issue - I feel like I'm running like a fairy, taking dainty tippy-toe steps...)
So perhaps it's time to start upping the distance and duration until I'm regularly doing 5 miles. And then even thinking about a 1/2 marathon.

Argh!

It's like this...

It being Sunday I did drag my carcass round the downs - I actually cycled up there which is quite environmentally friendly of me, (the alternative being driving rather than running...)

It took 34' 37" and it was the vanilla version, no extra loops or anything...

So I'm glad I've been and I feel better for having done it - but it's not easy anymore. Not that it ever truly was, but I'm struggling to keep going for 1/2 an hour these days. Of course I know what the answer is to that, and I know I will have to force myself out more - especially as I'm being lured by the thought of another 1/2 marathon later this year and that will take over 2 hours...  *shudders*

Distance - about the same as last week - 6km 3.77 miles.
which is I think 9 mins 10" per miles. That. Cannot. Be. Right.
34'37  is 2077 seconds
2077/3.77 is 551 secs/mile
or 9 mins and 10 secs give or take.
I surprise myself at times...

(If that's true - I may be terribly terribly wrong there but if I'm right then I am chuffed into little minty pieces and it explains why I was so knackered... )
(Something tells me I've got a sum wrong and it's miles out...)

I know people who are doing the 10k next weekend - and that makes me sad and angry at myself for having let myself slip so deeply into a pit of gluttony and sloth. And there are several far more appealing deadly sins than gluttony and sloth. 

Ooh the effort...

34 mins and 3.37miles which is more than 10 mins a mile. There was a large hill involved as I was going round the downs. I guess I shouldn't be too disappointed. I'm never going to relive the giddy heights of doing the Bristol 10k in under an hour... 
Not unhappy with the fact I've been for a run. Slightly miffed about the knackeredness I'm now feeling. That was made considerably worse by spending 2 1/2 hours this afternoon digging the garden, but hey ho...
I did a yoga session yesterday which might account for the ache in my left hip. I hope that was the reason for it...
And now I feel like I need a long lie down.
Before running another twice this week of course. And 3 times a week for the forseeable...
 

How long????

I haven't set foot on the long road to running for an awfully long time now.
And the longer I leave it the worse it gets.
But I know the worst part is the getting going: put on the shoes, plug in the ipod and open the front door - after that it's easy
(If I can convince myself that's true I might stand a chance of going for a run at some point in the near future...)