Its been difficult to get out again this week. Having said that the pain after last Saturday did take until Tuesday to ease. I completed my exercises to keep my muscles in tune, this was pure agony I have to admit. Yesterday I managed to get out running, straight onto my front foot and keeping my concentration. It felt good no pain still feeling light and comfortable. Running without headphones or music isn't bothering me like I thought it might, I am now listening to the music my feet make tapping the floor, how about that for a comparison. As I wasn't completely convinced I was still getting the new style right, I decided to go back to the old way to see and feel what the difference really was. Wow it was truly unbelievable, the instant vibration through my feet into my knees was instant and uncomfortable. I knew then I was getting it right, Gary was right not that I doubted him but I never thought that this was possible. A few tweeks here and there and I will be extending the distances back out. At the moment I am doing 3ish miles to get used to this new position I am looking forward to moving up. I need to lift my knees next to the riding a bike position. This is proving a little more difficult as I feel like I am running on the spot, so at the moment I am trying it in spots hopefully this will eventually become second nature. Coming from the run yesterday I am feeling no pain at all so I will assume that although I was in a considerable amount of discomfort last weekend and doing the exercises that Gary gave me it has worked to keep my muscles going. This weeks plan is to be out possibly 3 times with exercise in between with extending my distance on 2 runs. My new toy this week is my cross trainer :-). I have bought this so on icy days I can still move my legs without causing myself any injuries. I'm hoping to buy my barefoot running shoes in the next couple of weeks an early Christmas present. I have picked the pair I want Merrell is a new brand to me, Gary hasn't been wrong yet so I'm sticking with that theory.
Have a good week ahead. Keep on running.
Saturday 19 October 2013
Yet another mad week.
Monday 14 October 2013
Barefoot running in the park.
It could be the title of a novel. However the truth is that yes I was barefoot running in the park but it was Saturday on an Autumnal, cold and wet day. During the week I had been told by Gary (fitness consultant extraordinaire) to bring my trainers, but I wouldn't be needing them, I felt nervous but had full faith in what Gary was going to be teaching me, the idea of meeting Gary was to try and work on my technique. We met in the car park at Roundhay Park, Gary had just finished the Harewood 10km so for him to give up his time for me was something I really appreciated. We head towards a small grassed area where Gary explains what we will be doing today, to begin with I run at my normal stance and pace around a small area. When asked to describe my running stance and range I just shrugged my shoulders and said "plodding". After I had done my little circuit we chatted about what he wanted me to do next, Step number 1....take off your trainers. Gary instructs me to do the circuit again, I cant believe what happens, as I finish the circuit we discuss what happened. Now you may be wondering what miracle befell me on the wet grass, well plain and simple it was front foot running. I know I know "whats so special about that ?" well for me that has never been able to front foot run it was unbelievable. Gary shows me on my trainers why it has been so difficult for me to run on my front part of my foot. It is down to the heel of my trainer, its too thick, the cushion that we require to keep our feet from impacting on the surface is the very thing that is potentially causing the injuries I run with to be aggravated. Gary shows me how the balance of my body whilst running could be contorting my whole body even to the point of causing a problem with my shoulder. So the conclusion to this is new training shoes, now anyone that knows me will tell you that buying things for myself comes quite low down the list, there is always someone or something that needs it more than me. But this time even I have to admit that maybe it is time to get what I need. Gary then shows me a yoga based exercise for balance, standing on tip toes, lift the knee up and hold for 2seconds, step forward still on tip toes, raise your trailing leg to bring your knee up, hold for 2seconds and step forward. This is repeated over a distance of about 12 feet, now until you give it a go you have no idea how difficult this is, my arms were really aching when I finished the first rep. I rest for a couple of minutes we discuss how this exercise will benefit me in the future, due to the extending of my calves at such a stretch it will mean that when I do run on my front foot I wont be extending that far therefore meaning that I should avoid injury and pain.
We do some strengthening exercises which really test my muscles in my thighs, I can feel the burn in my thighs they feel heavy and jelly like, but Gary won't let me relax just yet. I am working muscles that I would normally use when running but boy oh boy are they hurting now. Then as we get into a press up position Gary asks me to move my left foot next to my left hand....er Gary I don't do flexible....I get it as near as I can, then begin to rotate my hips.....I hope you can get the mental picture of this, because trust me the physical part of doing it was forefront in my mind. Then I need to take my left elbow and run in down the inside of my left leg to try and put my left elbow on the floor, yes you read that right, the floor, so by this time my body is screaming pain, and Gary brings out this gem " my running club guys hate it when I turn up, because I make them do this and they hate it" No you don't say Gary !!!!. So we drop the back leg and relax for a split second then continue with the right leg. By now I can no longer tell my right from my left, my mind is trying to decide whether I should scream in agony or just collapse. We continue with some more stretches this time on the park bench, squats used to fill me with dread as my thighs would just turn to lead. But sitting up and down from a bench was good news for my thighs, " take a step forward and go as low as you can, what I would like to see is your hips below your knees". I don't know if I mentioned this Gary but I am not that flexible !! But it felt good and quite comfortable. You will have noticed that at no point have I mentioned putting my trainers back on, that is simply because working in bare feet is the lightest way to feel what is going on under your feet. It felt good to be in bare feet and working with front foot running, I am really excited about giving it a go in the morning.
Yeah well my intention was to go out, but I hit a major problem, I thought I ached after the GNR boy oh boy it had nothing on this pain. But at least my normal injuries were not hurting I just had a few new ones. I didn't expect this level of pain, but as Gary said I worked muscles pretty hard and it was going to be uncomfortable. Okay so instead of heading out for a run I had a quiet day searching the internet for new training shoes, I spent a mental fortune.
Today was run day, I set off out with my focus on front foot, no headphones, no music just me listening to my feet striking the floor, this was an usual thing for me as I have always run to music, but I have to admit I soon got into stride. It didn't take me long to remember to stay on my front foot, it felt lighter and less effort. I could tell instantly that my not banging my heels into the ground was less painful on just about everything especially my heels,shins, knees and hips. I felt completely at ease and even on the slight uphills I didn't feel out of pace or stride. I was really happy that although it was a short run it was a success and what I set out to achieve had been done. Huge thank you to Gary Butterfield G-Rex fitness you never know Gary the next time you see me I may be able to do the dreaded exercise.....I did only say maybe !.
This weekend marked a year since Anne left. It was a difficult day for many of us. Happy memories of childhood, masked with unbelievable sadness.
I thought about one particular day when I sat in the conservatory shortly before she went back into Wheatfields, she sat and watched her Partner and Mum hanging washing out on the line. I asked her " tell me what you are thinking about ?" Anne replied with a shaky voice " why does it take something like this to make things right ? " I didn't really know how to answer this because I knew what she meant. Why do we wait until it's too late to make amends ? If we know that a situation needs someone to make the first move, then why leave it to the other one. One day you may not have this option and it is too late to make the first move.
We do some strengthening exercises which really test my muscles in my thighs, I can feel the burn in my thighs they feel heavy and jelly like, but Gary won't let me relax just yet. I am working muscles that I would normally use when running but boy oh boy are they hurting now. Then as we get into a press up position Gary asks me to move my left foot next to my left hand....er Gary I don't do flexible....I get it as near as I can, then begin to rotate my hips.....I hope you can get the mental picture of this, because trust me the physical part of doing it was forefront in my mind. Then I need to take my left elbow and run in down the inside of my left leg to try and put my left elbow on the floor, yes you read that right, the floor, so by this time my body is screaming pain, and Gary brings out this gem " my running club guys hate it when I turn up, because I make them do this and they hate it" No you don't say Gary !!!!. So we drop the back leg and relax for a split second then continue with the right leg. By now I can no longer tell my right from my left, my mind is trying to decide whether I should scream in agony or just collapse. We continue with some more stretches this time on the park bench, squats used to fill me with dread as my thighs would just turn to lead. But sitting up and down from a bench was good news for my thighs, " take a step forward and go as low as you can, what I would like to see is your hips below your knees". I don't know if I mentioned this Gary but I am not that flexible !! But it felt good and quite comfortable. You will have noticed that at no point have I mentioned putting my trainers back on, that is simply because working in bare feet is the lightest way to feel what is going on under your feet. It felt good to be in bare feet and working with front foot running, I am really excited about giving it a go in the morning.
Yeah well my intention was to go out, but I hit a major problem, I thought I ached after the GNR boy oh boy it had nothing on this pain. But at least my normal injuries were not hurting I just had a few new ones. I didn't expect this level of pain, but as Gary said I worked muscles pretty hard and it was going to be uncomfortable. Okay so instead of heading out for a run I had a quiet day searching the internet for new training shoes, I spent a mental fortune.
Today was run day, I set off out with my focus on front foot, no headphones, no music just me listening to my feet striking the floor, this was an usual thing for me as I have always run to music, but I have to admit I soon got into stride. It didn't take me long to remember to stay on my front foot, it felt lighter and less effort. I could tell instantly that my not banging my heels into the ground was less painful on just about everything especially my heels,shins, knees and hips. I felt completely at ease and even on the slight uphills I didn't feel out of pace or stride. I was really happy that although it was a short run it was a success and what I set out to achieve had been done. Huge thank you to Gary Butterfield G-Rex fitness you never know Gary the next time you see me I may be able to do the dreaded exercise.....I did only say maybe !.
This weekend marked a year since Anne left. It was a difficult day for many of us. Happy memories of childhood, masked with unbelievable sadness.
I thought about one particular day when I sat in the conservatory shortly before she went back into Wheatfields, she sat and watched her Partner and Mum hanging washing out on the line. I asked her " tell me what you are thinking about ?" Anne replied with a shaky voice " why does it take something like this to make things right ? " I didn't really know how to answer this because I knew what she meant. Why do we wait until it's too late to make amends ? If we know that a situation needs someone to make the first move, then why leave it to the other one. One day you may not have this option and it is too late to make the first move.
Monday 7 October 2013
Sort of back to it.
Phew its been a busy couple of weeks. I have honed my skills as a carpet layer, decorator and basic style guru. As well as squeezing in work, looking after the little ones, doing the normal running around, my running had to take a back seat for a full week.
Before that though I had eased myself back into running. I think I had seriously under-estimated how sore I was going to be after the GNR, I had a Bowen treatment and it really helped but a few days later I was back to being sore. Some of this comes from having a stand up job, the rest comes from the plain and simple fact that even during the day I don't just sit around I am constantly busy, this causes problems with recovery.
I have also been advised to seek help with my running style to try to avoid aggravating the injuries I run with. However I do have an offer from a trainer to do this, but I simply cannot find the time to squeeze this in but it is something I really need to do. More effort required.
Last weekend both Mark and myself volunteered at the Starlight Hike for Wheatfields at Temple Newsam. Stood in the woodland of Temple Newsam in the thick of night with no ambient lighting was to say the least a little un-nerving. Things falling through the canopy of the woodland, hearing the scurrying feet dashing for whatever it was that fell. The deafening squawking of an Owl on the attack, the squeak from its victim echoed through the pitch black. The constant feeling that something or someone was touching your shoulder was making me a nervous wreck. The crackle of the radios broke the relative quiet of the woodland, the walkers are passing the start line. The event began at 10pm on a dry starlit night, all the walkers looked great in their neon clothing, flashing boppers and fancy dress. We were at marshal point 1,8 & 13, this was due to the figure of 8 that the walkers would walk in, a tight group of walkers arrived at 1km, the next time around they would be at 6km. We tried to guess how long it would take the lead walkers to come back round to us, we estimated that maybe an hour would pass before we saw them again. Around an hour later we see torchlight approaching us, this time the walkers are spaced out. The next time we would see the walkers would be at the 9km, only 1km to the finish. As some walkers appear coming towards the 9km point we are aware that some walkers are still coming through the 6km point. As some walkers pass us at the 9km point they tell us that people are getting lost at the top of the hill and going into the woodland. I decide to walk up to the top of the hill to make sure people are taking the correct path. It seems even darker at the top of the hill and it is clear to see why people have taken the wrong way. The pathway doesn't go all the way to meet the other path and in torchlight alone it was almost impossible to see where the path was. Luckily another set of marshals from the start/finish line have come to take over in a Land Rover with lots of lights, I make my way back down to meet Mark to see the last of the walkers passing the 6km point. As the last of the walkers pass by the marshal points they join the back of the group and walk in, by this point we had been stood around for about 4 hours. A vehicle was heading out to pick Mark and another lady up but the rest of us walked back in together. The welcome sight of the butty van, the lights of the stage, the finish line. The butty van had run out of bacon butties but I couldn't eat a burger at this time of night. It was time for a photo call, all the team of Wheatfields, the Ambulance service, the marshals stood together under the finish line jazz hands a waving. It was an amazing experience to be involved in the walkers were fabulous, high spirited and friendly, the team of Wheatfields again were brilliant, It is something that I/we will be giving our time to again. Had a phone call late last week from one of the fundraisers to say thank you for the help we offered and to let us know that about £30.000 had been raised for the hospice.
It is in this very sad week personally that the appreciation of what Wheatfields offers is the most relevant. A year ago this week Anne had re-entered Wheatfields, this was her dying wish. I remember every single moment of this time a year ago. It will be a very difficult time for so many in our family, Anne was a very strong character and is missed everyday. I know how valued this money raised for them is I would never refuse to help them as it is the very least I can do to say thank you to them.
It may be difficult to motivate myself to run this week, but I shall try and grab some miles. As its only 5 weeks till the Abbey Dash 10km and I would like to beat my previous times.
Before that though I had eased myself back into running. I think I had seriously under-estimated how sore I was going to be after the GNR, I had a Bowen treatment and it really helped but a few days later I was back to being sore. Some of this comes from having a stand up job, the rest comes from the plain and simple fact that even during the day I don't just sit around I am constantly busy, this causes problems with recovery.
I have also been advised to seek help with my running style to try to avoid aggravating the injuries I run with. However I do have an offer from a trainer to do this, but I simply cannot find the time to squeeze this in but it is something I really need to do. More effort required.
Last weekend both Mark and myself volunteered at the Starlight Hike for Wheatfields at Temple Newsam. Stood in the woodland of Temple Newsam in the thick of night with no ambient lighting was to say the least a little un-nerving. Things falling through the canopy of the woodland, hearing the scurrying feet dashing for whatever it was that fell. The deafening squawking of an Owl on the attack, the squeak from its victim echoed through the pitch black. The constant feeling that something or someone was touching your shoulder was making me a nervous wreck. The crackle of the radios broke the relative quiet of the woodland, the walkers are passing the start line. The event began at 10pm on a dry starlit night, all the walkers looked great in their neon clothing, flashing boppers and fancy dress. We were at marshal point 1,8 & 13, this was due to the figure of 8 that the walkers would walk in, a tight group of walkers arrived at 1km, the next time around they would be at 6km. We tried to guess how long it would take the lead walkers to come back round to us, we estimated that maybe an hour would pass before we saw them again. Around an hour later we see torchlight approaching us, this time the walkers are spaced out. The next time we would see the walkers would be at the 9km, only 1km to the finish. As some walkers appear coming towards the 9km point we are aware that some walkers are still coming through the 6km point. As some walkers pass us at the 9km point they tell us that people are getting lost at the top of the hill and going into the woodland. I decide to walk up to the top of the hill to make sure people are taking the correct path. It seems even darker at the top of the hill and it is clear to see why people have taken the wrong way. The pathway doesn't go all the way to meet the other path and in torchlight alone it was almost impossible to see where the path was. Luckily another set of marshals from the start/finish line have come to take over in a Land Rover with lots of lights, I make my way back down to meet Mark to see the last of the walkers passing the 6km point. As the last of the walkers pass by the marshal points they join the back of the group and walk in, by this point we had been stood around for about 4 hours. A vehicle was heading out to pick Mark and another lady up but the rest of us walked back in together. The welcome sight of the butty van, the lights of the stage, the finish line. The butty van had run out of bacon butties but I couldn't eat a burger at this time of night. It was time for a photo call, all the team of Wheatfields, the Ambulance service, the marshals stood together under the finish line jazz hands a waving. It was an amazing experience to be involved in the walkers were fabulous, high spirited and friendly, the team of Wheatfields again were brilliant, It is something that I/we will be giving our time to again. Had a phone call late last week from one of the fundraisers to say thank you for the help we offered and to let us know that about £30.000 had been raised for the hospice.
It is in this very sad week personally that the appreciation of what Wheatfields offers is the most relevant. A year ago this week Anne had re-entered Wheatfields, this was her dying wish. I remember every single moment of this time a year ago. It will be a very difficult time for so many in our family, Anne was a very strong character and is missed everyday. I know how valued this money raised for them is I would never refuse to help them as it is the very least I can do to say thank you to them.
It may be difficult to motivate myself to run this week, but I shall try and grab some miles. As its only 5 weeks till the Abbey Dash 10km and I would like to beat my previous times.
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