The only thing I'm succeeding at is failing....

Don't even want to talk about this week. Last time I remember getting through this without any problems. Now it seems all problems, I can't even get the photos right...

WEEK 3

Sunday 21 July (evening) - 90/90/180/180 x2 run/walk splits (supposedly)
Actual - 90r / 120w / 180r / 180w / 90r / 90w / 75r / 120w / 90r / 120w / 60r
20m 15s. 1.77 miles. Avg speed 5.24 mph. Avg pace 11:27 min/mile

As much as I hate myself for saying it, I was relieved that the weather was considerably cooler than it has been the last couple of weeks. That's possibly the only positive thing I can say about this run, oh that and the calves and ankles that had been a bit whiny pre-run shut quit their grumbling as I ran.

The first set of splits were hard (after forgetting the first walking set was meant to be 20 seconds and not 2 minutes) but doable, and I managed my first 3 minute run in nearly 2 months without having a coronary. Things went downhill from there. After the second 90 second running I was doubtful that I was going to make the next full 3 minute set. I was right. About 30 seconds in I ran straight into a runner-trap, AKA a helpfully discarded loop of garden wire (why exactly somebody needed to take that to the local park is beyond me). Needless to say that I didn't end up slowly swinging by my ankles from a tree whilst the sound of approaching banjos floated on the breeze, but after a couple of metres hopping, swearing and flailing, I managed to regain my balance and untangle myself. But I did wrench my ankle and winded myself quite badly. After that I struggled to get back into any sort of rhythm, even with the help of my iPod.

gratuitous Abbey shot

This is the first time I've run with music. And the fact they kept falling out of my ears aside, I'm not entirely sure I'm a fan but it did manage to distract me during the 3 minute run, rather than me looking at my watch every 20 seconds, hoping that it was over. 

Wednesday 24 July (evening) - 90/90/180/180 x2 run/walk splits (yeah right)
Actual - 90r / 90w / 180r / 180w / 90r / 90w / 85r / 90w / 100r / 180w
19m 55s. 1.59 miles. Avg speed 4.8 mph. Avg pace 12:29 min/mile

Tonight I was so tired that on getting home from work I didn't dare let myself sit down before heading out for tonight's run, in fact just sitting down to tie the laces on my trainers held the risk that I wasn't going to stand up again. I was also starving, so shoved a couple of slices of salami down my neck on my way out the door. This was a mistake...

The first set felt hard, and again I had no confidence about achieving the second set, and I was right, even with the added support of a woman stood on top of one of the Abbey walls shouting "keep running". It was during the second set that it became apparent that salami is not a great pre-run snack for me and made for a challenging and nervous jog down the abandoned railway track. Not sure it did much for my gait either!

Lessons learned -  

• don't eat within an hour of running, and if I absolutely have to, salami is not a wise choice;
• if you must run with music, get the iPod sorted before starting the run because attempting to do it on the move is basically asking to end up in A&E

Following day damage - aching ankles and knees

Added bonus - following abject failure at sticking to the plan (and permitted by the stomach calming itself down). I ran the uphill stretches of the walk home - Norman Mount (11.16 metres of elevation in 95.5metres) and Morris Mount (5.7 metres of elevation in 48.3 metres). Didn't bother to time this, and I suspect I'm not running enough hills for it to be of any benefit but I quite enjoy it all the same.


Saturday 27 July (afternoon) - 90/90/180/180 x2 run/walk splits (guess what)
Actual - 90r / 90w / 120r / 90w / 120r / 90w / 60r / 180w / 60r / 180w / 60r / 180w / 30r uphill / 108w / 15r uphill
20m 35s. 1.72 miles. Avg speed 5 mph. Avg pace 12:00 min/mile

By rights I should have run yesterday but a bubbling migraine put paid to that. Having decided I couldn't face another wheeze around the Abbey I chose a new route through Morris Wood. Evenings seem to be my preferred running time and I never seem to run as well in an afternoon so maybe that didn't help. Discovered that running on grass is more tiring than tarmac, and between starting out on grass and the first 3 minute set being mostly uphill (yeah, not much of a hill to be fair), it pretty much finished me off. But running through the wood (once I got my breath back) was much more fun, and I managed another 2 minutes of running feeling pretty good. 

Feeling a bit short-changed (and a total failure) by the time I'd headed back towards home, I looped back round and ran over the field down towards the Abbey, then back along Abbey road and "sprinted" up Norman Mount and Morris Mount (30 seconds and 15 seconds respectively), and nearly killed myself. By the time I got home my stomach hurt and I really thought I was going vomit. I contemplated flaking out in the communal garden, not knowing if I was going to make it up two flights of stairs, but decided that was just too embarrassing. It's been a long time since I've worked so hard. Also realised on getting out of the shower that my face was still an alarming shade of puce.

Following day damage - legs feel tired but strong :) Think I can even feel a slight ache in my left glute, which for me is a good sign that it's not just my calves taking part  - happy day!

my route through England's tiniest wood

Next week.......guess I'll be repeating week 2 :( 

And so it continues....

...the heat, the sweat, the wheezing, the wobbling...

And so after feeling mildly jealous watching all the runners at the Leeds 10k (although why exactly I should be jealous of looking that sweaty, exhausted and in pain is a mystery to me), I continue into week 2 of the Couch to 5K plan. I start this week with the discovery that tech material succumbs as easily as cotton to the sheen of white fibre left by putting it through the wash with an emergency tissue in the pocket...  

WEEK 2

Monday 15 July (evening) - 90/120 second run/walk splits

22m 45s. 1.97 miles. Avg speed 5.19 mph. Avg pace 11:34 min/mile

old but weighty friends

As much as my asics have been reliable friends, never giving me so much as a hint of a rub or blister, and uncomplainingly taking more than the occasional submersion in muddy puddles during dog walks, boy do they feel heavy compared to my merrells (still in hiding from the physio), and also - particularly in this unbelievably summery weather - HOT, and I hate having hot feet, so it's with a heavy heart that I look despondently at my merrells whilst lacing up the asics.

my merrells - look like clown
 shoes but I love them

I remember being surprised the first time I started the Plan just how hard I found week 2, after week 1 had seemed such a backwards step compared to what I'd been doing the previous couple of months, so I guess I should be pleasantly surprised that I didn't find it too bad this time round (unlike week 1 that felt significantly harder than I remembered). Saying that, my calves were feeling the strain and possibly plotting a revolt. The run is meant to last 21 mins (actually the plan says 20 mins but it doesn't add up) but, having came up short by 15 seconds on the last running set, I forced myself to put in an extra minute's worth as punishment. And after my, rapidly becoming habitual, post-run sojourn in the field to watch the sunset, I sprinted up Hesketh Mount as a grand finale 

Following day - feeling tired but generally not too bad.

Wednesday 17 July (evening) - 90/120 second run/walk splits

21 mins. 1.74 miles. Avg speed 4.97 mph. Avg pace 12:04 min/mile

After getting home relatively early having taken an impromptu afternoon off to partake in a late lunch and shopping trip, I was left debating whether or not to head out early for a run in what turned out to be the hottest day of the year so far. In the end the decision was taken away from me due to promptly falling asleep the minute I sat down. I've never been a successful power-napper so I woke feeling disorientated and pretty grim, but a glass of cordial and a packet of Rowntree's Randoms sorted me out. Fortunately all this meant that in the end it was pretty late, and hence, relatively cooler before I set off.

Had some pain down the outside of my right achilles pre-run, but that seemed to ease off. Two-thirds of the way through and my legs feel really tired, especially my calves. Trying to adopt the chi-running style of just concentrating on lifting my legs behind me rather than powering along seemed to help a little and I made it through the full set. Saying this, the tiredness and general loss of fitness has left me feeling a little low, and already worried about next week's runs - 3 minutes feeling like an implausible length of time....

Following day - calves feel tired

Added attractions - two squirrels and a steel band

Friday 19 July (late evening) - 90/120 second run/walk splits

21 mins. 1.7 miles. Avg speed 4.85 mph. Avg pace 12:22 min/mile

my "off-road" section - now minus track
but with additional fallen tree and
significantly more shrubbery

Set off in a very low mood, hoping the run would help. Unfortunately this time it didn't and I returned home still wanting to boil my head. I changed the route slightly just so I didn't run the risk of throwing myself in the river out of boredom (even my favourite little "off-road" jaunt down what used to be a light railway couldn't lift my spirits - even with the added challenge of a fallen tree to climb over).

Started the run with slightly tight calves and the now familiar niggling pain in my right achilles, but again this eased off during the run. Tried to concentrate on adopting a chi-running gait throughout and I think it did possibly help in terms of my legs not tiring as quickly.

Following day - sore right achillies when walking barefoot

Nutrition - one midge :-(

Next week - 90/90/180/180 run/walk x2

All systems GO! GO! GO!

Huzzah! 

A month after I find myself laid on my back with my ankle on a complete stranger's shoulder (without so much as the usual glass of wine as a means of introduction), the body-contorting exercises and the ability to swallow my pride (try finding a secluded room to fit in some lunchtime knee-bends - and an exercise which I'm pretty sure was just the physio having a laugh at my expense - when all your offices have floor to ceiling glass walls and overlooked by the desks of what feels like a million colleagues...),  I have been officially sanctioned to start running again! *Insert big smiley face here.

Unfortunately it's not the end of the exercises. Once I can get up to 50 small knee bends, without holding on to a chair for support, and at a significantly slower and more controlled pace than my usual warp speed, then I'm back to the physio to start on some less static exercises. But in the meantime this is where the fun - and I guess the real blog - begins.

As it feels like forever since I ran, and I'm still quite nervous about the ankle, I'm going to start the Couch to 5k Plan again. As the runs are very short and sweet (or should that be sweat), I'm going to clump them into weeks.

And so it begins.....

WEEK 1

Tuesday 9 July (evening) - 60/90 second run/walk splits. 
20 mins. 1.8 miles. Avg speed 5.4 mph. Avg pace 11:06 min/mile

my cute ickle water bottle

At some point during my 5-week running hiatus I seem to have moved to a different hemisphere. 99% of my previous runs were in the dark, rain, wind and snow. Suddenly it's a sweat fest out there! Now I know that by rights I shouldn't need to take water for a 20 minute run but I always get a really dry mouth and throat (I admit I am a mouth breather, I can't seem to stop it. I'm blaming small nostrils). I've previously used a doughnut shaped bottle but the swishing gets annoying and I rarely drink even half of it,  so I grab my brand-spanking-new from the States, water bottle and head out for Kirkstall Abbey.

This feels harder (and slower) than the last time I started the "Plan". Some of it I'm sure is the heat, but also the last time I started I'd been running 6 or 7 weeks already so I assume my fitness level was better. By the time I'm half way through I'm counting down every running set. The good news is that although I feel a bit heady, and my whole body feels generally tired (in fact it's especially good news that it's not just my calves aching), the great news is that I'm not suffering any pain in my right foot or ankle.

One pleasant opportunity the change in weather afforded me, for the first time I could sit post-run in the field and watch the sunset at the Abbey.

Following day - a little sore generally, but otherwise no discernible ill-effects :)
Lessons learned - make sure you know how to operate your sports watch before setting off!

Thursday 11 July (evening) - 60/90 second run/walk splits. 
21mins. 1.83 miles. Avg speed 5.23 mph. Avg pace 11:28 min/mile

Felt a bit easier than Tuesday's run. The weather was also slightly cooler, which helped. Was slightly concerned that my stomach felt unsettled prior to setting out but happily that settled down and was totally forgotten about within a couple of minutes.

Have become aware that occasionally my right knee will hit the left, especially as I start getting tired. But spending the next couple of minutes concentrating on keeping the leg straight seems enough to rectify it for a while.

Following day - feeling good :)

my route round the Abbey

Saturday 13 July (evening) - 60/90 second run/walk splits.
20 mins. 1.71 miles. Avg speed 5.12 mph. Avg pace 11:43 min/mile

The last of the 90/120 second splits and the slowest of the bunch. In my defence, 3 hours earlier I had been sat in a bar finishing off my third white wine spritzer (not sure what this speaks more loudly of, my interest in my date or my infatuation with running). It was hot, it was sweaty, a guy on a motorbike pulled up next to me as I was walking and told me to keep running. He had nice eyes so I attempted what I hoped was a friendly smile but probably looked like the rictus grin of the soon-to-be deceased....

Following day - no physical effects at all, and another plus point.....no hangover - which was good seeing as, for the first time in at least three years, I was out of bed before 9am to go and watch my friend do something much more impressive.....

Scott leading the men's street dance group running the Leeds 10k

Next week - 90/120 second run/walk splits.

From Couch to.................Couch

(Alternative title........My Lazy Arse)

So just how did I make my journey from the relatively comfy Ikea sofa in my lounge, to a physio couch in a small corner of the local rugby academy?

On 29 January I set off on my first run. Without a clue how I was meant to go about this. The only thing I knew was that if I was intending on only going as far as I could run, then I wouldn't need to bother taking my keys as I was going to be back home before the front door could slam behind me. Deciding that this wouldn't be worth the effort of fighting my way into my sports bra, instead I mapped out what seemed a reasonable little route of just shy of 3 miles with the intention of seeing how long it took me to complete it by a mix of running and walking. Which turned out to be 36 minutes.

my usually preferred footwear

It wasn't a pleasant 36 minutes by any stretch of the imagination, that much I remember. However, rather like a lot of traumatic events, my brain seems to have blanked a lot of the memory. The only pain I remember was an ache in my calves during the walking segments that would ease off once I started running. This didn't really come as a surprise, as a veteran stiletto wearer of over 2 decades, who had only recently started wearing more "sensible" footwear I knew of the pain that came with wearing flat shoes. But happily I didn't experience any other pain. This seemed great to me, but with hindsight, what should have been more disconcerting was that post-run I only ever felt any stiffness in my calves, everything else was absolutely pain free.

my run in the snow

Three times a week for three weeks I continued to "run" my 3-mile loop, eventually getting the time down to fractionally under 33 minutes. I'd often get home feeling sick and a bit dizzy, but I was generally enjoying it, particularly the more inclement the weather was. The run that still stands out as being the most fun was during a sudden snow-storm. If you'd seen me slipping and sliding, giggling to myself and sporting a massive grin, you wouldn't have believed you were looking at a girl who only a couple of months earlier nearly burst into tears when faced with traversing a patch of compacted ice on the morning commute. That was also the first run where a proper runner (no man is going to have the stones to wear head-to-toe lycra unless he a)has the body of an adonis, or b)knows he's damn good at whatever he's doing whilst he's wearing it) gave me a nod and a smile as he passed, and I confess it gave me a nice warm feeling of belonging, admittedly to group of people too stupid to realise that a cup of tea and central heating is more sensible option than risking hypothermia or broken limbs (yes ok, I am bigging this up just a little), but still...

However, I didn't have a sense of whether or not I was progressing as I should, or if I was doing what I needed to in order to improve. And to be honest, extreme weather aside, running the same route was getting a little dull, so I decided to cut the route down to a mile, increasing it once I could run the full distance.

I carried on with this for another three weeks but now I didn't seem to be making any improvement at all. Searching the internet for inspiration I found the Couch to 5K Plan, which seemed do-able, and would provide me with an indication of the rate at which I should expect to progress.

Reverting to running in 60-second time slots was frustrating and the constant watch-checking caused a few near-misses with lamposts, hedges and wheelie bins, but the plan seemed to be working and the first time I ran for a full 8 minutes was an epiphany. It felt amazing, and it was also the first time that I really thought that 5k was not an implausible dream. The next run went equally as well and I managed to run for a full 10 minutes (and made that first mile). I finally seemed to be getting somewhere.

Then it all fell apart....

The next run went badly from the start. I struggled to run the first three minutes. And it didn't get any better, eventually, for the first time, I gave up mid-run and walked home. I'd also managed to stand on a twig and jarred my heel, although it hadn't really bothered me at the time.

The next four or five runs hurt. A lot. My right foot hurt, my right achilles felt like it was gripped in a clamp, and my calves increasingly felt like clenched fists, eventually leaving me walking like a character from a Monty Python sketch. Eventually realising (admittedly with help from a friend, and the experience of hobbling round the local park in a fog of disappointed tears, to an audience of picnicking families) that I wasn't going to be able to run off a limp, and I made an appointment with a physio.

the blue really doesn't match with
the rest of my decor

Turns out my body is more like the pupils of your average comprehensive school than the cogs of a well-oiled machine. My calves are the over-eager annoying swots, desperately waving their arms and screaming "me, me" every time the teacher asks for a volunteer. Any bit of exertion and my calves are straight in there, taking the strain, whether they should be or not. My bum is the class hottie, stands around looking pretty, never actually having to do very much because there's plenty of adoring kids around to do their homework for them. My hamstrings are the hottie's little clique, don't do a great deal and can generally be found round the back of the science block having a crafty fag.

Combined with my tendency to tilt my hips to the right, this meant that my calves, in particular my right calf and foot, were taking all the strain of my running, eventually leading up to my right achilles having the tendon equivalent of a nervous breakdown. And the prescription? No running, a variety of exercises in increasingly bizarre positions to align my hips and bum correctly, and some instructions for standing and sitting generally (because despite nearly four decades of practice it turns out I am quite rubbish at it), oh....and throw away my much-loved barefoot trainers (I've hidden them, I'm not giving up on them just yet). Fingers crossed next week will be the week he tells me I can start running again.

So why am I persevering with all this when logic tells me I'm never going to be an olympic runner and it would just be cheaper and easier to give up? Well, initially as well as being a cheap way to stay in shape (my zumba and yoga routine had fallen apart through schedule changes), it was a means of getting out into the countyside. Years holidaying in the Lake District left me with the love of the outdoors but after splitting from the ex I found myself short of adverture companions, and whilst I enjoy walking, I feel strangely conspicuous walking in far-flung places alone - as well as it taking so damn long! With running I wouldn't have to rely on anyone else, the only person who could let me down is me (no trust issues here then!).

But during my brief months of running something changed. Now when I see a nice clear path or trail I start to feel a physical pressure in my chest and stomach - I just want to run. And feed me a bottle of wine and it doesn't matter if it's 1am and I'm wearing a short skirt and ballet pumps, I'm convinced I can run like Zola Budd...