Keeping things nice and easy

Today's post comes courtesy of my new toy, a Treo smartphone. Nothing that helps running, but might get me back on track posting a bit more regularly, as I can compose away from my PC.

As for running, there is finally some good news. Whilst off in Hemel Hempstead last week (I get to go to the most glamorous places) I booked into a hotel with a pretty good gym and managed to get 15 minutes at a 10 minute pace, as agreed with my physio. I don't find treadmills that entertaining, so I was glad I didn't have to run any further. That went very well, and was followed with a nice meal in the restaurant - not bad for an evening away.

I've had a fair amount of calf-grumbling on the right side over the past couple of weeks, possibly as a result of stretching or new pairs of shoes, so I really hope that doesn't turn into something bad as I start up again.

In the meantime, I've reached the end of my main course of physio, with one sports massage remaining to try to sort the calf out and on Tuesday lunchtime just gone, I headed out for my first outdoor run of my new Autumn program. The plan is to keep to 15 minutes running until it is comfortable, with no recurring heel or calf pain before increasing the time and distance. Nice and easy while my tendons and bones get used to the pounding again.

As with the treadmill, this run was in 5:1 run:walk intervals. Mr Garmin had forgotten where he was after being switched off for so long, so no pace or distance recorded, but probably a nice easy 10 minute mile pace over a total 1.7 miles.

It's a start.

All being well, I'll run again tomorrow, although it's my daughter's 4th birthday party in the early afternoon, which might throw the whole day's plans out. We'll see.

Mr Stumble.

Permission to run.

As instructed, I arrived at this weeks physio session 15 minutes early so I could get 15 minutes warming up on an exercise bike before hitting the treadmill. The exercise bike is more of a recumbent device, than a sit-up-and-cycle, and I had a good 20 minutes of peddling and stretching before we were ready to go.

The treadmill is a monstrous thing, and I think it gets used by some of our local soccer team who, from the "wall of fame" in the gym, frequent this place to get back into playing form. Can't be a bad place then. Once established at 6mph I asked if the machine went up to "11" - recalling Spinal Tap's amplifiers. It does in fact go up to 15 and there have been people on the machine for whom even that has not been fast enough.

6 is fine for me though.

The running session was simply to gauge any running pain in my foot, and thankfully there is non there. However, my right calf felt very tense from the start, in the same sort of way that my left calf used to do when it was warning me. After 6 or 7 minutes of mixed walk/running, we headed off to take a look at the calf and continue the ankle tendon treatment.

There is a load of bunched up muscle tension in my right calf, so she had a good dig in there to try to loosen things up, and a couple of days on, I do think it has helped.

But the best bit is that I'm OK to begin running again, with certain boundaries - a very slow start - a good warm up and no more than 15 minutes for the moment.

With a busy travelling week ahead of me, I'm hoping the hotel I'm booked into for the next couple of nights has a gym and treadmill, otherwise running might be difficult.

We'll see.

Mr Stumble.

A light, I see a light!

It's been a very long 2 weeks working, which has made it difficult to keep up with normal family life, let alone this little journal. However, there has been a change of pace from about 9am Monday morning (yesterday) and I'm back to normal ... well … normal running isn't quite the proper phrase, but you know what I mean.

I missed one physio session last week as I was suddenly at the wrong end of the country, but have otherwise tried my best to keep up with stretching, icing and keeping kind-of active.

Yesterday, I had another appointment with my original physio, now back off her holiday, and her assessment is that it's about time we had a look at how the mechanics are all coming together, with a treadmill session on Friday - there being a mini gym within the centre I'm going to.

So I'm looking forward to a 15 minute warm up on a cycling machine followed by ... some running on a machine!

This isn't to say I haven't run at all for the best part of 10 weeks. In fact, this morning our local railway station had a bit of a problem with its automated ticket issuing machine - locally referred to as Daleks (see Wikipedia for that one, if you're outside UK!) – which delayed my obtaining a ticket and gave me 90 seconds to get down the length of a platform, onto a bridge, over 4 platforms and down again - before the train left. I made it and even that little jog felt good!

Hopefully, the result will be I'll start up again, perhaps this coming weekend at a suitable rate to-be-determined. I'm thinking 5:1 run:walk as a starting point and perhaps even time limiting to 20 minutes for the first week. I don't want to go out too fast again and I so hope I can put all the silly injury behind me.

Hope all going well for you out there.

Mr Stumble