Rector's Wife Revamp

Hiding from y'all - and from myself

2011-07-22T10:17:00.005+01:00

Thank you to Thirkellgirl for caring enough to ask how things are going. My prolonged absence gives you the answer: not well.

My 'mindful eating', CBT approach worked beautifully for several months (not just a few days or weeks). I shed around ten pounds between August and Christmas of last year. It remained static for the next few months, and then it was Eastertide again.

What is it about Easter? No, it's not the eggs, before you ask! Maybe it's the fact that the run-up to Holy Week, in a clerical household, is obviously frantic; perhaps it's the collapse-on-holiday that follows it each year; but it must be something more, as looking back over nearly three decades of struggle, every single time that things have gone horribly wrong once more, it's always been then. I have "got it sorted" with food, exercise, self-esteem and the rest; the effects have lasted anything from six months to two years; but the point of collapse has, somehow, always been that wretched moveable feast.

This year, we completed directing a show (wonderful, successful, a joy to work on) at our local theatre, at the end of February - but I jumped straight into rehearsing (or nearly immediately) for another one. My business activities (happily) moved up a gear. I travelled around the country, for business and pleasure. I didn't make it to the gym once in literally months. Even my regular walks-around-the-village ceased. Busy, busy, busy; excuses, excuses, excuses.

Tomorrow is the final performance of the present show (The Merry Wives of Windsor). I've been playing Mistress Page: lovely show, great part, excellent cast, huge fun. However, I have to 'fess up and say that it's been the worst time possible for self-image.

Tudor costume is not kind to many of us (a bum roll? Somebody of my figure does NOT need extra girth added...); and, because one is limited to what is available in the company's wardrobe, I've ended up in a costume that I hate. The colour, the fit, are all totally wrong. The wardrobe ladies have done their best, but they are working with unpromising material. It doesn't help that I'm back to my largest size, my nearly-a-sixteen once more; but in this get-up I look more like a twenty. When I comment on Falstaff's size ("There's no woman's gown big enough for him", the audience invariably laughs, and I am quite certain it's because they are thinking "well, yours is"). To be fair to myself, the front of the dress sits at least a couple of inches proud of my body, which makes me look even more enormous.

I am gritting my teeth and publishing a photograph here: it's about the worst image of myself ever, but it illustrates the problem. (I'm on the right, obviously: my fellow Wife, Chris, is a size-12 yoga teacher, so copes much better than I do with the fashions of the time.)

So I've spent the last couple of weeks making people laugh while I wander round the stage looking like a barge in full sail. I try to wear something more flattering to change into when I see my friends after the performance, but even that is a tough call at the moment, given the general flabbiness. My face (always the first place to show weight) is moon-like, and this is not helped by the Elizabethan requirement for hair-under-hat for married women; having a small head on a large body is even more unflattering.

All this puts me in the worst possible place. It should drive and motivate me to improvement, but right now I am so tired and defeated, and worn out by the effort of continually playing (a) the clown as my part requires, and (b) the strong woman as my life requires, that I can't find the strength.

Once the show comes down tomorrow, I have a few days to catch up; then a week with beloved friends visiting us; then a week's blessed break in a little self-catering place in Normandy. Finally, time to stop and think. And focus on myself once more.

I hope that, after that, I can respond to Thirkellgirl's kind enquiry "How's it going?" with "Brilliant, thank you".

Still on track

2010-10-11T21:56:00.003+01:00

I've been managing one pound each week so far.

Weighed myself this morning: still on track. Six weeks, six pounds exactly.

Not on a diet. Mindful eating.

Start: 171 lb.

Today: 165 lb.

Delighted.

Two books, one very useful chap

2010-10-09T15:11:00.003+01:00

Another strand of notable help I've received during the last few weeks.

In browsing around for more help on plantar fasciitis, I came across this book:

As the reviews point out, the book is quite small in content for something relatively expensive. However, in terms of the simplicity of explanation and scientific backup, it's well worth it. I like Jim Johnson's style: treats you as an intelligent individual, while at the same time assuming you have minimum knowledge about the subject.

I've been doing the prescribed stretches for the last few weeks. While it certainly hasn't cured it, there is no doubt but that it helps considerably with the pain I usually have first thing in the morning, and who knows? - if I continue, it may in the long run ease matters.

I looked further into the books written by this chap. I found this:

Another pretty diddy little book (although less expensive); but it says all that needs to be said. Concise, intelligent, practical and sensible. There's little here I didn't know in some form already, but seeing it so clearly and rationally expressed is reassuring and encouraging. Put simply, it strips away all the nonsense put about by most 'diets' to the very simple matter: calories in and calories out, via controlled eating, sensible nutrition and achievable exercise, are the only possible routes to weight-loss. We might not like the fact that there is no magic wand, but that's the way it is.

Using some of the wise advice in both these little books, coupled with my sessions with Jason and the other related matters in my last post, there is no reason at all why I can't return my weight and shape to the way I would like it to be.

The results so far

2010-10-07T19:23:00.000+01:00

And what difference has all this made?

30th August: weight 171 lb (12-3). BP 137/106. 42"-37"-44"*

6th October: weight 166 lb (11-12). BP 117/88. 42"-36.5"-43"*

* (bust-waist-hips)

Five pounds down. One pound each week. Feeling better. Quiet. Managing. Not panicking.

I still miss my running dreadfully. But this hasn't really, in the end, been about that. It's been about unpicking some truly ridiculous behaviours and self-image which have been with me for forty-seven years, and finally addressing them in a way that is appropriate, healthy and right for me.

I always knew the value of NLP and cognitive behavioural therapy. But I haven't experienced it in such a specific and powerful way before.

Thanks to Jason, Clare, my darling husband, Kim, and all the friends and fellow fitness enthusiasts that have continued to put up with me.

Stay with me.

Exercise

2010-10-07T19:22:00.004+01:00

I've been managing an average of two gym sessions each week, usually with Kim. However, I've also been walking, usually with my husband, round the village - we have four different routes. This usually happens about 3-4 times each week; each route is an average of 1.6 to 1.7 miles. Sometimes it's been grim weather, but occasionally we've been treated to some completely wonderful scenes around the Norfolk countryside, which lifts the spirits as well as the heartrate.

My foot still hurts. That's why I'm still not running. It's no more than mildly uncomfortable while I'm walking, but on my return it's generally unpleasant. But frankly, if it's going to hurt anyway (and it usually does), I might just as well get in whatever exercise I can.

... next post ...

Food

2010-10-07T19:00:00.000+01:00

So how am I doing? Over the last five weeks:

For several evenings in a row, my one glass of wine with my evening meal would be left half-drunk. My husband has now started pouring me a half-glass, and I'm quite happy with this. I can always have some more if I want it.
I'm eating much, much more slowly. Most of the time, eating at home, yes, I usually do clear my plate still; but it takes much longer. Sometimes I'll leave some and come back to it ten minutes later.
More than once in restaurants recently I have been faced with far more food than I want (or would have served myself) and have left the extra. [Just today, eating in a pub, I decided to treat myself to one of my favourites - an Eton Mess - and managed about three spoonfuls of the creamy concoction before I gave up and left it.]
I've attended three different social or networking events where cakes were provided, and I haven't had one. These aren't just ordinary cake, but extremely delicious looking home-baked cupcakes or chocolate brownies. Anyone who knows me will realise that this last, particularly, is enough to prompt the question "Are you quite alright?".

... next post ...

Hypnotherapy

2010-10-07T18:58:00.006+01:00

Jason mentioned on his website the technique of a 'virtual gastric band'. I knew instantly that this approach was not for me. I have real trouble coping with the idea of anybody having such an invasive surgical procedure except in cases of really desperate medical emergency; I would never countenance such a thing for somebody like myself, who is in no sense obese (although may psychologically feel that way at times). So to have hypnotherapy to make me think this procedure had been done ran counter to all my requirements for myself. What I wanted was a greater sense of strength and purpose for myself, my health, my lifestyle; a more realistic approach to who I am and who I could be.

Much to my relief, Jason completely understood this, and was perfectly happy to work with my particular view of the universe. We have had three sessions; my final one in the series is booked for this coming Saturday.

During this time, we've used a combination of hypnotherapy and NLP (NeuroLinguistic Programming) techniques to address some of the unwanted behaviours I've been struggling with for so long. The primary issues we've worked on have been

my use of food to represent sharing, giving, community
my inability to leave food & drink when I don't want any more
my view of my own body

The last one was particularly interesting. I realised, during one conversation, that my view of my physical body was precisely the same now - weighing around twelve stone - as it was when I was eighteen years old, weighing three stone less. Which is perfectly ridiculous. My self image was identical thirty years ago to what it is now: overweight-clown-make-'em-laugh-big-tits. I always wanted to be elegant, poised, glamorous. I wanted to be like Helen Mirren, and I felt more like Barbara Windsor.

... next post ...

I'm still here

2010-10-07T18:30:00.006+01:00

I know it's been months since I wrote. That's because I had very little to report. Now; a little. But it is progress.

In that last couple of updates, last spring, I was taking comfort from the support of various friends, and that helped a lot. However, I didn't get any further with getting my head back into the right place; nor my body.

The steroid injection on my foot didn't have any lasting effect; maybe because (as I've read) the Plantar Fasciitis is more to do with damage than with inflammation, so it did no more good than an overdose of painkiller; maybe as a result of the onstage running around that I was doing in the farce I was acting in at the time (up and down stairs, across the stage, round the gallery - dear me. In heels. Not in trainers. Painful). Either way, we're now two years on from when it began, and I'm no better off than when it started.

I much enjoyed a yoga session with the beautiful Barbara Ives - and was planning to attend one of her classes; I then sustained a really nasty strain to my calf during the aforementioned play, and the class didn't happen. The rehearsals took up loads of time. We went on holiday. And so on, and so on.

We had a wonderful holiday in July/August, followed by a brief visit to some friends in the Midlands. Both wonderful experiences. However, the photographs of me on both occasions sent me back into the deepest state of panic.

OK, sitting next to one of my slimmest friends in the first photo wasn't a bright move; and the really short haircut in the second one was a bad mistake. But it wasn't good. I could have done without that many 'before' photos in one hit.

I returned from holiday at my heaviest ever: 12 stone 3. That's 171 lb. As is usually the case, took a few sessions back at the gym; panicked; tried cutting the food down; panicked some more.

***

I read a posting on FaceBook from a friend and local business colleague, Claire Bunton (who specialises in the appearance: she is an image consultant). Claire mentioned her recent very positive work on weight loss with a hypnotherapist: Jason Edwards. I read his website, including all the commentary about NLP techniques (which I've done some training in myself in the past). I was intrigued.

We had been lucky enough to have a small financial windfall over the summer (which paid for new glasses for my husband, among other things) and said husband was happy for me to invest a little more of it in this possibility. So off I went.

... next post ...

Lots to think about

2010-05-01T17:34:00.003+01:00

That last post was written in a fit of the serious poor-mes. I was hugely touched and encouraged by the beautiful responses I had, on this blog, on Facebook and by email, from several people - both dear friends and complete strangers - and it gave me lots of food for thought.

The important conclusion to come out of this is not about whether or not I need to lose a little weight. I know that I do. At twelve stone, I'm mercifully not obese, but I am definitely overweight - from a medical, healthy point of view, it's too much weight for a woman of 5'5". I'm carrying around some twenty pounds' excess strain on the heart, the back and all other bits of my anatomy. My blood pressure isn't yet dangerously high, but it's high enough for the nurse to call me back for an extra check and to caution me that she's not happy with it.

The actual numbers in my clothes sizes aren't that meaningful (let's face it, when I'm a size 14 in M&S, I'm a 12 in East and an Extra Large in Zara); but when I'm on the 12-14 racks, the whole bod feels better able to carry out its daily routine efficiently. And efficiency has always been important to me.

When, back in the summer of 2007, I had settled at roughly 10 stone 7, I was genuinely happy with my body, probably for the first time in my life - especially as it had been achieved by very little "dieting" and a lot of exercise, so was actually in far better shape than when I'd been even lighter in the past.

The trouble is that I was so thrilled to be bien dans ma peau, as the French so eloquently put it, that in my mind it meant that a very specific equation was formed: namely, ten-stone-seven = the right weight for me = attractive. Logically, therefore, twelve-stone = too heavy for me = unattractive.

The fear of getting dressed in the morning (faced with a wardrobe that is 75% useless) means that I might do two hours' work at the desk in my towelling robe before getting as far as the shower, unable to face the body and the wardrobe. I am likely to have a panic attack when "getting dressed up" because I'm limited to the two pairs of black trousers and one pair of jeans that I can wear with any comfort. And because my eighteen months in "the right place" was so happy, I had worked on the basis that I'd no longer need the 14-to-16 range... ach, we've all been there.

So where does this get me now? Trying, very hard, to think clearly. It is possible for me to be attractive at my present weight and size; it's just a different kind of sexy. It's not a place I especially want to stay, purely for reasons of health, but it will do, and is not by definition a place of ugliness. Wow - there's a concept.

So I've been to the gym twice this week, used the exercise bike three times, and been trying to eat sensibly. I'll have my steroid injection on Thursday, and see where it gets me. And I'll believe my lovely husband, and my dear friends, and those complete strangers who care enough to take time to send me good thoughts and best wishes. My thanks and love to them all.

***

I was supposed to be running the Norwich Race for Life today. My foot has been so bad that I can barely walk on it at the moment, much less run. What did I do instead? I went to see my lovely friend Kayla for a long-overdue waxing session (ouch) and back massage & facial (wonderful). A bit ironic, really, but I suppose I can live with that.

In the meantime, I am so proud of those friends of mine who have run or will run this race in aid of cancer research: Kinga, Tracy, Linda and my lovely friend Kim. I hope to be back with you next year.

Not good

2010-04-25T19:59:00.002+01:00

I thought a bit of determination was going to help. I really did enjoy that Sports Mile. But (who knows why: wrong shoes? not enough training?) the heel took a turn for the worse afterwards. For the last month, instead of just being uncomfortable first thing and after a long walk or running attempt, it's hardly stopped hurting at all, with the result that I feel crocked and old.

I have done a few gym sessions, a few walk-runs; and then I went out with Kim and another friend of hers, Jan, for a walk-run. Lovely route, mostly on soft but even forest floor; lots of pauses to stretch; probably about 25% walking, rest running, but certainly not fast. I spent most of the session in some pain; by the time I drove home, I was literally in tears: both from the frustration of being unable to enjoy such a beautiful evening and an activity I loved, and from the pain of it.

That was a week ago, and I think I've got to admit that the Race for Life is just not going to happen. Running through pain, putting up with muscle aches, all that's fine; but this is more than that, and a really intense pain that isn't going away.

I've finally been to the doctor and booked to have a steroid injection on 6th May. I'm not looking forward to it; I've been warned that it will hurt, and that it may not even work; but I don't know what else to do.

To add insult to injury, this morning I weighed in at 12 stone exactly - the heaviest I've ever been in my life, and one pound above my starting weight back in 2007. I have three pairs of trousers that fit me; 75% of my wardrobe (at least) is unusable. I am fighting hard, the whole time, not to disappear into a black depression, because it's affecting every part of my life, and I am not a good person to be with right now.

I hope the injection works. Otherwise I just don't know what to do. And of course, as that physical feel-good factor is no longer possible, what's the replacement? Food, of course.

I am deeply ashamed and sorry for the lack of inspiration, as I was so proud of what I achieved, but right now I feel worthless and deeply unattractive. I just hope I find a way out of it.

Chuffed to bits

2010-03-21T19:25:00.006Z

Sport Mile this morning with Kim. First problem was that I had to use my old trainers - as the usual ones were in my gym kit, which I'd left in the car last night, and the car had gone off with my husband when he left to do the Sunday services!!

A glorious spring day, perfect conditions. Lots of folk there, so very slow at times, but a lovely atmosphere. I used my Runkeeper software on the iPhone (as the sensor for the Nike+ was on on the trainers in the car...) and was at first disappointed that the "mile" seemed to be only 0.77 of a mile. However, on arrival home I checked, and by comparing it with the official map, it was clear that the satnav signal had been lost from time to time, resulting in corner-cutting of the route - that is, the iPhone cutting corners, not me! So it turned out to be 0.98 miles in 10:35, which given how little training I've done recently was not half bad. And although some bits were very slow, this was mostly because of the large crowds - good to know I could have gone a little faster! (said the whiting to the snail...)

The really annoying part was that the only thing stopping me continuing to do at least one further mile-lap was the heel. While the leg muscles ached a bit, I could happily have run further, if it weren't that the plantar fasciitis in the heel was quite sharp by the end of that mile, and painful for the rest of the day. So I'm definitely going to contact the doctor for information about a cortisone injection to see if that helps. I so want to have a really good run, and to be able to do a proper job in the Race for Life; and today's run reminded me just how much I had enjoyed it.

The girls are back in town.

A mile tomorrow

2010-03-20T19:24:00.002Z

Foot better today (but still sore; will go see doctor, running shop etc. next week). However, will run the Sport Relief mile tomorrow morning.

If anybody fancies sponsoring me in this, my first run for 18 months, please click here. Sport Relief deserves it.

Triumph & tribulation

2010-03-19T10:30:00.003Z

Last night, Kim & I went for a warmup at the gym, then along our favoured route between the Longwater and Bowthorpe roundabouts (exactly 1.5 miles each way). We successfully managed to run the first leg, and were very pleased. However, my heel was really sore by the end of it, so we walked back again.

Not a bad result: a pace of just under 12 minutes in the running (17'57" for the 1.5 miles), and obviously much slower (28'31") for the walk back. But I'm now concerned at just how sore the heel is feeling. I thought the plantar fasciitis had begun to leave me alone - and after 18 months, it would be about time - but this morning I can barely walk on it, despite painkillers & ice last night. I am still not at all sure whether the orthotics are causing more problems than they are solving; do I need new trainers; should I give in and have a steroid jab...

Will do my best with the Sport Relief Mile - it's only a mile, for heaven's sake! - on Sunday; but am trying very hard not to be depressed right now. No fair.

The first running mile for months

2010-03-13T11:30:00.004Z

... or nearly a mile, anyway. 0.92 of a mile, from my front door to our first pausing point.

Kim & I went out for a run-walk this morning. Lovely spring day, snowdrops all over the place, sun came out towards the end. Down the usual route to Morton, a brief pause to admire the snowdrops, then on down to the exit from the far end of the estate. Back again, through the woods and home again.

That first leg was all running - and for the most part, according to the Nike+, at a pace that wasn't too far over a ten minute mile and occasionally a bit faster. We then ran and walked alternate bits all the way back to the Rectory, giving us a total mileage (slightly under the Nike+ calculation of 2.86) of 2.72 miles in 34'16". Given that we'd done several stretches of walking, the average pace of just over 12:30 wasn't too bad.

Kim always did bully me out of the frame of mind that said I can't do this. Thankfully. Love her for it.

Now I know that I'll be able to run a mile on Sunday week!

Back to the gym

2010-03-11T22:21:00.003Z

I haven't had a gym workout since before the play - so about a month. During the "worst of times" - the last 18 months when my running has gone to pot because of injury - I've at least managed to keep visiting the gym; spasmodically, but on average weekly. Once the running is back up to speed - as it were - I'm happiest when I can run 2 or 3 times each week, and get to the gym for machine and weight work just once.

Tonight, with Kim, it was around 45 minutes ' cv on the bike, cross-trainer and stepper, plus about 20 minutes on weights machines. Flexibility of legs awful at the moment, and legs generally very tired (probably because all this week's exercise has been working them), but not a bad session overall.

But I'll be glad when I can look in those ruddy mirrors again without a shudder.

Just a walk

2010-03-09T17:23:00.003Z

... but as I went to the postbox first (so an extra 0.4 miles in the opposite direction and back), it was at least 2.23 miles and 36 minutes "in oxygen", as they say.

Cold, grey day. Beautiful snowdrops in the woods at Morton.

I got out

2010-03-08T18:42:00.003Z

Telling myself that I'd just walk my usual 1.75 miles, but as fast as possible, I put on the sports bra under the warm clothes (just in case) and off I went. Very late in the day (nearly 6pm) - I should've gone out two hours earlier - but just made it in the light.

My first reward for going out was a fantastic mackerel sky that I otherwise wouldn't have seen. Of course, the real camera would have done a much better job than the iPhone, but hey.

My second reward was to manage to break into a run, twice, which was (according to the iPhone Nike+ utility - sorry, I'm a geek) a sub-10 minute pace, even if it was only for a couple of minutes. The rest of the walk averaged out at around a 15 minute mile, which was fair enough.

I've committed to running just one mile for Sport Relief in a fortnight's time. I've been too embarrassed to ask for sponsorship so far, and ditto the Race for Life 5K in May, which I've also entered. However, if I can make it down to Morton Hall in one hit in the next thirteen days, never mind back again, then the first one is covered without too much loss of dignity. And then - well, who knows? Back in 2007, I went from zero to a 5K in exactly the same period of time (in fact, less - my first ever run was made on 24th March for a RfL at the same weekend as this one will be). So I can do it again.

Good week

2010-02-13T11:31:00.003Z

Having managed three gym sessions during this last week - one very brief (only 30 mins, but hey, it's better than nothing) before a rehearsal, and two decent-length workouts with Kim (about 50 mins + stretches in each case), the two of us got out for a run-walk today, together, for the first time in forever.

Genuine reason for only running (and that very slowly) part of the route was that all the recent snow / sleet / hail have left the roads, in places, treacherous, and turning ankle during get-back-to-running time didn't seem wise; but coming up through the woods at Morton Hall, rather than up the drive, the sheltered and leaf-covered paths were actually much easier to run on - no ice! Yes, tough going and wobbly legs; yes, we probably only ran about three-quarters of a mile out of the total of just under 2 miles; but good. Very good. No idea how long it took; was more interested in getting it done than timing it. Having bought a new sensor for the Nike+ kit I'll start monitoring it again soon.

I made our entries for the 2010 Race for Life this week, and was rather deflated when looking for a running photo of myself for the sponsorship page: depressing to see how different I look now. However, I've done it before so I can do it again.

NB: left heel (plantar fasciitis) hurts like the devil right now, but it didn't while we were running. That job went to the under-used thighs and calves.

Hang on in there with me.

peeking over the parapet

2010-01-20T17:03:00.003Z

I had a real hissy fit the other day.

As you can see, if you're really interested, from earlier entries, my fitness journey went in waves. Having spent around 44 years messing around with dieting but little exercise, in January 2007 I finally cracked it, and got a PT; six weeks later, I started running; and for eighteen months, life was good. A couple of minor injuries were overcome, I always got back in the swing of things, and the lost 20lb or so stayed off.

Plantar fasciitis kicked in during the autumn of 2008, and wrecked everything. And yes, I guess I let it. But it hurt. Lots. And that feeling of freedom, of running without ouch-ouch-ouch, which I found just occasionally, was lost. And I panicked. And the weight went back on. And so on, and so on.

Let's be fair to self: the weight didn't quite all go back on - it was all bar about 4lb. Given that in any previous existence I'd have leapfrogged over my previous heaviest weight, I guess I can put this down to the fact that I've at least managed one gym session per week, on average, during that fifteen months or so since I was running regularly. I've managed to stay within a size 14, rather than giving in to the sixteens again - but oh, the twelves were so much better.

So the hissy fit? Well, I'm in a play right now - rehearsing for a production of Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean at the Sewell Barn Theatre in Norwich, last two weeks in February. My character is Sissy - who, if you've ever seen the 1970s film, was the part played by Cher. I don't have her waistline, hair, eyes or money, but I sure as hell have the tits - and always will do, no matter what my weight.

Well, we had publicity photos taken the other night. I need a wig (my own hair is much too short for the period) and the only one they could source for the occasion looked awful - more width on my face I really do not need. And when I saw myself next to the actresses playing Mona (dainty, petite) and the younger versions of Mona & Sissy (gorgeous teenagers) on the screen on the back of the digital camera, my heart sank. Elephantine was not the word. Well, it was, actually.

I got home, and found an comment awaiting moderation: from the lovely gymbunny21, asking ever so nicely where my updates were, and saying how much she'd enjoyed this blog in the past. She's lost two stone - good on you, girl. She's just started her blog, and is newly motivated. Had I kept my weight off, was I still running?

Well, I just sat down and howled. I'd been ignoring the blog, ignoring the scales, and trying not to remember how good it used to make me feel, because I felt so ashamed. And here was a complete stranger caring what had happened to me.

So here we are again. I tried to run back in April last year - and gave up after a couple of tries; and again in August - ditto. Now the Race for Life 5K beckons once more. The heel might hurt still, but when I said to my darling friend and erstwhile PT, Kim, "I can walk for about half an hour before it starts to hurt" she wisely pointed out that if I could walk, then I could run for that time, too. The resting hasn't helped it, as far as I can tell, so I may as well put up with the discomfort.

And if I can get back to one or two runs plus one or two gym sessions per week, I know that those twenty pounds will be behind me. (No, I don't mean on my arse.)

I have just turned 47. I don't want to get any nearer fifty with the same image problems as I've had virtually all my life. So... here we go again.

I have just got back from a walk-run. My old, favourite route, down to Morton Hall: 1.75 miles round trip, flat-ish (this is Norfolk, after all) but a few undulating bits that make it slightly harder work on the way back. 200 steps walking and 200 running on the way there; the same on the way back but alternating every 100 steps. CV: not too bad. Leg muscles: despite gym sessions, clearly wondering what the heck I'm up to. Heel: not actually painful, but clearly something is still out of kilter. Not sure how much of that is psychological. Don't know how long it took me, I forgot to time it, but I think it was around about 22 minutes - so at least a bit faster than a straight walk would have been.

Weight: 11 stone 10 lb. Weeks till RfL: just over 15.

Thank you, Kim. Thank you, husband. And thank you, gymbunny, for the kick up the substantial arse that I needed.

Try again

2009-08-16T20:11:00.003+01:00

My last attempt at a run was back in April. I have, to be fair, done a few reasonable gym sessions in the interim, some alone and some with Kim, but by no means enough to make up for the lack of running.

It was (and still is) the plantar fasciitis, which has not gone away and still plagues me daily; it makes me feel old and unfit and frightened.

My weight has gone back up to 11-7 (14lb up on my best maintained weight of 10-7), about 80% of my wardrobe doesn't fit any longer, and I'm deeply depressed about myself. A lovely holiday in France had some very dodgy moments when I gave way to fits of the poor-mes, and I can't let this go on any longer.

During four days' catching up on paperwork and laundry post-holiday, I went to the gym on Friday and managed 45 minutes' CV on various machines, plus about 15 minutes' weights. Today, I took the bull by the horns and went for a walk-run. Remembering my desperation the last time I tried to run it, I took my self right back to the level I worked at when I first began running in March 2007, and deliberately ran for two minutes, walked for 2-3 minutes, for the whole route (1.75 miles). A pathetic 13 minute pace, but as more than half of it was walking, I suppose that's fair enough. Oddly, the heel doesn't hurt at all, but the unfit leg muscles knew all about it! And, of course, terrible CV.

But it was a good thing to do, and it's the best I've felt about myself for ages. If I never run further than 5K, or faster than a ten minute mile, ever again, I honestly won't mind - as long as I can get back to doing around 5-7 miles a week, which is what helped me to become the person I want to be again.

Oh, dear

2009-04-14T17:47:00.004+01:00

That was much worse than last time.

OK, I've been getting rather hay-fever-y, and so my breathing was all over the show; and I shouldn't have left it two weeks since the last try; but oh, dear.

At my best, I was doing the whole 1.75 miles in one hit. Sometimes, it was with a pause at the halfway mark. Last time, I stopped at halfway and then at the top of the drive before the last half-mile. This time, I stopped three times - before finally giving up and walking the last half-mile. Everything now aches.

I find it hard to believe I ever did this for real.

How does it feel today?

2009-04-02T11:56:00.002+01:00

Interestingly, heel not too bad - or at least, no worse than it usually is first thing in the morning. Worst aches are front and back of both thighs. No surprises there.

Next job: get the exercise bike that I've just inherited from a decluttering client in its place, tried out and used!

The first run in six months

2009-04-01T20:29:00.005+01:00

What struck me this evening was that when I'd made the decision to go out, and put on the gear, I was aware of feeling excited about the prospect - in a way that a visit to the gym, or getting out the Wii, has never managed to do.

So... I did it. The old favourite route to Morton Hall and back, past quiet fields and confused cows, a pinprick of red sunset through the trees. Cool after a beautifully warm day.

The way there always was easier - it's mostly downhill. Did that in one hit, but stopped at the top of the long drive on the way back. The final stretch was very hard work. Kept going; managed 1.75 miles in a total of exactly 19 minutes' running time (10:51 pace); breathing extremely heavy by the end.

The breathing was ragged. The muscles in the front of the thighs ache. I was pretty wobbly on my return.

But I did it. And I had missed it so, so badly.

Oh, and if you're wondering where the blonde has gone... the hair has been coloured for The Play. The blonde will be back in a few weeks' time!

Six months on... an honest retrospective

2009-04-01T19:30:00.002+01:00

... so what happened?

During August 2008, I was triumphant. I'd kept a moderate amount of training during our three-week holiday in France; managed to break into a sub-10 minute mile in training; achieved a 31:45 PB in a 5K race - a pace of not too far over the 10 minutes; I was loving what I was doing.

September wasn't so good. I was very preoccupied with helping my parents with their house-move from London to Norfolk - as they'd never moved house before, I took care of all the details - solicitors, builders and the like - and they stayed with us for the 7 weeks until their place was ready. Not surprisingly, the training regime went to pot - not their fault, mine - but it meant that when I reached the Sandringham 10K at the end of September, I simply wasn't ready.

In hindsight, I shouldn't have run it; I should have admitted to being ill-prepared. It wasn't fun; it hurt; I felt unfit and out of sorts. I raised my money for Cancer Research again, and didn't let my sponsors down, and was very glad for that; but physically it was a disaster.

I went out for a run with Kim a few days after the race. Tired and fed up for various other reasons, and feeling out of sorts, I had what was effectively a panic attack in the gym during our warmup, and our attempted run had to be curtailed after less than two miles (out of an intended three).

Two days later, I was in London on my usual business trip. I took a long walk to the tube station via some shops on my way home, when I became aware that my left heel was suddenly, intensely, painful. I had no idea why. The pain came and went - but mostly came - across the next few days. I read up, I visited the doctor. It eventually turned out to be plantar fasciitis.

The rot set in. I managed some gym sessions, going in fits and starts; if I did 3 sessions in a week, I felt fine; the weeks when I did nothing, I felt lousy. No surprise that my weight went up. I rested the foot, had massages, stretched it, sat rolling a tennis ball under it while working at the PC, all to no avail. Our January holiday was a few days' sightseeing in Brussels, and I found that more than a couple of hours' bimbling around was enough to crock me - I found myself hobbling like an old woman.

For the last few weeks, I've at least got myself back on some sort of track using the gym. I've been rehearsing for a play (more about that later) and, on most weekday rehearsal evenings, manage to get to the gym before driving into Norwich, doing usually about 40 minutes' CV and the occasional weights. My weight had soared dangerously close to its previous high (having started in January 2007 at 167 lb, got down to around 147-149, then finding myself back at 163 was too horrible to admit). Going back to buying size 14s wasn't great, either. I've managed so far to get back down to 159, so feel that I am back on track.

However, the plantar fasciitis still seems to be with me. Fine most of the time; a bit tired after standing for any length of time (an hour's ironing, two hours' rehearsal); very painful after much walking. Nothing much seems to shift it.

Today, I lost my temper with it, and with myself. It was exactly four years to the day since we'd moved to Norfolk, and today as then, it was a stunningly beautiful, warm, sunny spring day. I was in Norwich, first for a business meeting and then to do some shopping, and as I drove home, I thought I am not putting up with this any more. I'd been due to go to the gym with Kim tonight, but she wasn't able to join me; and that did it. I was going to run again.

So I did.

First 10K

2008-09-28T17:52:00.009+01:00

Run10K 2008

(click on the image to see the whole album on Picasa)

This had been planned for months. However, the training in the last six weeks had been pathetically low - two gym sessions and three runs. That's all. To be fair, this can be blamed on a combination of parents' move to Norfolk (going well), large amounts of work (great for finance, lousy for training), and insanely bad weather earlier in the month. But by the time the Cancer Research Run10K event arrived, I was deeply depressed about my lack of preparation.

In the event, it could have been much worse. To begin with, this was not an easy course. Sandringham - yes, the Royal homestead - is very beautiful, but the route was (a) surprisingly hilly in places and (b) much of it was coming close to cross-country in the amount of grassy, uneven ground and stony, tree-root riddled paths. The continuous concentration to avoid a turned ankle meant that I was even tenser than I would have been, and not surprisingly, this messed me up big time.

My dear friend Kim kept with me throughout - she'd have got a much better time if she'd done it at her own pace - and we went across the line holding hands. She would nag me, get me to breathe deeper, and at times when I felt I would never finish it she ensured that I did.

As it was, I completed the route in 1:16:0, which at 12:13 was still faster than my pace at my first 5K in May 2007 (12:32). Given that I had to take a few brief walking breaks - ranging from a few steps to a minute or so - this means that my overall pace when running was probably at least sub-11 minute, which given the out-of-training, the course and (as I discovered at the end of the race) the spectacular blisters - one on each big toe - wasn't as bad as it might have been.

It's brought me up short, though. I dreamed a night or two back that I was running easy, without pain anywhere. That's what I want. It's also what I did achieve last year, and even occasionally during this year when I've managed more than two sessions per week.

Most of this race was, in fact, without any specific pains - the discomfort from the blisters only really kicked in during the last 2K. No particular pains in hips, back, hams or anywhere else: just those leaden legs that made me feel I couldn't take another step walking, never mind running. Now, of course, I also have sore ankles because the blisters are causing me to stand awkwardly, but that will sort itself out before too long.

I'm also fairly fed up to look at the photos above, and to know clearly that I simply don't look as toned here as I did even during my first R4L. My weight is almost identical - I was 150 then, 151 today (3 lighter than on my return from holiday) - but the last few weeks of less workouts mean that I just don't look fit. And having once achieved it, I hate to backslide. (Although in my defence, boobs like mine crowned with a race number will always give a Michelin man impression!!)

OK. Let's get these blisters healed, and then it's back on course.

PS: Anybody still want to sponsor me? Visit this link!

Getting better again

2008-08-29T19:37:00.003+01:00

Managing to improve. Getting back to where I want to be.

1. Weight bounced unaccountably back up to 154 last week, but now is steadily going down. 151 this morning. Phew.

2. Ran the 1.75 miles to Morton and back on Saturday, and managed a sub-18 minute time: pace of 10:13.

3. Worked out for 45 minutes at the gym before going shopping on Tuesday.

4. Best of all, have just come back from Morton again; but this time I managed it in 17:23 - a pace of 9:56. Yes, a genuine sub-10 minute mile. For a real runner, sad; for me, it's huge.

5. And had my first sponsorship on the Sandringham 10K today. Thank you so much, Nicola. Now I'm going to start emailing everybody else...

I'm back. Sweating in a most unladylike fashion, but I'm back.

The best of times, the worst of times

2008-08-21T11:09:00.006+01:00

I'm updating this two months after my last posting. I'm filling in a few retrospective posts under the relevant dates over the next day or two.

Why the absence? Because it hasn't been a good time; there has been too much backsliding for my liking. Not enough running or gym sessions; episodes of depression that I thought had long gone; and, worst of all, weight gain. My last posting in "real time", on 22nd June, was followed by an insanely busy work and personal period - again - and I didn't manage one single exercise session until 11th July. Four runs and two gym sessions between that date and our holiday on 23rd July improved matters slightly. However...

I've just been brave and updated my "this is now" photo and weight. This morning I weighed in at 152; on our return from our holiday last weekend, it was 154. Not surprisingly, I wasn't going to admit to that. Careful scrutiny of this blog (as if anybody else was going to scrutinise it except me!) will show that in July 2007, it was down as low as 145; spent a while at 147; then settled at 149 for several months.

So it's interesting to see that my definition of "backsliding" is still a lot less drastic than it would have been, pre-January 2007. If I take my lowest "constant" weight as 149, it's a weight gain of 5lb at worst, and is now back on its way down. I know that some clothes are tighter than they were, and there's no denying that the photos at the August 2007 Wroxham 5K were a lot closer to the way I really want to be; but compared to the start of this journey in January 2007, there's still a much fitter, healthier and slimmer person here.

More importantly, the exercise is still a very permanent part of my life. Apart from the disastrous time in June-July described above, I've managed to keep an average of at least 2 sessions per week, every week - even when on holiday. [Since we got back, I've done 6 sessions (including last night's race) in 7 days.] A session might be a run (1.75 miles to Morton and back being the most common), an hour's weights, or 45 minutes CV on machines at the gym. And, hand on heart, it's not a duty or a chore, but genuinely where I want to be - especially when I remember how quickly the black dog returns when I don't keep him at bay.

Yesterday I ran 5K in 31:45. Our training run the day before was achieved at a pace of 10:00. In May 2007 I'd never have believed either were possible - I had run 5K in 39 minutes, and my average training pace was around 11:00. Now the next target is in sight: the Cancer Research 10K at Sandringham, Sunday 28th September.

I hadn't even started to ask people for sponsorship - I was so terrified I wouldn't be able to do it. Now I know I can, and one of my tasks over the weekend is to start emailing all and sundry to ask them for their faith and their money again.

Not only am I back, but I'm relieved to know that in real terms I've never been away. I might not have been firing on all cylinders, but I have managed to stick with my favourite mantra: Half-Assed Is Good Enough.

PS: One more resolution. I've just been looking back for references to weight in diaries and blog, and realise that between April and August this year, I didn't say a word. In April I was 149; in August I peaked at 154. No prizes for guessing what was going on there: a little thing called being in denial. Records of weight each Sunday recommence from now so it can't happen again.

PB - with style!

2008-08-20T20:00:00.005+01:00

My third time in the Wroxham 5K. I am completely triumphant to have achieved a time of 31:45 - a pace of under 10:15 over the whole race, and a full 2:17 less than my previous best. Given that my first ever 5K was run in 39:00, I feel justified in being unbearably smug...

Kim came in at 30:33, and that brings her pace well under the 10 minutes. We are still pretty close to the end of the queue (300 runners, of which we were numbers 279 and 285) - but who cares??

Now we just need to manage to run twice that distance without keeling over!!

Happy photo, but I really hate my legs in those shorts...

Great run, partner.

The girls are back in town...

and a well-earned drink afterwards!

(See last year's equivalent here...)

Target achieved!

2008-08-19T19:00:00.000+01:00

I've said on many occasions I want to run a 10 minute mile. To a real runner, this is laughable. Real runners do that speed for recovery. They train at 8 minute miles, and race at 6-7 minute miles. But to me, it's a big thing.

Kim and I went out for a run this evening, warming up at the gym and then taking the exactly-one-mile route round the Longwater car park. Admittedly, we did stop to stretch and breathe at the mid-point; but our total run came in at precisely 20 minutes for the two miles.

I never thought I'd do it. RESULT.

Holiday running

2008-08-08T19:00:00.001+01:00

We had a wonderful time in France, as ever. Wandering down the country to Burgundy for a week in one gite and the Limousin for another, with a couple of B&B stops on either side. If you're really interested, have a look here for more about the holiday.

The usual problem presents itself: keeping some level of fitness and weight control while chilling out! I took trainers and Nike+, and at least managed four runs - two at each of the gites. It was desperately warm most of the time, but I was determined to do it... Pace wasn't too bad considering the heat - around 10:30 to 10:45 in each case (according to Nike+).

The Burgundy week was in a gite in a tiny village, and I calculated that the circuit of the whole village was just under 1.2 miles. So my first run was one circuit, my second one was two. A couple of tough little hills, especially on the home stretch.

The Limousin week yielded a fabulous place; not the best running track in the world (very stony and potholed, meaning I didn't dare get up much speed - the last thing I want is a repeat of the ankle injury) but beautiful. The circuit was 0.8 miles, and I did a double circuit (with pause for water) on each of two occasions. Here are a few photos of the glorious scenery, taken by my husband, with the little pink-or-blue dot in the distance being me...

France 2008: Lakeside running

Been away too long

2008-06-22T19:09:00.003+01:00

- not from exercise, I hasten to add - just from the blog! (although there was less exercise than I'd have liked...)

So where were we? Oh, yes - just triumphantly achieved a PB in the Wroxham 5K. That was halfway through a week of family visits, followed immediately by a week in London to work. The result of that was that my next run didn't happen until Sunday 8th - a full ten days since my previous run. Hopeless.

However, it was made up for by being another first: I managed the 1.75 miles of my normal route in sub-18 minutes. 17:55, a pace of 10:14. I really will break that 10 minute mile barrier some day. My next run, on the Tuesday, was sluggish by comparison - 18:24 - on a very warm evening.

Finally got together twice with Kim the following week - a gym visit and a run, which we both enjoyed. We both get so much out of this lark - it's a pity that earning a living gets in the way so much at times!

So today I took myself up the road again, and made another respectable 18 minutes. Warm and windy, but very beautiful again; hard work.

I was relieved that the ankle didn't play up during the run. The last few days, the old injury location - outside of right ankle - has felt odd, sort of numb, almost as though something was trapped - usually when I'm just sitting at the desk. I wonder if it's been because, having got used to the orthotics in my shoes, I've had several days of wearing shoes that don't take the inserts - either sandals, or (as in the case of a "do" I attended yesterday) high heels for the first time in ages? I don't fancy the idea of wearing trainers for the rest of my life - but I'd sooner that than find myself unable to run again!

Another week in London coming up; after that, I need to knuckle down to increasing that distance. My regular 1.75 miles is pathetic compared with the 6.2 miles I want to do in September, preferably without passing out in the attempt.

PB PB PB !!!

2008-05-28T20:00:00.001+01:00

When we ran last year's Wroxham 5K (August 2007), I managed it in 34:32. I was hoping to beat that this year - although recent training has been patchy, and I'm still not really back up to speed after that long, enforced break.

This year's weather was cloudy and fairly cold - better than humidity, anyway - but also very windy, which made especially the bit around the 3K to 4K mark very hard work. Malcolm and Susie were there, too, which was great. Here we are at the start of the race.

Out of 266 runners (all the results are here on the Norwich Road Runners' website), Malcolm came in at #153 in 24:05, which he said was disappointing (!); Susie was #242 at 29:57 (will I ever break the 30 minute barrier?); Kim apologised for running ahead of me, but in fact she put on a faster pace at the start and then remained in my sight for most of the rest of the racce, coming in a minute and a half faster than me at #253 in 32:33.

Malcolm, bless him, came out and ran me in the last bit (he's on the left of the photo below): I was absolutely triumphant to find I'd run it in 34:02!! At position #257, at least I'm moving up the field from last year (sixth from last - this year, 10th from last...)

And finally, Kim & I collapsed at the end...

Small companions

2008-05-27T19:30:00.001+01:00

I was intending to run with Kim on the day before the Wroxham 5K, but her work schedule prevented; so, when I announced that I was going out for a run, my niece and nephew (7 and 9 years old respectively) decided they wanted to come, too.

I told them that I would be stopping just once for them - at the halfway mark; and we managed it. Young Jack did it in a mixture of sprinting and walking - he hasn't yet managed the idea of "steady-does-it"! - but Samantha kept happily pattering along beside me at about an 11 minute pace. Mummy was very proud of them...

(Here they are with Mummy - my sister, Jenny - not on this occasion, but earlier in the week during a visit to the Dinosaur Park. Yes, honestly.)

Bits 'n' pieces

2008-05-23T11:54:00.000+01:00

During this recent mad period (parents hopefully about to move house to join us in Norfolk, sister and her two kids visiting from Spain, loads of work) the blog has been a bit neglected. Brief summary: Sunday 18th, Kim & I managed a decent gym session; ran the usual sub-2 miles on Thursday 22nd; got my new Nike SportBand, and now I've figured it out am much enjoying using it.

Busy week

2008-05-17T09:19:00.003+01:00

... aren't they all?

In London for decluttering work from Monday afternoon through to late Wednesday. As I was (a) staying overnight with my client on Tuesday, and (b) travelling back to Norfolk by train direct from London on Wednesday, had to have all my kit with me in rucksack; so the fact that I at least walked the 1.2 miles to the station rather than getting the bus was still better than nothing!

Got myself out on Thursday to do the Morton run, which was good and steady, and at a 10:29 pace - not bad.

Friday saw Kim & I doing our first weight session at the gym in (aargh!) a month. Am typing this the following morning, and no apparent aches and pains just yet! It felt very good - that really nice feeling when the muscles have been stretched, but not to painful point.

Next weekend, my sister will be here with her two kids. I don't think I'll challenge a 7 and a 9 year old to a race, somehow...

Nearly a PB!

2008-05-11T21:00:00.001+01:00

Well, not that impressive, but it feels a lot to me.

In all the time I've been running, I've usually managed a best pace of around 10:30. (When I started, in March 2007, the usual pace was nearer 12 or 13, so I've progreesed well from that.) Looking back, I once did an average pace of 10:12 across a three-miler in two hits on flat pavement, back last September (about my best for being in training), but otherwise it's between 10:30 and 11:10, depending on the location and inspiration!

The last two runs with Kim - Friday and Sunday - down to Morton and back were on glorious evenings. And Sunday's somehow felt more as it used to feel, with a few of those "easy" patches where I remember what I do running for... OK, it was in two splits with a three-minute pause in between, but having managed to the halfway point in 9 minutes exactly, I was very pleased to manage the return journey in 8:55. As it's a 1.75 mile total, that gave me a pace of 10:14.

You never know, I might crack a ten-minute pace yet!

Go, the Reepham Runners

2008-05-06T19:38:00.002+01:00

An advert in our village magazine put me on to this friendly bunch. On a simply glorious evening, we started at the leisure centre at the back of The Old Brewery hotel, and wove our way round some very pretty paths and corners of the town. 18:15 running time, plus a couple of pauses to stretch, so I'm guessing at about 1.7 miles or so (hopefully Jackie will figure it out on FetchEveryone, as my usual crap sense of direction prevents me figuring it out!).

A great extra motivation to put in a few extra miles when I can. Their Tuesday evening meetings are best for me by far; Thursday mornings just don't do it (day off!) and Sunday mornings tend to be busy in this household. But an early evening meander through the Norfolk countryside - on paths which are a lot better to run than most round Weston Longville, and prettier than Longwater - will do very nicely whenever the diary permits.

Done it again!

2008-05-04T17:19:00.005+01:00

Just got back from my second Race for Life; this time I was running with Elaine and her daughter (having run the Sport Relief race in March with Elaine and her son!).

We came in together at a pretty respectable 34:35, which given that (a) I did last year's R4L in about 39:00, (b) it's within a couple of seconds of my time at last August's Wroxham 5K and (c) I've managed precisely one run per week for the last month - plus a couple of gym sessions - it's not at all bad.

As this was Sunday afternoon, not Sunday morning, Selwyn was able to follow us round the course with the camera this time. I have to admit, having two "followers" - one with camera, one with water bottle - is preferable... not carrying water was a mistake, I felt totally spaced out by the end of it with dehydration. Mind you, it was a very, very warm day.

Waving from the middle of the crowd at the starting line

Ready for the off

Running steady

Done it!

Me an' my girls

By the way, it was fabulous to have Kim turning up with her mum and step-dad at the end of the race - I wasn't expecting to see her there. We'll be back out on the roads together soon! Wroxham 5K at the end of this month - let's see if I can keep up the pace for the whole distance this time, rather than flagging in the last mile...

Race for Life: one year on

2008-05-04T09:32:00.003+01:00

It's hard to believe that it's exactly a year ago that I was running my first 5K. This afternoon I'll be going with Elaine - Kim can't make it this time - and am aiming for under 34 minutes (last year it was 39 minutes).

I haven't canvassed for sponsorship - am leaving that for the 10K in September. But I'm still really looking forward to this.

This is when I started racing for my own life, and I'm so grateful.

Berkshire park

2008-04-28T15:30:00.002+01:00

On a five-day absence from home - a combination of me-time (a retreat at the beautiful Douai Abbey in Woolhampton) and decluttering work - it's hard to fit in exercise. Finally, on the Monday, I finished working with my client at lunchtime, and had time to go out for a run (after a rest to let lunch go down) round the park behind her lovely home.

My calculations were pretty approximate on FetchEveryone - I don't know the park well, and with my usual hopeless sense of direction, I even managed to miss my way on the homeward stretch! - but I think I did around 2 miles at a reasonable pace. The last couple of minutes were walked in any case, as I found myself on some bumpy grassland, rather than a park, and didn't fancy a sprained ankle.

Accompanied by birdsong

2008-04-22T19:42:00.004+01:00

I walked down to Morton and back this morning to give some technical support. I really don't do morning running - especially not after a gym session the night before!

The plan was to run with Kim this evening, but she's not feeling well; so, as it's another lovely evening, it was no hardship to take myself down to Morton once more.

I was serenaded all the way down; not that I can identify any of them (despite the guideliness in the wonderful Bad Birdwatcher's Companion, which I am much enjoying at the moment).

Not a bad outing; a 10:37 pace is respectable at the moment, considering that even at best (last autumn) I didn't make it below 10:30. Besides, contemplating the prospect of running that route another two-and-a-half times (the 10K I've just entered for) makes me focus on distance, not speed!

Racing for life once more

2008-04-22T18:38:00.003+01:00

I've just done as I promised: entered for the Cancer Research Run 10K event at Sandringham (we're going upmarket) on Sunday 28th September. Click here to visit my page.

The 5K Race for Life is coming up very soon - just 12 days away - and while I haven't badgered anybody to sponsor me on that, because I want to save my charitable efforts for the 10K, I was so chuffed to receive a sponsorship and a message from my dear friends Dot & Milton:

We thought we'd kick this one off just to show how proud we are of all you've achieved - Go Girl!! xx

As for the 10K: I've got (at the time of writing) over 22 weeks to achieve this. This I can do.

Oh, there are my muscles

2008-04-21T20:00:00.000+01:00

A determined session with Kim on weights. It's only a fortnight since I managed a circuit, but I really felt it...

Wymondham evening

2008-04-20T19:30:00.000+01:00

I haven't run round Kim's home town for an age. This evening I went to her place, and we did a decent 2.28 miles in a fairly respectable 24:00. A beautiful evening, a friend to run with, and the occasional relaxed feeling in running that I have missed so much.

Walthamstow racetrack

2008-04-15T09:00:00.000+01:00

... no, not the dogs, and certainly not fast! But at least I managed the usual 1.17 miles to the station, with shoulderbag, and felt OK. Not a lot this week - but better than nothing.

I was a junior marathon-er

2008-04-13T15:47:00.004+01:00

Watching today's inspirational London Marathon, and fantasising about being there one day, I reflected that in fact some of the participants walk it - in part or in whole. While it's a very real dream of mine to actually run a marathon - preferably before I'm fifty - it's liberating to realise that the same "walk, jog or run" applies to 26.2 miles as it does to 3.1 miles - and that's what enabled me to attempt my first Race for Life last year.

More than that, though: something in the back of my mind said you have done this already, you know. A distant memory stirred of a very long sponsored walk when I was at school: a grey, wet day (like today), and this plodder here refusing to give up, or take a lift. When was it?

I burrowed around in some old files, and found it. On Sunday, 24th March 1974 (I was just over 11 years old), I apparently took place in the Mayor's Sponsored Walk. I had a total sponsorship of 20p per mile (wow) and according to my form, I walked 24 miles. Not quite a marathon, but not far off it. And here's the proof.

How long it took me, I've absolutely no idea - I would imagine in the region of 6-7 hours. However, I clearly did it, and knowing how stubborn I was then (what do you mean, then?), I doubt that I would have cheated.

So if I did it aged 11 - even though not a step would have been run - I reckon that, 35 or so years later, I can do it again...

Welcome back, tomato-face

2008-04-11T17:45:00.003+01:00

I used to take quite a few of these photos. Just to prove I'd been running!

After a mad thunderstorm earlier today, it turned into a lovely evening; and having spent all day glued to the PC (managed to get a lot of work done, though, and better still, mostly paid!), I needed a break. So about 5pm I took myself down to the Hall as usual.

Still not back to where I was last autumn - and in recent weeks, my training has been sporadic, to say the least - but for the first time in ages, neither the ankle nor the hip protested, during or after the run. Better still, I did the 1.75 miles in just 18:10 - which is a pace of 10:23, and that's pretty much as fast as I've ever managed to run at any time. So I'm well pleased.

Being honest

2008-04-07T18:57:00.005+01:00

I realised that my "this is now" photo hadn't been changed since December, so a quick mess around with the webcam and came up with a new one. (Adding it here for posterity as I know it will change again soon!)

What did bother me was my report on weight: given that I did get as low as 145 lb last year (although to be fair, that didn't last for very long), and my pretty constant weight has been 147 since about last summer, it hurts a bit to admit to being 149 this morning.

However... like most holiday times, it had, about ten days ago, been up to (aargh!) about 151 until I got back into a routine (I keep quiet about this, natch - wouldn't you?) - the same thing happened when we got back from France last September. So I'll try not to panic, keep a close eye on the food for a few days, and endeavour to get it back down ASAP.

PS: Having just checked out that entry above, I'm mildly depressed to see that I'd set myself a target which I'd then conveniently ignored: get down to 139 in order to leave the 140s behind. Hmm. Do I let this worry me and refocus? Probably not a bad idea.

PPS: Mind you, it was encouraging that one of my business colleagues, at a networking meeting today, thought I'd lost more weight!

It's been a while

2008-04-07T18:37:00.003+01:00

... since I did a real gym session.

Actually, looking in my diary, it was 11th March - and even that was only a relatively short go on various machines before having a swim with Kim, who was suffering from a bad neck at the time. The last real gym session - a proper workout - was 19th February! Good grief. No wonder my shoulders are aching so much. I've got a lot more work to do.

It was good, though: 10 minutes each on bike, crosstrainer and seated bike, plus a 13 minute, 1 mile run on the treadmill (why does it always seem much slower and harder than it does out on the road?), followed by about 50 minutes of free weights and machines.

But I need - and really want - to get back to the routine of 1 x gym plus 2/3 x runs in any given week. My record over the last couple of months has been pretty pathetic, with usually two exercise sessions in any given week. I can do better than that!

The station run

2008-04-04T18:55:00.002+01:00

No sooner had we arrived back in Norfolk after our holiday than I was off again: this time, happily, to earn some money! Four days' decluttering work split between two clients in London. A very enjoyable time, and I hope my clients found it so!

It's just under 1.2 miles from my parents' home to Walthamstow Central Station, and this route was one of my very first attempts at a walk-run combination when I started this lark, about a year ago (good grief). On the first morning, I was carrying a handbag (happily, the sort that you can sling across your back in the style of a rucksack - the newly discovered and excellent Healthy Back Bag) but also had a carrier bag with change of shoes, reading matter - that sort of thing. Bad idea. Totally off-balanced me, made the run deeply uncomfortable and excruciatingly slow - not enjoyable. And that ankle was protesting a bit, too.

Second morning, I walked it. Third morning, I'd learnt from the first try: I didn't take a change of shoes, stuck with the trainers; took a magazine [Runner's World, natch] that would go into my handbag; and didn't need an additional carrier. Much better, and some bits of the run (okay, okay, the downhill bits) were really enjoyable - much as things used to be. Final morning, walked it again.

So it wasn't a huge amount of running; but given that in a previous life I'd have done the whole lot by bus, I guess it's an improvement!

A change of scene

2008-03-26T18:45:00.001Z

A lovely week in Herefordshire to recuperate after the madness of Holy Week. We spent our time in a delightful village called Weobley, in the equally delightful Mellington House. Alison & Chris were so helpful and friendly, and the self-catering cottage that we had was great - give them a visit if you're in that part of the country.

Having done no running at all since the Sport Relief circuit, I was eager to get in even a little exercise. So on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, after a day's gentle bimbling round local towns, shops and tourist attractions (click here for one of them), I headed out around the village: right down the main street to the church, round the bottom of the church, back up the other side and in to the top of the high street. FetchEveryone decreed this route to be 0.69 miles, so three loops gave me a two mile run.

A really pleasant evening, and a pretty place to be. The ewe and her lambs looked at me as though I was mad.

However, this took me back to (mostly) running on roads with minimal pavements. Which meant road camber. And by the end of the second run, I had to admit that the ankle was starting to ache again, and that was somewhere I just didn't want to go; so my two little evening runs were the sum total for the holiday. Roll on my next podiatry appointment.

A soggy red nose

2008-03-16T15:14:00.009Z

... well, I should have had a red nose, I suppose, but I looked enough of a clown as it was!

This was the Sport Relief Mile Day. You could choose to run 1, 3 or 6 miles, so I reckoned that 3 miles was reasonable; because of the length of the loop chosen, the actual distances were 1.05, 2.85 and 5.55 miles.

When I woke, it was tipping it down. Not only that, but a high wind - not fun. Leaving my visiting friends in bed (very wise of them), I drove into Norwich, met up with Elaine and her son Peter, and Kim (not running this time, but was there to cheer us on and took lots of photos - thanks, Kim!), and lined up with vast numbers to run round the city centre.

Whatever bright spark (Noel Coward, actually) said Norfolk was flat had clearly never been to the centre of our county town. The hills around the centre are noticeable, to say the least! The route took us down the side of the marketplace, along to Chapelfield, around the Chapelfield Park area, and back round to the Forum. After my third lap I was more than ready to stop - the thought of doing the six mile version didn't bear thinking about - but at least I was OK with doing more than a mile.

Peter, being a fit teenager, was far faster than us; like an eager labrador, he effectively ran much further than we did, as he kept running ahead, then turning back or running on the spot to allow us to catch up! I knew from our training runs that Elaine would have no problem with the distance, and as she has the light frame of a runner, rather than a plodder like me, I wasn't surprised when she and Peter vanished in front of me during the last half-lap or so, and came in exactly a minute ahead.

However, I was pretty pleased to find that I'd maintained at least a sub-11 minute mile throughout - the photo of me crossing the line proves my timing(see clock top right)!

Aching a bit, but not too badly; very, very wet (I was glad I'd brought a change of clothes, and especially shoes - my trainers were twice their usual weight by the end with the water, or that's what it felt like); and very hungry, I was glad to go off with Kim to meet Malcolm & Sue for tea & a scone in Jarrolds. The post-race photograph with Elaine & Peter is perhaps the least flattering photo of me I've ever seen, but at least I look happy!

With a bit of luck, by my next outing (Race for Life, May) it will be (a) in better weather and (b) I'll be nearer to the fitness point I left last November!

It takes two

2008-03-12T20:00:00.000Z

I've always known that I love both running alone and running together. The former gives me quiet times in my favourite places; the latter gives challenge and pace.

This evening I met up with Elaine, who has just started running - although is very fit to begin with. We took the one-mile circuit from the gym and round the car park, as last time. Managed a steady mile, stopped briefly to stretch; second mile, ditto. I'd mentally committed to two miles, as this was what we did last time, but as we stretched, Elaine said "Are we doing the third mile?" - bearing in mind that we're running the Norwich Sport Relief three-miler on Sunday! So off we went again, and it was great. Had I been alone, I'd probably have given up after #2 and gone home...

We were pleased to find that our running time was 32:40 for 3.03 miles - a pace of 10:47, which was very encouraging. Now we just need to do it on Sunday without the breaks!

A leisurely swim

2008-03-11T20:00:00.000Z

Spent 20 minutes on the machines at the gym; then with Kim's arrival we went to swim (she has a very painful trapped nerve at the moment, so running or weights sounded like a bad idea for her). It's good to feel that the ankle is sufficiently recovered that I can do front crawl again! (The "flipper" action of the feet was just too uncomfortable until now.)

A bit faster

2008-03-09T18:03:00.003Z

I went out this evening for the usual 1.75 miles to Morton, and for the first time since I got off the bench, felt (just occasionally) that lovely comfortable-run feeling. I took the pace up just a little, and was pleased to find I'd done it in 18:30 - a 10:34 pace, which is nearly as fast as I've ever managed. Now I just need to get the distance up as well!

That was only my second run since this time last week, however - it's been Wednesday and Sunday both of the last two weeks. Need a bit more than that. Kim is now back, and we plan a swim on Tuesday; and a run with Elaine on Wednesday. There had better be at least one more - I'm doing three miles next Sunday!

The hip seems to be sorting itself out - that was no problem. The odd, mild discomfort in the toes of the right foot is still there, but seems a bit better. However, I've felt pretty "creaky" in the last couple of days - even my old lower back problem seems to resurface occasionally - so perhaps a visit to the osteo is in order. Honestly - how many therapists does it take to look after a runner?!!

Another running partner

2008-03-05T21:00:00.001Z

Elaine wants to do the Race for Life in May. As she's started where I did a year ago, I was really happy to be able to take her out as Kim did for me. I plotted a slightly extended route from the front of the Longwater gym - the usual way round the car park and back - but going round the back of the gym too, so it made it exactly a mile's lap.

Actually, she's FAR fitter than I was last year; had no problem keeping up the continuous mile, and we only paused between the two laps we did because she had a bit of a stitch. An 11 minute pace, which was comfortable for us both.

A guide to healthy eating

2008-03-03T10:39:00.004Z

Thanks loads to PastaQueen for putting me on to this wonderful cartoon. I think I'd move the easy & untasty three upwards - I happen to like them - but otherwise I couldn't agree more.

It comes from the awesome xkcd.com ("A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language"). Apart from the math, sounds like my kinda guy.

And they're off again...

2008-03-02T23:00:00.003Z

Back in another happy place, actually. The Race for Life 2007 was really where it all started. I was originally planning to skip it this year, in favour of doing a 10K race happening the same weekend; but having been back running for a month, I think the likelihood of getting up to that distance by early May is a bit remote, to say the least. Not to say foolhardy, given the frustration of three-months-crocked.

And when my friend Elaine said that she had just started running, and wanted to have a go at the RFL... well, it had to be done! So here's the renewed web page.

As you'll see, the target is very modest this year. That's because I still want to do a 10K - and for it to be the other Cancer Research race, which happens around September (they haven't published the dates yet). So I'd prefer to call in the goodwill factor from my wonderful family and friends for that one instead.

But if anybody feels like making it "as well as", that would be wonderful...

Just do it

2008-03-02T18:00:00.000Z

This is better.

A day with lots to do, paid and unpaid, business & domestic; therefore the motivation to get off my backside and take a break from the PC with a quick run down to Morton.

Around 5pm, still in daylight; the evening turning muggy and cloudy, but dry. 18:45 - fifteen seconds off the last time; pace 10:43 (hooray!); still that weird discomfort in the toes of the right foot, but otherwise fine. Left hip nagged a bit only after I'd stopped.

That's good. Little and often. And I see from my diary that I've been managing only an average of two sessions a week over the month since I started running again. Nothing to do with injuries - only laziness. 3-4 per week is what does it for me. So what if it's only 20 minutes per session? In those immortal words, which I should have emblazoned on a t-shirt, "half-assed is good enough"...!

Back in my happy place

2008-02-27T17:40:00.003Z

My original regular training run was home-to-Morton-Hall. I started by thinking it was "about two miles" round trip; was a bit disappointed when FetchEveryone informed me it was actually 1.75 miles, but hey. It usually took me about 20-21 minutes in splits.

It was the site of my first walks-with-running breaks; my first (nearly) mile without a stop; and then the whole lot in one hit.

I realise that I haven't run that route since September. The September-November period was given over to much longer runs, both round the village and at Longwater, when I tried to build up mileage; and my few runs in the last month have been with Kim round the new state near the gym.

Including today, I've done 13 miles this month - not huge, but getting back to where I want to be. My only residual niggles right now are the left hip, and a weird discomfort in the right foot (same foot as the ankle problem was) but specifically in the middle toe - as I put weight on the foot and bend it to walk. Very odd. Not even a pain, but - as I've had in other places before - a "there". Looking forward to the appointment with the podiatrist next month.

Anyway, I hadn't run since last Thursday. Six days? Not good. A planned evening with Kim earlier this week didn't happen, as she was under the weather, and I just hadn't shifted my ass to get out on my own. Today was a glorious day, and I really fancied the run, but thought I hadn't enough time (physio this morning, computer training client this afternoon). But when, in the event, my client decided we had covered all the work she wanted to do in just over the hour, instead of two hours, I found myself with a bit of time to spare in daylight, so got out there.

A steady pace, 1.75 miles in 19 minutes dead, pleasingly sub-11:00 pace; kept to the middle of the road to avoid problems with camber. Breathing fine; ankle OK, toes OK; left hip a bit sore but nothing drastic. A gorgeous evening, just before sunset; and best of all, the baby bovines were out. The cattle in the field on the right of the track often come and watch me; this time, they had their new-borns with them, who were absolutely tiny and clearly mystified by what I was up to. I'll take the mobile with me next time and photograph them.

I've realised that I really have to take this building-up process pretty slowly, and also that I was slipping back into the "if I can't do it properly, I won't do it at all" mentality. When I first used this route, I was of the opinion that while any increase in distance or speed was good, but just doing the same as last time was fine, too. And that's where I need to be now for a while. I love running with Kim, and I love pushing myself to train; but these quiet evenings in a familiar environment, with no company but scolding blackbirds and curious cattle, are very precious, and I'd forgotten how much I'd missed them.

Any other Norfolk runners out there?

2008-02-21T13:31:00.002Z

I'm always thrilled to realise that somebody actually reads these ramblings of mine from time-to-time, and better still if they prove to be folk I have a fighting chance of meeting some day because they live in the same county!

An email from Nicki this morning prompted me to wonder if there was any (forgive the pun) mileage in setting up an online resource for local runners to be able to find each other when they need motivation - somebody to run with. So, for any readers in Norfolk (that's UK), have a look at my newly-created Yahoo group - join us if you'd like - and perhaps I'll see you there!

A bad week

2008-02-16T18:56:00.003Z

Last week was brilliant - at least, on the exercise front. I had done three sessions in rapid succession (Thursday: solo run, Saturday: run with Kim, Sunday: serious weights with Kim). Each time it had improved my constantly blue mood (result of business being appalling at present, but that's another story) and I felt that I was finally getting back both to the level of fitness and the shape (especially shape of my face) that had made me so much happier. And at least the ankle is now fine (whisper it) and the only aches-and-pains relate to being on the bench for three months, not to injury.

During this last week, however, I haven't done a thing. And I haven't been busy - quite the reverse, and taking myself down to the gym would have been an obvious remedy for a fit of the miseries. But I have been avoiding running on the local roads, as I still think that the camber on them was one of the culprits for the ankle problem - and that was the quick-and-easy way of getting my exercise fix. Now I need to jump in the car and go somewhere else to make it happen. And when I'm in a real strop, the more effort it takes, the less likely it is to happen.

The two planned sessions didn't happen, either. One with Kim fell on an evening where a real pea-souper of a fog descended, and even the driving to meet up didn't seem like a good idea - never mind running when we got there. And the second occasion - a beautiful sunny afternoon - was scuppered by a long discussion about computers with a friend, which I don't begrudge, but by the time I'd got away it was very dark!

The net result has been that I've been six days without any exercise, and feeling as down as I have been recently anyway, this was not good. So this evening's run with Kim was a life-saver. We started, as usual, at the gym for a warmup; then headed out to our new "tough run" - the very hilly couple of miles into the new housing estate being built round the back of Longwater. However, this time we (a) didn't split the run in two - we kept going, albeit at a pace that could hardly be called running; and (b) added on a bit more at each end, bringing the total distance up to 2.83 miles in 32:30. Not exactly speedy - average pace of 11:29 - but given those hills, we were still pleased. And, more to the point, it's the first time since November that I've run for that long without stopping.

First solo run in three months

2008-02-07T20:30:00.000Z

I went down the gym on my husband's instructions, as I was in such a miserable blue funk that he was fed up with me. I decided to take the running gear; did 10 minutes each on bike and cross-trainer, and then went out to run. Took myself on a loop from the gym, round the good old Longwater car park (site of our first ever run, last March); kept a steady, fairly slow pace, but kept going. A pretty mild evening for February, and a comfortable, mostly totally flat route on pavements.

It turned out to be 0.84 miles per circuit, and I ran it twice (in 18:45 without a stop); so just slightly short of my old 1.75 mile run to Morton Hall, which was my main route for months. Pace of 11:10, which was pleasing considering that I seldom got better than 10:30 back in the autumn. No problems with CV; some aches in legs, which took my mind away from the ankle (which didn't play up at all); only noticeable discomfort was in the left hip, which I suspect is some sort of weird biomechanical compensation going on for the right ankle. Or something.

And there were just a few bits of the run (OK, mostly on the downhill bits, but hey) where nothing hurt, and everything got in rhythm, and I knew what it was I'd been missing so desperately.

And I came back much happier - to husband's relief...

The girls are back in town...

2008-02-03T23:51:00.000Z

Tonight was my first run with Kim for over three months (29 October since we ran as a team, to be precise; 7 November was my last long run solo).

Start at gym with warmup on cross-trainer, head out for "a gentle mile round the car park". Spot a road off the route round the back of the complex, head off down there for what turns out to be just over 1.8 miles for there-and-back, including a steep hill down-and-up, there-and-back, and into a strong wind on the return journey. Very, very weary legs, but (hooray!) the ankle hasn't complained. 20:45 running time, plus 3 minutes walking/stretching halfway.

I'm therefore back to roughly the pace (11:20) and feeling ("this is hard work, but I can do it") that I was in the summer; so having been on the bench for three months, I've essentially gone backwards by three months, which is reasonable.

Back to the gym; not the most flattering photo of either of us (self-taken on my mobile), but the momentous moment had to be recorded.

Shutting the stable door

2008-01-29T15:00:00.000Z

... after the Rector's Wife has bolted.

Wise words from Vanilla, but it's too late for me - I'm already hooked.

And desperate for my next fix.

Another treadmill mile!

2008-01-22T20:00:00.000Z

Spent 10 minutes each on bike and cross-trainer, then 18 minutes on the treadmill - first and last two minutes walking, middle bit running. Total including walking of 2.22 km (1.38 miles). Slow, big effort, but only real discomfort was in legs, not ankle, because they're so out of practice.

Keep everything crossed for me. This has been such a hole in my life.

Committed

2008-01-21T18:09:00.001Z

- to three miles... oh, I couldn't just enter for one!

and, as ever, the username is norfolkbroad. Hence my sponsorship page is www.mysportrelief.com/norfolkbroad. Sorry.

So either follow the link above, or see the Sport Relief widget on the right, send a few arrow-prayers for the ankle, and sponsor me if you feel like it... although you might want to defer that decision for a few weeks to see progress...

Determined

2008-01-20T19:25:00.000Z

It's been a couple of weeks - mostly because of our usual post-Christmas crashout with friends (as usual, a highly enjoyable combination of over-eating and over-spending). I did manage one gym session during the week, which was better than nothing, at the rather swish JJB gym in Bolton. (Query: why don't gyms have a scheme for visitors, rather than charging on the basis of you trying out the gym before joining? I can't be the only mad fool who doesn't stop wanting a workout when on holiday.)

During the week leading up to the holiday, Kim & I had managed a reasonable three-gym-session-week, including CV, weights and swimming in various combinations. The ankle continues to mystify; the occasional ache at night, usually walking reasonably comfortably but gets tired quickly, heels of any description are a no-no (which is cramping my style something horrible), and the odd violent twinge if I put on pressure at an odd angle. The one-mile treadmill run on 5th January is still the only running I've dared attempt since November.

This evening, I combined a grocery-top-up trip to Sainsbury's with a gym visit. Comfortable with ten minutes each on bike, cross-trainer and Nautilus, followed by 50 minutes' full weights routine.

In the supermarket, I spotted a leaflet about Sport Relief. A mile? Only a mile? Oh, come on. I can do that. And it turns out that you can actually choose to run one mile, three miles or six miles. So if I feel brave in eight weeks time, I might just see if the three is do-able...

... but I promise I'll be sensible, and do lots of treadmill work in little bits, and see the physio - and the podiatrist, if the NHS ever gets around to giving me an appointment...

Red wine is good for you, right?

2008-01-07T19:16:00.000Z

Birkenstock therapy

2008-01-07T18:47:00.000Z

A comment on a recent entry from thirkellgirl recently reminded me of a similar suggestion from our friend Margie, who is a sports masseur. Merrell isn't a make to be found often in the UK, but the general idea of clogs or some other orthopedic sandal seemed sensible. So when I visited Norwich today after seeing an IT client in the morning, I had a look around; and in Schuh found some Birkenstock sandals that promise to offer, at least, more support than the slippers that I've habitually worn during the day when working from home. Not decorative, but practical. Let's see if they help.

A mile - to prove I still can

2008-01-05T13:00:00.000Z

There was this challenge on the FetchEveryone site, you see, to run a mile by 6th January and to write a report about it. As that's my birthday, and it's almost exactly two months since my last run, I thought, well, let's see...

so a visit to the gym with Kim on a bright Saturday morning (we'd both chickened out on the Friday night), a long (25 minute) warmup on the bike and a 10 minute power-walk on the treadmill; and then, oh-so-cautiously, I took the speed up and ran 1.6 km (1 mile) in 13 minutes. Pathetic by previous standards, but an achievement under the circumstances. Ankle felt a bit tired, but not painful; so I reckon that if I can manage some decent walking and keep up with the rest of the gym stuff for another week or few, we might be getting there.

Continued the session with about an hour on weights, so felt that I'd had a real workout for the first time in weeks. And an input of legal feelgood meant that it was me that went back home - rather than the impossibly miserable cow that my husband has had to put up with for the last couple of days.

Can't even get up a sweat

2008-01-02T18:46:00.000Z

Gym session, depressing. Bike, cross-trainer, OK; tried treadmill, couldn't even power-walk fast enough to get the HR up above about 110, much less run, without ankle protesting.

Sulk.

It's going to be OK

2007-12-30T18:47:00.000Z

My lovely mum & dad, with best beloved husband in the mad red shirt, over our non-traditional lamb Christmas dinner

It's been over a fortnight since any activity - blog, gym or otherwise. At this time of year, that's not really surprising - although I have been surprised by my "green-eyed monster" reaction to some folk I saw out running over the Christmas period. I so wanted to be doing the same.

Food, drink, chocolate (have you tried the Lindt Dark Chocolate Lindor???)... no activity... asking for trouble. And when I checked the other day - I'm still 147 lb. Hey, must be something wrong with the scales!

So on today's gym visit, I checked on their scales - and it's absolutely right. My weight hasn't moved from 147 lb since July - apart from a brief dip to 145 lb back in the summer, and a scary elevation to 150 lb after our holiday in France, both of which were very short-lived. Phew.

Anyway, the gym was a much-needed relief. Ten minutes each on bike, rower, cross-trainer, walking on the Nautilus (fancy treadmill) and back to the bike; then 20 minutes of weights. The ankle felt a bit sore after the Nautilus, so it's clearly not ready for much of that sort of action yet (I was looking longingly at the treadmill and wondering do I dare try to run a mile?...) but I was surprised at how quickly it recovered after I moved onto the weights.

Kim is back from her Christmas in Spain, and we've promised to manage at least 2 sessions a week at the gym. I've a fortnight for that, then we're off to see friends in Bolton for our post-Christmas break (which is always serious Rest, Recuperation and Retail Therapy - not to mention Repasts), so hope to be able to run even a tiny bit during that week.

A mile at a time wouldn't be asking too much, would it?

Just 11 minutes or so? ?

Please???

Getting better - slowly

2007-12-15T18:09:00.000Z

My foot is now not so much painful as a bit uncomfortable; I walk slowly, but without hobbling.

Whisper it. Ever so quietly. But it seems to be improving.

A great gym session with Kim last night; ten minutes each on cycle and cross-trainer ("will you slow down, woman? You're supposed to have a bad foot!") followed by about half an hour of weights, and 15 minutes' swim.

It's five weeks since I realised something was seriously wrong: when Kim & I went to try to run round Thorpe Marriott, and I had to give up after less than 2 miles. In that five weeks, I've had just four gym sessions, including last night.

And you know what? My weight is still the same. In previous attempts, even a few days off the wagon would have been enough to cause disaster. After five weeks' absence from running and an average of one gym session a week, and eating absolutely normally, I'm still 147 lb, still with a BP of 118/85, and still fitting into my size 12s. Triumphant.

I am determined to take it very slowly. A couple more weeks of gym sessions, then in the new year I should be able to start using the Nautilus and the treadmill again. I've resigned myself to the fact that the Wymondham 10K isn't going to happen, but there will be other times for that. If I can be running again by the end of January, and keep everything else under control in the gym, that's fine by me.

And what a lesson to have learned.

I'll be there next year

2007-12-09T18:24:00.000Z

Today was the Buxton 5K Christmas Fun Run. Kim and I had planned to do this together, with Kim's dad Malcolm and his wife Sue (and Henry the dog). Being out of action, I went along to cheer them on - happily the weather was reasonably kind, but they still had a very muddy time! You can see a selection of photos on Picasa by clicking on the album link below...

Buxton Christmas 5K 2007

Malcolm came in at 26:25, Sue (and Henry) at 33:00, and Kim at 34:34. (Kim's time was just 2 seconds slower than at Wroxham in August. Given that this race was a heck of a lot harder, cross country and muddy, and that my injury had slowed up Kim's training - it's hard for her to train on her own at night at this time of year - this is pretty impressive.)

You just wait. I'll be back.

Proud of my friends

2007-12-03T23:20:00.001Z

One thing that really delights me about this new world of Running (when, that is, I can rejoin it) is the sharing of my enthusiasm. If an old slouch like me, who took virtually no exercise for 44 years, can achieve nearly 5 miles in a non-stop run, a BP of 118 over 80, and a 21 lb (variable!) weight loss, then anybody can.

Recently I've heard from two friends who, apparently, have me to blame for getting hooked on this activity. Sandy wrote:

I have only just started really – running for about 30–40 mins with fab fast songs on my iPod! Not far – about 1.5 pathetic little miles I should think. Still – I feel SO much better for it and can see how it MIGHT get addictive but not quite there yet as always seem to procrastinate about getting myself out of the door!

Well, if she's running 30-40 minutes, it's going to be a lot further than 1.5 miles. I pointed her towards the running plotter on FetchEveryone, and was so proud of her when I got this:

SO – I checked out fetcheveryone and you are right – it’s FANTASTIC to be able to plot route – can you believe that - BRILL – and – you are right x 2 because discover my route is just under 4m and not 1.5 as thought – am superSTAR!!

And then today I got this email from Pat in Minnesota:

I did my first 5K on Saturday. It was called the Reindeer Run and it was around Lake Harriet and the temperature was 9F with a stiff wind off the almost frozen lake and the beginning of a 5" snowfall. Luckily, we finished in 38 minutes so the snow wasn't deep enough to shovel at that point but it got steadily worse all day. But I earned my first running t-shirt and I feel good about that!

I have to include Pat's wonderful photo, too, with her friend Sue, who has been her equivalent of Kim:

Honestly - and we worry about a bit of rain in England.

Ladies - I salute you. I'll be back with you as soon as I can!

So that's what it is

2007-11-27T16:38:00.000Z

The mighty cabletow from FetchEveryone has diagnosed (remotely, but I think accurately) my problem as an inflamed peroneal retinaculum. This is just what Tim-the-physio reckoned it probably was: the thin sheets of tissue over the ankle have got inflamed. And I think it's all down to the boots.

A few weeks ago, I bought a pair of boots* from Next - black-suede-stretchy-high-heeled-knee-high - to go with a couple of my favourite hey-look-I'm-a-size-12 outfits. Loved 'em, wore them to death - although in my defence, never to walk further than car-to-church or car-to-meeting. But I think they were my downfall. Too high, no ankle support. As cabletow put it, "best save your [kinky boots] for when you're lying down". To which footpad replied "but it tears the sheets..."

The ironic thing is that if it weren't for the running, I wouldn't have been wearing slinky new outfits. So I wouldn't have needed the boots to go with them. *Sigh.*

* The actual description used on FetchEveryone is not used here, lest it be thought just a bit too risqué for the Rector's Wife.

PS at 11:00 pm: so it was natural that when there was nothing much on the box tonight, and I wanted a silly film to watch over the ironing [done sitting down, of course], the choice just had to be Kinky Boots.

PPS: a text message from my hairdresser this evening, telling me that she was moving to a new salon. Called Kinki.

It'll have to do

2007-11-26T18:00:00.000Z

A visit to the gym this afternoon. Spent a full hour on the bike (which told me I'd cycled over 20 miles - good grief) as it's the only CV I can manage, and another half-hour on weights. Glad to have done it, but there's something about limping slowly both in and out of the gym that is totally pathetic.

The guys at FetchEveryone have been sympathetic, and Lyra's right - much as I get a bit bored by swimming, it's probably the best way of keeping up my fitness for the time being. Whilst I'm quite a strong swimmer, I'm a plodder (as in all things sports-related), and perhaps what puts me off is the memories of always getting the round of applause for making it to the end of the race as I come in last in the school swimming gala...

The foot, by the way, has now taking to aching during the night, after several hours' rest, rather than just when I try to walk on it.

Depressed, big time

2007-11-25T13:34:00.000Z

I never thought it would feel this bad.

That ankle injury - whatever it is - is still with me, and I can't even walk without hobbling, much less run. The doc tells me it's RSI, and the only cure is to do the usual rest, ice etc. I've done virtually nothing but rest it for several days now (since getting back from a trip to London, for a concert and a funeral, with all the driving, standing etc. that implies), and there's still no sign of improvement.

I am so desperate to run I can't believe it. It's as though I'd discovered the Holy Grail - how to have my cake and eat it, literally - and felt the best about myself physically than I had at any other time in my life. Somebody's moved the Grail.

My poor husband had to cope with me throwing a complete wobbly last night - I felt as though every pound I'd lost and every muscle I'd developed was returning to its old state - bless him for being so patient. But as my main way of keeping happy is exercising, it's a double whammy.

I'm going to try a visit to the gym, using only weights and (the only machine that it doesn't hurt to use) bike. And it will mean going back to the Rosemary Conley food plans for the time being, if I'm not gonna be burning off running calories.

I've had to admit that the 5K Santa fun run in Buxton isn't going to happen; 9th December is too soon. I can only pray that the Wymondham 10K on New Year's Day is still possible. Oh, and it's not just me, by the way. Huge sympathy to Nikki with her knee. Hang on in there, girl, and I'll try to do the same.

Meantime, I sit at the PC, sulk - and at least get my tax return done...

Tagged

2007-11-21T16:09:00.001Z

I love the serendipity element of blogging, and whilst I'm not much of a chain-letter fan, I really like this as an exercise.

I was tagged by Sam at Running and Thinking.

The rules are:

link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog
share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird
tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs
let them know they are TAGGED by leaving a comment on their blog.

My five things are:

I love organising things - and will sometimes let stuff get in a mess so's I can enjoy tidying it up (how sad is that??)
Although I'm tidy, I am a complete slut when it comes to cleaning and dusting
I love singing - especially when it's an over-the-top bit of modern musical theatre that tells a story and has a big finish
I am incredibly efficient when I have loads to do, and woefully inadequate when life is quieter
I have absolutely no sense of direction

I tag (and hope they don't mind):

Crabby McSlacker at Cranky Fitness (absolutely the most entertaining and thought-provoking writer I've come across in the blogging world)
Jennette, aka Pasta Queen, at Half of me (the most jaw-dropping weightloss achievement coupled with exquisite journalism and technological supremacy. Honestly, you can go off people)
Nikki at Nikki's Adventures in Life and Running (we've met at a couple of Norfolk races - and she is loads faster than me!)
Lorna at Lorna's Thunks (beautiful artwork, amazing photographer, first-rate writer)
TK at Rough Road Studio (another superb artist and observer of life)

Check them out and enjoy.

No such word as can't

2007-11-21T15:54:00.000Z

This has nothing to do with running, but everything to do with overcoming limitations. I reckon it belongs here. Especially given how I'm feeling right now about the fact that my ankle still is too painful to run on - after two weeks - and how depressed it makes me. So meantime, until I can run again, I'd better find another trumpet to blow.

Another nice compliment...

2007-11-13T16:36:00.001Z

... I was contacted by a journalist who said "I've been looking for a dieter whose blog helps her lose weight (who's aged between 25 and 35), so I thought you'd be perfect!" I phoned her and explained that as I turn 45 in January, I'm a bit old for what she wants... I can live with that.

Crocked

2007-11-11T18:00:00.000Z

- and am I ever fed up about it...

That pain in the ankle that appeared on my last run? I optimistically assumed that it would be like the foot-down-a-pothole equivalent a couple of weeks before. A couple of days off and it would be fine. Well, it wasn't.

That was Wednesday. By Friday I was still limping as though somebody had kicked me hard on the right ankle-bone. No visible bruising, but very sore. OK, I won't run today. Or Saturday.

Sunday it seemed a bit easier, and Kim was available to try out a new local route that would include a few hills in places, round Thorpe Marriott. At first it seemed OK - a bit annoying, but nothing worse than I've run through before. However, by about the mile-and-a-half point, it was at oh, b*gger levels. We stopped, stretched, walked a bit, ran a bit more - and I had to give up and hobble to rest. So I had done 1.75 miles (plus a further half-mile of walking & hobbling) - when my training distance at the moment is a proud average of 4.5 miles.

We went back home, out came the frozen peas and the bandages for the RICE treatment (if you're wondering, this is a bit of runner's parlance that I've only just learned: Rest-Ice-Compress-Elevate). And a glass of wine. And an ibuprofen.

I'm amazed at two things. One is that the distance I managed before giving up - 1.75 miles - felt REALLY short; but for months it was my regular training distance.

The other is how deeply it's depressed me. During the run, every other bit of me - calves, thighs, CV, the lot - was raring to go, and I so wanted to have my run. And I couldn't. I could've cried. Well, I did a bit. The frustration is unbelievable.

So it's back to work at the computer for the next couple of days - but we're planning a gym session on Monday night that doesn't involve the ankles...

I know an old lady...

2007-11-07T15:27:00.000Z

... who swallowed a fly.

Started out this afternoon intending to do the long (4.85 mile) run to Ringland and back. For some reason that I still don't understand, my ankles (of all things) were really quite sore right from the get-go, which got in the way; and by the time I was about 3 miles round, the right one was really uncomfortable.

Not only that, but as I approached the 3-mile point, some small flying insect decided to be my afternoon tea; so I stopped for two minutes to cough and splutter! As that junction gave me the choice to do the slightly shorter (4.25 mile) route, I decided to do that - especially as I was also really feeling the lack of water. (I hate wearing the belt that holds the water bottle - must try to find something a bit lighter and less intrusive.)

But at least it was still a decent length run, and (to my surprise, given the discomfort of the ankle) came in at 46:30 running time - just under an 11 minute mile.

And the November afternoon sky (yes, this is taken about 3pm) was spectacular.

I run because I can

2007-11-03T16:00:00.000Z

It's firework night. Kim plans to come over in the afternoon for us to take the long run round the village (as it turns out, 4.85 miles) during daylight hours, and then come with us to the Swannington firework party - complete with burgers and bangers, of course.

Kim can't make it - work commitments (it's Saturday, woman!!) take over. So off I go on my own. It's a tough route - yes, I know we don't do hills in Norfolk, but there's a slow-but-steady gradient down to Ringland church, which resolves itself on the way back in a series of flat-bits-and-steep-bits that mean the runner doesn't get a break. A slow pace, but I kept at it.

As I approached the final half-mile or so, up another slow-but-definite incline, I ask myself why am I doing this?, and my mind suddenly gives me the reason: because Sue can't.

A brilliant actress and singer, with the biggest heart in the world - I've taken part in several shows with her, and it was always a joy. Sue is terminally ill. A lifetime of (as she put it the last time I spoke to her) "drinking the world's supply of gin" has had the predictable result of wrecking her liver, kidneys and many other bits; the operation she was hoping for can no longer happen, because her immune system and general strength just won't be able to cope. So she's in a hospice, and unlikely to see 2008.

I keep going up that hill, across the churchyard (a gravel path to finish with - oh, great) and into the house. Not bad: 4.85 miles in 53:55. Stretch, water, strip off sweaty gear, collapse in front of PC. Receive email from mutual friend to tell me that Sue died at about eight o'clock this morning.

We go to the firework party. Watching a brilliant display, we know that it's Sue, going out with a bang, and probably giving St Peter a rendition of Broadway Baby at this very moment.

And that's why I run. Because I'm here, and I'm alive, and I can.

Feeling like a real runner

2007-10-29T20:41:00.000Z

OK, so it's only at a pace of around 11 minutes per mile; but 4.74 miles in around 52:30 without a single stop is the biggest achievement yet.

And I didn't feel that I had to stop because it was hurting - because it wasn't. I could have continued for at least a little longer, and it was a steady pace and rhythm, and I enjoyed it.

Oh, wow.

The best compliment

2007-10-27T18:12:00.000+01:00

Gym session (Kim & I are doing our best to include one a week for strength training). Girl at desk takes my card, swipes it, hands it back. As I go to walk away, she asks "What's your name?" "Cassie Tillett." She frowns at the screen in front of her, and says "That's the name I've got here, but it doesn't look like you in the photo..."

I peered over the desk and confirmed that it was indeed me, 20 lb heavier. She said "That's amazing. I was going to ask you if you'd borrowed your mother's membership card..."

Round and round the ... lake

2007-10-26T18:08:00.000+01:00

A trip to the post office in Lenwade was required, so I took the opportunity to take in a run. 5 laps, one break, 5 laps; 0.44 miles per lap. Always rougher going - not hilly, but bumpy paths, potholes and other hazards - so it was harder to get into rhythm. But doing 4.4 miles in 48:15 (plus the 4 minute break) wasn't bad. Still amusing the fishermen and dog-walkers with my antics.

Was glad to have made the investment when we got to the village quiz night that evening to find giant chocolate bars and bags of Kettle Chips on each table...

The best run yet

2007-10-23T20:00:00.000+01:00

Foot? What foot?

Kim had had a really long day at work, and I was feeling under the weather too, but we were very glad that we talked each other into it.

It was cold when we set off today - a dark evening. I was dressed in my (new) luminous t-shirt and proper running trousers (as opposed to the rather heavyweight, always-get-sweaty cotton stuff I usually wear). Whether it was psychological or not, or the genuine effect of the lighter fabrics, but the running felt lighter and easier.

We started by promising that we'd take less breaks. (Usually a 3-4 mile run will make for at least 2 if not 3 stops for stretching.) Kim's dad had told her off: "you can't do that in a race!" So our only concession was that we really did need to stretch after the initial running as it was so cold.

We did our usual 1.5 miles from the Longwater roundabout down to Bowthorpe. "Just a bit further", said Kim: "down to that car at the end". A few minutes later: "no, not that car, that one." And then: "I lied: the end of that road." Sneaky cow. That added on an extra five minutes at that end of the route! We stopped and stretched there. But then we ran all the way back - not just to our usual starting-point, but right round the car park at Longwater too, which is exactly one more mile.

And you know what? For the first time ever, I really enjoyed the process of the run - not just the sheer bloody-mindedness of having kept going, fighting against discomfort, which is more usual. That hamstring kept mostly quiet, with just a bit of awareness (not pain) at the very end of the run; I think that the cold helped, as I found it invigorating (and perhaps it numbed the muscles against pain - who knows?!); and the breathing wasn't at all laboured, even on those uphill bits. I was completely triumphant.

And the triumph was complete when we got back when we clocked the route accurately on Fetch Everyone, and found that we'd run a total of 4.57 miles in 49 minutes' running (plus a four-minute break after 18 minutes). That's an average pace of 10:43, and we know that as we slowed right down from time to time, some of the pace will have been well up on that.

YESSSS...

B*gger. That hurts.

2007-10-20T23:58:00.000+01:00

You know I said earlier today that the foot-down-a-pothole wasn't being a problem?

Iced and elevated it on my return home, seemed ok, wasn't more than just a bit inflexible.

Now, having relaxed (watching the X Factor - what's relaxing about that?!) for the evening, and warmed up, it's now hurting like mad. Across the middle of the right foot, on the left hand side.

This had better sort itself out fast. Or I shall SULK.

No sense of direction...

2007-10-20T15:39:00.001+01:00

... can be an advantage. Or not.

Beautiful October day. I carefully planned a 4 mile route - this being the intended traing distance by end October. From home, down to Ringland church, following the road round to the other side of Weston Longville and back in through the village that way is 4.25 miles. I walked the first 0.25 miles (which I didn't count) in order to be able to stretch before I started, and off I went.

I was aware that the first leg - about 1.6 miles down to the church - was downhill all the way. Still, really nice, and trying to ignore the voice that was saying "so guess what the hill will do on the way home?!" Paused for three minute stretch and water by the church, set off again. The next bit was the promised hill with a vengeance - steep, hard work. Evened out, get breath back, HR round about 150.

Came to a junction. Paused for two more minutes, stretched and considered. Decided that left hand fork was the one that I wanted - right hand one looked like a dirt track rather than a road.

Finally emerged onto the main road coming back into our village. Expected to see Rectory Road very soon on my left. No sign of it. Kept running, and finally saw the road that I should have taken (the right fork) coming in on my right...

Caught my foot in a pot-hole in the road in the last bit, which was a pain - have frozen peas on it now - but it didn't actually cause too much bother in that part of the run. Got home, remapped the correct route, and found that my 55 minutes less 5 minutes breaks had covered 4.6 miles. Not Olympic standards (and still well over the 10 minute mile I'd like) but at least I did it. And it means that, in terms of distance at least, I'm ahead of my own game by about three weeks...

First four miler!!

2007-10-17T22:44:00.000+01:00

Amazing. Kim & I met up at the gym, ran our usual three mile round trip from the Longwater to Bowthorpe roundabouts, and then continued round the route that I'd mapped as a further mile, down to the gym and around the roads and car park of the Longwater estate. We were triumphant to have done it in 43 minutes' running, including 9:30 in three stops for stretch and water; next time, we need to stick with the 4 miles but do it with less pauses.

The difficulty is, at this time of year (excuses, excuses) that it's getting cooler when we run; so the need to stop and stretch after the first mile or so is important. However, we won't get the chance to stop (or pride won't let us!) during the Wymondham 10K, so we'd better take out some of those pauses...

but it was high-five time, nonetheless. And at a 10:39 pace, too, which is encouraging - given that my pace in the May Race for Life was over 12:30...

Going the distance

2007-10-15T18:18:00.001+01:00

A return to the lakes at Lenwade - first time down there for absolutely ages. Having discovered that the circuit isn't "half-a-mile" but 0.44 miles, I have to revise my (perceived) achievements! However, today I managed 9 circuits - giving me a distance of 3.96 miles - just slightly more than Kim & I achieved the other day when we did the "roundabout run" and then added on a trot round the Sainsbury's car park (as you do). It remains the furthest I've run to date.

I managed this distance slightly faster today - 44 minutes' running time (50 minutes in all, but two three-minute breaks for water and stretch after the third and sixth lap). It's still a pace of over 11 minutes per mile, but it's the distance I'm after now.

The left hamstring remains a niggling problem, and the right shin seems to have taken over from the right hip. The terrain, though, was a good deal rougher than I remembered - yes, it's not exactly rough compared to some, but it is against the even pavements we've been using recently, and especially when you're trying not to twist your ankle by stepping on an unseen conker!

At least that means that one more lap of the lake will take me over my four-mile target for the end of October. Mind you, I also need to do that four miles in one hit, without a stretching-and-water break!

Not a lark

2007-10-13T10:00:00.000+01:00

As Kim came over on Friday night to have dinner with us and my parents, who were visiting, we persuaded her to stay overnight and help us finish the bottle(s)! And as our original intention had been to have a run before Friday's dinner - but by the time she'd finished work, it seemed like a bad idea - we promised (at the bottom of the bottle) to make up the shortfall on Saturday morning.

A lovely morning. We took the full 3 mile route round the village, which includes a few hills (yes, even in Norfolk). We both found it very hard work; my theory is that as we'd gone out before breakfast, we were feeling the lack of fuel! The hip stayed quiet but the hamstring did its usual. However, we were well pleased to have managed it in 31 minutes' running time - 35 less a four minute stretching break after the first mile - which is about the best we've managed.

The six-miler still feels like it's a long way off, though...

Back on the road

2007-10-10T20:00:00.000+01:00

- much to my relief.

After several days of non-running - crocked last week, sore muscles after gym, torrential rain - I was SO happy to run again. Kim & I returned to our Longwater-to-Bowthorpe-roundabouts 3 mile circuit, and (including two breaks) did it in 34 minutes - not bad, especially after a week out.

However, as we started to walk down the road to the gym (where we'd parked), Kim suddenly said "I've got a suggestion..." and headed off across the road into the shopping estate - round Sainsbury's and the Range - where we'd done our very first run, 'way back in March.

If she'd said in the last quarter-mile "let's do another bit round the car park" I'd have probably told her in good Anglo-Saxon where to go. As it was, I breathed heavy and kept going; and when I got back, mapped it to find that we'd done very nearly an extra mile, bringing us to 3.87 miles - the furthest I'd ever run in a session. No, it wasn't easy; but I was hugely relieved that the hip didn't play up, the hamstring coped, and I knew I could do it again...

... all we need to do is keep adding it up so we can do 6.2 miles by New Year!!

A bit of encouragement

2007-10-09T19:59:00.000+01:00

What a crappy week for exercise

2007-10-09T18:00:00.000+01:00

A wonderful visit to the gym on Sunday was followed by the worst aches in the legs and the butt that I've felt since I started exercising - I think it was that darn' stepper machine. I could hardly walk up the stairs, never mind run. The only thing to be said for it was that it made me forget about (and also rest) the hip and hamstring that have been causing so many problems.

Today I woke up feeling more mobile than I have for days. Great, I thought - I can get out for a run at last. (The last run was last Tuesday. A week ago. A WEEK AGO!!)

And what did it do? Not just a shower, but torrential rain all day. Even if it had let up before dark (which it didn't), all the country lanes have turned into paddling pools. Just great.

So tomorrow is the day. And then it's back to the routine. But I am getting SO crabby... (waddya mean, "getting?"...)

Crabby does it again

2007-10-05T23:43:00.000+01:00

OK, so her post was actually a month ago, but hey.

You know my favourite mantra, which originated from one of Crabby's readers: "half-assed is good enough"? (I think I need it made up into a logo to wear to the gym on a t-shirt.)

This entry sums it up again wonderfully. How many of us have had this conversation with ourselves? (but without a conscience as smart as Crabby's...)

Painful legs, pretty feet

2007-10-05T20:01:00.000+01:00

That blinkin' hip and hamstring...

After that fabulous run earlier in the week, the two problem areas have really not stopped paining me. So Thursday night's run with Kim was called off (oh, let's be honest, she came over for dinner instead) and this morning I went to see Tim-the-physio. He's made it feel easier, given me some exercises, and we'll see where we go from here.

I made myself feel better in the afternoon by catching up with some beauty treatments from Kayla, including some mad nail polish designs - hands and feet - which I'd never have dared try before... amazing what a new view of yourself can do.

A new route

2007-10-02T21:01:00.000+01:00

After Friday's try at Easton, Kim & decided we needed somewhere a bit better lit. So we met at the gym, walked up to the Longwater roundabout, and headed from there down to the Bowthorpe roundabout - which proved to be a 2.9 mile round trip. Much safer, nothing actually on the road (all pavement) and plenty of street lighting.

On the way there, we deliberately kept the pace down to about an 11 minute mile - as we're trying to improve our distance - and that felt great. We both really enjoyed it, CV was well under control - about 155, in my case - and no problems. However, the return journey showed us that one reason for the ease had been an almost imperceptible downward slope - and now it was upward...

By the last quarter-mile or so, I'd slowed noticeably. The top of my right thigh, immediately below the hip, is now very sore (this did have the advantage that I didn't notice the left hamstring!) and feeling a bit crocked. Kim has instructed me not to run tomorrow, and we'll try again on Thursday. I have a feeling that another visit to Tim the physio - or James the sports masseur - might be in order, though...