It was as I expected

another week off and I am running again, or more accurately walking 4 minutes and running 1 minute for 20 minutes again (Morsey knows what I mean).

Dr K was very happy with the condition of my shins and didn’t even think about reaching for the nasty little acupuncture needles and trust me, when Dr K is happy so am I

I knew that she wouldn’t let me back this weekend though, I could feel it in my bones (boom tish) that I just wasn’t quite 100% yet, so I am not at all despondent. I have to do calf raises each day for the next 7 days, increasing from 3 sets of 12 morning, noon and night (that is 3 sets a day, not 3 sets a time), then Friday week I am back in the game baby! Of course lots of pool running and cycling will still be on the agenda.

I have also been given the number of a good Osteopath so I’ll organise an appointment sometime next week and see what they think of my posture.

I am fine, it is just a minor setback, 2009 was going to be my year anyway

I tumble for you

This morning the naughty little sprites that usually dance around Jo’s feet weaving in and out and forcing her to trip over herself (and poorly placed chains) decided to leave her alone momentarily and come and bother me for a change.

On Wednesday mornings I pick up a mate who has just started back at work part time after taking some time out to have a small litter of children. She lives in a lovely California Bungalow with a nice wide staircase leading up to her front door. Walking down these steps, chatting and not paying attention I missed the bottom step and took a wee tumble, unfortunately my fall was broken by the corner of a concrete planter finding its way into the small of my back while my legs elegantly crumpled under me.

Ouch!

Up I jump jauntily, “yep, no worries I am fine”, on the inside however “frickin’ hell that frickin’ hurts I hope I haven’t done any damage to my frickin’ shins, owie owie owie, I want to cry”

And to add insult to injury I haven’t even been rewarded with a big fat bruise on my back to show off

Seriously, I am fine, it just bloody hurt at the time.

Another stint on the bike tonight, 47 minutes at an average heart rate of 76%, the last 2 minutes were actually just a gentle cool down to reduce my heart rate. I chose to do this rather than the 65 minute steady pool session that was scheduled because although a shorter session it would have at a higher intensity. Also at $4.80 a visit the pool starts to become an expensive option after a couple of weeks.

I am back to the doctor tomorrow, another iron injection and more importantly to find out when I can run again. I feel good, walking up and down stairs is not a problem, but I am not banking everything on being told I can start back this weekend, I am prepared to be told I have another week out so you won’t find me balanced on the railings of the Westgate if I don’t get the news I want to hear.

Why does Sarah Jessica Parker always sleep in her bra on Sex and the City? They are not comfortable, they are a necessary evil (even for us A cups) and they are certainly not night attire, the girls gotta run free sometime, I just don’t get it.

I spoke to my little niece last night, though it was rather one sided, mostly Aunty Em talking and Katrina saying “hello” over and over, it still made me happy though, can’t wait until she visits Melbourne with her mum in 2 weeks.

going nowhere fast

Which means I was back on the stationary bike again tonight, although my cycling muscles were still a bit sore from Sunday’s double session. Though right now I have that satisfied feeling from a good workout that you just can’t get from the pool, I managed 45 minutes at an average heart rate of 77%.

A new fun run was added to Melbourne’s sporting calendar today, The Great Australian Run was announced today. It looks to me like it is being managed by the same people who do the Great North Run in the UK, this event has a reputation for attracting some top end elites so this could be exciting news. Seems that they have got Haile Gebrselassie and Craig Mottram on board, hopefully they will announce some top females at some stage. Looks like it is going to be a 15km run on November 30th, I should be well and truly back in the game by then so I’ll definitely be lining up.

Now, on the way home this afternoon I was behind a Ute towing a trailer and his trailer lights weren’t working, something I discovered when he changed lanes in front on me and I nearly rear ended him. He was a landscaper and had his company logo and mobile phone number on the Ute and the trailer (so naturally you go about attracting new business by driving like an dickhead), so, I was really tempted to send him an abusive text, but wiseheads prevailed which is pretty rare for me as I generally prefer the “go off half tap now think later” approach.

So dear readers, would you have sent an abusive text, or even a slightly more helpful “thought you might like to know your trailer lights are buggered” message?

With only one comment on yesterday’s post I am assuming one of two things –

A) I am the only Young One’s tragic around here

or

B) you were all rather grossed out by the mention of sticky bogeys

Anyway, the answer was Toxteth O’Grady

1 down 4 to go

Oh dear, counting down to the weekend on a Monday, not good hey?

Back in the pool tonight
5 minute warm up
3 sets of 8 by 90 seconds (30 second recovery and 2 minutes between sets)
Really pushing it for motivation today so the cool down lasted about 15 seconds

The votes are in (based on the opinions of 1, me), Baggy Trousers by Madness is the best pool running song, in fact most Madness works well, probably because that’s what I am slowly sinking into.

Which reminds me of the time they did House of Fun on The Young Ones, damn I used to love that show.

Here’s one for the true Young Ones devotee –

Who holds the world record for the stickiest bogey?

Strangers in the night

I managed to stay up until the start of Cadel’s time trial, Shaun of the Dead was on channel 10. I have seen it heaps of times but it always makes me smile, next thing I knew it was half over and Cadel was about ready to start his ride. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to gain enough time on Sastre and finished the trial in second place, he must have been absolutely stuffed after 3 very long weeks, often slogging it out on his own. I reckon his Tour record is pretty amazing but it must be heart breaking for him to have finished second for the second year running.

Not long after I trotted off to bed this morning, just as I was drifting off to sleep I was jolted awake by an all mighty racket. At first I thought it was just the cats carrying on (I have 3, please don’t brand me a crazy cat lady, they just came into my life somehow, mostly me being a soft touch), if I have been up late they have a tendency to go a bit crazy. I shut my eyes again and then there was a strange thudding noise so I figured I had better investigate. In the lounge room there were two started cats staring at the fireplace, the third one was acting pretty casual and barely moved from the end of my bed. Further down in the back room I noticed black stuff every where and a big bushy tail coming over the edge of a book case and a rather startled Bush Tailed Possum blinking back at me, he must have fallen down my chimney. The thudding noise was the poor little fella trying to get out though the glass sliding door in the back room.

So the cats were shut up in another room and the back door opened, Poss was enticed down with some bread (they love banana’s but I didn’t have any) and after a chaotic spin around the kitchen quickly found the open door and was on his way. This happened once before, a couple of years ago, back then I meant to get up on the roof and put some mesh over the top of the chimney, I suppose I should have

There wasn’t any damage, just some freaked out cats and some sooty paw prints on the tiles and floor boards and one freaked out possum. No big deal really, we have knocked their houses down to put ours up, if they decide to visit once in a while I am not bothered, besides, I happen to think they are pretty cute.

After a late night and a spot of animal wrangling I still managed to get myself up and fed and at the pool by 8am so I could get my 90 minute session out of the way. Unfortunately when I got to the pool I was told they had a swimming carnival on (on a Sunday?!), only 2 lanes were open and I couldn’t use them for deep water running I contemplated heading out to the Ringwood pool but I couldn’t be stuffed, I prefer to be in my comfort zone. Instead I went straight back home and dragged out the bike and the wind trainer, after mucking about for 30 minutes, pumping up the front tyre, fitting it to the trainer, getting on the bike and realising that I had fitted it wrong, getting off the bike and refitting it I was good to go.

I only have a mountain bike so it isn’t that comfortable to use with a WT but it is better than nothing, I managed a 45 minute session where I had an average heart rate of 76%, 45 minutes is about my limit because it just isn’t that comfortable. I was wary of putting too much load on my lower legs so I opted to keep the gear low and the cadence high. Despite having a sore bum it did feel good to finish a workout sweating, I really felt like I had done something, it was also a novelty to have my running gear on again

I did want a 90 minute workout today so again at about 4pm I jumped back on the bike and cranked out another 45 minutes, also maintaining an average heart rate of 76%. Sure, ideally to replicate the long run I’d do 90 minutes in one block but 2 45 minute rides beats doing nothing.

I have left the bike set up, I think I’ll supplement the pool with the bike until I am running at full strength again, maybe 20 minute on the bike in the morning and the pool in the afternoon, then I can cut back to pool or bike on alternate days when I am running again.

I’ll maintain my fitness if it’s the last thing I do.

Now, my house smells rather enticingly of roast pumpkin so I better go cook the rice for the roast pumpkin and pea risotto I am making for dinner, yum.

Death of a thousand jabs

Perhaps I exaggerate just a touch, but I have been stuck with needles more time in the last week than I would normally prefer (I would normally prefer none).

Since last Saturday I have had -
Blood taken from right arm
Dry needling in right shin (wasn’t looking, don’t know how many were jabbed in, felt like a million)
Radioactive isotopes injected into left arm
Iron injected into left buttock
Iron injected into right buttock

And to cap it all off I have one more iron injection lined up for next Thursday – and I don’t have any buttocks left

I popped into the clinic today quickly for my second iron jab, normally they don’t bother me but I have been a bit sore from it today. Thanks for the tip Sara, I didn’t pick The Age up today so I found the article on line, Dr K is off to China as part of the Australian Olympic teams Medical crew next Friday, they will definitely be in good hands.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make it to the pool today, they don’t open to the public until 8am on the weekends, I had too much to do this morning so I couldn’t squeeze in my session I had to pick up our club marque, go get my jab and then get out to Bundoora Park for XC. Bit sad that I wasn’t running but team work is not necessarily about competing and someone needed to sort out the admin stuff as our Team Manager couldn’t make it today. I really prefer to do at least 6 pool sessions a week when I am injured and will only have managed 5 this week, obsessed, moi??

Most of my club mates didn’t know about my injury so I spent half the day saying “no, not running, injured, stress fracture, yes, another one, thanks but I am actually OK, out maybe another week and then I can start run/walk again, yes I am in the pool, not it’s not as boring as it sounds, I know really lucky I got it early, should be back for tan relays ad infinitum”

I am thinking of getting a T-Shirt made

Now the challenge for tonight is to stay up long enough to catch Cadel’s time trial. I can’t do the go to bed and then get up when it starts thing, once I am in bed that is it! Instead I might set the alarm on my mobile and just crash out on the couch, that way when the alarm goes off all I need to do is pry my eyes open. I am hoping he is feeling good and has the ride of his life though I am bored of commentators (who granted probably know a hell of alot more than me about cycling) saying that we shouldn’t underestimate the power of the yellow Jersey on Sastre. Come on, it ‘aint going to give the guy magical powers, if it was such a mystical thing Cadel would still be wearing it, personally I don’t think you should underestimate the competitor coming in just behind and their desperation to win.

Either way, it is going to be a great ride.

Maybe time for a coffee.

Buoyant

And I didn’t event get in the water today!

Off to the doctor today, nearly ran to catch a tram then pulled up at the last moment, damn incidental running. I am even a fast walker so I hate having to move about slowly.

With bone scan films in hand and a vial of iron I was ready to find out just how bad the stressie was and to get my iron jab. The news was pretty good, yes it is a stressie, but I pretty much knew that so no surprise there, but it is just a baby one Before a stressie becomes a stressie it is a Stress Reaction, what I have is just the wrong side of this. It is such a knife edge, if 3 weeks ago I had have come down with a flu or something that had have kept me off running for a week I probably would have avoided the progression to fracture, then again it was probably inevitable.

So, best case scenario I will be starting a run/walk program next weekend, which will be after 3 weeks off, worst case I rest another week and start back 2nd weekend in August, either way it sure beats the 8 weeks I had to take off last year! We compared my films from last year and it was clear looking at them side by side how bad I let it get last time. I have an appointment for next Thursday and the Doc will decide how I progress from there after having a dig around the shins.

There was more good news this afternoon when I had my massage, looks like I won’t be suffering though months of painful massage this time around. There was absolutely no pain what so ever when Corrie worked on the hot spot, in fact the outside of my shins were more problematic, which is just a side affect of the pool running. I have decided to book myself in for a weekly massage for the next 8 weeks or so, this will carry me though my recovery period and keep on top of any inflamation and of course I will have to make ice my friend, the frozen water variety of course.

The new shoes I ordered online turned up today too, I am going bust a nice cushy pair out of the box when I am back on my feet again.

Good day today

Would have been a nice afternoon for a run though.

More holes

than a really holey thing

There were a few things I had lined up for today and now I sit here, laptop on knee totally bereft, sadly I think too much chlorine has seeped into my brain.

10 days off running and 9 days in the pool, not a bad effort really. Tonight’s session was a bit of a no brainer, 65 minutes steady paced, I had music so I did quite a bit of fartlek when a fast songs came on. Thankfully there weren’t too many kids in the pool this afternoon, though there was one strange guy with googles and giant flippers who was doing full laps totally underwater.

Tomorrow I am having a rest day (only my second so far) and am off for a massage instead. A good gauge of how hard I am working in the pool is how my body is feeling and right now I definitely feel like I have been working out, my glutes, shins and shoulders in particular. Not stressed about the shins, that always happens with pool running because of the added force of the water hitting the front of your legs.

there is someone on The New Inventors right now with some invention that keeps wine tasting fresh longer after it is opened. Ha, I solved that problem years ago, I just finish the bottle before it has a chance to go bad!

Umm, now where was I?

The latest Run For Your Life magazine was waiting for me when I got home and I just finished reading a great article on Lisa Weightman. This is one tenacious woman and her 7 stress fractures over the years certainly put my 2 in perspective (actually my Dr used her as an example on the weekend when she was consoling me). Lisa ran an Australian Olympic B standard in her debut marathon this year at London, after suffering her latest stressie last December, 2:32:32! Now she is off to represent Australia in the Marathon at the Olympics next month. Obviously I am not and never will be in the same league with my own running but it gives me heart that as a runner I can still work towards achieving my own best inspite of the set backs, here’s hoping I don’t have to suffer though another 5 stressies before I get there.

I really loved this quote as it summed up exactly how I was feeling when I drove home from the pool today.

The appointments, the crutches, and the tears required greater support………and more time to devote to rehabilitation, which is a lot harder and time consuming than training itself.

To get out to the pool, get changed, do my session, get changed again, go to the supermarket (for dinner stuff) and get home probably takes an extra hour than when I am just running. It also takes more to motivate yourself to do the tough sessions when you don’t have the support of your training mates.

I admire the athlete that Lisa is, hopefully she can manage her injury and do some great things in the marathon.

One consolation

is that at least it is a heck of alot warmer in the pool.

27 degrees in the pool versus 11 degrees outside, OK, yes I would rather be outside running.

But at least it is warmer in the pool.

I had my bone scan today, I have an appointment with my doctor at 1020 on Thursday so I am not going to comment on what I could see on the film because I am not the expert (of course I looked!) other than to say that it is probably not the best news but comparing it to last years film it could be much worse.

This was my pool session today -
5 minute warm up
2 sets of 6 by 2:30 (30 second recovery and 2 minutes between sets)
Cool down until boredom tolerance breached, 2:15 today

The Radiolologist was in East Melbourne so I caught a tram, my short foray back onto public transport only served to remind me why I no longer catch the train to work, ughhh, too much close contact with strange people for my liking.

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Attitude

Guess what, I went to the pool this afternoon

5 minute warm up
3 sets of 8 by 90 seconds with 30 second recovery and 2 minutes between sets
2 minute 37 second cool down because boredom threshold was breached

Worked pretty hard today, managed to get my heart rate up to about 150 bpm during the reps.

I did manage the 90 minutes yesterday and surprisingly it was not as appallingly awful as you would think. It’s all in the attitude really, if you think it will be shit it will be shit, I don’t get all pollyanna about it but I do approach it as a necessary training tool, move it or lose it basically. Having been there before I know that you can retain a surprising level of fitness from pool running and hopefully this time around I won’t need to stick with it as long.

So yesterday’s session ended up being a little less structured than planned, I ended up doing a song fartlek, I had the sanity saving waterproof case for my iPod and would go hard for one song and then just steady for the next and so on and so forth. It helps that I obviously don’t wear specs in the pool which makes it harder to clockwatch.

Thanks so much for all the lovely comments yesterday, though I am a little confused by Stu’s comment, he seems to think that stock cubes may possibly be of some assistance

When you have a set back you really do just have to get on with it. None of this cheery thinking positive crap, I don’t subscribe to that, positive thought is not going to heal my bones any quicker than being a grumpy cow. But like I said about the pool running, having a shit attitude about it is only going to make the task more tedious, I just remind myself that hard work now will pay off when I am able to run again. I don’t really get people who just fade away and do nothing when they are injured only to go though weeks or months of heartache and struggle when they start back, but that is their choice I suppose, personally if I did nothing I would go insane.

I was going to relate my rather undignified hop around the change room this afternoon while trying to get into my bather bottoms, but I guess I’ll just leave that up to your imagination

Bone Scan tomorrow stay away from me I shall be full of isotopes.