Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Three years of running

Three years ago, I decided to go out for a run one morning after starting a regular 'walking at lunchtime instead of eating out' exercise regime, see the posting here. It was ugly but I went and due to the persistence of a very good friend and some bloody mindedness on my part, I still want to run, only further and faster.

Just re-read this part and it seems a little bitchy, but I'll let it stay;
So this is the year where I was due to crank it up a notch and where it all went horribly wrong. As I sit here on 2nd June 2014 I have managed a whole 135 miles, which is 285 miles behind where I wanted to be by now. I haven't managed a single run in almost a month and that was on just under 2 bloody miles, my last significant run was the Passion For Life 5 miler almost ten weeks ago, bloody hell, now I see it actually written down, it really pisses me off.

I've had to cancel my proposed ultramarathon, and missed many races I wanted to do. I have all bought and paid for a 5k/ half marathon weekend in the fall and I just hope I can be ready for that, as it would be my third year doing it and myself and Bren like to make a fun weekend out of it. There are another couple of races that I'll be very sorry to miss, but right now I'm not very confident, just kinda really crappy about the whole thing right now.

The Highs

Jings, so many, where to start;
  • Dropped a helluva lot of weight, some due to my getting divorced diet, but the rest due to running.
  • Ran a marathon, aye that's right, a whole 26 miles 385 yards, on a damn hot day and I managed a 4:36, not what I wanted but not too shabby, and I just found out that it is a Comrades Marathon qualifying time, so there...
  • Ran multiple other half marathons, 10km's, 5km's, etc, giving me a selection of snazzy medals and some rather tasteful and a whole lot of other really ugly running shirts.
The Lows

F&%ck#%g injuries, and that's about it.

In Summary

Onward and upward, shake this bloody injury and get my arse back in gear and get out there, the world is waiting for me...

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Plantar fasciitis sucks...

Ok, so my sore foot at the Passion For Life 5 Mile turned out to be full blown plantir fasciitis, which is easily the worst crap that has happened to me during the running phase of my life and it is bloody annoying as all hell...

So here's what those lovely fellas at the Mayo Clinic define it as;
Plantar fasciitis (PLAN-tur fas-e-I-tis) is one of the most common causes of heel pain. It involves pain and inflammation of a thick band of tissue, called the plantar fascia, that runs across the bottom of your foot and connects your heel bone to your toes

My definition is 'bloody ouch...' I could barely walk after the five miler and I'm still suffering about six weeks later. I read up all about it online, spoke to several people that know about this kind of thing, spoke to other suffers both online and in person and everyone pretty much said various things.

So what have I tried

  • Not running - hmm, really don't like this one, but I'm avoiding running, I've missed a few races I wanted to do and I'm pissed about it.
  • Frozen water bottle - rolling the bottle under my heel and the various sore spots, doing this lots, both at home and at work, it hurts a bit and I'll keep on going.
  • Tennis ball - again rolling this under my heel and the various sore bits, ho hum
  • Ice water bath for 8 minutes - jeez, this bloody hurts
  • Kinesiology tape - I'm trying a couple of brands right now, both KT Tape & Rock Tape. I changed to the Rock Tape as I couldn't find the waterproof KT Tape. The KT Tape is pre-cut strips, whereas the Rock Tape is a roll. Both websites have video instructions on how to put the tape on, which Bren has been doing for me.

So what happens next

One of the most annoying things about this is that I ran all bloody winter, in all kinds of crap and just when the weather started to get better, this crap happened, so my plans for a > 1,000 mile year, an ultramarathon, a couple of marathons, etc, are all buggered.