Doom and Gloom...

I woke up this morning feeling fairly positive that I would soon be back in action ... until I tried to move and realised I still couldn't without great difficulty and immense pain.  

I took my pile of prescribed pills and waited for them to kick in before attempting to move for the second time.  I very slowly managed to get up, get washed and dressed before braving the stairs.  The only possible way for me to get up and down the stairs at the moment is on my bum!  It reminds me of being a kid and "bumping" down each step - but I can guarantee I don't do any bumping! Its at times like these that living in a bungalow seems a good idea! 

I made it to the sofa, ankle elevated and ice pack in place ... and here I am ... still ... 7 hours later!  BORED! BORED! BORED! A friend of mine visited me for a coffee to give me some light relief and other than that I have had too much time to wallow ... and too much time to look up recuperation times for my specific ankle injury on the internet!  It appears that I might as well wave good bye to all the races I have booked for the first half of this year at least!  I was looking forward to them all and what a damn waste of my hard earned money!
 
I don't think my non-running friends quite get my despair and see it as a self-inflicted injury so I should get on with it - quietly! 

I never sit still for long and hate watching telly - what am I supposed to do?!!

The fact that 2 days after the injury I am still not feeling any better suggests to me that it's going to be a long job!  Surely I still shouldn't be in excruciating pain whilst popping painkillers religiously?

My new challenge is to find a hobby that involves not moving ...

The end of Janathon and the world as I know it ...

You may or may not have noticed that I didn't blog yesterday!

Well after coming home from work I decided to go for a short run as I was going out later in the evening.  I set off with a 4 mile route in mind but after just 2 miles I felt an awful pain in my ankle and something seemed to "POP!".  I stopped to assess the damage but couldn't work out what I had done - I didn't trip, fall or go over on it at all. There was no way I could continue running so I slowly limped home.  After getting warm running and then to start walking (and slowly) I soon cooled down, and before long I was shivering but couldn't speed up due to the pain - very frustrating!!! I couldn't even ring to get a lift as no one was home! When I eventually made it home I immediately took my trainers off (with great difficulty!) elevated and iced it as well as taking painkillers and using Ibuleve Gel.  Eventually it felt slightly better so went to get showered and changed as I was going out for tea then going to the Cinema to see Les Miserables. With food and wine in me I started to feel more optimistic but during the film my foot started to throb and become very uncomfortable.  It was a mighty long film and although I enjoyed it I was relieved when it ended so I could get some movement in my foot!  Unfortunately, that was very difficult!  I got home took more painkillers and iced it again before making it to bed for midnight.  I was very uncomfortable all night and even with not moving at all I was in incredible pain. I was relieved when it was morning and I could get up!  Unfortunately when I tried to stand up I realised I couldn't! I phoned in sick at work and my husband drove me to A & E! 

Luckily it was quiet and I was soon seen and X-rayed!  After being x-rayed and the nurse seeming to enjoy putting my foot through very painful manipulation I was informed I have lateral ankle ligament damage! I now have crutches to master and cannot weight bear for 3 days.  After this its slowly slowly does it! It looks like I have a very depressing few weeks ahead of me!  

So Janathon has come to an abrupt halt along with Jantastic! I have many races booked for the coming weeks which I really can't see me being fit for!  The first being a 10K on Sunday in Carlisle - DEFINITELY a NO NO!

So now what?  All I can see is a big black hole ahead.  Feel completely bereft with the thought of no running or exercise for several weeks to come! What do people who don't run do with their time? 

More miles ... by Lesley Wallace · 365 Project

More miles ... by Lesley Wallace · 365 Project

Janathon Day 16 - feeling grotty!

At the time of blogging last night I mentioned that I had started sneezing after swimming and I was concerned it was my water/chlorine/goggle allergy returning. Well ... over the course of the evening my sneezing got more intense and when I went to bed I found it difficult to sleep as I felt  like I was drowning in my own snot!  It was like a tap had been turned on in my sinuses and I had a constant drip to go with the sneezing.  Constantly blowing my nose has now left me with a sore red one and its not even the right time of year for Rudolf!  Consequently when my alarm went off this morning I didn't feel at all refreshed and I really really wanted to hide under the duvet and have a PJ day!  I forced myself out of my pit and was relieved to find the sneezing had stopped but it had been replaced with a queasy feeling and I still had an annoyingly drippy nose!  Just to make matters worse it was an extremely chilly day, and the car temperature said it was -4 at 8.30 this morning.  I can honestly say I have shivered all day, however by lunchtime the queasiness had started to wear off and the dripping was starting to subside.

I was relieved to finish work and hoped that once I got home into a nice cosy house I would warm up ... I didn't!

I cursed Janathon at this point as I really didn't have the energy or inclination to do anything but slob on the sofa watching TV but I gave myself a good talking to and convinced that negative little voice in my head that at least exercise would warm me up!  Going outside was a step too far and I opted for the Turbo trainer instead. I put Troy from Spinervals on to enthuse me!  I managed 8 miles on the bike, then went to sort dinner feeling a lot better with the world.  It's amazing the effect endorphin's coursing through my body have on me! 

After sorting dinner I decided to go on the treadmill, and do my second Jantastic run for the week.  Two more runs to fit in before Monday to keep up with the Jantastic challenge!  

The Zombies Run! app promised me that it would work equally well on a treadmill but I beg to differ!  Although I collected items whilst running I had no Zombies chasing me even though it was set as a Zombie chase! Logically it won't work the same on a treadmill as there is no GPS to track the speed etc but the app states it will!  Hey Ho lesson learnt for next time - I need to brave the great outdoors if I want to play silly little games!

I'm hoping the nose problem is just a common cold but I do seriously think it's something in the pool that is irritating me. I will keep a log of the times it happens and see if I can see a pattern. It might be the pool tops up chlorine levels at a certain time and its the higher level of chlorine that is affecting me ... I don't really know ... I'm clutching at straws ... after coming this far with my swimming I really don't want to have to abandon my dream now.  Any suggestions would be most welcome!!

I'm hoping I have dried up by Sunday. I have my first race of the year - a 10K run in Carlisle IF I don't get snowed in before then that is!  The weather isn't looking very hopeful and a big snow blizzard is forecast for Friday!  The problem is the journey from Kendal to Carlisle goes through Shap which is ALWAYS affected by snow being the second highest point on any motorway in the UK!  Fingers crossed the forecasters are wrong on this occasion! 

Cycling Miles Today: 8.02 

Running Miles Today: 3.11

Time:  30 minutes 

Average Pace: 9.41 min/mile

Total Janathon Running miles: 47.95  / 80 running miles

Total Janathan Walking miles: 24.21 / 30 walking miles

Total Janathan Cycling miles: 52.43/ 130 cycling miles

Total Janathon Swimming miles: 3.83 / 10 swimming miles

Total Janathon non-mileage exercise: 2 hours Circuits

Total Janathon mileage: 128.42 / 250 target

Tomorrow is supposed to be a swimming day but I don't think I will risk it again until I am fully fit and will probably run instead!

Janathon Day 15 - Triathlon Swimming ... I can!

I am nearly half way through this Janathon challenge and I will update you later in this post to how I am getting on with my mileage!  Ideally I should be half way to my target...

After another busy day at work I arrived home to tackle yet another pile of ironing and made tea for the hungry Horace's before I set out to go swimming.  Although we haven't had any more snow today, and the snow that we did have is slowly melting the temperature seems to have plummeted.  I haven't felt warm all day and the thought of undressing in a draughty changing room before plunging into freezing cold water really didn't float my boat but the tri plan said I was swimming so I had to take a deep breath and be strong!

The pool was busy (as usual) and I went straight into the lanes section.  Unfortunately this was also busy and yet again for the second time I wasn't the slowest swimmer in my lane although I must admit I found it highly annoying that some very slow people were getting in my way! I set off my poolmate watch when I start my lengths and after every 20 lengths I mark it as the end of a set.  Tonight I seemed to be very tired and felt quite disheartened as I thought I had only done 2 sets of 20 plus my warm-up and cool down lengths, but actually when I uploaded my swim to the PC I was delighted to see that I had actually done 3 sets of 20 plus my warm-up and cool down lengths! Perhaps I'm not as bad as I think! 

I was reading on the internet that success at any activity in life does not begin in a pool or a lake, on a bike or a road, in an office or a home, or anywhere else. It begins in your head. There are a limitless number of quotes from any number of people that say essentially the same thing – If you think you can or if you think you can’t, you are right.

So I have decided ... to stop talking myself down.  I will tell myself I am a good swimmer who just needs to develop the skills!  I am going to focus on technique and endurance and when April and my first triathlon rolls around I will be "a really good swimmer" who "enjoys the swim" and "swims fast"!


My only concern tonight is my sneezing seems to have returned and I haven't tightened my goggles! Fingers crossed it's a one off and not the return of my water allergy!!

Swimming miles today: 1.09 (1750 metres = 70 lengths)

Total Janathon Running miles: 44.84  / 80 running miles

Total Janathan Walking miles: 24.21 / 30 walking miles

Total Janathan Cycling miles: 44.41/ 130 cycling miles

Total Janathon Swimming miles: 3.83 / 10 swimming miles

Total Janathon non-mileage exercise: 2 hours Circuits

Total Janathon mileage: 117.29/ 250 target

As I was saying earlier nearly half way through Janathon and after analyzing my mileages I am behind with my swimming and cycling miles!  Best get moving!!

Cycling tomorrow so I will have to make it a good one!!!

Janathon day 14 - Beware of Zombies!

Roclite™ 275 GTX®

Tonight when I got home from work I was excited to see the trainers that I had ordered had arrived ... but ssshhhh don't tell Mr W! He often says "How many pairs of trainers do you need?" . He just doesn't get it!! I used to have a handbag fetish but now it's trainers! I decided that since one of my 2013 goals was to do some off-road running I needed some trail trainers to do this in!  I opted for Innov8 ones because my last few pairs of road trainers have been this make and I like them!  We have had a couple of days snow so the paths were still fairly slippy so I decided to try out my trainers!  I felt much more steady on the ice than usual and even went along a muddy track to christen them and felt remarkably safe and didn't feel like I was going to end up on my bum! I am a happy bunny with my new purchase! Just need to do some trails now!


My son who is currently home from uni has persuaded me to buy an app (because it was half price!) for my i phone that will benefit my running (I hope)! 

I should know NOT to take notice of him but obviously the first flush of having my boy back from Uni hasn't dimmed yet and I did as he suggested! He had read great reviews on the Zombies Run app so I invested my pennies because I need all the help I can get with increasing my speed. 

I tried the app for the first time tonight! The app itself is a mix of a tracking device for your runs (similar to Runkeeper) and a computer game.

I started looking through the options in the app. The first thing I noticed was that I had to turn on the zombie chases. When I went to do so, it had me promise that I wasn't going to be so startled by zombies that I would accidentally panic and run into oncoming traffic.  If the zombie chase was optional, what else was in this app?  I still haven't really worked this one out!

I selected to have music playing behind the app but in hindsight I think it would be better without music but I will have to give it a go before I can confirm.  

Shoelaces tied, headphones in, GPS found ... start game!  I was off! 

The premise is the world has been overrun by zombies and there are small bases of humans, trying to survive. They send runners out to gather supplies. Every run you take is a mission, I was very dubious about what I was entering into which is why I did this run in the light (wasn't sure how scary being chased by zombies in the dark would be!). 

The story began and I started running.  I  must confess I didn't pay too much attention to the story (too busy concentrating on running) but was intrigued by all the supplies I was picking up along the way and wondered what they would enable me to do once I  got home! 

I had been running for about 10 minutes when I got the first zombie alert and typically I was just starting to climb a hill!  I could hear them getting closer with heavy breathing and grunts and groans! As I was going up a hill it was very difficult to speed up to get away and alas ... I was caught! But fear not -  I didn't die I just lost all the supplies I had collected! PHEW!!! 

I found myself wanting to shout back when he was saying "Runner 5 are you ready?", or "Runner 5 I can't see you are you alive?".  I will have to be careful not to get too involved with the story in case I start interacting!

I ran for 4 miles and in that time I was chased by zombies 5 times!  I managed to escape twice and was caught the other 3!  A fantastic way for an interval shy girl to integrate interval training into a workout!!  I really enjoyed the app and can't wait to run again and the next time I WILL get away on EVERY occasion!  I am determined! 

Once home I synced my I-phone with the PC and tried to work out what to do with the supplies I had collected ... this is still a mystery to me but I am sure I will soon work it out!!! 

I completed one mission during this workout and I am excited about completing more ... does that make me sad?

I ran 4.17 miles and you can view my first Zombie run here.

After showering and changing I went out to a circuits class, my adrenaline must have still been flowing from being chased by zombies!!! I felt energised and ready to take on the world!

I know this might sound gross but I have had an issue with my running clothes and ... odour!  I always run in technical running clothes that wick the sweat away from my body but the downside of  this is they seem to trap the sweat in their fibres instead! I find that my clothes can still smell unpleasant even after washing them several times!  It is especially noticeable as soon as I start to sweat in them again when I am in the gym or at a circuits class. A stale smell seems to permeate up through my nostrils making me very self conscious that other people think I smell too. 

I wouldn't mind so much if I used cheap washing powders but I always buy a "brand" such as Persil, Ariel or Daz and none of them do what they say on the tin, well not as far as my sweaty running clothes go!  I was at the point (to the horror of my husband) where I was going to throw all  my running stuff away and replace with new, but as a last resort I asked on a Facebook running site if anyone else suffered with this problem or if I am just an exceptionally smelly beast.  I was amazed to hear how many other people have the same issue (Phew I am normal!) and a special sports washing detergent was recommended to me!

I Googled to see where I could buy some and ended up ordering from Wiggle. This Halo Sports Wash really did the trick and my running clothes now have a new lease of life!  I'm often allergic to things I use on my skin, so I was pleased that I have had no adverse skin reactions either! I now use it for all my sports clothes and smell like a rose all the time!! I would definitely recommend it if anyone has an odour issue!

Running miles today: 4.17

Time:  38 minutes 49 seconds

Average Pace: 9.17 min/mile

Non mileage exercise: 1 hour circuits

Total Janathon Running miles: 44.84  / 80 running miles

Total Janathan Walking miles: 24.21 / 30 walking miles

Total Janathan Cycling miles: 44.41/ 130 cycling miles

Total Janathon Swimming miles: 2.74 / 10 swimming miles

Total Janathon non-mileage exercise: 2 hours Circuits

Total Janathon mileage: 116.20

Janathon day 13 - First Snow!

I decided to go for a run as soon as I got up this morning as the forecast was for snow this afternoon.  I struggle running fast without adding the pressure of staying upright too!

I didn't really have a route in mind but thought I would head out into the country as I am unable to do these routes during the week as it gets too dark too early! It initially felt hard and my legs weren't willing but being the horrible owner I am I told them to "man-up" and get on with it! By the time I completed a 3 mile loop and was on my way home my legs seemed to have got second wind so I decided to extend the run a little adding another 3 miles.  It was a very cold frosty morning but great for running! After not seeing any runners out yesterday I think every Tom, Dick and Harry were out today - all trying to beat the snow no doubt. I tried my best to push the pace up but couldn't maintain it for long.  However, once home I analysed my run (as I do!) and then thought of the reasons that might have contributed to it feeling so hard.  


Could it be that yesterday I did a 21 mile bike ride followed by a 5 mile walk,  fueled later by a Take- away washed down with a bottle of wine and several Gin and Tonics?! Perhaps, with this in mind I need recognition for actually making it out the door today and completing my 4th and final (for this week) Jantastic run! 

I also think I deserve a pat on the back for actually managing to maintain an average pace of 9.01 minute miles, and my fastest mile was mile 4 which was a 8.19 minute mile! Perhaps this was why I was feeling so knackered rather than the junk lifestyle!  You can view my run here.

I will be trying to do more of these "fast" miles in future, but perhaps I need to reconsider this "my body is my temple" lark to help me! However, if my body really is MY temple why should I stop polluting it to my hearts content, after all, it's my temple to do with as I wish! 

and I wish to fuel it with junk and expect miracles!

Shower and lunch followed my run then we decided to conquer another Wainwright fell as the predicted snow hadn't materialised. We picked a low fell that wouldn't take too long to climb and got in the car to drive there ...

... BUT the snow came!  We decided it would be silly to go fell walking in the snow and opted for a local walk close by.  I think this was a wise move as the snow got fairly heavy at one point and I wouldn't have liked to have been negotiating climbing over rocks etc.  We did a cold and snowy 4.75 miles at Ratherheath Tarn which can be viewed here.

Just as the snow started ...

an hour later!

Running miles today: 6.65

Time: 1 hour 00 minutes 22 seconds

Average Pace: 9.01 min/mile

Walking miles today: 4.75

Total Janathon Running miles: 40.67  / 80 running miles

Total Janathan Walking miles: 24.21 / 30 walking miles

Total Janathan Cycling miles: 44.41/ 130 cycling miles

Total Janathon Swimming miles: 2.74 / 10 swimming miles

Total Janathon non-mileage exercise: 1 hour Circuits

Total Janathon mileage: 112.03