Monday 19 October 2015

Some new running kit & a plan of attack

Nope, no new shoes, running shorts or bright new cap. 

Just some orthotic insoles for my shoes. Just off the shelf ones for now, as a trial to see if this nerve problem is a biomechanical one. Potentially my foot movement on landing is causing something to impact on that nerve. 

So, I've been instructed to start very short and light, and work my way up from there.  It feels like I'm starting from scratch again but I'm trying to reassure myself that my body does know how to run, and if I can keep some cardio fitness by swimming in the meantime, hopefully it won't be too frustrating.

I'm wanting to make the most of this though, and try and turn myself into a morning runner. I do NOT get up earlier than I absolutely have to, but only ten minutes earlier to throw on shoes and run round the block for 1km? I could do that. If I really love it, maybe it'll become a habit and getting up at 6/6.30am won't seem so awful... This mama has been spoiled with very good sleeping children, and uses absolutely every minute of sleep in the mornings, usually!!

I've never exercised before eating though, so that'll take some getting used to.  My morning hunger pangs are way less (and sometimes non-existent!) these days since 'turning LCHF'. I suspect the biggest obstacle will be my brain, but starting off with small distances to begin with and building slowly should work well.  I'll be retraining my mind as well as my body!

Below is my rough plan I want to follow - running 3/4 times a week, increasing 'long run' by 0.5km each week but not increasing weekly total by more than 15%. 

Week 1: 4 x 1.5km Total 6km
Week 2: 1 x 2.5km, 2 x 2km - Total 6.5km
Week 3: 1 x 3km, 1 x 2km, 2 x 1.5km - Total 8km
Week 4: 1 x 3.5km, 1 x 3km, 1 x 2.5km - Total 9km
Week 5: 1 x 4km, 2 x 3km - Total 10km 
Week 6: 1 x 4.5km, 1 x 4km, 1 x 3km - Total 11.5km
Week 7: 1 x 5km, 2 x 4km - Total 13km

Thursday 8 October 2015

Getting back into it

This week has marked my return to running after a three week lay off.

The first was a run on a walkway with hubby, in New Plymouth.  I actually said, mid run, "I hate this".  I felt slow and sloppy.  Nevertheless, it was a little over 4km and I realised I hadn't lost as much running fitness as I thought I had.  I really thought I would have to run/walk in 3 or 4 minute intervals!

A few days later, hubby and I had an opportunity to run along the coastal walkway in New Plymouth.  It was magic.  A gorgeous sunny day, and despite a strong headwind on the first leg, it was the best run I could remember for a very long time.  We took our time, stopping for a few photos, and a missed turnoff lead us to some rock scrambling along the water front. Heaps of fun!  I realised that it's so easy to get caught up in the target paces and distances way of running and sometimes it's just great to run for fun.


To round off the week, I managed a quick 3km over dinner time on Thursday night.  I was feeling tired, and hadn't eaten for about 2 1/2 hours, but surprised myself by how fast I was.

The foot feels okay.  On my first run the side of my foot (the original injury) was a bit niggly, and I even noticed the exact same pain on the other foot afterwards.  I wonder if those tendons/ligaments have been a bit weak?  It flared up at the start of the coastal walkway run as well but after a couple of minutes it disappeared, and last night I didn't notice it at all.

The top of my foot remains numb/tingly, and the occasional ache appears, but I haven't heard back with the results of the x-ray so I assume there was no fracture picked up.  I go back to the specialist next week so it'll be interesting to see what he says we do from here.