newspaper article ... weather ... good news

Well ... all was good at the physio last Wednesday and I'm now able to run continuously for about 40 minutes and gradually increase that to 60 minutes over the next two weeks or so.  The ankle has been feeling better by the day and now I have no problems at all although I am still icing the area three times a day and will continue doing so until the end of January.

Then I'll gradually phase that out along with the eccentric stretching exercises although the latter will take about six more months.

The time I spent with Lee Sobot and a photographer (Bruce Rollinson) on Tuesday was very enjoyable and productive.  Their work appeared in today's Yorkshire Evening Post.  The article can also be read on that newspapers website - here.

Also this week the weather here has been very strange.  At the beginning of the week I was able to run wearing only shorts and a T shirt but only four days later I found myself with tracksters, two tops, a hat and three pairs of gloves (and still had cold fingers).  This week all my training runs were at the same time of day yet the temperature ranged from 9.4 C (48.9 F) to -0.6 C (30.9 F).  The mean for Yorkshire at this time of year is about 7 C (45 F).  Very strange.

things still improving

Just a brief update on how the injury's progressing before my next visit to the physio on Wednesday afternoon.

Well, today was a 'no running' day but the previous four runs were all done in the morning and I would give them marks of 96%, 96%, 98% and 99%.  So things are definitely still improving and the early morning aching has also abated.

Very good indeed.  Stretching three times a day, icing three times a day and doing the eccentric contraction exercises twice a day seems to be helping enormously.

These runs have been increasing in length but still alternating running with walking.  I'm very confident that the physio will give me all clear to begin running non-stop again.  Obviously not very far at first and, I guess, if all goes well, I'll be able to start training properly again at the end of the month.

And then I can start planning my races for this year although that could be a bit difficult with Fay's job being in danger at the moment - local authority cuts.

Still ... things are beginning to look good at the moment.  And there's a reporter visiting tomorrow from the Yorkshire Evening Post ...

short update

Just a quick post to mention that a few videos of the recent World 24 hour Championships can be found here.

There are also a few race reports that I enjoyed reading - Dan Rose, Scott Jurek and GB crew member Fiona Rennie.  Don't forget that my report can be read here.

There are also a couple of newspaper articles in the Bradford Telegraph & Argus and the Wharfedale & Airedale Observer.

Then there's this one from last month which I've just come across in the Yorkshire Evening Post.

Post Brive I began running again on Thursday 20 May with a five miler and since then I've been out on Saturday (6 miles), yesterday (7 miles) and plan to run again tomorrow (8 miles) and Friday (9 miles) and after that - well it depends on my left hamstring.  It seems to ache a bit at the moment, only when running though and it does improve slightly as the run progresses.

I expect to have a proper training schedule in place before the weekend though.  I feel I need to do well in Perth to put the recent bad run behind well and truly behind me.  It's a bit strange still though in some ways because only two years ago I would have been well pleased with 222 km.

Personal Bests

There's a rather large article about me in today's Yorkshire Evening Post.  Read it here (with the photo) or here (without the photo).

Also, just found this on Greg Crowther's blog.  I hope he doesn't mind me reproducing it here if I put a link to his blog afterwards.  I'd like to ask his permission but I can't find any contact details on his blog.  One thing though ... being American he talks about Personal Records rather than Personal Bests, good stuff though.

The five stages of PRs

1. You set PRs because, by definition, your first race at each distance is a personal record.

2. You frequently set PRs by large amounts because you're still growing and maturing, and/or because you started training relatively recently, and/or because you're in the middle of a successful weight-loss program, and/or because you're now training much more sensibly than ever before.

3. You set PRs less frequently and by smaller amounts, and you find these modest improvements disappointing because you've become accustomed to stage #2.

4. As PRs continue to become more elusive, you learn to savor each new one.

5. You are now too old, too injured, and/or too unfit to set PRs.  To compensate, you either invent new categories of achievement (such as "seasonal bests" and "age-group PRs"), try events that you've never done before (and thus return to stage #1), or stop racing altogether.

I guess I'm in stage 1 (for the second time) ... what about you ?

Originally posted on Greg Crowther's blog, 11 November 2008

Tentative plans

Two days after the Tooting race I developed a really bad cold, the worst I've had for years. I don't often fall ill after an ultra race but this was a bad one.

Possibly a result of not showering immediately after finishing the race. So, in the future I may have to choose between Exercise Associated Collapse and developing a cold. No contest really ...

Didn't run for eight days but since then I've been out every other day and the aches and pains have slowly subsided and I'm beginning to look forward to the next challenge ... an ultra next spring probably, to confirm my fitness and injury free status before the England Athletics team is announced in June/July for the Commonwealth Championships.

I may do two races in the spring.

This morning a journalist from the Yorkshire Evening Post phoned asking for a quick interview - he's sending a photographer round on Friday.