Janathon Day 6. Twinge, Niggle, Injury

A party game that doesn’t sound nearly as much fun as ‘Snog, Marry, Avoid’, I’ve been playing this one today. When does a twinge become a niggle, and when does that niggle become an injury? In some cases it’s obvious. Anyone who’s ever limped home from an abandoned run will know exactly what an injury is. After Devizes Half Marathon back in October last year, 13.2 miles in freezing rain ending with a steep, slippery scramble up a hill was enough to leave my backside sore with tight muscles. I laughed it off, because it’s funny to have a sore bottom after running, isn’t it? A month later l had to admit that my right butt cheek was still feeling a little sore after running. I think at this point it became a ‘Twinge’.

It’s now the new year, I’ve run a couple of times, and guess what – I can still feel it. I can feel it even when not running. It’s not desperately painful but I Googled my symptoms, and at this point I believe it officially became a ‘Niggle’. I’ve read up on some exercises I can do, and this made up my Janathon exercise for today. (Doing the exercises, not the reading). If at any point I decide to consult a Doctor or Physio about my bottom, then it will develop into an ‘Injury’.

Last time I had an injury it cost lots of money, I didn’t run for weeks and I ended up creating a stir wearing an enormous float in our local swimming pool (otherwise known as aqua running). Not keen on that happening again, so fingers crossed the exercises help.

Training Going Well!

After the excitement of last week’s 10 mile run, I finally decided that I could do this darned marathon thing, my leg was strong enough, and I was mentally fit enough!

This week has started with my plan to run for 6 miles and a long run of 13 miles. I will hopefully fit in some aqua plodding, and maybe another short run as well, and/or some cycling. Unfortunately this week is looking being one of ‘those’ weeks.

I am typing this whilst waiting impatiently for the engineer to come and service our boiler. He could arrive any time between 8am – 1pm, and the last time I can aquaplod is 12 noon, as then they rope the pool into highly regimented lanes with speed limits. Unfortunately my aquaplod pace is slower even than the Slow lane, so its not really fair to the rest of the Chippenham lunchtime swimmers if I hold them up! Wednesday they don’t have any sessions I can get to, and Thursday is allocated for my ‘Long Run’. On Friday the first of my children is home as school has finished for Easter. Wonder if she’d like to come swimming whilst I aquaplod???

This week’s Long Run is planned to be 13 miles. Yes, I know its only half the distance of the marathon, but even so its a 3 mile jump up from last week. As long as the weather doesn’t stay this hot I think its achievable. Run – Walk is my new plan!

Yesterday I started of this week’s training with a plan to run (yes RUN – not run-walk!) for 6 miles. I figured I need to toughen my legs up over these shorter distances, and then I can work on my stamina for run-walking over the longer distances. I also realised I’d better try out my race day outfit, as I’m seriously running out of time! It was so cold first thing I actually had to wait until nearly 10am before I could push myself out of the door. There should be a Government regulation about minimum temperatures for wearing vest and shorts! I was freezing for the first mile and a half (seriously – goosebumps and everything!), and after that I was boiling! The weather is beautiful at the moment, but I really hope it breaks before 22nd April,,, sorry everyone!)

Anyway, apart from the heat, run went really well, and I ended up running for 7.21 miles. It felt much harder than last week’s 10 miles, so I think that proves the walk breaks are really going to help over the long distances. Pace wasn’t that much faster either.

So – still no sign of the Engineer. Will now update my Virgin Money Giving page, and I need to write another begging email asking for donations. I haven’t felt I could ask for donations whilst I was unsure if I’d make it to the start line. Shows how much more confident I’m feeling!

Last Chance – Thy Name is Bicycle!

I have been good. I have been following the Physio’s advice. I have been doing my stretches, I have  been applying ice and popping Ibuprofen. So I thought I’d better also get on me bike and keep my fitness up whilst I can’t run.
After dithering around (as usual), I made it out on my bike on Thursday. 12 miles in 1 hour and 6 minutes is not very impressive, but my backside was shouting at me by the end that it was quite long enough! Mental note – add cycling shorts and/or new bike saddle to my birthday list! I set off thinking I would hate every minute. However, after a while I cheered up, and was just appreciating being out in the fresh air again. Cycling certainly seems much faster than running, and I was amazed how quickly my watch was ‘beeping’ the miles. As I was riding on roads I often run down, it felt like I was on the wrong side of the road – a most disconcerting experience.
Following on from that success, I set off today on an even more unusual experience both for me, and for my local swimming pool. May I introduce my Flotation Belt? It was to enable me to go and do ‘Aqua Running’, a strange form of torture involving bobbing about in the pool, performing a ‘running’ motion, thus propelling yourself through the water.
If cycling felt fast moving after running, then aqua running was slow motion! I felt a total dork approaching the pool side with my attractive belt in my hand, but fortunately the pool was fairly empty (apart from the tots in the shallow end). Once I was happy that I was wearing the largest float in the pool, I slipped into the water and set off. Yes I felt stupid, and yes it was boring going sooooooo slowly, and yes people did have a bit of a stare at me. However, it was a good workout, and after 50 minutes I felt tired which is good.
My birthday weekend is fast approaching, so enough fun for today. Time to hide the grey hair and smarten up for a weekend of celebrating moving up into the next age category for races!