60@60 goes sponsored

Saint Ann's Hospice
St Ann's Hospice provide remarkable care and comfort for those in their last days and their families and friends. My efforts in the Great Manchester 10k on 26thMay 2013 will be driven on by the memory of my Mum, Margaret, and also Sheila Waddington, a classmate at primary school who I had just got to know again when she became ill in 2012 and spent her final days in St Ann's care.

60at60 - a reminder
In 5 months time I will be sixty years old and I decided to try to mark the occasion with a better than 60min completion of a 10km run. I began training last April and then lost 6 months with achilles damage due to over enthusiastic beginnings and ignoring my age. Only now am I free enough of pain to feel able to commit to requesting sponsorship toward this charity.

Donate (please)
Donating through Ged's JustGiving page is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
So please dig deep and donate now.

And Then, Another Minute Passed

A positive 2 weeks with definite progress to a new, though still elementary, level.
2 treadmill and swimming sessions each week and I got my 1st road run for 6 months in.

1st Road Trip
The road run on Monday achieved a pathetic 3 x 1 min intervals separated by 2 min walks with 5 min warm up and cool down walks. After the achilles pain and heartache following my runs in April I was staying really safe. 0.5km actual run with 1.5km walk.

On a Roll(er)
Both this week's treadmill sessions included 10 min and 1.33 km of actual run which is the most I've risked since the injury. Yesterday's treadmill session moved up to 5 x 2 min run intervals from the previous 10 x 1 min.
Fitness wise no issues, though I was surprised to note how much more effort 2 minutes continuous was compared to 1 min even with the same overall distance and longer walk intervals.
I did suffer some achilles discomfort in the left leg a few hours afterwards but I iced it when I got home and this morning all seems well.
Hope to get another road run in tomorrow then I guess no sessions 'till after the holiday.

Enjoy the Christmas holiday and I hope 2013 is a great year for anyone who has taken time to read my ramblings.

Now You See Me

Committed to getting out in the street eventually I treated myself today to a pair of running tights with fluorescent yellow flashes and reflective trim for the dark cold nights. They saw me coming.. and you'll see me going.. hopefully.

Knocked Back again
Second Treadmill session of the week week went well moving to 8 x 1 min run intervals with just 1 min walk between. Just about 2km again and all felt well until post exercise stretches when I felt a sting of pain in the calf in one leg and lower achilles in the other, can't recall which, doh! Anyway, 20 lengths of the pool was fine until climbing the steps which felt on the edge of hurting (but not).
Home stretches during the weekend triggered repeat alarming pulls and my hopes for a road run at weekend were put on hold as I kept having calf pain and my achilles felt 'weak'. However, there is no particular tenderness in the tendons themselves so I've delayed my Monday session giving another 24hrs and, rather than progress again along my planned training path, I'll restart as last week with 1/1:30 intervals.

Treadmill Pace
Treadmill pace for last week's second session was 8kph / 4.7kph (up from 7 / 4 previous) which felt about right. I noticed that the auto cool down speed was 4.8 so I think I'll adopt that in future for the walk interval. It also struck me during the cool down, that the gradient is dropped off and logically, my 5 min walking warm-up could start level and increase gradient after a couple of minutes in a reverse fashion.

Another Kilometrestone

OK, so "milestone" is a more familiar term but it's a 10 km not a 6.2137 mile target.
Today's treadmill session reached the pathetic but significant 2 km mark, the same sequence of 7 intervals of 1 min run and 1:30 walk as last week but with a slightly higher pace.

Followed up with a 400 metre swim which is getting easier and 20 minutes of ice when I got home and so far, achilles are holding up.

A Question of Pace
Yesterday, the car was in the garage about 15 min walk from home and I checked my casual road walking pace on Runkeeper which showed 5.5kph. I rechecked again when collecting the car later, also putting in a brief gentle jog, and Runkeeper output averages of 5-5.5kph (3.5mph) walk and 9-10km (6mph) jog.
My previous treadmill efforts were 4 and 7 so I thought I'd up to 5 and 8 initially. Oddly, 5kph proved a fast walk so I wonder about the App' or the Treadmill's accuracy. I settled for 4.7 walk but found 8 a nice steady easy run. I'm clearly going to struggle to cross reference between treadmill and road pace.

Next Steps
Another treadmill and swim later this week then, as long as I have no achilles problems before weekend, I hope to get a very short road run in on Sunday.

Checkpoint (For the Record)

This post is for my reference really rather than a wider audience.
This all relates to recovery from the Achilles Tendinopathy I suffered 6 months ago.

Yesterday felt really good after the Gym session and pool. I took the precaution of 20 min ice at home and took it easy the rest of the day. Ibuprofen gel applied after evening meal to help with an inflammation as there was an odd feeling of stiffness/pressure/weakness? about my ankles.
At bed time, I was alarmed to note actual pain in right tendon quite low down. Compression sleeve on overnight and this morning no pain in tendon but still this odd tentative feeling of weakness. Both heel bones have slight aches to the sides and I feel faint stinging sensations where the tendon runs into the calf, particularly on left leg.
Feeling gently along the tendons triggers no pain and both seem nicely narrow and smooth so I don't think there is any injury.
I am hoping this is all related to my having upped my exercise frequency, tension and duration and is part of healing and regaining strength.
For the last week or so, I've amended my stretches from 15 at 5 secs quite jerky to 5 at 15 secs slow and controlled. I was doing mostly straight leg but I now always do straight and follow with knee bent. I've also added eccentric work on the edge of a step; 5 x straight leg to toes then on one leg down to heel lower than step followed by the other leg and then the same again with knee bent.
For exercise sessions, I'm concentration on warming up the muscles and tendons beforehand and stretching afterwards. There is differing opinion relating to stretching, particularly before, but reading a lot and trying to assess which sources have credence, this is the direction I have chosen. One source is the BUPA Great Run Training page Stretching section.
All this considered together with it being the 1st week I've done 2 full sessions at the gym and pool means a lot is being asked of them.  I think/hope I'm doing the right thing; I'm pretty sure I should have attended to the exercises more thoroughly earlier on - laziness and lack of will power are not good for recovery.
Next gym session in 5 days.

No Contract - More Gym

At the beginning of last week, an IT contract I'd been working on for some time ground to a halt. A shame for me but very sad for the many people who lost their jobs as 2 companies collapsed in on themselves with mass redundancies. I counted many of these people as friends and regret not getting chance to say good bye. I wish them well.

The other side of this coin is that, just as I was considering trying to increase the frequency of my Treadmill sessions beyond the one day a week I had free, this has released 3 more days so I am getting in 2 sessions a week.  Last week I stuck with 10 minute sessions with just 3 minutes of running interspresed with one and a half minutes walking. Today I upped it to 25 minutes with 7 one minute runs totalling 1.6km (1 mile). Each treadmill session followed with a swim, 20 lengths today.

payasUgym is a fantastic bargain when using Tesco vouchers. I've had about £40 worth of sessions now but only spent two £5 Tesco vouchers as a result of new joiner and other miscellaneous bonuses. A £5 Tesco voucher gives £15 of payasUgym which is 3 sessions so effectively £1.67 a go for a fully equipped gym and a 20m pool.

I'm now totally into the Runkeeper Android app and runkeeper.com website for tracking all my training. The treadmill and pool activities are entered manually whilst such as the 6km road walk this Sunday was recoreded and saved by my smart phone. I also keep a log on the BUPA Great Run website which ties into my ultimate target of 60 mins for the Great Manchester 10km just after my 60th birthday in May 2013, hence twitter hashtag of #60at60.

Be prepared, if the achilles survive, this will shortly become a sponsored event so be ready to dip into your pockets.

1 Mile Forward

After a weekend in Derbyshire with a 7.5 ml walk on Saturday and 2 miles each way to the pub on Sunday, I had a little high calf pulling and slight discomfort in tendons. The trainers I walked to the pub in have a firm high back and I now think that was more responsible for the tendon discomfort than the tensioning. By this morning I was happy that I could return to the gym which is a day early this week due to appointments on Thursday.

I stretched things further today with a 25 min treadmill session which seems to have gone well.
It started with a 5 minute walking warm up at 4 kph, which feels a comfortable walking pace, then 7 x 1 min at 7 kph which I find a casual running pace. These Run intervals were alternated with 1.5 or 1 min walks over 15 mins.
The last 5 mins was a treadmill controlled gradual cool down with the elevation gradually dropped from the 2.3 I had set down to zero. Total distance 1.6 km which is coincidentally 1 mile.

As I hoped in my last post, I did extend on the treadmill last week but I struggled with the mechanics of changing the settings from a 10 min simple 'quick start' session including trying to use the Intervals programme which proved no use at all. The result was a rather fragmented effort with halts and wrong speeds and elevations but was a little beyond previous attempts resulting in about 5 mins of run intervals..

I continue to finish off with 10mins in the pool after each treadmill session and currently feeling rather optimistic.  Seeing the osteopath tomorrow for another check and laser so it will be interesting to hear what he says.

Dangerous Optomism

Over the last 2 weeks, close to normality seems to have returned to my achilles. The tubular bandages which I often felt a need for and the ibuprofen gel next to the bed have not even been considered for use.
My stretching exercises continue everyday and the stairs at work continue to be trod up and down as I get calls to different desktops for support and I feel no suggestion of weakness.

Lynne and I spent last week in the Trossacks including a 5 mile walk with over 1000ft ascent after which I felt very mild tenderness in the left for a short while and then another walk with a very steep 450ft ascent. After these climbs and 600 miles of driving with clutch foot hovering I am not detecting any problems.

Hoping to get on the Treadmill on Thursday and intend to be a LITTLE more adventurous having resisted the temptation for several weeks.

I know that I mustn't be too optimistic but I also mustn't shy away from developing strength and flexibility, I keep reminding myself that I could easily undo the good work and all would be lost.

Ups and Downs follow Ups and Downs

Went for our first walk with any decent incline last weekend, a lovely 6.5 miles near Labybower Reservoir on a stunning blue skied October day amongst beautiful autumnal colours.
Only 500ft ascent but all in one section and quite taxing, didn't hurt at the time but the next day I had real pain in left calf at the top of the tendon and the tendons themselves were touch tender. By the end of the day, my left knee was killing, largely, I think, as a result of walking oddly because of the tendons but I've also a vague memory of banging it which may be relevant. Somewhat panicked at this stage and once again, very down.
However, day by day over 3 days improvement was massive. When Thursday arrived, I didn't dare go near the treadmill but went for a swim and did some under water peddling which seemed to help the knee immensely.
Now, a week since the walk, things feel almost back to where they were so maybe a lot was muscle and stretch; I hope so. My calf stretching exercises this week pull a lot more but again show ongoing progress.
Off to Scotland for a few days now and most walks from where we're staying are severe gradients so we'll see what the week brings. I think I'll be searching out some old railway walks in the valley.

It's now 6 months since my over enthusiastic and injuring first run which feels like an eternity. 7 months to the Great Manchester Run, I wonder whether I'll make it, I hope so.

Treadmill and Not Listening

A little over a week ago, I tentatively approached the gym with my payasUgym voucher on my 'phone. The chap on reception showed me around and gave me an intro' to the treadmill. I had explained my situation intending a very gentle re-introduction after torn tendons so it was the treadmill and the pool that I was interested in.

One thing he advised was to adjust the elevation on the track as running on the flat didn't prepare well for a later transition to outdoor running and wasn't good for posture and heel impact. I should have listened better because both runs so far have been at 4.3 which, having researched a little, I gather 1-2 is considered equivalent to outdoor running and 4 is moving into hill running. Next time I'll lower it. Bad mistake really as the gradient will have added to the tension on the achilles which I am supposed to be keeping low at this point. I vaguely recall that he told me 1-2 but I forgot.

I started the treadmill on Quick Start with intent of doing up to 6 cycles of 1 min run / 1 min walk. I thought I'd do 5 min walking at 2.5mph to warm up and get the feel of the rolling track then raised the speed to 5mph. After 1 min I dropped to 2mph as I wanted easy walk and thought the 2.5 probably a little high then up to 4.5mph as the 5mph had felt risky on the achilles. After the 3rd run period, the treadmill announced a cool down period; I hadn't worked out that Quick Start is a 10min session. As it was, I was quite glad that it had forced me to stop before I pushed further than I should.

They also have a 20m pool so my run was followed with a swim. I did about 20 lengths, didn't count but I probably pushed the effort a little which was far from resting the achilles. After that I headed to Tesco's to do a full weekly shop with trolley and by the time I was in the car I was aware of achilles discomfort.

The next few days I had occasional stinging inside tendons and some tenderness in the left. I initially found myself hobbling for no apparent reason, I think fear was the most likely after so many months, panic at any reaction and disappointment that all was not perfect.

A week later I felt I should risk it again but remain at a similar level. This time I knew the sequence and did a similar but more controlled pattern as the previous week followed by a deliberately gentle few lengths of the pool and avoided any taxing activity after ward.

I have the same feeling of having to be careful but for no definite reason. I can feel post activity tensions and tingling in muscles and tendons but I think mostly from unfamiliar activity.

Assuming the next week goes OK, I plan to return again but to experiment with a slightly longer exercise with the elevation reduced to a more appropriate level.

Thursday 11th October elevation 4.3 10 min: 5 @ 1.5mph 1 @ 5 mph 1 @ 2 mph 1 @ 4.5 mph 1 @ 2 mph 1 @ 4.5 mph cool down: 3 @ 2 mph 0.4 ml Swim: approx 20 lengths

Thursday 18th October elevation 4.3 10 min: 1 @ 1.5mph (2.4kph) 4 @ 2.5mph (4kph) 1 @ 4.5 mph (7.2kph) 1 @ 2 mph (3.2kph) 1 @ 4.5 mph (7.2kph) 1 @ 2 mph (3.2kph) 1 @ 4.5 mph (7.2kph) cool down: 3 @ gradual reduction from 4.5 to halt 0.4 ml (0.64 km) Swim: approx 12 lengths

Fab and Glowy

It was osteopath day today and it's looking good.
After examination he described my progress as "Fab"! He can still feel damage in the presence of a few nodules in the left tendon and the right is still thicker than it should be but he was very pleased with my condition.
I discussed my thoughts of getting some gentle runs in on a treadmill soon and he said, Yes, I don't see why not, but give it a couple of weeks. My payasUgym voucher expires 28th October so it will be before then.
After manipulation and laser treatment I had a soft glowing feeling in those areas which is matched by the warm glow of hope inside my chest that 60@60 may be a reality after all.

5 Months Off

This post marks the passing of 5 months since I stopped my running due to injuring both achilles tendons. Posts so far have largely been about the ups and downs and progress of a recovering would be runner rather than the intended story of a developing athlete building up to a successful physical challenge to celebrate reaching 60.

I am generally feeling brighter about things just now. A lot less discomfort and stretching exercises pull in a less alarming way. Maybe... maybe a short run at the end of next week? We'll see.

I have been researching PAYG gym availability again in the light of my osteopath's preference that I start on a treadmill rather than going direct to the streets. As I said in a previous post, there is no way I am taking out membership of a gym. Anyway, it turns out that a hotel about 10mins away by car has 1 day off-peak swim and gym passes for £4 which my work pattern means I can take advantage of once a week.

Armed with the above news, I will ask my osteo' when I see him next Thursday whether he thinks it's OK to take my first tentative steps (on a machine).

Have a good week everyone. Thank you for reading, if indeed anyone is?

First Walk of The Season

Lynne and I do most of our hill walking from Autumn through to Spring and yesterday we set out for our first venture for a while. A lovely varied 6 mile walk including Three Shires Head were the three counties of Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire meet at a delightful pair of pack horse bridges and waterfalls in a dip in the moorland. I don't have total ascent figures but the range was around 800ft so reasonably taxing.  Route on Google Map

I was very nervous as to how the tendons would react to up and down and walking over uneven rocks and through sucking mud (yes, that was meant to be an 's').
During the walk I was acutely conscious of not straining and took it easy and careful and happily had no issues with achilles other than feeling stretched after sitting enjoying a pint and some food at a pub a mile before returning to the car. As a precaution I did the iced water soak when I got home and this morning, all seems well.

I must be feeling better as, over the past week or so, I keep getting a feeling that maybe I should try a gentle short run which frightens me. I know from my long term back problems that there is a point at which you must stop letting the fear of it rule and challenge it. The very thought that it may hurt again affects the way you walk and the return to normality in movement is a major step in the return to true mobility. I think I have to resist a little longer, too soon and I'll definitely regret it.

All the above said, they are still tender to touch whenever I have pushed them a bit further, such as now after yesterday's walk. So for now, I am continuing with the stretching exercises morning and evening, keeping moving at work and trying to think a bit more positive.

Spoke Too Soon but Registered Anyway

Hope lost:
A quote from my last post, "...and this morning I am suffering no noticeable achilles issues which is fantastic news."
Well, about an hour after writing that, I got up out of a chair and it felt like I had been stung inside my left achilles. An isolated acid burning feeling which caused much swearing and cursing, not due to pain but sheer frustration and anger coming down from such elation to hope drifting away again. I spent the next 24hrs walking very tentatively with varied levels of low level pain in one or both tendons.

Hope returns:
By the next morning things were massively improved and for the last 3 days now, I have attended to them well, iced water, heat rubs, ibruprophen gel, stretches and support bandages in various orders and they now feel pretty well where they were only a couple of weeks ago so hopefully not much damage was done. I guess many people at the event who have not had previous problems will have had sore achilles over the last few days.

Registered:
So, to big news. Yesterday I registered for the Great Manchester Run 10k on May26th 2013, 15 days after my 60th birthday so the target remains.  Thanks to my daughter Gillian for reminding me that entry was open and for assuring me that I should register.

Half Marathon 13.1ml walk

Lynne and I completed a Half Marathon 13.1ml walk last night, the Manchester Shine event for Cancer Research UK (plus 0.5ml each way to car).
I detected slight discomfort early in my left tendon but I was looking for it. I think it was actually the stretching and warming up rather than walking that caused it. Once walking, I suffered no achilles problem at all through the whole walk. As a precaution, when I got home I sat with my feet & calves in iced water for 20mins before heading to bed and this morning I am suffering no noticeable achilles issues which is fantastic news.

I did have sore feet in the last few miles and I had three points of concern with knees but each time, keeping steady and straight it cleared.

Unexpectedly, at 10 and 12 miles, I had small jars from my lower back and this remained uncomfortable driving home. This morning it was in some spasm, pulled across a little to one side and was quite painful around the sacroiliac joint and the base. My back being a chronic problem, I attacked this with experience; 2 minutes relaxing by counting breaths while face down on a mat, a couple of small clicks sounded positive then followed by a concave push up exercise my Osteo' gave me years ago which released another crack after which it felt much more comfortable and looked much straighter. I'm now quite happy with it but will be careful and make sure I attend to exercises.

Stat's: Dist 13.1ml; Time 4hrs 5min; Pace 18.5 min/ml (11.5 min/km); 3.2mph (5.22 kph)

( Still not too late to sponsor me! www.justgiving.com/teams/GednLynne )

[PS: Spoke too soon, see next blog]

Silly and Shining

I saw my Oseopath again yesterday. When asked how the achilles were going the best I could come up with was, "They're just Silly". An odd thing to say but they're now like an annoying child that keeps pestering and comes and goes when it likes.
In a more considered reply, my feeling is that the Left is more tender but both are stiff in the morning and display various levels of discomfort.
His observation was that the right is 'thicker', I think suggesting more severe injury/imflamation, and the left more localised. Either way, when I stood on toes (mine, not his) he observered that they were much better than last time he saw me.
Lasered again and the need to attend to the stretching exercises re-emphasised. Back in 4 weeks for another laser treatment.

Tomorrow will be a testing stretch as I'm taking part in Shine Manchester, a 13mile night walk through the streets of Manchester for Cancer Research UK. I think I'll have to put them in ice water when I get home (2-ish in the morning) and rest up Sunday.

( Not too late to sponsor me! www.justgiving.com/GedDonovan )

A Further Month On

I have not risked running yet but a degree of optimism is creeping in that I may be able to start soon.
My wife and I have just spent 2 weeks in Florida with lots of swimming in the villa pool and a lot of walking and standing (in queues for rides). I have not noticed my achilles most of the time other than some stiffness just after getting out of bed in the morning.
Some time ago, we signed up for a 13 mile night walk in Manchester City centre for Cancer Research and that is next weekend. We have just returned from an 11.4 km (7 ml) road walk and though I felt some tendon discomfort early on, this walk went well.
I have been hopeless wrt my osteopath's recommended exercises whilst on holiday, I'll try to include them in prep' for next weekend. I'm seeing him again on Thursday this week so it will be interesting to hear his views on healing progress.
I'll let you know how the walk and the osteo' goes next week.

Another Month On

Another month on and I hate every street runner I see feeling cheated of my goal.
Both achilles still hurt regularly and I've no idea when the confidence will return to try running.
By now I expected to be taking part  in regular 5k Park Runs and moving to 10k/hr pace over half distance.  I am so gutted I can't express it. I feel for the first time that age has defeated me and it is depressing in the extreme.
I did see my osteo' again and didn't get a bollocking, in fact, he thought I was progressing well. The definition of progressing well is that I may be sort of sympton free by around Christmas though not fixed.
Ab Fab delivered the phrase that best sums up my current feeling with respect to my 60@60..... Buggery Bastard Bollocks!

Please everyone, just stop moving!

So much for taking it easy. Over the last 2 weeks, the companies I am currently working at have been moving and I have been up and down stairs carrying IT & phone kit, crawling under desks and charging up and down 3 floors to the comm's rooms as I sort the networks out.
No rest at weekend as Lynne (wife) and I, spent the day helping our son move. Hopefully work will be a little less aggressive on the achilles this coming week but next Saturday is helping a friend move.

Osteopath for laser again this Thursday so I guess I'm in for a telling off for all the above. Life just doesn't stop for injuries unless they actually floor you.

They are less painful, especially in the morning when I can get down the stairs now without having to take weight on the bannister rail and occasional brief runs from car to building in this delightful summer we're having (sic) have felt less awkward. 10 weeks since initial injury now.

Bad News & Laser

Finally saw my osteopath this morning who has known me for years.

Yep, I've screwed both my achilles and as I'm over 40 they ain't going to heal properly and I shouldn't be thinking of running. That said, the symptoms should hopefully subside about 8 weeks after injury and we're currently 5 weeks since I last ran.

The injury originates from my 1st two runs, 22/24th April. Following these, on the 25th I was struggling to walk. After a week of rest & self treatment, I tried another short easy run on 2nd May after which I thought things were going well, however, another short run 8th May highlighted the injury was clearly still an issue and on the morning of the 9th May I knew I was in trouble.

So, now 7 weeks since the initial injury and 5 weeks since I last ran, I'm still having problems. In the mornings, both achilles complain going downstairs but most of the day it is a case of discomfort rather than pain, frequently forgotten but always there.

After inspection by the osteo' this morning, just feeling around, they are quite sore. Whereas the original pain was lower and burning to the side under my ankle, the issue is now clearly in the tendon itself from ankle up to below calf, he picked out a distinct point where swelling and tenderness is clear (see pics below). The worst case scenario is that it will snap! ..and I as I am not an expensive footballer, the only care I'll get will leave my hobbling forever and probably antogonise my glass back and dodgy knees.

So my current situation is no running for foreseeable future and a sadness that I may not achieve my 60@60 goal after all.  Laser treatment this morning and in another 4 weeks, a gentle stretching exersize for morning and evening and alternating cold and hot compresses.

When I do start again, he is insistant that it should be on a treadmill but I am not joining a gym and I don't think the council have anything accessible so I don't think that's going to happen.

See you in a month with any news.

14 June - areas tender when manipulated

 25 April Painful area - side area burning pain

A Salutary Tale

Well, we're now a few weeks down the road and I am still recovering.  According to NHS Choices and various other sources, I have symptoms of achilles damage in the form of tiny tears; sore, particularly in the morning before warming up but no inflammation. Typical it seems, of an older person going out and pushing too hard too suddenly. Fortunately, I have nothing of the grating sensation which apparently goes with more severe damage.

So I'm giving it another two weeks break yet and see how it feels. During the day once active, I feel very little in discomfort in the right but the left continues to nag.  It's all very low level pain now, not causing any significant problem walking any longer but definitely still there.

I am continuing  normal weekday life which involves driving, charging up and down stairs with IT kit, crawling under desks and walking around sites. I am having to avoid crouching down to things though, that hurts. I have also had to pass on our regular weekend hill walks as uphill climbing strains.

So, generally keeping it moving but trying to avoid stressing it too much, gentle stretches and massage with heat rub.

Damn, It Still Hurts!

Well, after another good break, I headed out again yesterday evening for 10min, 4 x 60s jog / 90sec walk (1.6km). 
I could tell left leg hurt as I arrived home and this morning I'm hobbling though not badly; nothing like the disaster the other week when I could hardly walk. My right leg, which was worst, is sort of OK but the left hurts top right of achilles. Still, we going the right direction with discomfort levels. 
I think nothing now till weekend (Wed today) then I'll stick to this same 10min routine for a while.

I'm really frustrated, I've enjoyed the times I've gone out and had great hopes of moving into Park Run soon. Glad I started so early, I still have 12 months to the 60@60.

Feet Hit the Street Once More

Morning at home and all sorts done including getting the lawn cut so muscles nicely warmed up.
A deliberately easy 1.25 km jog/walk in three 1:00/1:30m cycles. Kept to simple heel contact and all went well; achilles and calves slight discomfort but I believe I've avoided further damage and am well on the mend.
I'll see how the next few days go then, all being well, Saturday morning.

Pace Average 6:18 min/km

One Week On

Well, I said 7 days recovery time thinking that I was being ultra careful and would be well recovered in a few days.

Maybe I would have been OK by now but Friday was a very physical day at work crawling under desks, dragging PCs around and charging up and down stairs; not ideal.
Weekend was a trip to London to celebrate our 33rd Anniversary with a visit to the theatre. Lots of walking the concrete streets and a climb up 528 steps to the gallery above the dome of St Paul's Cathedral. This combined with up and down tube station stairs and the Science Museum on Sunday has left me still a little sore.

I shall see what tomorrow brings but will hopefully get the running shoes back on for a gentler, shorter run and ease back into training. I'll let you know.

Intermission

Once I get going, I'll not be blogging anything like this much and I intend this to be the last until my next run which I've vowed will be a full 7 days since over reaching my achilles.

For a moment there, I thought maybe this was not achievable, I really was in a lot of pain, had I not been planning to work from home Tuesday, there is no way I could have made it in to work.
Stairs on Tuesday were a case of hanging on to the rail and going sideways one flat foot at a time. Moving around, I looked like a blinking penguin waddling along on two flat feet.  A regime of rest and elevation with cold compresses and ibuprofen gel, plus the wonders of the naturally self healing human body mean that since about 2 this afternoon, I can actually walk and even lift slightly on my toes allowing me to get up and down stairs in a sensible manner. With more confidence that I have not done lasting damage, my thoughts are turning more positive but when I restart, I'm backing off from Runners World's schedule, at first anyway.

I think the fact that I was fairly fit through hill walking meant breathing and general muscle tone were already good leading me to overstretch parts not pushed in walking. I am used to wearing boots and tramping across hillsides and a lot of that involves flat foot fall. Contrast that to the bouncing off the ball of my foot action of every running stride and the achilles area strain is very different. I guess the nearest equivalent walking is a fast direct uphill push but even that, with the boots supporting the ankle area, doesn't allow the same localised strain.

Lesson 1, I think some pacy walking in the running shoes may be a good idea before much more running to strengthen the lower leg and ankle areas.

See you in a week.

Doh! Injured Already

Well, second run yesterday after work has not resulted in the best of situations.

I was aware that I was still hurting a little from Saturday morning but thought I was ok.
Around the halfway, my right achilles started hurting. Rather than scrapping the remainder of the session, I reduced pace on the run bits, dropping from toes to flat foot and continued. By the time I finished my cool down, I was aware that I had problems with both achilles. Also concerned about my back, I included a back stretching exercise I have been given by an osteopath but something pulled right at the base of my back and by bedtime, I was hobbling with both achilles very painful and the base of my back in spasm and painful.

This morning, the back is almost ok which is a relief but walking is difficult due to both achilles. I can't walk other than shuffling flat footed. Fortunately, I am home based today so I've been working with my  legs up with cold packs under my ankles and ibuprofen gel is being liberally applied. Hopefully, all will be well in a few days but I'm definitely not running for a week now.

I think, though I chose a Beginner training schedule, I pushed the run intervals too much. Typical of me; if I go swimming, I'm incapable of enjoying a leisurely plod, I have to challenge myself speed and distance. On the 1st run, I was on my toes shifting a 10k in 60m pace on the run intervals, which I think was not what the plan expected - a flat footed jog was probably where I should have started.
So, a week's rest already. Not a good start.

Yesterday: 
Note: the two slow pace intervals 4 and 5 are due to being stopped and asked directions!

duration min	pace min/km	distance km
1.0	4.6	0.22
1.5	8.6	0.17
1.0	4.6	0.22
1.5	15.0	0.10
1.0	10.4	0.10
1.5	6.3	0.24
1.0	4.6	0.22
1.5	8.3	0.18
1.0	4.4	0.23
1.5	8.6	0.18
1.0	4.7	0.22
1.5	8.5	0.18
1.0	5.2	0.19
1.5	8.6	0.17
1.0	5.3	0.19
1.5	8.4	0.18
0.2	8.5	0.02
20.2	6.7	3.00

1st Run and Runkeeper Stats

Overcame embarrassment and got out for first run Sunday a.m. 8:30.
I spent too long yesterday messing with Android downloads and training schedules. I settled on a schedule from Runners World and the Runkeeper app.
I'm being good so 5 min warm up including stretches from handy sheet at Race for Life and then out onto the streets which were mercifully empty.
It went well, considering it is the 1st 'beginner' schedule, I did find it pretty tough but I arrived home knowing my lungs had had a good workout but far from staggering. Runkeeper has labelled me 'Healthy', I'm not sure on what basis.

Annoyingly, the Runkeeper website seems to only work in miles even though the mobile app does kilometres so my online records don't match my plans in km.
My phone tells me that in 30min (which include 5+5 warm up and cool down so 20min actual run/walk) I completed 3.18km and say 10:08 min/km but I think that is over the 30 min rather than the 20min.  I need to play with this app a bit to nail the stat's.

Yep - confirmed: If your warm up/cool down periods are entered in Coaching then they are included in the final calculation of overall pace so I probably need to leave them out of the Coaching activity in future which is a shame because the voice prompts are useful even with those. It also continues to add time until you STOP the activity so it was actually worked out on 32:14. I've knocked up a spreadsheet to extract the data as I want from that supplied on the website.

Intervals	Split Time	Split Pace	Distance
	minutes	min:sec/km	km
5:00 (warmup)
1:00 (run)	01:00	05:19
1:30 (walk)	01:30	08:58
1:00 (run)	01:00	04:39
1:30 (walk)	01:30	08:16
1:00 (run)	01:00	04:33
1:30 (walk)	01:30	08:14
1:00 (run)	01:00	04:51
1:30 (walk)	01:30	08:44
1:00 (run)	01:00	04:28
1:30 (walk)	01:30	07:38
1:00 (run)	01:00	04:26
1:30 (walk)	01:30	08:04
1:00 (run)	01:00	04:51
1:30 (walk)	01:30	08:10
1:00 (run)	01:00	04:51
1:30 (walk)	01:30	09:20
5:00 (cooldown)
overall (mean)	20:00	06:17	3.18

Starting Point

I last ran in 1976 in a 1.5ml cross country race for leaders in a south Manchester scouting event. In my 40s I had a period where we had a gym at work and for a year or so I regularly used the running machine.
In the last 15 years, I have only run for trains.

Lynne (the lovely wife) and I do quite a bit of hill walking including a few long distance paths over the last few years, The Great Glen Way, the Gritstone Trail and the West Highland Way. I am naturally scrawny being 5’11” and have remained around 10s 4lb for many years so I’ve not much weight to carry and none to shed. On the downside, I have a glass back which I’m worried as to how it will stand up and clicky old knees, largely through protecting my back since I injured it at 19.

After buying my shoes, I wore them in the house all evening and they seemed comfortable.  I put the bins out at the roadside last night and, in darkness, ran in them from the roadside up the side of the house. 20m burst, silly but fun and it felt good.

Shopping continues..

My shoes purchased, I need some socks, shorts and a light breathable wicking tee shirt.  I’d had enough in the shop and another runner had arrived wanting the shop guys attention so I thought I’d leave it at that.

Evening and a laptop on my knee, I visited the site with the delightful name “Wiggle” where I have previously bought cycling accessory gifts for my son and have seen packages arrive for my daughter almost certainly running related.

It’s a case of far too much choice so I did some limiting of price range and reading of reviews and noting popularity. A couple of suitable items showed discontinued but my size/colour preference were the only ones left so I succeeded in buying the three items for £34. This morning wiggle tell me that have been dispatched so I will shortly have no excuse for not getting out and starting.

Shopping

Had to keep the momentum going so after about a week prevaricating, I got myself to a running shop yesterday. On a dull nothing Wednesday afternoon got 45mins of a helpful guy in an empty shop.

I had the underneath of my feet photographed showing the contact on a glass panel which announced I have very high arches which apparently is a good thing. I had images of the back of my ankles taken and vertical lines on a screen apparently followed as near a dammit vertically up my Achilles which is also good. Apparently, all this means that I require a ‘neutral’ shoe.

Whilst I realise I need to pay for quality support, I did voice a desire to stay under £100 on the shoes.  A pair of 44 showed that 45 was what I need, and shortly after, 8 pairs of shoes arrived.

Out of the 8, 2 were immediately not right but the rest all got tried on and had a trip on the running machine.

Let me divert and talk of the running machine. I haven’t been on one for about 15 years but I adapted to the run up and stop almost immediately and loved it. Straight up on my toes and comfortable upright position; felt good.  Shop guy says, “Would you like to try the pace for 60m 10k?” I say, “Let’s do it.”, feels great for 1 minute.....  bit worried about 59 more!

I did several of these 1 minute bursts and kept coming off able to talk casually to shop guy which all bodes well.  Maybe all the hill walking has kept me fitter than I expected?

Anyway, to cut a long story short, it was down to two pairs. I asked the prices which were £74 vs £123 (mm, didn’t I say I aimed to stay under £100 earlier?). The £75 Nike Pegasus 28 came into my possession. 

A note of warning here: The insoles which the shop states at the outset they mould for everyone and I was encouraged to use throughout the fitting would have been £45. Had it not been that they were using a size 44 which was too short as they had no 45s and I could feel the end of them, the discussion where he said, “..if we trim a 46 it would mean you have to have it as we can’t reuse it.”, would not have taken place and I wouldn’t have realised they didn’t come with the shoe purchase. They were excellent and v. comfortable but considering everything had said I needed no correction apparently uneccesary expenditure.

60@60 an Idea

I’m not absolutely sure where this idea came from.  Lynne and I walked the West Highland Way last year which had demanded a lot of training walks which we thoroughly enjoyed yet this year, with no goal to drive us, we’re doing very little walking. A moment of thinking it’d be nice to have a similar goal coincided with an awareness of being 60 next year and my daughter Gillian tapping me up for sponsorship for a London based 10k she is running and the idea formed.

Last summer Lynne and I watched at the roadside in Salford as Gillian ran a 10k in which I also saw a friend Clare from Pure107.8FM and I was aware of a feeling of wishing I was part of it. We taxied Gillian to a 5k Santa Dash at Heaton Park which looked achievable to me, though only to finish, not with a time target. I’ve since been reading the adventures of an old BT colleague Dan, who has started doing Park Run and regales us with tales via Facebook including now beating the guy in jeans who at first was faster than him. We have a local Park Run near us at Bramhall.

So, the idea of 60@60 gelled, a 60 minute target to complete a 10k run after my 60^th birthday in 2013.