Back In The Game

Days to go: 76
Miles this week: Via Running 19

Miles total: 72

Other exercise: Swimming, Core/Abs, Gym workout

Money raised this week: £25.00

Running Total:£382.00

Still to go: £1,118.00

 

I want to start this week’s blog by saying a big thank you to Neil and Sally, who found time this past week to sponsor me so generously. 

 

Now, aside from this, you can probably guess from the title of this week’s blog that I have resumed moderate training. Last Friday (17/01) I managed my first run of the campaign; it was meant to be a 1-2 mile test run, but, to my delight, I ended up completing a 3-mile run.

It wasn’t all plain sailing though, the first mile was mainly all up hill and I felt moderate pain whilst running - it wasn’t until the second mile that the pain eased up somewhat. I think this may have been the result of two factors: first, my ankle was not as warmed up as it was later in the run and, second, the hills! Sadly, where I live I’m surrounded by hills, so whichever route I take I have to tackle at least one major hill. The third mile of the run was okay though I was a little tired, but, as I’m sure you’re all aware, it had been nine weeks since my last run!

 

I was so chuffed with my achievement (average pace of 9.42 mins per mile, though this is slower than I’m use to) that I posted my run on Facebook via my Nike+ app, which I generally don’t do!

 

To be on the safe side, Saturday was a rest day (and by ‘rest day’ I mean I did nothing at all, just sat on the sofa with my legs up). Sunday was a different story - I was up at stupid o’clock and off to the gym. Special thanks has to go to my good friend Steve Dalton for sorting out a free pass to one of the poshest gyms around, he also managed to get me a free pair of Sennheiser PMX 685i sports in-ear neckband headphones…….. GOOD WORK BUDDY!!

 

Most of my time at the gym was spent on a cross trainer. This enabled me to work the right muscle group, but without the impact/pounding on my ankle that running would result in. I did, however, finish with a ten minute run on a treadmill! To my delight it felt ok, not perfect, but ok.

 

So with a confidence boost from that workout I decided to start marathon training this week. I didn’t expect to jump in and pick up week five of this program, as that could result in injury (again!), so I decided I would start at week two. Assuming everything goes to play I will be back in sync with the training programme at week eight. So fingers crossed I have only missed 4 weeks out of the 16 week program.

 

I just need to remember to take it easy and not to force myself back, I need to listen to my body more now than I ever have!

 

The evening before my weekly physio I decided to do my long run of the week.  My thought being that I wouldn’t have to wait long to rectify any issues/problems. My third appointment was much the same as the previous weeks - I had more laser treatment but I have also had some magic tape put on. It’s not really magic, it’s actually known as K tape or Kinesio tape. It claims to alleviate pain, reduce inflammation, relax muscles, enhance performance and help with rehabilitation, as well as supporting muscles during a sporting event. I’m pretty confused as to why I have it on, seeing as my issue is not muscle related! And there has not actually been conclusive scientific or medical evidence to confirm the effectiveness of the tape... It appears my NHS physio is now clutching at straws, but I’ll give it a go! After all, you never know…

 

I have and will continue to list each week’s prescribed training, in case any of you are actually following this! But, in addition, I will also list what I am actually doing until I have caught up. In terms of the training schedule, week five offered two new achievements: the first ten mile run and over twenty miles (twenty-one to be pedantic!) in a week, but my longest was only six miles. I say only six miles, but I was chuffed to bits to be able to do that at a reasonable pace of nine mins per mile.

Week 5’s Schedule	My Schedule (Week 2 of the book )
Day 1 = 3 miles	Day 1 = 3 miles
Day 2 = 5 miles	Day 2 = 4 miles
Day 3 = 3 miles	Day 3 = 3 miles
Day 4 = 10 miles	Day 4 = 6 miles
Total for the week = 21 miles	Total for the week = 16 miles

Now that I am finally out running, I’m not sure if it’s a new thing or just because I am running at a slower pace, I have noticed quite a hefty volume of clothing just lying around the streets, what’s the deal with that!?

 

It mainly seems to be single shoes – which begs the question, where are their partners? I wouldn’t expect to see rows of neatly polished pairs lined up, but more perhaps half way down the road I’d see the other one! But nope, always the one solitary shoe. I have never seen people hopping home because one shoe has gone AWOL on a night out, but there are a multitude of lonesome shoes lying forlorn in gutters up and down the country. 

If you like what you read, or even if you don’t, please spread the word for me. Also please sponsor me, even if it’s just £1. Everything helps!http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/LeighFleming 

Leigh

Brrrrr Cold!

Days to go: 83
Miles this week: 17 Via Cycling

Miles total: 53

Other exercise: Swimming, Core/Abs/ General workout

Money raised this week: £00.00

Running Total: £357.00

Still to go: £1,143.00

Brrrrr!

 

Is it me or is it cold heading out there in the evenings? Nope just me then! Guessing I’ve gone soft with my time side-lined or it could be the speed I am getting up to on the bike either way it’s chilly!

 

Running in cold temperatures involves a fine balance between keeping warm enough but allowing sweat to evaporate and this is a very individual thing! Wearing more than one layer is a good idea; you can always remove a layer if you get warm. Over time you will learn how many layers you need for certain temperatures and in what conditions you need to don the hat and gloves, not that I’m a hat person.

 

Remember to take account of the wind chill factor. For cold and windy days a windproof but breathable top or jacket is a good investment. When the temperatures are very cold a close-fitting base layer or a thermal layer will trap warm air to keep your body at a comfortable temperature.

 

When you go out for your runs, be careful not to overdress. Once you warm up, your extra body heat will make it feel about 15 to 20 degrees warmer. So, for example, if the temperature is above 12 degrees Celsius, you'll probably be fine wearing a T-shirt and shorts.

 

 

The best way to make sure you’re at the right temperature is to do a vigorous warm up with stretching, that way you don’t have to carry excess clothing around when out and about running.

This week’s training programme would have had me doing:

 

Day 1 = 3 miles

Day 2 = 5 miles

Day 3 = 3 miles

Day 4 = 8 miles

 

As with every week the long run has gone up by an extra mile but you will also notice the medium run has now increased by an extra mile giving a total of 19 miles.

 

Well I have been reading chapter four this week and they covered two main areas mental attitude and everyone’s favourite thing to skip stretching.

 

The mental attitude of this current chapter has gone from ‘it doesn’t matter’ to ‘As if’. By this the book explains to develop the as if attitude by acting as if it were already true by being confident and optimistic and when asked how training is going respond by saying it is going great and I have no doubt that I’m going to do well, or asked how you feel you could respond with I feel terrific.

 

There are two reasons to stretch. The first reason is to of course prevent an immediate injury resulting from performing forceful muscular contraction with muscles that are insufficiently warmed up and stretched. This generally isn’t too serious if you don’t because being a long distance runner you’re not doing any explosive movement. So the muscles generally get the chance to warm up over the duration of the training session. However if I was a sprinter or in a different type of sport such as football I would have to make sure I am fully warmed up and make sure all my stretching had been carried out before I could even think about participating.

 

With long distance training though, it is important to stretch afterwards as this will help clear the lactic acid that can build up in your muscles over the course of your run. Obviously no harm will come if you want to warm up and stretch before the run either.

 

The second reason is to prevent overuse injuries as mentioned in last week’s blog ‘Exercise Good or Bad?’. The chapter goes on to cover how to stretch, when to stretch and what to stretch before it provides the reader with some very useful illustrations of how to do certain stretches.

 

The illustrations cover eight different muscles from Calf, quadriceps, hamstring, lower back, inner thigh, outer thigh, arm and shoulder, gluteal and hip flex and with a total of nineteen different stretches there’s no reason for any reader to pick up a silly injury from not stretching.

 

So had my second phsyio session this week, which resulted in more of the laser treatment that I spoke about last week in three different places around my ankle. I was also shown another exercise to do with the previous nine I already have. My ankle felt very tender after my appointment but the physio said this was to be expected. I did ask if I was ok to start testing it out on short runs, to my joy she said yes. I know I will have to be very careful and monitor my progress but at least it’s a start.

 

Back out on the road this week with a seventeen mile cycle session which took me across Bracknell and Wokingham. I have also been looking to either find a gym that is cheap so I can use a cross trainer but as of yet haven’t found one, I don’t mind paying a month’s fee but the joining fee is where I draw the line. Not willing to pay around £45.00 for at best two weeks’ worth of gym work, I have found one or two reasonably priced cross trainers on gum tree that I could possible buy if no joy finding a gym but I don’t really need one of these machines lying around my house after I’m done with it.

 

With around 11 weeks now to raise the minimum of £1,000.00 and 20 weeks to raise my total of £1,500.00 now is the time I start to beg for your support and donations. Please be sure to visit my fundraising page at

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/LeighFleming

Leigh

Exercise Good or Bad?

Days to go: 90
Miles this week: 9 Via Cycling

Miles total: 39

Other exercise: Swimming, Core/Abs/ General workout

Money raised this week: £00.00

Running Total:£357.00

Still to go: £1,143.00

Everyone, from the very young to the elderly, is aware of the benefits of regular exercise. Indeed, we’re all encouraged to get involved with some kind of exercise! It can help to combat a multitude of terrible things, including obesity, heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure to name a few. It can also help to build and maintain healthy bones, joints and muscles, whilst improving your mood, and helping to reduce depression and stress.

 

However, you don’t hear so much about the un-benefits of exercise, do you? Or what this running malarkey will do to your body. That’s what this week’s chapter covers! It looks at prevention of overuse injuries, which is useful because the one thing that’s known about running is that you’re more likely to get them the longer and harder you train.

 

In terms of the training programme, the schedule has been upped by one mile on the long run, giving a total of 16 miles this week.

 

Day 1 = 3 miles

Day 2 = 4 miles

Day 3 = 3 miles

Day 4 = 6 miles

 

Some of you may be thinking that’s not many miles again, but remember this is still the early stages of training. Currently the muscular and skeletal systems are adapting to the trauma caused by running and you don’t want to increase the trauma too much as this would lead to an injury of some kind.

 

The best approach to running injuries is to try to prevent them in the first place, but, if you do begin to have symptoms, remember to treat early.

 

There are many suggestions for preventing injuries and most of you will know at least one way to help prevent them:

• Stretching (be sure to warm up and cool down),
• As mentioned already start any training program slowly and progress slowly to allow your body time to adapt,
• Running on soft surfaces decreases the chance of injuries. If this can’t be avoided then remember to run on level surfaces.
• Wear the right clothing and, more importantly, the correct footwear (be sure to check out my older blogs titled ‘Running Clothes’ and ‘My Gadgets and Gizmos’).

If the inevitable happens and you do pick up an injury or feel the dreaded twinge of one coming on, then remember the best thing you can do is RICE:

 

 

 

You also have over the counter drugs, such as Ibuprofen as an anti-inflammatory. Most over the counter Ibuprofen have the same ingredients and dosage in them, so save yourself money and buy the cheaper brands if you need to go down that route.

 

Always check with the chemist or your local GP before taking anything!

 

The authors of the book also go on to list the most common injuries associated with running/marathon training. I have listed them below but not gone into great detail as I’m sure you guys can use your favourite internet search engine if you want to know more!

• Patellofemoral Pan Syndrome. This is a localised achy pain found behind the kneecap,
• Iliotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS).  Is generally pain over the outside of the knee.
• Shin Splints. I’m fairly sure most of you if not all of you know what this is but just in case it’s a pain and tenderness along the inside of your leg (the tibia).
• Plantar Fasciitis. This is pain located along on the bottom of the foot (front of the heel to your midsole).
• Achilles. Another one you all will probably know about but located below your calf and above your heel. This injury will have you struggling to walk.
• Stress Fractures. A stress fracture is a thin crack or a partial break in the bone. This will generally see you stuck in plaster and out of action for a good eight-twelve weeks.

So not only do us runners go out in all sorts of weather, we also play roulette with these potential injuries every time we run. Who would be a runner?!!

 

This ties in nicely for me to give you lovely kind people (yep I’m after your money) an update on my injury. Not happy with sitting around now, I headed back to the outpatients last Saturday to see if I could see the consultant or book some kind of follow up appointment. No joy, it turns out that the outpatients department is closed on weekends. However, I was lucky enough to speak to a nurse who was kind enough to provide me with basic exercise advice which will help strengthen the tendons in my ankle.

 

I also chased the NHS physio people on Monday with a phone call to find out how long I would have to wait to be seen. I was told there currently working on a four week period, to which I replied “I have had this injury for eight weeks now and your telling me I have to wait another four more weeks before being seen?!!”. Then they informed me they have just had some cancelations and would I like one of them. Winner!

 

So I popped down to see them on Wednesday morning and they reviewed my notes, assessed my ankle (quite painfully I would like to add) and have given me more exercises to do that strengthen the ligaments in the ankle. The physio wasn’t sure what bit of kit to use between an ultra sound scanner and a laser, so in the end I had laser treatment on it. Now I have no idea what this laser treatment is meant to do. To me it was just a red light held on my ankle, but I have found this technical definition on the web ‘Low level laser therapy (LLLT) is a light source treatment that generates light of a single wavelength. LLLT emits no heat, sound, or vibration. Instead of producing a thermal effect, LLLT may act via non-thermal or photochemical reactions in the cells, also referred to as photobiology or bio-stimulation.

Laser radiation and monochromatic light may alter cell and tissue function. Laboratory studies suggest that irradiation stimulates collagen production, alters DNA synthesis, and improves the function of damaged neurological tissue’.

 

Yep straight over my head too!!

 

However, as I’m sure you guys have already noticed the mile count has gone up this week! Yep I got out on my road bike (looking rather fetching in my cycle gear, may I add) and I also started back swimming too. It feels great to be out and about getting back to some standard of fitness. After eight weeks out. I know swimming and cycling will help me maintain/improve my cardiovascular but it’s not ideal for building/working the required muscles for running.

 

I know I’m still at least a good week off from even attempting my first run of the training programme, but I have been thinking of using a cross-trainer to catch up on the miles lost so far. It seems like a good option as this type of workout would limit the impact on the ankle, but provide the right muscle workout that you get from running.

 

Nevertheless I will be back running in time for the London and Edinburgh marathon! Of course with your help, as I need to reach my sponsorship target of £1,500.00 for Sense.

 

I did get around to potting up the Aloe Vera plants this week, I now have 41 smaller ones that I am nurturing and should be ready within a few weeks to sell. Remember to let me know if you want one, as people have already started to reserve them.

 

I also made a flyer to accompany the plant when I go to sell them, it provides instruction on how to care for the plant, and a bit of information on who Sense are. I also included the links to my donation page and to this wonderful blog (not too bias there?).

 

There is only 90 days now till London and 132 till Edinburgh, so please sponsor me some much needed funds! Every £1.00 you can spare does amazing work, which I have had the pleasure of seeing first-hand. http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/LeighFleming

 

Leigh

 

But It Doesn’t Matter

Days to go: 97
Miles this week: 0

Miles total: 30

Other exercise: Abs/Core workout

Money raised this week: £00.00

Running Total: £357.00

Still to go: £1,143.00

Well, happy 2014 to you all!! So how many New Year’s resolutions did you guys set? More importantly, how many have you already broken?! And to think we’re only five days in...

 

So I think 2014 will be a pretty physically draining year for me, what with two marathons confirmed (London and Edinburgh) and one waiting to hear back on (New York). I am also looking to take part in the London Duathlon. A Duathlon is a run-bike-run event, and this particular one has five different categories you can enter (Classic, Classic relay, Sprint, Super sprint and Ultra). I still haven’t decided which one I want to enter yet, but I’m toying with the idea of doing either Classic or Ultra. The Classic would see me run for 10km, then cycle for 44km, with a final run of 5km. The Ultra would have me start with a 20km run, followed by a 77km cycle and end with a 10km run. Both will pose a challenge to me, but I think I will get greater satisfaction from the Ultra.

 

Either way, I hope to book my place by the end of the coming week!

 

 

This week I went back to the Doctors regarding my foot/ankle. It turns out there’s pretty much nothing more that can be done, other than to send me for some physical therapy. At this stage I’m willing to try anything, and I’m waiting to be contacted for an appointment. All is not bad as my injury is actually feeling slightly better (touch wood) this week, though I’ve been getting my road bike ready to take out so that I can make up the miles by cycling, for now. I know it’s obviously not as beneficial for marathon training as running, but surely gaining miles any way that I can is a plus?!

 

I have also spent time working out how many pots I will need for my aloe vera plants. I will shortly be potting these up and will be selling them in order to raise some much needed sponsorship money. Aloe vera plants are really useful to have sitting around in the kitchen, especially if you’re a little accident prone! They provide excellent relief for burns…! They’re also really simple to look after; in fact I couldn’t even kill the first plant we had… And believe me, I couldn’t have tried any harder. Last year I had four or five plants from the original, and was able to then pot up over twenty five! I kept five of the bigger ones and gave the rest away. Now I’ve got around thirty seven of the plants to pot up, not including the original five. So I decided I would pot these up, make sure they have rooted out, and then sell them at work/car boot for £2.00 each! Hopefully that’ll make a cool £74.00 for Sense! If you would like one, let me know now and I’ll keep one aside.

 

So week two of the book talks more about mental preparation and the importance of a positive attitude. It says that to maintain a positive attitude about training and running, it is necessary to develop a positive attitude about life in general. It goes into more depth, saying it is impossible to be positive about training while being negative about most other aspects of your life.

 

Now nothing is impossible! See what I did there, PMA (positive mental attitude)

 

To develop this kind of attitude (if you don’t have it already), it’s important to begin using a particular phrase whenever you catch yourself saying or thinking something negative… The phrase is (as if you clever guys can’t work it out from the title of this blog) “but it doesn’t matter”. Maybe if you’ve failed a New Year’s resolution already this kind of thinking may help you get back on track!

 

In terms of the training, my schedule has been upped by one mile on the long run, giving me a total of 16 miles this week.

 

Day 1 = 3 miles

Day 2 = 4 miles

Day 3 = 3 miles

Day 4 = 6 miles.

 

The book also discussed running form, which was split up into two sections, ‘lower body’ and upper body’. Starting to get technical now, hay! But in summary, things important to remember for the lower body are footstrikes (marathon runners should be heel-first or at least flat-foot), and the amount of vertical bounce (bounce is bad as it wastes energy). Factors to consider with upper body are body position (you should have a slight forward lean) and what your arms should be doing (they should swing slightly across the body as opposed to directly forward and back like Forrest Gump. They should also be relaxed at a 90 -120 degree bend at the elbow. This is all to help the muscles in the shoulder and neck stay relaxed, as too much tension increases fatigue during long runs).

 

Another topic it covers in this chapter is breathing. Yer, sounds pretty stupid doesn’t it, seeing as its pretty much an automatic thing. However it goes on to say that most runners prefer to breathe with a 2:2 breathing pattern. A 2:2 means to breathe in for two strides, then out for two strides - it’s been so long since I last ran that I have no idea if I use this technic at all! But if I don’t, I will be sure to give it a whirl when I’m next out, come rain or shine.

 

Please be sure to sponsor me, even if it’s just £1. Everything helps!

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/LeighFleming 

 

Here’s to a fantastic 2014

Leigh