Miles this week: 9 Via Cycling
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
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