I don’t think I realised how much I depended on it until I stopped. Frustration and excess energy to start with (as anyone that’s ever had a running injury knows), then anger and more frustration because running used to be the best way to deal with frustration. That vague hope and longing every time I drove past a runner in the street, and reading on other blogs how far people have come in the amount of time I’ve not been running and wondering how far I could manage should I make a miraculous recovery tomorrow.

The running world was an island and I was drifting out to sea. My first thought on a nice evening was still “good time for a run” but I’d lost the urge to lace up my trainers and go.

Unfortunately I also stopped going to archery. 3rd May was the last time I shot. It was a competition (an American round, in which I placed 3rd) and was very enjoyable despite the wind, rain and hail (I kid you not). I was in pain within the first end, and by the time the medals were about to be handed out I was in agony. I decided then that the pain outweighed the fun of it and, as I wasn’t ready to start any adapted shooting, I would take a break.

Wheelchair basketball is now the only sport I have. Now that running and archery are out of the picture I’ve started taking it a bit more seriously – it’s no longer just something to do with Ally, it’s a serious competitive sport. However, a lack of official diagnosis (or even a vague clue) as to the problem with my feet meant I was still competing as an able-bodied player, which reduced my court-time (I prefer to think it was that and not that the coach just didn’t want to put me on the team!).

Three GPs, four rhuematologists and a nerve conduction specialist later and I have a diagnosis…of sorts. I’ve been told the pain has been classified as Allodynia – pain in response to pressure – and I’m on medication generally used for peripheral neuropathy (despite no reported nerve damage). I get the impression that there’s still a lot of uncertaintly but at least it’s a step in the right direction.

The first day of starting the new medication and I couldn’t help but be overly hopeful – the last doctor I saw recommended physio to get me back into shape as soon as possible and I spent the next 2 days day dreaming of the races I could still run. (I’ll admit the Marathon des Sables briefly featured but I think even that is a bit of a stretch). It never occurred to me that maybe I should be more excited about the fact that in the near future I could walk more than 100 yards, it was all about the running. My goal of finishing a marathon before 30 was becoming attainable again.

Having been on the pills a little while and seeing no improvement, the hope-induced elation is wearing off. I’m still optimistic about running again but I’m also realistic. I hope to run again soon but for now I’m just adapting my zombie apocalype plan accordingly :-)

On the sports side of things I had my first external archery competition of the year – a 25m FITA – on the 3rd January. I shot 517, got a PB, placed 4th overall, and won the C classification medal. A good start to the year. I’ve also shot 2 postal league Portsmouth rounds, and a club competition with another one next week. Things are going well and I’m looking forward to the outdoor season.

New basketball chair

Still no running unfortunately. The problem with my feet has gotten a lot worse and, despite seeing numerous doctors, I’m still no closer to finding out what’s wrong with them. With only 101 days until my next paid-for race I’m wondering whether I’m going to be able to run the distance (or at all) or whether I should be trying to get my money back while I still can.

In the mean time I’ve been rather slack in my gyming and it was only when I got weighed at the hospital in December that I realised how much I’d put on. I did a few cardio sessions in January but we don’t have any cardio equipment that doesn’t involve using your feet so that was pretty short lived. I did a bit of swimming as well but trying to do lengths with no roped-off lanes made it all rather difficult. I’ve now got into a routine of a shorter cardio session followed by weights that I’m sticking to, so hopefully I’ll be back under the 11 stone mark soon enough.

I shall post again in a few months, or whenever I find out if I’ll be running again. Thanks for visiting.

My most recent run was the 3km (and then another 2km) I managed last Friday. Seeing as how I should be able to rack up the miles with an empty gym and plenty of free time, having to stop after 20 minutes is extremely frustrating. Where I used to feel better after a run, regardless of how long it was, I now just get annoyed.

A lack of running isn’t really conducive to a running blog, and so I’ve decided to take a break while I sort myself out and try to figure out what’s wrong with my feet. I’m staying optimistic and keeping my places in the races I’ve entered for next year so with any luck I’ll be back on here pretty soon. I imagine I’ll still post on the odd occassion anyway, especially when I finish these damned pressups! :-)

See you around.

Merry Christmas.

Wednesday: Basketball this evening. We played an odd version of cricket, did plenty of suicides and then a game so got a proper workout!

Friday: Finally got round to the gym. Started on the treadmill and managed 3k before the pain in my feet stopped me. Decided to stick to the resistance machines for the rest of the session but the treadmill beckoned again on the way out. Only managed 2k this time but at least I ran.

Archery in the evening…didn’t do too well so only stayed for 2 and a half hours.

Sunday: Couldn’t make archery on Saturday because of a doctor’s appointment but made sure I went Sunday as we were shooting 25m instead of the usual 18 and I needed sight settings. I’m hoping to shoot in the Stourbridge Fita 25 on 3rd January so needed the practice. Only stayed for an hour and 50 though as I had to get back in time for basketball…which I got home to find was cancelled again. Never mind, eh?

Total Run: 5km

Tuesday: My new gym has TVs attached to the cardio equipment, which is new for me. My initial excitement wore off on the first day when I realised they only had terrestrial channels… and day-time TV is crap. Back to the ipod I went. Today I tried something different by taking my book with me and finishing off the last 70-odd pages while on the recumbent bike (this was perfectly normal at the uni gym but apparently not so much at this one!) Either way, it did the trick and I managed to keep up a reasonable pace. One hour and 15km later I decided to loosen up my quads by doing a couple of kms on the treadmill before stretching and heading home.

Wednesday: We missed the first half an hour of basketball as the gates to the venue were locked. We decided to just play 3 on 3 in the remaining 90 minutes. Was good fun and certainly a good workout!

Friday: Spent a good 3 hours at archery, though that didn’t seem to do much to improve my aim. Lots of reds (and not enough golds) but it’s all good practice.

Saturday: A better day at archery but not great. Scored 550 on a Portsmouth round. Congrats to Dave, who broke his PB with a 551.

Sunday: We had our SCA team photo today, followed by onlly an hour of training due to a booking mix-up. Still, we got in some layups and drills so can’t complain.

Total Run: 2km

Thanks to everyone who gave me their input with regards to Friday’s post about whether or not to run the asics British 10k next year. I had a number of replies on Facebook as well as the ones on the blog. As of today the score is 6-2 for doing it, though I’ll give it a bit more thought before sending off the application form.

Unfortunately it didn’t live up to my expectations and, even though I was very impressed at how much money had been rasied for charity, I made a mental note not to enter the race again. Admittedly some of the problems weren’t the fault of the organisers – my cabbie not knowing that the roads were closed and getting me to the start line much later than I’d planned, for example – but many were. The lack of water on such a warm day, the lack of toilets, the very poor map they sent out with the starters pack, the rubbish finishers bag (for £30 odd you’d expect better)… Regardless, I wanted to get the t-shirt to commemorate the fact that I’d raised money for Lupus UK and finished my first 10k. I ordered it 3 days after the race, on the 15th July.

Some of you may have noticed that the medal and t-shirt picture on the ‘Races’ page is still missing. This is because my t-shirt is still missing. Having sent a letter to the race organiser (yes, there’s no phone number or e-mail address, you have to send snail mail) on the 11th October, and another 3 weeks ago, I’ve finally heard back from them today.

They’ve run out of t-shirts.

Frankly, I don’t care about the t-shirt now. It was the principle of the matter (and the £18 I sent them). I got my money back and a letter saying that they never received my original letter, though nothing to say why they never sent my t-shirt. By way of apology they’re giving me free entry to the 2010 event. The question now is do I take it? After saying I wouldn’t do the race again it seems a little hypocritical to enter the following year. Saying that, the letter in the application pack has acknowledged the main problems from last year and has a list of improvements including more toilets, extra water, better baggage areas and a quicker lead up to the start (as well as a free t-shirt).

I’m undecided, and at the moment more occupied with the fact that the problem with my feet might stop me running that far next year. So what say you? What do you think?

50/50 - Dean Karnazes

The full title of the book is ’50/50: Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days – and How You Too Can Achieve Super Endurance!’ which seems a little contradictory to some of the books’ content. Karnazes himself says how genes play a major role in the ability to run massive distances, and the science-y bit at the end backs it up. However, there is still an attempt to teach the reader something in the form of textbook style boxes. These cover anything from post-marathon tips to good marathons to run in order to qualify for Boston. Unfortunately, if you’re already a runner there isn’t a whole lot of new information here.

The rest of the book is pretty much what the title suggests. Karnazes has a plan to run in various states as part of a holiday with his family, an idea that seems to get hijacked by The North Face, who turn it into a roadshow/giant advert. It’s obviously more than that – not only an amazing feat for Karnazes but also an inspiration to the people he meets along the way (and a fundraiser for his charity). By the end, however, you do get the impression that he’d have rather just done it his way. The regimented schedule and constant PR is obviously not what he wants to do…supported by the fact that when he’s finished his last marathon he goes for a run on his own, without a map and a time limit.

The book itself is just an account of the 50 marathons, broken up every now and then with various thoughts and musings from the journey:

“Upon receiving this information, I found myself wondering why so many people like Kris are drawn to marathons and other such challenges these days. I can’t help thinking that the phenomenon is in part a largely unconscious backlash against comfort culture and the easy life. Heated seats and online shopping and robot vacuum cleaners have created a void that we’re all sensing. Our modern comforts and conveniences have accumulated to the point that they have stopped making us feel better and started making us feel worse. Some primal instinct lurking deep inside is trying to tell us that what is needed is a good, hard sweat – some struggle in our lives, some physical challenge.”

I must admit I didn’t really get on with this one as well as I did with Ultramarathon Man. Whether it was the book, the fact I was having trouble with my running as I was reading it, or a combination of the two, I found myself leaving it half way in order to read something else before coming back to it.

Wednesday: Pilates class in the morning as mentioned in Wednesday’s blog post. Basketball in the evening was pretty good, we played a 2 on 2 for most of the session.

Friday: I told myself I was going to go to the gym in the morning and then never got round to it (though I did manage my end-of-week-5 100 push ups exhaustion test). I then spent the rest of the afternoon feeling terribly guilty about it and resolved to try harder next week.

Archery in the evening. The heating has broken though so it was pretty cold, and that had a significant detrimental effect on my shot. Stayed for a couple of hours and then decided to call it a night.

Saturday: Went to archery armed with my Helly Hensen base layer and plenty of change for cups of tea. It was so cold that people started to leave early, reducing the amount of body heat (the only thing warming the place up) and making everyone else colder :-) A few of us shot a Worcester round today instead of a Portsmouth (I scored a 270 – not too bad) and then I stuck around for the last day of the beginner’s course. The kid I was teaching did really well and hopefully he’ll decide to stay in the club.

Sunday: SCA played Leicester Crobas 2 today in our last game of the year. I played half the game, in alternating quarters, but didn’t score this time. We won 36-32, which was pretty good, so congrats to the guys.

Total Run: 7km

Congrats must go to Rachael, otherwise known as Marathon Mummy, who’s really making progress with her training for the VLM next year. Head over there and show some support!

I had a quick look at the class timetable when I joined my current gym last week in the hope they did something similar. I saw they did Pilates and so went along this morning to try it out.

I wasn’t expecting anything as rigorous as Ashtanga but I hoped for something that would help me with my stretching and challenge my core. Unfortuately I didn’t really get much of that. Going to a mid-morning class obviously attracts a fair few of the retired generation and the class seemed to be too preoccupied in catering for their needs. While we did do some leg stretches it was very cold in there and having not really had a warm up I was careful not to push too far for fear of injuring myself.

I also had a few doubts about the instructor. She seemed nice enough and I told myself off for judging her on first impressions (she was a few pounds heavier than your average gym instructor). However, those doubts returned steadily thoughout the class (eg. telling us that bicep curls work the forearm and lateral raises are the same as pressups) and I left somewhat unsure about her as a teacher.

Overall, not what I was hoping for, but I might try it again in an evening class where there might be some more people who are looking for a challenging workout.

Monday: Did 5.1k on the treadmill as part of my one-day free gym trial.

Tuesday: Had my gym induction today. I had intended to do a long run but, because of the problems with my feet, I gave up at 5.5km.

Total Run: 10.6km

Wednesday’s basketball was cancelled again and my parents coming to visit at the weekend stopped me from doing much then. Another poor week but I’ll try and make up for it this week.

I had my first commissions cheque from RoadID this week. A handsome $2 which will be donated to my next charity run :-) If you know anyone that works out in the great outdoors then consider a Road ID for a Christmas present – just click the blue logo on the right hand side of the page.