From EES to EEE?!

Although it may seem so, I haven't actually disappeared off the face of the planet and am still here! Apart from a run/walk with Doris on Friday however - of which there was more walk than run - I haven't subjected my imbalanced muscles to running.




Happy Birthday Mum!



Instead, I have consoled treated myself with copious amounts of food and enjoyed a very fun Saturday in my home town of Letchworth where we helped my Mum celebrate her 60th birthday. Delicious food, great company and no running have meant I am now more than rested and prepared for Running Club tomorrow night.

However, with a 400 mile round trip in the car, and a pile of marking this evening, I've spent the whole day sat on my back-side! I'm now experiencing something exceptionally rare for me; a week without exercise is unheard of and, as I don't count the strengthening exercises I've been doing and walking the dog as 'exercise', that's essentially what it's been. Add on today's inactivity and there's no doubt - I'm suffering from EES: Excess Energy Syndrome. Which has left me worried about two things tomorrow:

1. My silly imbalanced legs hold out on a run.
2. My EES doesn't turn into EEE: Excess Energy Explosion!



EEE - Excess Energy Explosion!






Big G's Lesson

"I can't be bothered with all of this hard work!" Big G. stated to his close friend Hammy, "Can't you do it instead?"
"Why me? Why should I do all of your hard work?" queried his perplexed neighbour, "I'm not any stronger than you."
"No, but you could be..." suggested Big G, "Imagine it now, you could be the strongest of us all... you could have all the control... you could be a dictator of everything we all do. How about that? You know you want it... don't you?" he coaxed.

Hammy considered his friends' proposition. It was very tempting; after all, who doesn't want to be all powerful? Then again, it wasn't really in his nature; he wasn't designed, so to speak, to be the strong, controlling one; that was Big G's job. But Big G didn't want it; moreover, Big G was liberally dangling the offer of power and control in front of him on a string... he could do it! A little bit of effort would be all it would require; he just needed to work harder.

So Hammy accepted the position and worked and worked to be the best of all of them. He built himself up until he was so strong and powerful, that none of the others stood a chance. Unfortunately, as he became stronger and more powerful, he also became blind and ignorant to the plight of others around him. The suppression of his (previously) fellow comrades caused them pain, as he stole their jobs, weakened them, then forced them to carry out tasks that left them feeling fraught and frustrated.

Ruling the roost, Hammy thought himself to be invincible.

But he wasn't. One day, when he was least expecting it, Hammy came face to face with a specialist. Having seen this kind of behaviour before, the specialist was well prepared and immediately began to remedy the situation. Pushing, kneading, cajoling Hammy back from his superior status; the specialist strung him up in front of the others and demanded that things would change. Berating Big G, she made the situation clear and forced him to face his responsibilities: "Big G, this team needs leadership, not dictatorship" She explained, "Hammy is not, and never will be, capable of this. You, on the other hand, are. Already you are in a more favourable position to lead the others: Leading from the top, you are capable of taking the helm, strengthening yourself and your team and offering them a pain-free life where each and every muscle is able to work in happy harmony with the other. You can do this. Now, get to it!"

And so, with the inspiration he needed, Big G got to work building himself and balancing his team. Getting his younger brother, Little G, involved they worked and worked and worked until eventually, every muscle in Maggie's body was working together to create a lean, mean, running machine lead by the great and mighty Gluteus Maximus!

Distance: 0
Physio Appointment with Sports Massage: 1
Strengthening Exercises: done
M&S Apple Pies Eaten: 1 - with custard! Mmmmmm... yum, yum!
Appetite: strong!
Feeling: hopeful
Weather: doesn't really matter when you're curled up on the sofa scoffing apple pie!

The bitter taste of hindsight...

Freedom, escapism, enjoyment… running provides me with all of these things, and more; so when I am faced with the possibility of having to stop running, if only for a while, I’m instantly feeling fed-up. Which is why, right now, blogging is great! Reading over the comments you’ve left me has boosted me today and made me feel a lot more positive. Whether, you’ve been able to share your own wisdom and experience, shared your own positivity and encouragement, or simply made me laugh, I’ve used that today to metaphorically pull myself together!

I mention today in particular as when I attempted to leap from my bed, I had the fleeting thought that It’s a shame I’m not a robot; if I was I would have simply replaced my poorly knee, which stabbed me with pain when I heaved myself up this morning, with a new one. In fact, no… scrap that… if I was a robot, I wouldn’t have had a poorly knee in the first place – or any pain! Sigh… it must be nice to be a robot!

Hindsight of course, just like After Eight mints, is a wondrous event but one that only ever occurs after the main course; I now have the bitter taste of hindsight but it was during yesterday’s club run that I served myself this rather distasteful, painful knee. Yes, I know, I ran 18 miles on Sunday, perhaps a rest day would have been in order… but seriously, who really does that?! Ok, you do… and I should… I might have learned a lesson!

As it is, I’ve had to suffice with a heated compression wrap around my knee instead (Amazing what you discover in previously run race packs!). The wrap has been interesting as I don’t own any smart trousers, only skirts and dresses (an insight into the rather feminine character that I am there) and as such, even despite the thickest, blackest tights I could find, have been sporting the rather fetching white bandage look today. My mean colleagues have laughed at me – quite rightly!!

So, to cut to the chase, in short the full story stands as this:
 
1.    I ran when I shouldn’t have and made it less than a mile (0.96 to be precise!)
2.    I walked back (disproportionately upset to the actual event that had occurred)
3.    I returned home, and treated my leg to a Queen of Sheba pose on some cushions, whilst smothering them in frozen peas!
4.    I spent today wearing an heated compression wrap and elevating my leg whenever possible (obviously not mid-teaching, that would be a bit weird!)
5.    The pain has subsided and is now only a dull ache – This must be a good thing… yes? YES!
6.    I have booked an appointment with a Physio tomorrow who will hopefully either fix my knee, or provide me with a new one! (either is good!!), and then I will run again!

So, things are looking up. I’ve still not eaten that apple pie… but I will… oh yes, I will!

Distance: not worth mentioning!
Feeling: pain and rest
Weather: cold and windy!

Ruined by running!

At some point, I decided to run a marathon... why? I'm not sure. But I did. So today I ran 18 miles!
I'll be honest, it wasn't the best 18 miles of my life, and I was disappointed with the time it took, we were much slower than the intended 11 minute mile pace we were supposed to be hitting; and once again, it was me running slow, not Paula. And although I'm pleased I ran 18 miles, as it's the furthest I've ever run, now everything hurts. Everything!

If I'm honest, I feel a little down right now, but not because of the pain; No, the worst thing in all of this is...

I - CAN'T - EAT!

My appetite has been ruined by running!! This is unheard of! I am the one whom people watch eat and say "How do you put all that away?" or "No wonder you have to run, eating all that food!" or "Seriously, where do you put it?"
I'm proud of these accolades to my eating ability... it's a talent... a skill... and I'm proud of it! But this evening, I've given half of my M&S dinner to Mik... not just any old dinner... an M&S dinner! and I've been unable to eat my apple pie and custard... it's still in the fridge, giving me woeful eyes: "Why don't you eat me Maggie? Am I not good enough for you? I'm not any old apple pie you know... I'm an M&S apple pie... smother me in custard and eat me... pleeeeeeease!"
But I can't. He's still there. Sad.

I better feel better tomorrow, or I'm quitting this running lark... some things in life are more important! What's the point in running, if you can't reward yourself by eating!!!!!!

In hindsight, maybe I'd have been better off employing Abradypus' rule 3!

Actually, as I write this, I'm having a Facebook conversation with Pete, and thinking of my earlier conversation with Paula,  both of whom have reassured me and made me feel much better, so maybe I am glad I completed the run... maybe! I'll let you know when I've managed to eat that apple pie!!!!

Distance: 18 miles - a weakened 'Woop'!
Weather: windy all the way. partly dry, partly rainy!
Feeling: like I've lost my mojo... it's really my appetite... but they're one and the same thing aren't they!
PRB: Level -2 when Paula had to make me keep running; -1 as I neared home; 0 on arriving home; building towards +1 as I slowly realise that I have run 18 miles and that's quite an accomplishment!

See my run here.

Rest.



Rest Assured, I've taken the rest of the day to rest...


Today I've had to take a rest day. Not because I want to, because rest assured what I'd rather be doing is running round the rest of the block. No, I've had to take a rest day because since taking a rest day 2 days ago, the mind is willing but the rest of my body wants to continue to rest.

My feet are fine and the bottom of my legs, but the rest of my legs want a rest; it's the same with my arms "Run as much as you want Maggie, we don't need a rest" They say to me, but the rest of my torso from my shoulders through my chest, they want a rest. I don't get it. A change is as good as a rest; so I offered them a change: "Let's run a different route" I told them "Have a rest from the same old scenery; you've run the rest of 2011 without a rest, why rest now? No need to rest!".

But, sigh... Only my brain, feet and arms don't want to rest, the rest want a rest so what can I do but rest? So I've had to lay my argument to rest: "Fine" I said, "I'll rest today, and if I have to, I'll rest tomorrow but only if after the rest, the rest of you, body, will promise me I can get on with the rest of my training!"
"You can rest easy Maggie; the rest of us will be ready for the rest of your training with 18 long miles on Sunday... if we rest!" they've reassured.

So with a little luck, the rest of the day will progress and because I've had a relaxing rest, I'll no longer need to rest and the rest of the weekend will continue without any further rest.

I embrace you rest. I do. Honest...

Wind, Rain and Hippos!

Yesterday was:

Today was back to it.

And what a nice surprise Pete had in store for us. "Tonight is just a run" he announced in the car park! What, no hills? No fast speediness? No killing me slowly with intervals? Just a run?... Yipeeee!  with a choice of routes of either just over 6 or just under 5 miles, we set off.

Pinch, punch, stretch, nick, pull, poke, pick, pinch... my muscles were torturing me! How is it even remotely possible that I manage to hurt more after a day of rest, than I ever hurt when running every day? I'm beginning to understand why Ron Hill does it! Anyway, ignoring my sadistic muscles I pushed on. With a choice of two routes to choose from, Paula and I naturally chose the 'proper' one: "6 miles... we can run 6 miles in an hour" Paula confirmed for me. Yes, we can. However, as the other 6 runners pulled further and further away from us in the first mile, we realised that perhaps we weren't going to achieve that goal tonight. Not wanting to do the 'wimp-out' route either though, we quickly re-calculated and devised a medium length 'not-quite-so-tough-but-not-too-wimpish-either' route.

As predicted, superspeedy raceters Karl and Dom whizzed past us about 2 miles from the end, despite their longer route, and the others caught us up on the final hill before the home straight. There was a lot more whizzing and whipping going on around us throughout the night -though thankfully not from other runners! - the wind was in a foul mood, attacking us from all angles during our run, and towards the end the rain decided to join in with a supersized sulk too; the weather was miserable!



Stop dancing on my legs hippos!!



Still, despite the aches and pains of my muscles and the woes of the weather, it was a very satisfying run. I'm also confident that today's 'I've had several heavy hippopotamuses dancing on my legs syndrome' will not occur again as my legs have since been severely reprimanded for trying to sneak in a double rest day... they have promised it will not happen again, and will be back to their spritely and receptive selves tomorrow. Excellent.

Distance: 5.7 miles
Feeling: achey but glad I ran
Weather: a frenzy of whippy wind and rain!
See my run here.

And on the 32nd day she...

...RAN!

No, really! I know... "Loon!" I hear you cry! And I might just have to concede this time that I actually am.  However, this looney behaviour, lead to a new discovery:

PRB:  Level 2!

And this is how it happened...

Having arranged a very complicated non-specific, yet definitely running at some point meeting with Paula, I arrived home feeling distinctly dispirited; I did not want to go out running. After all, why did I have to? I'd run every day in January, that's 31 days, 151.6 miles, more than I'd ever run (all in one go) before, surely I deserved a rest? Surely? Well, no because it may be the end of Janathon, but it's only the beginning of my Magathon Marathon training and although my training plan very kindly allows me a rest day today, I know I'm going to crave it tommorrow, with a late finish from work and a long drive home. So, I texted Paula, apologising that if I waited to run with her, I'd never leave the house and promptly forced myself to lace up my trainers, don my cap and fire up the Garmin.

This is the beginning of Level 2 - in order to achieve this superior level of PRB, you have to begin with a mental mountain; it begins with the hard climb to the top. Oh, and it was a hard climb! Everything hurt: my legs, feet, hips, bum, arms, neck, shoulders, little finger (though more to do with an earlier paper cut than running!), everything! I slogged on, willing wobbly jelly legs to at least support my knackered frame, let alone push me along! At mile 2 I was still struggling and I nearly turned for home but I employed PRB: "You can do this, you are strong, you are fit, you are a runner" I told myself, and so I kept going.

At mile 3 I turned into the park, and this is where I reached the top of my mental mountain. It wasn't that my body stopped aching, or that I necessarily felt any better, but I felt different somehow... I had started to believe. As if by magic, my Ipod started to encourage me and as the Libertines told me not to look back into [Janathon] I picked up my pace with the beat of the music. By the time the Ceasars were advising me: "you can't stop now / it's already begun / you feel it  / running through your bones", I really was feeling it. My runner's high was getting greater and greater so that as I hit a steep downhill section in the park, steeped in the semi-darkness of the increasing twilight, I was well and truly throwing myself down my mental mountain. In literal terms it looked something like this:

PRB: Level 2

The uplifting sounds of 'Hey Soul Sister' by Train blasting through my earphones;
Me: "I can be myself now finally, in fact there's nothing I can't be"... aloud... pelting down the hill...
"Hey soul sister, ain't that Mr. Mister on the radio, stereo, the way you move ain't fair, you know!"...
Arms stretched horizontal to my body like a small child running free... louder... faster... smiling... loving it!

When a dog walker emerged from the bushes!

He looked at me. I looked at him. The expression on his face read: 'What a complete Loon!'. And he was right; but I am a PRB Level 2 Loon... so there!

Distance: 5 miles
Weather: warmer as it had been raining earlier.
Feeling: Great because I ran!
See my run here

MagathonTraining Mileage: 164.46