August 3, 2008 at 11:56 pm · Filed under Cycling, Running
Running and therefore blogging seems to have turned into quite a struggle recently. I get to the 2k point and feel as though I can’t go any further. My body feels like lumpen clay but I think my battle is as much mental as physical. Running can be a tough nut to crack sometimes.
With only 9 weeks to go before the Great North Run, I can’t afford to be struggling with 2k runs, I need to take a grip of this thing. I set out this morning on a 6k route, started whining at 2k but pushed on to the final turn off point where I managed to persuade myself to take the extended option which brought me home after 8k. A small battle won, and one that must be built on over the next few weeks.
There’s plenty of inspiration around at the moment, Speedracer has just completed her first Ironman distance tri at Vineman after months of badass training, and Rosie Swale-Pope features in this months Runners World after completing her run around the world (well she hasn’t quite completed it yet but is back on British soil after running for almost 5 years). These are people who know how to tame the quitting demons!
While I may not be running very much I’m certainly getting in plenty of cycle practice on the Brompton – I’ve got to get some speed training under my belt as I now have competition at the Brompton World Champs, Emma’s Dave has thrown down the gauntlet and must be beaten.
I’m still struggling with that saddle though. It’s beautiful and all but it’s a weapon of torture. I have it from good authority that it will weather in time, moulding itself to my own personal contours, thereby morphing into the most comfortable saddle in the world. In the meantime it is leaving me with day long pins and needles – most disconcerting.
I had an appointment with the ortho surgeon last week about my dodgy back issue and I was grilled about possible neurological complications. One of the questions put to me was “Have you experienced numbness or pins and needles in the saddle area?” Well, what could I say?
I obviously answered incorrectly as I ended up flat on my back having my bits and pieces tickled with a feather! When a guy came into the cubicle with a gloved hand and a protruding finger, I leapt off the couch and backed out pointing at my Brooks saddle and begging for mercy. I avoided the internal interrogation but still have to go and have an MRI – it would be much cheaper to invest in a gel saddle cover.
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Tags: back, Brompton, folding bike, GNR
May 20, 2008 at 11:32 am · Filed under Running
You may have noticed that I have not been running an awful lot of late. You may also have noticed that this downturn in activity has been matched by an awful lot of moaning of the “my back hurts, my leg hurts” variety.
I feel somewhat vindicated as, after a spate of trips to see the quack, I discovered last week that I have some fairly unpleasant goings on in my spine.
I have somehow managed to acquire a completely unpronounceable disorder called spondylolisthesis (spon-dee-low-lis-thee-sis) which involves one vertebrae slipping forward on another, see photo of lumbar region. So far mine has only slipped 2 mm which is still sufficient to create enough pain to impair everyday activities but in serious cases the vertebrae can slip off completely so I shouldn’t complain. Of course I spent the last week practically immobile, worrying that my spine would spontaneously concertina and I would find my waist somewhere near my ankles.
Apparently the cause is often related to a small fracture in the vertebra (pars fracture) and I had to undergo further imaging to check whether this was the case. The problem is quite common in athletes but not heavily associated with running in particular, here’s an interesting article if you suffer from low back pain.
The results came back yesterday and it seems that all is well, my back had been fractured but has now healed. Which seems to suggest that my spine should be fairly stable and that I ought to be able to continue without risk of coming face to face with my kneecaps.
Therefore running is back on, exams finish tomorrow so I will be back on the streets this weekend taking part in a month long challenge within a challenge. I will post further details of this in a non-sickness and injury related post.
Still wonder how you manage to break you back without even realising it?
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Tags: back, injury, knee, spine, spondylolisthesis
February 18, 2008 at 9:43 pm · Filed under Rambling, Running
The weekend was supposed to be slothful and despite a few forgivable false starts I am still left wondering what the heck went wrong. How could I arrive back home and find myself sitting here on my sofa with multiple athletic injuries?
I arrived at Rach’s house on Friday and was immediately forced aboard the cross trainer to build up an appetite for the evenings festivities. A whole 4 calories later the Chinese take away arrived and I was allowed to kick back and enjoy my crispy shredded beef. Later, under a drunken haze I was introduced to the Nintendo wii and challenged to a ten pin bowling showdown.
Now, I have read books on ten pin bowling so like to think of myself as a bit of a bowling rockstar, you can’t just challenge me and expect to be let off lightly. Three hours later I was still calling for a rematch and was only persuaded to lay down my plastic bowling ball for a showing of the latest L Word episode (a particularly good one I have to add!).
I was up again at dawn practising on the alleys, Rach didn’t know what had hit her. Unfortunately she still beat me so I practised more while she slept. The next morning I had perfected the technique, I could get my ball to stay out of the gutter and actually managed to topple a few skittles. This perfection came at a cost though. By this point I could barely carry the weight of my own arms, I would yell out in pain every time I sent the ball bouncing towards her tv screen and even managed to pull my left hamstring as I adopted the power crouch position. I was glad to go home for a rest!
Back at home today I planned to sneak in my long run between meetings at work, they were held 10 miles apart and I thought I could probably pull off the distance quicker if I avoided public transport. I was aware of my rather tender arm situation and knew that carrying a water bottle was off limits so packed the bladder into my backpack. Setting off on a light trot down the canal I was reminded what a gruelling weekend it had been. I had to tie my arms into my rucksac just to hold them up, my triceps and deltoids were completely shot and I would have signed myself up for a full body cast at the drop of a hat.
Just to add insult to injury or even more injury to injury, my toe nail has started to peel off again. I sellotaped it up this morning in the hopes that it would help but I think I over tightened it. Even before I started running it felt like someone had dropped a darn bowling ball on my toe, I could feel every beat of my heart pounding through my nail bed. It’s like Japanese water torture.
My long run turned into a rather lame short run with a very long walk attached and I blame Rach and that silly little console.
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Tags: back, backpack, bowling, injury, wii
