Bin avin a MARE!

Wow it seems like ages since I had a minute to myself to sit down and write my blog. Weve had a pretty horrible time the last two weeks, Oliver has been very, very anxious and had quite a few meltdowns including one the other night at Midnight. Im surprised the police didnt turn up he was screaming so much, it was an incredibly upsetting and worrying night for all of us. We are even having trouble getting him out of the house - everywhere is too busy, or too loud or too quiet and its almost like agoraphobia.

Needless to say its gotten much worse the closer we got to him going back to school and both Joanne and I are exhausted. Its been a very upsetting and stressful couple of weeks. We just managed to get him to school this morning and he seemed to have a good day in the end. Its a worrying time as Joanne seems to get ill as Oliver gets more stressed and its probably stress related so as usual I bear the brunt of it and Ive been very down and extremely tired.

Ive struggled with my training but still forced myself to get out, following my training plan as best as I could under the circumstances. Ive got a race at the weekend and Im not making excuses already but Ive not had the most ideal run up to it.

The heart rate training is going well but it does seem very slow compared to how I normally run. However I dont feel as tight in my calves and hamstrings since Ive not been pushing as hard as often. I still do run fast when the training allows but its always sandwiched between slower warm ups and cool downs. I think it takes a few months for the changes to kick in properly so it will be perfect for my ultra.

Thats it really, I hope things settle down this week and I can relax a bit before the trail race on Saturday. :)

An old injury rears its ugly head

Ive been working hard again this week, doing lots of jobs at home and in the garden so I havent had much spare time so here is a quick recap:

Wednesday 30th March

Rest Day + strength and core work followed by foam roller / stretch session.

Thursday 31st March

Recovery Run am - 3. 25 miles - Heart Rate Zone 2

Interval Session pm - 6.9 miles - Heart Rate Zone 2 + Zone 4 Intervals

Friday 1st April

I was due a recovery run today, 30 min in zone 2 and hoped to get it done after work. Joanne phoned me at work and I had to get her prescription from the Doctors. Our surgery is on the other side of town so I walked there after work in the torrential rain! I didnt have the car and Joanne needed the medication for the weekend so I didnt have a choice. I ended up walking briskly for about 5 miles (work to Doctors to home) and as I had walked to work that morning (2 miles) I decided that would be my recovery session. I did my strength and core work later in the evening and felt great.

Saturday 2nd April

I woke this morning feeling very stiff through my lower back. I went to get out of bed and my back spasmed. I was locked in place and locked in pain. I must have slept at an awkward angle and trapped a nerve. I was gutted, I had big plans for my training this weekend - a steady run today and a recce of  part of the Lakeland 100 course on Sunday (about 28 miles).

Im getting used to this now, about 9 years ago I bent over to pick up a bin bag and displaced two discs in my lower back. Its been an ongoing problem since and I occasionally get pain and stiffness with no reason. As you probably realize, I do everything I can to counter act it - running, core work, strength work, stretching and good rest days but it still seems to catch up with me from time to time.

I just had to lay there for a while until the pain had passed then crawled on all fours to the freezer for some peas. I got to the sofa and managed to get the peas under my back and let the cold take some of the swelling down. After about 30 min or so I managed to get up and walk around - albeit nearly doubled over but moving around is the only way to sort it. I was at work in the evening so I had to get back on my feet for that - A few people from work were on leave this weekend so there was no-one to cover me,  I had to make it.

 After the cold of the peas and a  couple of CoCodimols I ran a hot bath to relax my back muscles. It worked and by late afternoon I was able to go to work. I was duty officer for a show so I took it easy and kept moving all night, my back improving all the time. I made a sensible decision to cancel my recce run on Sunday. I felt ok by the time I had finished work but I could still feel a tightness in the muscles. Its a risky recce route over some passes in the lakes and the last thing I want is to take stupid risks when I dont need to. If my back goes out there its a serious business, with exposure being a real problem. I will do the recce myself in the next few months.

For the meantime I will continue with my heart rate training once I feel up to it.