Legend in my own breakfast time

Well, I've made the transition from the printed word to the airwaves today. I got a call late yeserday afternoon asking if I would come in to BBC Radio Stoke for an interview on the Breakfast show. Of course I agreed, a golden opportunity to raise the profile of the sponsorship effort. The interview was only 6minutes long (it flew by and felt like less). I was a little nervy, but I think I just about carried it off ok.

So, here's what I sound like, in the unlikely event you've ever wondered! I hope this link works. Oh, don't ask me why I named it BBC Radio 1 interview when I saved it. I think it was a bit of wishful thinking!

I've got more news for you on the climate chamber, that I'll post up in the main weekly slot.

BBC Radio Stoke Interview link

Just need to make it onto TV now, for some serious coverage. Still working on that one.  I should have taken the oppotrunity to plug my tea shop company.   I run The Fine Tea Company Tea Shop, selling green tea, white tea and holding tea tasting days.  Missed opportunity there!  Ah well.

Fixed and Happy

Great week.

I worked in Ireland Monday to Wednesday. Monday I worked in Londonderry, then Tuesday and Wednesday in Belfast. On Tuesday night, instead of using the hotel gym treadmill, I decided I would see if I could find my way around the city centre and down to the river for my first run in almost 2 weeks. I managed to find the river and followed it for a while before hitting the docks and ending up in some industrial park. I carried on for a little while before returning by almost the same route, just tagging an extra section on the end. I didn't want to run too far, especially since the whole route was on concrete or tarmac (however totally flat). I capped it at 7 miles and felt fine. The calf didn't cause me any issues, despite there being a smallish residual knot (even now).

I did intend to run on Wednesday night but my flight home was delayed. I didn't get back home until 10pm.

On Thursday night I ran 9 miles. This time there were a few hills probably around 1000ft, but I had no choice due to lack of time to drive to somewhere flatter!

A change in plan meant that the climate chamber sessions were changed to Friday night, and also tomorrow and Tuesday nights. On Friday I did my usual gym session with no problems.

I'm really busy with work at the moment, so Friday was a rush. I finished work temporarily at 3:30pm and drove to the university where I was met by the three students and one lecturer (I'd better not mention names until I get permission, but they know who they are!). I wasn't sure what to expect and had brought all my MDS kit.

I had a few surprises in store. Firstly I handed over a urine sample taken that morning. I was a little dehydrated, but not too much, though I was told off a little and told to drink more in the day! Next they took a blood sample, which was the first surprise, but I think the scar will heal in time (finger prick)!

I had to fill in a medical questionnaire and disclaimer too. I went into change and gave them my naked body weight too. They told me for the first session I would not be wearing any shirt so they could attach wired temperature sensors to me. I then got a free body shave; well little squares in various places at least, and sensors were attached to my arms, legs, chest and back. The next surprise was that I would be having a rectal core body temperature sensor. It was certainly an unnatural experience [me] inserting I'd guess the final 5" of a wire. I also had a heart rate monitor strap attached too. I was clearly already agitated by all this with a HRM of 72 standing still!

The climate chamber had been heated to 40C with an approx humidity of 50 - 60%. I walked in and my famous last words were "Is this 40C? You know I thought it would be hotter." I did however add "I bet I won't be saying that in 10 minutes though". I'm glad I added that last bit, on reflection!

All of the temperature readings were logged at the start and I was told I would be asked to read from 3 charts in front with numbers from 1-20, 6-18 (I think) and finally "a cold to hot chart". I'll have to check what the first two charts meant specifically, but it was all around how comfortable I was feeling at any given moment.

Two of the students stayed in the chamber with me, slowly baking, whilst the third student and the lecturer sat the other side of the window. The treadmill was set to 8kph and I started to run. This is of course a leisurely pace, especially without a pack, and one that I could maintain for literally hours and hours and hours without effort under normal circumstances. I chatted to them for the first 10 minutes, as they took readings every 5 minutes and asked how I was feeling (from the charts). I chose the numbers which were generally "Very comfortable", "fairly easy", and always "Hot" though!

After 15 minutes I was getting hot, and my 'chart' answers were creeping up the board to "less comfortable" and "less easy". My heart rate climbed from an initial few minutes at 120 to 150, 160, then 168 was the last I remember hearing logged. My core temperature started at 37.4 I think and also started to rise.

From 20 minutes onwards I was feeling fairly uncomfortable, and the easy 8kph pace though not hard in itself, was just cooking me. I asked for the speed to be taken down slightly around 25 mins I think. By 30 minutes I was giving answers of "feeling very uncomfortable" and "quite hard". My arms and legs didn't feel particularly 'hot' though they were bathed in sweat. My head however by this time felt like a balloon, and I had touch of light-headedness. They called the lecturer in once my core temp reached 39.6 and then stopped the session, as that is the safety cut-off. I certainly wasn't about to argue as I was feeling fairly ropey at this point.

Stepping outside the chamber was blissful! Still I was feeling quite hot, so they sat me down and began cooling with a fan and a bucket of water to dip the wrist into, plus some towel down with cold water. It was a good fifteen minutes before I felt fine again. More blood was taken, and also initial estimates could put me at burning through 1.5litres of water an hour at the rate I was drinking, verus weight loss. However, it's too early to tell off one session, so that may change.

It was an interesting experience and I look forward to the next two, in which I may well be wearing my MDS kit and pack. What makes it so difficult is the chamber humidity. The desert will hopefully be less than 10% humidity. When there was 20-30% in the MDS in 2006 over 150 people retired from the race; 61 ended up on IVs, 2 ended up in comas, 1 person was medivac'd to France but survived. So here I am running at 40C in 50-60% humidity, which is way over and above what I can expect the conditions to be like (at least in terms of humidity). If I had been pulled out at 33 minutes on a low humidity then I would have been concerned, but as it stands I am not. There is no way to drop the humidity in the current chamber, though there are plans for a higher-tech chamber with all sorts of capabilities. In the meantime, I am experiencing overheating the likes of which I hope I won't face in the desert. It's all good practice!

Just as valuable was speaking to the lecturer and students afterwards and getting all of the technical knowledge around overheating, and hydration. Also on the way out one of the students pointed out the most useful piece of advice in that I must learn to recognise when I am starting to feel unwell and take appropriate action. That may sound obvious, must when you are fixed on the goal of the finish line I think it is easy to ignore your own well being. As much as I want to run as much of the MDS as possible, I have to know when to slow or even stop and sort myself out. In fact I don't want to even be in that position, so I must really keep on top of my hydration. I'm really grateful for the help from the Uni and students who are geniunely interested in my challenge.

I am toying with the idea of setting my watch to interval mode and on the alarm, say every 5 minutes, take a sip or two or water. This might drive me nuts, but it might also keep me alive. I have also been wondering about a wrist cooler. I realise that these take a quantity of water to activate but this does seem an effective method of lowering the core temperature. I might quiz the students about this tomorrow.

The session finished about 6:15, slightly later than anticipated, so I had to dash off and then drive to Stockport to work until midnight. I had to be up again early and back at Stockport on Saturday morning and worked until 1pm. I got back home and 2pm and went for a run along the canal (short drive away). The idea here was that I would do minimal climbing to easy my calf muscle back to work this week.

I had already clocked up 20 miles this week of a planned 35 miles. However, I decided I would do a little more mileage and also carry more weight instead of the 5kg planned (this was a recovery week in the program). I packed 10kg and did a steady 5.5mph for 5 miles, before turning on my heals and returning at 5.6mph. I can hand on heart say that I got back to the car and barely felt like I had been for a run. I wasn't the least bit out of breath or tired at all, despite the 10kg weight.

I decided that was too easy, so on Sunday I did the three elevens.
11 miles
11 kilos
1100ft of ascent

I ran around Swynnerton old forest, in between Newcastle-under-Lyme and the A51 Stone to Nantwich road. This time I of course ran a little slower, around 5.3mph, but still finished strong. 11kg is the biggest weight I have carried in training so far (discounting day 1 of the disaster in Tenerife in December). I had attached my sleeping bag and bed roll to the backpack for some extra realism.

I enjoyed the run and was glad to finish feeling fine again. I sit now with a very sore spot on my lower back though. The pack hasn't so much rubbed (there is no mark) but I think the bouncing action of the contents (lots of 1.5l water bottles) has bruised my spine. Sadly I can't actually see the area, being where it is on my back. I'll have to ask some random person tomorrow, to see what I've done to it! I don't think I’ll be carrying a pack for a few days though. Hopefully this is just due to the nature of the training pack content, and it won't trouble me 'on the day', but it is something to be aware of. So 41 miles covered, and well.

You know what; I'm feeling inexplicably happy at the moment. I can't quite put my finger on why? Yes I am pleased that my calf injury seems to have gone, and I don't seem to be worse for wear fitness-wise, but it's more than that? Oh well, whatever it is, its welcome!

Hopefully my training will go well this coming week. I am ramping up to full scheduled mileage (74 miles). I may have some disruption because my son's mother has gone to the States on holiday today, so I have my son for the whole of this week and not just the first couple of days like normal. I will just have to fit in my training around his nursery hours. I may have to run at lunch and work late if my workload allows. I am going to try and get in a weekly clinical sports massage to keep the calf and other injuries at bay.

Enjoy your week. :-)

Almost fixed (I hope)

If you just check in here weekly, then I have made quite a few blog posts last week you may want to look over. The news of the week was that I had to pull out of the Thames Meander. I felt justified because on the morning of the event I knew the leg was not ready. It was a lovely day and I sure the event would have been fantastic, but it wasn't to be. My uncle very kindly came over to my house on his way back from a wedding and gave me some more treatment on my calf. The bunched fibres are gradually untangling, and are much improved but there is still a stubburn knot that is persisting and I feel tightness from my knee to my toe. My uncle confirmed that I would not have been wise to attempt the race as he treated the leg. It is sore at both ends of the muscle, as well as at this knot, so I did a pretty good job of 'pulling' it. I have been applying some Voltarol over the last few days to ease the soreness.

I did 35k on the bike on Friday, rested the leg on the Saturday after the treatment, but then did 2 hours in the gym today. I did an hour on the cross trainer, then 10 minutes on the rowing machine, followed by 45 minutes (28K)on the bike. None of that is a good replacement for a 54 mile run, but it is the best I can do right now.

I will try a short and slow run on Tuesday, and if that goes ok I will try a little further as the week progresses. On Thursday and Friday I have some sessions in an exercise climate chamber at the local campus of Manchester Met University. I'm looking forward to those; my first chance to sample 40C in full kit. I have a final session the Monday afterwards. My goal is to hopefully run 34-40 miles next week, and then back on schedule (70+) the week after. Right now, I don't know if that will be possible, I can only hope so.

Have a good week.

No Go - Thames Meander

The calf is much improved, but it's not right. I'd say it's 80-85%. It needs a few more days (hopefully no more) to get back to normal. Everyone who has seen it this week says to do the event would be too risky.

I woke up this morning, moved around and it is still too tight down the back of the leg, and some of the fibres and still kotted up. It is still tender to touch in a few areas, so there is no way it will improve significantly in 24 hours.

It's heart-breaking because I want to do it so much, but 54 miles is serious mileage for being in perfect condition, let alone injured. I know I am doing the right thing though. I hope to resume running on Tuesday night, maybe Wednesday, albeit a shortish run. If that goes well I can rampt it back up fairly steeply I hope and resume a full 70+ miles the week after. I will target flatter routes to put as little stress on the calf as possible for a week or two. If I do this then I should make the MDS in first class condition, as long as I keep on top of the muscle-tightness.

I did an hour on the bike last night, which made me feel a little better for doing some cardio work at least. I will do more bike word on Saturday and Sunday too.

Wednesday treatment update

Just come back from another treatment session. I had half an hour with the sports masseur, targetting two problem areas. Firstly my left Popliteus is acutely painful. I've complained about a 'twanging' at the back of my knee as I run, and this is what is causing it. If you have never had this massaged before, take along something to bite down on. The other area is the top of inside leg calf muscle (Gastrocnemius) which is knotted up beyond belief. His sports masseur was really good and worked the knotted areas. They have released a little, but are still not there. There is almost a visible ridge on my calf it is that knotted. I had 15 minutes on the interrential machine aftter the massage. My uncle saw me afterwards and repeated more of the same targetted massage, then did some chiropractic adjustments on my back too. After all the treatment I has hobbling, and still am now! Neither my uncle or the sports masseur think I will be able to do the Thames Meander. If that muscle were to tighten up further, I could pull it even worse than I have already an risk shredding the already damaged muscle. 

No treatment tomorrow, but possibly some on Friday. If I actually need treatment on Friday then I can write off the Thames Meander. To be honest it's looking very unlikely. I haven't run this week and have been told not too. Possibly a swim tomorrow or see how I respond to cycling. I may go and see my uncle a sheffield chiropractor.

I'm playing the long game and the MDS is the goal here, not the Thames Meander. I'm prepared to throw that away if i'm not 95%+ on Friday.

Also I forgot to mention that I am using a exercise climate chamber two evenings next week, and also one evening the week after. This is courtesy of MMU, Alsager campus. I am working with students in their final year of study, and they needed an athlete to work with. I get to train in 40C and see what the desert heat might feel like. These sessions are not beneficial for acclimitisation, they are too far from the event itself, but they will help me mentally prepare and also try out my hydration strategy and my clothes too. So, I need to be in good condition to use the chamber, another good reason not to do the TM on Saturday.

I have just brought some Voltarol cream; my uncles recommendation. It's anti-inflamatory and apparently better than Ibuleve, which I don't find very good to be honest. I'll put some of that on now and try get this calf on the mend.

I'll update on Friday with my final decision.

Feb to March training plan, plus update

Next four weeks plan above.

That first week isn't going to plan so far. My uncle took a look at my calf last night. Doesn't look like there is a tear, which I didn't think there was, but the fibres are knotted up good and proper. I mentioned something was twanging on the back of my knee when I ran. he found that. I'm sorry I can't remember the name of it, but if you were to push your finger into the back of your knee joint in between the two main tendons it's there. I had a half hour session with the clinical sports masseur, then some targeted deep tissue massage from another specialist, 15 minutes on the inferential machine, then my uncle set to work on me. It's was really painful as he worked the back of the knee and also the areas on the calf which are all knotted up. The back of the knee definitely improved and released, but even after all of the treatment the calf still needs more work. "It's not good, but at least we caught it before it got worse" my uncle said. He says as it stands I shouldn't do the Thames Meander, but he says I may be able to make a difference if I have more intensive sessions this week.

I am going back tonight and then again on Friday. Only on Friday will he make a judgement call on if I should do go. I didn't run the scheduled 9 or 10 miles last night, and it's unlikely I will run tonight. I may try a run on Thursday before the last session on Friday just as an indicator for how I am progressing.

This changes how I will run next week. This week was my peak mileage week, 85 miles. If I do manage the Thames Meander I will run higher mileage than the planned recovery week and still attempt my 85 mile week target. I will do a light weekend afterwards though. As you can see, I am still hoping that I will be in good enough shape for the Thames Meander, but if my uncle thinks no, then I won't and just do a normal week (no recovery) next week.

My number's up.

The final payment instalment has gone through and the UK names submitted to the MDS organisers. This week I had notification that the race numbers had been released; here.

http://www.darbaroud.com/detail.php?pub=265&langue=en

I am number 857. You'll need that number when the race is on so you can send me messages of support every day throughout the event! The MDS website has a facility that allows you to 'write to a competitor'. That facility becomes live when the event itself is on. I'll post further details when I get them, but usually it is just a direct link from the http://www.marathondessables.com/index_uk.php homepage.

There look to be more entrants than usual. It used to be limited to around 750 but the race numbers appear to go up to at least 890 this year.

I have been featured in two local newspapers this week. Here are the articles. There are few innacuracies in the first one. Firstly, I don't actually work for BT, but I do contract work for them. Second, water is not ration to 1.5L a day in the MDS!!! Next, it was four years ago when I had the poor health check and couldn't run a mile, not two years ago. Finally, my mum still works at the school and has done for over 20 years, not 46! Apart from that it's not bad, and was almost a whole page.

That's the good news out of the way. It's all downhill from here.

This week was my scheduled recovery week. In my last blog post I said how much I thought I needed it. Turns out I would have had little choice in the matter anyway.

I went to visit my uncle, the chiropractor, on Tuesday. He looked me over briefly and said I was in such a state I would need to see his clinical sports massage therapist first. As it turned out, I was two of them before my uncle! My back was locked up as usual, but I didn't realise quite how bad my calf muscles were, until they set to work. They were hard as bullets and working them caused me quite a lot of discomfort. Even after 45 mins of work they were still tight, though better.

My uncle then did some chiropractic adjustments on my back, as well as ankles and feet. He then put me on his interferential machine for 15 minutes. My back felt better afterwards, and the strain on my right ITB had gone, but the calf’s were still sore.

I took off Monday and Tuesday as rest days, but also added Wednesday as a rest day because I thought I needed it.

On Thursday I planned a 10k route. Because I had not run all week, I decided that I would try and run it faster than normal. I probably set off too fast, and because the route starts on a 3/4 mile long hill I think this tightened up my calf muscles again. I stopped and carried out a full stretch routine after 1 mile (as I do in every run), then carried on at a fairly quick pace. I didn't feel right at all. I was getting pain behind the right knee and right calf, and it felt as though something was 'twanging' with every stride; like a tendon snapping over something during the stride cycle. Both calf muscles tightened up further and then both Soleus muscles. The Soleus muscles becoming tighter were really painful. I had to stop and tried to stretch them, but couldn't. They were locked up good and tight. I carried on and then I started to get pins and needles in both feet, to the point of losing feeling almost totally from the shin down. I stopped again, took off my shoes and rubbed some feeling back into them, and also attempted to stretch out. The feeling returned albeit temporarily as I ran on. I made it home, but was unable to stretch my calf and Soleus because of the pain. Something clearly wasn't right. I did some self massage. The right calf responded well, but the left calf was very tender to the touch on the inside of the leg near the top. I thought it was just knotted and got my fingers in and worked it. This was very uncomfortable, but I figured it was doing me good. I finished and then got up to find I just barely hobble! I iced it and then went to bed. I was worried, but the following day it was back to just being tight, no extra pain.

On Friday I saw a local sports massage therapist. I was determined to try and get the calf and Soleus sorted out. I had a 45 minute session, which was agony; virtually the whole session on my calf muscles again. The right calf was much improved afterwards, but the left still very sore.

I did my usual gym session with no problems that day, and decided to run to make up for the extra rest day I had on the Wednesday. I decided to run very slow and steady to see if the fast start the previous day had been to blame. It hadn't. It felt better than the previous day initially, but I still felt the twanging and pain behind the left knee and calf. I stopped a couple of times to stretch it out, but it wasn't really working. That night I worked the left calf and Soleus again, with identical results. The pain afterwards was worse and I was hobbling during the night I noted too, when I got up to use the loo. I did ice it before bed again. In the morning it had subsided back to just being tight. I made a decision that I should not run on the Saturday or today, Sunday. The calf muscle on the inside of the leg, just to the right of the Tibia (near the top), is tender even to the lightest touch.

I can only assume it is a calf strain, doubtless bought on by the amount of hill work I do in every training session. This isn't good news at all, but I can only hope that it is not to severe. An actual tear would take months to heal. I've worn a compression sock all day today to promote healing, and am just going to do some alternate heat/ice therapy when I finish this post, plus some gentle stretching. If possible, I will go and see my uncle again for some advice and probably get some ultrasound done on it too. I am hoping that a few days rest will sort this out, because I can't afford for it to be any worse. At the moment next Saturday's (16th February) event, the 54 mile Thames Meander, is looking in serious jeopardy. I will just have to play this week by ear. I am due to be running on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; each day about 10 miles. Naturally I am not stupid enough to run these just for the sake of it, if my calf is still not right.

I have a decision to make: If it is just minor, then I could take the next week off with not too much impact to my fitness and pick up where I left off and still finish the last few weeks of full training hopefully in perfect condition. Alternatively I could see how I feel this week and risk the Thames Meander. I have paid for the event (£35), plus all travelling costs (about £60), so If I am fit I want to do it, not least because it is the last chance to run 50 odd miles before the MDS. Doing the event would be a big psychological boost, knowing you can cover 50 miles with a full pack. However, I could just aggravate the injury and put myself out for a lot longer, possibly putting the MDS in peril. Logic says don't to the TM, but at the same time I want to!

Whatever happens I will have to stay off hills for a few weeks, which is difficult as it's all hills near me. My only option would be to drive to a local canal for each run, which I think is the most sensible approach to take. Injury worries this close to the MDS are my worst nightmare. Fingers crossed this goes away in a couple of days. I know at the moment it doesn't feel too serious, but I have read that with calf strains that they can get progressively worse if you try and run through the injury. Most runners will run with a calf strain assuming it is not too bad, which is what I have been doing, but then it becomes serious and can cost 1-4 months in recovery. I will just have to wait and see what each day brings, and take on some professional advice this week.

I need a rest

Over 200 miles covered in the last 3 weeks and it's starting to take its toll.

On Tuesday I did a 12 mile trail run, once again armed with my head torch as I ran through local fields, hills and woods. There was around 1200ft of ascent in the route.

On Wednesday morning I had to be up at 4:30 to catch a flight to Belfast where I would travel to Londonderry to work for the next couple of days.

After work I then faced what I dreaded the most; having to run 12 miles on a treadmill. Given the choice I wouldn't run 1 mile on a treadmill, but in a strange city at night with no map I was forced to. The hotel was quite nice, but the gym was poorly equipped. There were three treadmills; two looked older than I did with frayed belts and notices that said "this machine must not exceed 8kph". 8kph? useless. The third machine was more modern but was in use. I had to use one of the old machines for 10 minutes whilst I waited for a girl to finish. I jumped on it and just set it to start; a nice steady pace of 10.5kph, but foing the last couple of k's at 12.5. I can't tell you what mental torture it is looking at the clock knowing that the best part of two hours would be spent in that one spot. Half way through I started to get a tight Illio-tibial-band (ITB) on my right side. I've felt this coming on for a few days now, but it started to get sharper. I thought to myself I'll stop at 18km, but when 18km eventually came I forced myself to stay on longer eventually clocking up 13 miles.

I'd only had one small cup of water, which obviously is not enough for 2 hours running. Also the gym was too warm so I had sweated a lot and had lost a fair bit of salt. I had a few more cups of water and then went back to the lift where there was a tray outside a hotel room, with the remains of someone’s dinner and also a salt pot. Much to the horror or passing guests I pulled off the top, emptied salt into the water and drank it. I felt better though not long afterwards. Me and a colleague then went into the town for an evening meal. We found a Weatherspoon’s pub, and I loaded up on pasta as usual.

On Thursday we finished work a little earlier than expected and took a slightly longer route back to the airport. We stopped off at the Giants Causeway as neither of us had seen it. I wasn't too bothered to be honest, but I was the driver, so I agreed. We arrived and it was literally blowing a gale. A bus takes you down to the causeway and we both got off the bus took a handful of photos and were back on 2 minutes later. I feel obliged to post these photos, despite having nothing to do with running, because I froze half to death taking them!




My flight was delayed because the pilot had to abort his landing, only just making his second attempt. He was going to give up and go back to Manchester. The take-off and first 15 minutes of the flight were pretty scary. It was only a small jet, just 3 seats in each row and only 20 rows so it got blown around all over the place. Thankfully the landing, though blustery, was not as bad. I drove home straight away but didn't arrive until after 9pm so I decided it was too late to run.

So, I did Thursdays run on Friday. I did 11.5 miles with around 1100ft of ascent on the trail. My ITB was aching, and my knees and hips a little sore too. I don't think running on the treadmill the day before had agreed with me.

Due to those work commitments I didn't do my usual two trips to the gym for strength and stability work this week.

The gales and severe weather hit on Friday, but we got off lightly with only a dusting of snow on Saturday morning.

I had a 14 mile run planned, but added an extra mile and did 15. I always carry my full backpack at weekends, and was wrapped up in a waterproof jacket, hat and gloves. This is what I wear for most runs at the moment. I took a couple of photo's during the route. Clear, crisp and cold would best describe the day. I took the opportunity to run with my buff over my mouth, as much to fend off the cold wind as to practice to see what it will be like running with one in the desert. When a sandstorm hits I will be wearing one, so I had better get used to it. Surprisingly it did take me about 5 or 6 miles to adjust. It's not very pleasant at first, so I recommend any other 2008 MDSers having a go to. Better to have trained with one on that to use one for the first time 'in anger' in the desert.

That white circle visible on the horizon in this second photo is the 250ft high Lovell radio telescope at Jodrell Bank.




There was around 1500ft of ascent in the run. I completed at a good pace, considering the full backpack weight; around 5.7mph. However, the extra weight did makes all the bits that ache, ache more! No sooner had I arrived home when a photographer from the local newspaper, The Evening Sentinel, arrived to take my photo for an MDS article that will be featured soon to help boost my sponsorship funds I hope. I looked a mess. I was just back from a run (literally!) and had not shaved for a couple of days. Still, all publicity is good publicity they say!

On Sunday I was forced to do my own route, after contacing the LDWA event I planned to do and told that it was full. So instead I did 20 miles with 1800ft of ascent, again with a full pack as planned. It was harder work today. I felt tired earlier, and was getting ITB pain and knee pain too. I was glad to finish the run, averaging 5.3mph for the route.

71.5 miles covered this week.

I am thankful that next week is my planned recovery week. My mileage was due to half; down to 35, but depending on how I feel I may even scale that back further. I have also booked a appointment to see my uncle, the chiropractor, on Tuesday evening. I know that my pelvis is twisted and rotated again, and that is the cause of the pains. The problem is that the muscles at the side of my spine tighten up so much that they pull my pelvis up and around, stretching all connecting muscles. This is typically why I get ITB pain. Usually I will see one of my uncle’s clinical sports massage therapists first who spend 20 minutes softening up those muscles so that my uncle can then make chiropractic adjustments to bring me back in line. I have not seen my uncle since early December, so I have lasted fairly well this time, despite the increased mileage. Other areas need attention too. I know my Plantar Fascia in both feet, but mainly my left is very tight. I do usually sort this out myself, but I know my uncle will look at it, and usually manipulate both feet and ankles. I must remember to take some leather to bite down on this time! Seriously though, I am so thankful for my uncles expertise. Yes sometimes it hurts, but its good hurt! That good old phrase - pain is just weakness leaving the body comes to mind.

I know that after the week’s lighter miles and treatment that I will be fixed, and better rested and ready for the week after when my training mileage peaks at 85 miles. This is mainly down to the Thames Meander 54 miler a week on Saturday. After that week I have a couple more weeks doing mid 70's miles, then my final taper for a couple of weeks before the big event.

Off to rest and recuperate. Enjoy your week.