Thursday, May 29, 2008
The weekend in Richmond was good. I may be biased because my brother and sister-in-law had such a hand in running Saturday's sportives, but I found the atmosphere to be the most accommodating and friendliest I've encountered (in my vast experience of 3 sportives!). Amazing value for £15 too; the race entry (with proper electronic timing for the first time this year), feed stations teeming with a variety of food and super-friendly staff, and a proper meal at the end with as much hot tea as you could manage. Everything ran very smoothly and professionally with the atmosphere being the absolute crowning glory.
Sadly I wasn't in good enough shape to manage the 100. I knew it was far-fetched and it was apparent by the Hawes feed station at 53 miles that I wasn't going to manage the century. My chest was burning all the way round, and I was coughing and spitting green gunk for most of the way. Plus my pulse was sky-high even when on the flat. But it was so tempting to throw caution to the wind and make that turn towards the awesome ascents of Fleet Moss and Park Rash. It took me a good 5 minutes to conquer my pride and let good sense prevail.
But the 80 was a good hard ride anyway and I hooked up with a rather dry-humoured experienced cyclist from Richmond Cycling Club who had a few interesting tales to tell about his years on the road. The hills and the length of the ride served to string the field out considerably, so I was glad to find someone going at my pace who was good company for the 6 hours in the saddle. Many riders ended up going it alone, and I knew I would have been demoralised if I'd been one of them.
The good news was that my injury was not the limiting factor. I suffered a bit of painful stiffness in my lower back when I dismounted at each feed station but within a couple of minutes I felt fine again. I know my back isn't 100% yet, but it's great to feel like it's finally getting there.
On Sunday I cycled out to the venue for the road racing to watch what was going on. I was amazed at the speed those riders maintained out of the blocks, and especially at the fact that there were a couple of girls in the field. For someone who was aiming (at some point) to enter a road race this year, it was a bit of a wake-up call. I wonder if I'd be able to hang on for more than 2 minutes?
We were lucky with the weather. Although the last 30 miles of the sportive were completed into a pretty ferocious headwind, there was no rain for the entire weekend, despite the rest of the country being deluged.
All in all it was a very relaxing and enjoyable couple of days (thanks mainly to my amazing hosts) - made better of course by the fact that it was a weekend away - only my second ever - from the kids. It looks like the Richmond Cyclo-sportives are going to be added to my permanent annual race calendar.
The chesty cold thing is still lingering this week, although this morning I'm getting the first idea that it might abate. I'm still aiming to do the Shropshire triathlon on Sunday but I know it'll be unwise to attempt it with a virus raging. Particularly with only 2 weeks to go to the UK half. I've struggled with the idea that I need to back off from my ambitions this year. It's obvious with the month off I've just endured, added to the month off in February for another virulent virus, and the other weeks here and there I've been forced to abandon training, that 2008 is not going to be my year. I am settling with the idea of simply completing the half, using it as experience and hopefully starting again in September (it's difficult to train properly during school holidays, with a 24/7 schedule of childcare). I'm amazed that a racing year can go so horribly wrong based on a couple of unfortunate events and a handful of viruses brought home by the kids, but it can. I just have to adjust my ambitions to suit.
Miles is being a little monkey at the moment, and not in a good way. He's testing his limits and exploring his world more than before, and that generally means I have to keep a very watchful eye. For now it just involves wasting entire bottles of washing up liquid, throwing food on the floor, opening whatever creams and lotions he can lay hands on, and biting and pinching his sister when things don't go his way, but I wonder what he'll turn his hand to next. The main trouble is his unresponsiveness in the face of discipline. I've always had issues with this, from when he was very small. Instead of humility, he laughs in your face and carries on with what he's doing, treating discipline as a joke. If you ask a couple of times he'll generally back off before you have to force the point but in recent times I've found him more inclined to carry on making mischief. I'm now operating a ploy of witholding favoured items and routines to enforce my point; no cars yesterday and no bath either. How many things though, can you disallow when it affects him for only a couple of minutes before he accepts the sacrifice?
After much procrastination, I've started preparation for Jody's birthday party. We won't be able to celebrate until near the end of June because our early weekends are booked up with races, but the most convenient weekend happily coincides with the time that the marquee is up in the garden square for the annual garden party. Being obliged this year to invite school friends as well as neighbourhood friends, it's good that we can host the party outside of our house but within spitting distance (for toilets and general convenience). I'm planning another entertainer or two again this year, because with a possible 30+ children, there's no way I can do it myself. But I need to think of a way to make it unique without costing a bomb.
Training Diary 19-25 May
M: Rest day
T: 5m treadmill. 60m stationary bike. Treadmill hurt.
W: 60m stationary bike with various intervals
30m swim
T: Day off (Miles ill & not in nursery)
F: Rest day
S: 80 mile cyclo-sportive in Yorkshire. Hilly. 6.16.
S: About 10 miles of casual cycling to watch racing. 1 hr
Total: 9h 35m
Sadly I wasn't in good enough shape to manage the 100. I knew it was far-fetched and it was apparent by the Hawes feed station at 53 miles that I wasn't going to manage the century. My chest was burning all the way round, and I was coughing and spitting green gunk for most of the way. Plus my pulse was sky-high even when on the flat. But it was so tempting to throw caution to the wind and make that turn towards the awesome ascents of Fleet Moss and Park Rash. It took me a good 5 minutes to conquer my pride and let good sense prevail.
But the 80 was a good hard ride anyway and I hooked up with a rather dry-humoured experienced cyclist from Richmond Cycling Club who had a few interesting tales to tell about his years on the road. The hills and the length of the ride served to string the field out considerably, so I was glad to find someone going at my pace who was good company for the 6 hours in the saddle. Many riders ended up going it alone, and I knew I would have been demoralised if I'd been one of them.
The good news was that my injury was not the limiting factor. I suffered a bit of painful stiffness in my lower back when I dismounted at each feed station but within a couple of minutes I felt fine again. I know my back isn't 100% yet, but it's great to feel like it's finally getting there.
On Sunday I cycled out to the venue for the road racing to watch what was going on. I was amazed at the speed those riders maintained out of the blocks, and especially at the fact that there were a couple of girls in the field. For someone who was aiming (at some point) to enter a road race this year, it was a bit of a wake-up call. I wonder if I'd be able to hang on for more than 2 minutes?
We were lucky with the weather. Although the last 30 miles of the sportive were completed into a pretty ferocious headwind, there was no rain for the entire weekend, despite the rest of the country being deluged.
All in all it was a very relaxing and enjoyable couple of days (thanks mainly to my amazing hosts) - made better of course by the fact that it was a weekend away - only my second ever - from the kids. It looks like the Richmond Cyclo-sportives are going to be added to my permanent annual race calendar.
The chesty cold thing is still lingering this week, although this morning I'm getting the first idea that it might abate. I'm still aiming to do the Shropshire triathlon on Sunday but I know it'll be unwise to attempt it with a virus raging. Particularly with only 2 weeks to go to the UK half. I've struggled with the idea that I need to back off from my ambitions this year. It's obvious with the month off I've just endured, added to the month off in February for another virulent virus, and the other weeks here and there I've been forced to abandon training, that 2008 is not going to be my year. I am settling with the idea of simply completing the half, using it as experience and hopefully starting again in September (it's difficult to train properly during school holidays, with a 24/7 schedule of childcare). I'm amazed that a racing year can go so horribly wrong based on a couple of unfortunate events and a handful of viruses brought home by the kids, but it can. I just have to adjust my ambitions to suit.
Miles is being a little monkey at the moment, and not in a good way. He's testing his limits and exploring his world more than before, and that generally means I have to keep a very watchful eye. For now it just involves wasting entire bottles of washing up liquid, throwing food on the floor, opening whatever creams and lotions he can lay hands on, and biting and pinching his sister when things don't go his way, but I wonder what he'll turn his hand to next. The main trouble is his unresponsiveness in the face of discipline. I've always had issues with this, from when he was very small. Instead of humility, he laughs in your face and carries on with what he's doing, treating discipline as a joke. If you ask a couple of times he'll generally back off before you have to force the point but in recent times I've found him more inclined to carry on making mischief. I'm now operating a ploy of witholding favoured items and routines to enforce my point; no cars yesterday and no bath either. How many things though, can you disallow when it affects him for only a couple of minutes before he accepts the sacrifice?
After much procrastination, I've started preparation for Jody's birthday party. We won't be able to celebrate until near the end of June because our early weekends are booked up with races, but the most convenient weekend happily coincides with the time that the marquee is up in the garden square for the annual garden party. Being obliged this year to invite school friends as well as neighbourhood friends, it's good that we can host the party outside of our house but within spitting distance (for toilets and general convenience). I'm planning another entertainer or two again this year, because with a possible 30+ children, there's no way I can do it myself. But I need to think of a way to make it unique without costing a bomb.
Training Diary 19-25 May
M: Rest day
T: 5m treadmill. 60m stationary bike. Treadmill hurt.
W: 60m stationary bike with various intervals
30m swim
T: Day off (Miles ill & not in nursery)
F: Rest day
S: 80 mile cyclo-sportive in Yorkshire. Hilly. 6.16.
S: About 10 miles of casual cycling to watch racing. 1 hr
Total: 9h 35m
lara : 10:24
[top]
Monday, May 19, 2008
My recovery is dragging a little, thanks to the latest viral chest infection which was apparent during my workout on Thursday morning and kicked in fully for the weekend. Is this funny yet? As soon as I start to get a sniff of a training session, something happens to get in the way. Obviously I'm really meant to be a chess player, except that I'd probably break all my fingers in some freak castling incident.
The fact that I even made it to the gym though, was a great relief. After Tuesday's rather painful swim I ordered a pullbuoy and sat on the stationary bike for a couple of sessions which didn't hurt my back in the slightest. The pullbuoy swimming was hard on the upper body but probably excellent training, and meant that I could stay in the water painlessly for at least half an hour. Obviously I was aiming to do more than 2 swim sessions and 2 bike sessions last week, but under the circumstances I suppose I have to be grateful that I managed anything at all.
I'm heading back to the gym tomorrow whether my virus has cleared or not, and I'll just adjust the intensity based on what my health can manage. And my train tickets have arrived for the weekend so I'm definitely off to Richmond to do the 5 Dale 100 cyclo-sportive on Saturday. But I've promised myself I'll be sensible enough to do a shorter route if my back is giving me pain or my cold is sapping my strength. No point making it even worse for myself, my osteopath-guru advises.
I don't yet know about the Ellesmere triathlon the week after though. I'm not planning to run this week, since my back is still too tender. But whether I can complete a 10k on no run training - or whether indeed my back will be up to running at all by that stage - remains to be seen. Another race to ditch? That'd be the 8th since November. Sigh.
The biggest trouble with not doing the Ellesmere tri though, is the fact that it's then only 2 weeks 'til the UK half. The Ellesmere was supposed to be my acclimatisation. My hopes of going strong in the UK half are fast fading, but I'd definitely like to complete the damn thing. Time alone will tell.
It was lovely to see Will and Pippa and family for Charlie's christening in Bournemouth yesterday. Definitely far more children than adults on scene, but luckily there was plenty of space and plenty of sunshine to run around in (a necessary feature after the abundant cakes and massive ensuing sugar rush). It seems weird that we won't see them again until they get back from Australia in a little over a year. I'm trying to persuade Roj that we can take a holiday there in the next 12 months but he says that with my plans to do La Santa and rent in Biarritz, our time might be limited! And he might have a point!
We took the kids to Giraffe for lunch on Saturday to celebrate the fact that Jody got 'The Merit' last week. As reward systems go, the merit badge appears to be successful above all others, and has Jody in a slump on the Fridays she isn't awarded it, and on cloud 9 when she is (3 times now). She then spends the following week taking advantage of the privileges that come hand in hand with the week of merit badge ownership, like walking at the front of the crocodile to gym, handing out snacks and other such dubious pleasures. It's such a powerful incentive that I'm wondering whether it might be worth setting up a similar system at home although there'll be no need to own any badges as I'm sure neither kid will ever qualify!
That's not strictly true, but they are definitely in a bit of a belligerent mood lately, these 2. I can excuse Miles as he has the same chest infection that I'm fighting which has somewhat disrupted his sleep of late (putting his hands down his dirty nappy while sleeping, and smearing end results over freshly-laundered bed linen is another way of disrupting sleep ... and motherly sanity!), and Jody is still struggling after her long and active days at school. But the current trend is for an escalating pattern of incitement to misbehave which ends in dual banshee screeching, throwing anything to hand, and mainly play fights turning nasty. Copious time-outs have little effect and my current ploy (equally ineffectual but better for the mental equilibrium) is just to ignore the little monsters. I'm guessing most siblings go through this sort of phase. I'm just hoping it stops before they go to university.
Training Diary 12-18 May
T: 30 min swim. Left hip hurts when I kick down.
W: 60 min gym bike: 15 mins warmup, 20 mins random, 15 mins tempo, 10 mins cooldown.
T: 35 min gym bike @ base endurance with 1 x 10 min @ tempo + 1 x 10 min random.
25 min swim with pullbuoy
Total: 2h 30m
The fact that I even made it to the gym though, was a great relief. After Tuesday's rather painful swim I ordered a pullbuoy and sat on the stationary bike for a couple of sessions which didn't hurt my back in the slightest. The pullbuoy swimming was hard on the upper body but probably excellent training, and meant that I could stay in the water painlessly for at least half an hour. Obviously I was aiming to do more than 2 swim sessions and 2 bike sessions last week, but under the circumstances I suppose I have to be grateful that I managed anything at all.
I'm heading back to the gym tomorrow whether my virus has cleared or not, and I'll just adjust the intensity based on what my health can manage. And my train tickets have arrived for the weekend so I'm definitely off to Richmond to do the 5 Dale 100 cyclo-sportive on Saturday. But I've promised myself I'll be sensible enough to do a shorter route if my back is giving me pain or my cold is sapping my strength. No point making it even worse for myself, my osteopath-guru advises.
I don't yet know about the Ellesmere triathlon the week after though. I'm not planning to run this week, since my back is still too tender. But whether I can complete a 10k on no run training - or whether indeed my back will be up to running at all by that stage - remains to be seen. Another race to ditch? That'd be the 8th since November. Sigh.
The biggest trouble with not doing the Ellesmere tri though, is the fact that it's then only 2 weeks 'til the UK half. The Ellesmere was supposed to be my acclimatisation. My hopes of going strong in the UK half are fast fading, but I'd definitely like to complete the damn thing. Time alone will tell.
It was lovely to see Will and Pippa and family for Charlie's christening in Bournemouth yesterday. Definitely far more children than adults on scene, but luckily there was plenty of space and plenty of sunshine to run around in (a necessary feature after the abundant cakes and massive ensuing sugar rush). It seems weird that we won't see them again until they get back from Australia in a little over a year. I'm trying to persuade Roj that we can take a holiday there in the next 12 months but he says that with my plans to do La Santa and rent in Biarritz, our time might be limited! And he might have a point!
We took the kids to Giraffe for lunch on Saturday to celebrate the fact that Jody got 'The Merit' last week. As reward systems go, the merit badge appears to be successful above all others, and has Jody in a slump on the Fridays she isn't awarded it, and on cloud 9 when she is (3 times now). She then spends the following week taking advantage of the privileges that come hand in hand with the week of merit badge ownership, like walking at the front of the crocodile to gym, handing out snacks and other such dubious pleasures. It's such a powerful incentive that I'm wondering whether it might be worth setting up a similar system at home although there'll be no need to own any badges as I'm sure neither kid will ever qualify!
That's not strictly true, but they are definitely in a bit of a belligerent mood lately, these 2. I can excuse Miles as he has the same chest infection that I'm fighting which has somewhat disrupted his sleep of late (putting his hands down his dirty nappy while sleeping, and smearing end results over freshly-laundered bed linen is another way of disrupting sleep ... and motherly sanity!), and Jody is still struggling after her long and active days at school. But the current trend is for an escalating pattern of incitement to misbehave which ends in dual banshee screeching, throwing anything to hand, and mainly play fights turning nasty. Copious time-outs have little effect and my current ploy (equally ineffectual but better for the mental equilibrium) is just to ignore the little monsters. I'm guessing most siblings go through this sort of phase. I'm just hoping it stops before they go to university.
Training Diary 12-18 May
T: 30 min swim. Left hip hurts when I kick down.
W: 60 min gym bike: 15 mins warmup, 20 mins random, 15 mins tempo, 10 mins cooldown.
T: 35 min gym bike @ base endurance with 1 x 10 min @ tempo + 1 x 10 min random.
25 min swim with pullbuoy
Total: 2h 30m
lara : 14:14
[top]
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
On Friday I became a fan of osteopathy. I've never seen one before - I've not had back issues and had a preconception that backs were mostly what led you to them. But seeing Mark on Friday made a huge difference. It wasn't immediately apparent because I was sore after the treatment, but on Saturday I felt like a new woman; more flexible and less prone to hobbling around like an old hag. I had my reservations mind you; being a friend of the family I was wondering how I'd feel when he started prodding at my buttocks, but he was very professional about it all and I quickly forgot that he is who he is.
The benefits were a bit short-lived though. On Sunday I was stiffer and sorer again, and even after a second (though shorter) appointment on Monday, I've stayed in the rut. I know I'm recovering daily - I was able to stop taking regular nurofen from Saturday for a start - but it's moving so slowly now that it almost feels that I'm not. I'm in that place where I'm not yet well enough to go training but well enough to do most of my usual routine. And it's so frustrating. Sigh. I also made myself miserable this morning by optimistically going swimming and finding that I can't even do my kicks. The downward stroke on the left side is just too painful so I can either buy a pull buoy or ditch it altogether. Tomorrow I've got another appointment with the osteopath and then I'm going to the gym. I'm going to find a machine which works for me however difficult it is. I just hope it isn't the ergo.
The weekend was gorgeous though wasn't it? So hot and sunny and relaxing. That said we spent quite a lot of time indoors going through boxes of loft stuff and trying to pare it down from 3 or 4 boxes to 1 or 2. A very mindless task.
We also went to playgrounds (where Jody had a puking incident after spinning around too much) and picnics (where we both left relieved that we don't have an irrational 2-year-old any more), but the lack of training meant that it was much more lethargic than usual. And I don't like lethargy. Particularly when my head was somewhere in the Lakes during a particularly hard cyclo-sportive with my brother. Sigh.
Last night we had a lovely evening celebrating the engagement of Charlotte and Boris at Zoom. Really enjoyed catching up and properly meeting Boris who is funny and sporty and relaxed. A good mix. When the babysitter came in at 7, Jody hid under her duvet and said "This is Jody. I'm not here right now. But leave a message after the beep. BEEEPPP." Very funny. No idea where she got that from.
Both kids have said other funny things of late: Jody was cycling along with Roj on Saturday on the way back from the puke incident, and skidded to a stop in front of someone sitting on their doorstep. "Are you a poor person?" Jody said. "No," was the answer; "But I've locked myself out of my house so I suppose I'm a homeless person."
On another occasion with Roj, they were walking under the Marble Arch underpass which is a popular busking spot. Jody always wants to give them money (usually wanting to return home so she can bring them the contents of her moneybox pig), but on this occasion - when Roj gave her 20p to give to the busker - she went right up to him, looked at the floor and yelled to Roj: "Oh it's OK Daddy ... he's already got some!"
And the latest gem from Miles happened in the car a couple of weeks ago as Jody and he were comparing cuts on their knees: "I've got a big one Daddy! ... In my trousers!" I don't think he quite understood the reason for our mirth.
Training Diary 5-11 May
Nowt.
The benefits were a bit short-lived though. On Sunday I was stiffer and sorer again, and even after a second (though shorter) appointment on Monday, I've stayed in the rut. I know I'm recovering daily - I was able to stop taking regular nurofen from Saturday for a start - but it's moving so slowly now that it almost feels that I'm not. I'm in that place where I'm not yet well enough to go training but well enough to do most of my usual routine. And it's so frustrating. Sigh. I also made myself miserable this morning by optimistically going swimming and finding that I can't even do my kicks. The downward stroke on the left side is just too painful so I can either buy a pull buoy or ditch it altogether. Tomorrow I've got another appointment with the osteopath and then I'm going to the gym. I'm going to find a machine which works for me however difficult it is. I just hope it isn't the ergo.
The weekend was gorgeous though wasn't it? So hot and sunny and relaxing. That said we spent quite a lot of time indoors going through boxes of loft stuff and trying to pare it down from 3 or 4 boxes to 1 or 2. A very mindless task.
We also went to playgrounds (where Jody had a puking incident after spinning around too much) and picnics (where we both left relieved that we don't have an irrational 2-year-old any more), but the lack of training meant that it was much more lethargic than usual. And I don't like lethargy. Particularly when my head was somewhere in the Lakes during a particularly hard cyclo-sportive with my brother. Sigh.
Last night we had a lovely evening celebrating the engagement of Charlotte and Boris at Zoom. Really enjoyed catching up and properly meeting Boris who is funny and sporty and relaxed. A good mix. When the babysitter came in at 7, Jody hid under her duvet and said "This is Jody. I'm not here right now. But leave a message after the beep. BEEEPPP." Very funny. No idea where she got that from.
Both kids have said other funny things of late: Jody was cycling along with Roj on Saturday on the way back from the puke incident, and skidded to a stop in front of someone sitting on their doorstep. "Are you a poor person?" Jody said. "No," was the answer; "But I've locked myself out of my house so I suppose I'm a homeless person."
On another occasion with Roj, they were walking under the Marble Arch underpass which is a popular busking spot. Jody always wants to give them money (usually wanting to return home so she can bring them the contents of her moneybox pig), but on this occasion - when Roj gave her 20p to give to the busker - she went right up to him, looked at the floor and yelled to Roj: "Oh it's OK Daddy ... he's already got some!"
And the latest gem from Miles happened in the car a couple of weeks ago as Jody and he were comparing cuts on their knees: "I've got a big one Daddy! ... In my trousers!" I don't think he quite understood the reason for our mirth.
Training Diary 5-11 May
Nowt.
lara : 17:41
[top]
Thursday, May 08, 2008
I'm somewhat out of my slump. Having a good vent and feeling utterly miserable for a couple of days got it far enough out of my system that I woke up yesterday a bit more prepared for withdrawing from the Fred Whitton, cancelling my car-hire and all those logistical things. All done now and quite right too; the way I'm feeling there's no way I'd be able to spend 2 hours in the saddle on Sunday, never mind 9.
In fact the biggest problem yesterday was pain. I forgot to take nurofen until about 6pm and all day long I was suffering from acute nerve aggravation and pulled muscles in my back and bum. Really sore and painful and by mid-afternoon I could barely cope with it at all. At 9am I went to the dentist to complete the recent work and could hardly bear the injection (normally unpleasant at worst) because I was in such a fragile state coping with the pain in my back anyway. He then ran over by 20 minutes, making me severely late for my next appointment which was for a session of SCENAR. I'd never heard of this before, but it was recommended to me by an Internet friend whose mother has found it useful for arthritis pain. It's a treatment developed by the Russians for their astronauts, and basically consists of a device which sends little electronic pulses through your skin to stimulate your nervous system, which apparently encourages your immune system to work more efficiently. I don't know if it's a crank thing or not; it's supposed to work in a similar way to TENS machines, and apparently its particularly effective on sporting injuries (and racehorses!). I've hired the machine for a week and am supposed to zap myself about 3 or 4 times a day during that time, and actually I'm feeling a little better today. Whether or not I can attribute that to SCENAR I don't know, but I'm happy to try almost anything that has a vague chance of working. After the physio who worked on my leg last year talked about the efficacy of stimulating injury sites simply with empty syringe needles (the theory being that it sends a signal to the brain to heal in that particular area), I am open to this stimulation theory. Apparently some high-profile rugby team somewhere discovered that it was just as effective to inject with an empty needle than it was to inject with the steroids they normally used.
I've also booked in to see an osteopath on Friday morning, to see if a more conventional approach will work. At this point - 10 days in and still unable to walk properly - I feel I need to take positive action to kick-start my recovery. Particularly with the UK half looming only 5 weeks away.
I had a bit of a wake-up call yesterday afternoon with the kids. I've been assuming that I'm fine to just hobble around at a slower pace and can otherwise cope with the routine entirely. But on the way to a neighbouring garden square, they started - as usual - running ahead. It's a place we go to quite often, with a gate in the middle of the long side of the square, and I thought Jody would naturally stop halfway up the square opposite the gate, so I just let her run ahead. Miles was running after her and though I tried to call him back, when he ignored me, I decided he was probably OK to carry on as he would naturally stop when she did. Only she didn't stop; she carried on past the gate and all the way to the top end of the square which is well out of earshot and almost out of sight. She turned round a couple of times and I madly gesticulated for her to come back to where I was, but to no avail. I watched them both get to the end of the street and start playing around at the roadside. And there's me, hobbling towards them, willing Jody to look up and see what was going on. At which point she does exactly that, and starts merrily trotting back to me, leaving Miles standing there on his own at the corner.
Meanwhile I'm having kittens that they're both so far out of my reach. It would take me 3 or 4 minutes to hobble to the end of the square; certainly not a fast enough response time if anything were to happen. And Miles is far too young to leave on his own at a street corner, where he could fall into the road or simply fall over and create all sorts of issues.
I was fairly harsh on Jody when she reached me and turned her around and sent her straight back to fetch Miles. He then fell over on the way back to me, and lay crying on the pavement until I could finally reach them. It was all very stressful and I didn't manage it very well at all, feeling like taking them straight back to the flat to teach them a lesson rather than continuing to the park (very late now, since this whole saga took about 20 minutes to unfold).
I was glad we did though, because Pat and Sabine had organised a little belated birthday party for Miles with cake and balloons and cards and presents which was so generous and lovely of them. And I managed to unwind a bit and let the kids race around. Plus, who wouldn't enjoy a gorgeous summer day like we had yesterday? It's absolutely stunning weather and I'm just hoping that it's not going to be the only summery week we have.
In fact the biggest problem yesterday was pain. I forgot to take nurofen until about 6pm and all day long I was suffering from acute nerve aggravation and pulled muscles in my back and bum. Really sore and painful and by mid-afternoon I could barely cope with it at all. At 9am I went to the dentist to complete the recent work and could hardly bear the injection (normally unpleasant at worst) because I was in such a fragile state coping with the pain in my back anyway. He then ran over by 20 minutes, making me severely late for my next appointment which was for a session of SCENAR. I'd never heard of this before, but it was recommended to me by an Internet friend whose mother has found it useful for arthritis pain. It's a treatment developed by the Russians for their astronauts, and basically consists of a device which sends little electronic pulses through your skin to stimulate your nervous system, which apparently encourages your immune system to work more efficiently. I don't know if it's a crank thing or not; it's supposed to work in a similar way to TENS machines, and apparently its particularly effective on sporting injuries (and racehorses!). I've hired the machine for a week and am supposed to zap myself about 3 or 4 times a day during that time, and actually I'm feeling a little better today. Whether or not I can attribute that to SCENAR I don't know, but I'm happy to try almost anything that has a vague chance of working. After the physio who worked on my leg last year talked about the efficacy of stimulating injury sites simply with empty syringe needles (the theory being that it sends a signal to the brain to heal in that particular area), I am open to this stimulation theory. Apparently some high-profile rugby team somewhere discovered that it was just as effective to inject with an empty needle than it was to inject with the steroids they normally used.
I've also booked in to see an osteopath on Friday morning, to see if a more conventional approach will work. At this point - 10 days in and still unable to walk properly - I feel I need to take positive action to kick-start my recovery. Particularly with the UK half looming only 5 weeks away.
I had a bit of a wake-up call yesterday afternoon with the kids. I've been assuming that I'm fine to just hobble around at a slower pace and can otherwise cope with the routine entirely. But on the way to a neighbouring garden square, they started - as usual - running ahead. It's a place we go to quite often, with a gate in the middle of the long side of the square, and I thought Jody would naturally stop halfway up the square opposite the gate, so I just let her run ahead. Miles was running after her and though I tried to call him back, when he ignored me, I decided he was probably OK to carry on as he would naturally stop when she did. Only she didn't stop; she carried on past the gate and all the way to the top end of the square which is well out of earshot and almost out of sight. She turned round a couple of times and I madly gesticulated for her to come back to where I was, but to no avail. I watched them both get to the end of the street and start playing around at the roadside. And there's me, hobbling towards them, willing Jody to look up and see what was going on. At which point she does exactly that, and starts merrily trotting back to me, leaving Miles standing there on his own at the corner.
Meanwhile I'm having kittens that they're both so far out of my reach. It would take me 3 or 4 minutes to hobble to the end of the square; certainly not a fast enough response time if anything were to happen. And Miles is far too young to leave on his own at a street corner, where he could fall into the road or simply fall over and create all sorts of issues.
I was fairly harsh on Jody when she reached me and turned her around and sent her straight back to fetch Miles. He then fell over on the way back to me, and lay crying on the pavement until I could finally reach them. It was all very stressful and I didn't manage it very well at all, feeling like taking them straight back to the flat to teach them a lesson rather than continuing to the park (very late now, since this whole saga took about 20 minutes to unfold).
I was glad we did though, because Pat and Sabine had organised a little belated birthday party for Miles with cake and balloons and cards and presents which was so generous and lovely of them. And I managed to unwind a bit and let the kids race around. Plus, who wouldn't enjoy a gorgeous summer day like we had yesterday? It's absolutely stunning weather and I'm just hoping that it's not going to be the only summery week we have.
lara : 11:38
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Monday, May 05, 2008
I can't describe how pissed off I am right now. And why should you care? It's just a petty personal catalogue of disappointments after all. I've been aiming for the Fred Whitton for about 2 years. I've known it's possible for just over one. Entries opened in early January and I set the alarm on my mobile about 3 months ahead. Just so I wouldn't forget. And someone from my brother's bike club cycled over to the Lakes (from the Dales) on the entry day just to guarantee the entries of the club. And mine. Because back in January I was already obsessed.
The Fred Whitton is next weekend. 112 miles and 3,900m of ascent in hills that vary from hard to just plain stupid. The Hard Knott is nationally renowned, 33% in places. Roj says my training is all about Austria 2009 but he's so wrong. My training is about each and every local race I decide to apply for. I can't stomach third or tenth when I'm capable of second and ninth. This life I'm leading is all about proving to be the best I can be.
So a stupid fall last weekend in the White Horse Challenge potentially puts paid to my entire season. I'm already trying to come to terms with abandoning the Fred (copious red wine helps, temporarily). I've emailed my VO2 team to say that the following weekend just isn't viable for a re-test. And I'm hoping I'll be recovered enough for the Richmond 5-Dale 100 the week after. Because if I'm not then I'm probably not ready for the Shropshire tri or the UK 70.3 so I may as well just ditch my training for the year and re-start in September, fresh for the 2009 racing season. Only the thought of that kills me, because however my life is about my kids and my husband and living the life of a Marylebone mother of two, it's also about getting on my Cannondale and seeing how far it will take me. How fast. How strong.
So stupid, that fall. Looking back it's amazing how slowly it went. I think I can separate the thoughts of damn how I'm falling, and shit what's the effect going to be, and am I really destined ... less than a year after the last time ... to incapacitation. Again. And embarrassment; I've made a spectacle of myself again. And just plain frustration. And then later ... much later ... the agony of crushed hips and crushed heads amplified a million-fold by the agony of time and training wasted.
Training Diary 28 April - 4 May
S: 10 mins bike
M: 25 mins bike. Painful
Total: 35 mins
The Fred Whitton is next weekend. 112 miles and 3,900m of ascent in hills that vary from hard to just plain stupid. The Hard Knott is nationally renowned, 33% in places. Roj says my training is all about Austria 2009 but he's so wrong. My training is about each and every local race I decide to apply for. I can't stomach third or tenth when I'm capable of second and ninth. This life I'm leading is all about proving to be the best I can be.
So a stupid fall last weekend in the White Horse Challenge potentially puts paid to my entire season. I'm already trying to come to terms with abandoning the Fred (copious red wine helps, temporarily). I've emailed my VO2 team to say that the following weekend just isn't viable for a re-test. And I'm hoping I'll be recovered enough for the Richmond 5-Dale 100 the week after. Because if I'm not then I'm probably not ready for the Shropshire tri or the UK 70.3 so I may as well just ditch my training for the year and re-start in September, fresh for the 2009 racing season. Only the thought of that kills me, because however my life is about my kids and my husband and living the life of a Marylebone mother of two, it's also about getting on my Cannondale and seeing how far it will take me. How fast. How strong.
So stupid, that fall. Looking back it's amazing how slowly it went. I think I can separate the thoughts of damn how I'm falling, and shit what's the effect going to be, and am I really destined ... less than a year after the last time ... to incapacitation. Again. And embarrassment; I've made a spectacle of myself again. And just plain frustration. And then later ... much later ... the agony of crushed hips and crushed heads amplified a million-fold by the agony of time and training wasted.
Training Diary 28 April - 4 May
S: 10 mins bike
M: 25 mins bike. Painful
Total: 35 mins
lara : 21:28
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Saturday, May 03, 2008
I apologise to everyone who's been exposed to my depression and frustration this week! I expected to be off the crutches after 24 hours but couldn't walk at all until Wednesday morning when I shuffled tentatively into the kitchen in the morning, mainly because I refused to use them for one more day. I walked to Sabine's house later too, and it was pretty painful but so good after Tuesday's utter depression at lack of progress.
Thursday was even better. I didn't use my crutches all day and when I went out in the evening to meet Shorty, Sam and Nick, I decided to take the tube and save on taxi money (there's Yorkshire in me somewhere!) But the venue was on Borough High Street so I had to walk 10 minutes at either end, plus the stairs and faffing involved in changing tube lines. I felt fine doing the walking, even though I was going slowly, but that night and the following morning I paid the price by being unable to get comfortable to sleep, and then not being able to take a step without the crutches again. Felt like I'd really messed it up for myself (it was a good evening though!)
By late Friday afternoon I was feeling a little better again, but could tell I'd overdone it. Serves me right I suppose.
So I'm still limping around and in quite a lot of back pain. Next week's race is looking exceedingly unlikely although I refuse to rule it out until Friday. I was really hoping to try out my bike this weekend but I'm not sure I'll be able to do it today and I can't see things are going to be that much better tomorrow or Monday either.
I was trying to explain my life's most significant injuries to a friend last week: Fractured shoulder ski-ing, fractured wrist snowboarding, mangled leg windsurfing and now this. I think a theme is developing.
Thursday was even better. I didn't use my crutches all day and when I went out in the evening to meet Shorty, Sam and Nick, I decided to take the tube and save on taxi money (there's Yorkshire in me somewhere!) But the venue was on Borough High Street so I had to walk 10 minutes at either end, plus the stairs and faffing involved in changing tube lines. I felt fine doing the walking, even though I was going slowly, but that night and the following morning I paid the price by being unable to get comfortable to sleep, and then not being able to take a step without the crutches again. Felt like I'd really messed it up for myself (it was a good evening though!)
By late Friday afternoon I was feeling a little better again, but could tell I'd overdone it. Serves me right I suppose.
So I'm still limping around and in quite a lot of back pain. Next week's race is looking exceedingly unlikely although I refuse to rule it out until Friday. I was really hoping to try out my bike this weekend but I'm not sure I'll be able to do it today and I can't see things are going to be that much better tomorrow or Monday either.
I was trying to explain my life's most significant injuries to a friend last week: Fractured shoulder ski-ing, fractured wrist snowboarding, mangled leg windsurfing and now this. I think a theme is developing.
lara : 11:57
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