Week Twenty Eight – Can you believe it!

Ahhhhhh for the first time in Twenty Eight weeks I FORGOT TO WRITE MY BLOG!!! Must be all the excitement of finally getting to that Winter Half milestone along with the fact it’s nearly Christmas, I haven’t finished my shopping and we’ve had in the inlaws to stay!

So the wet and muddy big day finally arrived and it seems we all lived to face another day, I found race day tough. I got the time I wanted but came away feeling like I should have pushed harder or it should have hurt less, either way I am looking forward to having another go!

The next few weeks for me are all about ticking over, enjoying Christmas and a holiday away before the hard work starts again in January.

I have loved the second half of this year, I have met so many new friends and challenged myself more than ever. This time next week I’ll be skiing in the mountains (or getting drunk at the bar) so I will wish you all a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and I will see you on the other side in 2016 ready to face a marathon! 

Week Twenty Seven – Woooahhh we’re half way (almost) there!!

The weekend has arrived, the countdown has begun and whilst Tweedle is hyperventilating in the corner with a brown paper bag I am looking back over the last 27 weeks and bringing you my highlights:

In Week 1 I was immediately facing my fears at Sgt Mack’s obstacle course, I decided then and there that I wasn’t going to let anything beat me, I went over that wall (even the big one) and I never looked back.

Week 6 was my first taste of being an ‘injured runner’ with a strained Achilles which taught me that I am not in fact superwoman (worse luck).

In Week 12 I got my parkrun PB 22:47, it still stands today and I am hoping to tackle that in the new year!

Week 14 saw me in total awe of four of the Z2H team who victoriously succeeded in taking on the Tour of MK. These guys have formed such a tight unit and its awesome to see the support they give each other.

Week 16 was the 10k graduation and another PB for me, a brilliant morning out with lots of happy Zero’s.

My happy journey took a nose dive in Week 19 with a fractured foot. I apologise profusely to anyone that had to speak to me during those few weeks, it was emotional.

Week 23 and I was back out there testing the foot and making up for lost time, the foot rehabilitated well and with only a few slight niggles brings us to today, the eve of the winter half and our biggest milestone yet.

Have we all been through a lot to get here? Yes, are we feeling confident? No, not always. Can we do this? Hell Yeah! Deep breath now, watch out MK ……

THE ZERO’S ARE COMING!!

Amanda 

Week Twenty Six – A picture paints a thousand words!

They say a picture paints a thousand words, in certain circumstances I am not sure that’s such a good thing!

Running has gone well this week, a nice speedy one gave the foot a bit of a niggle but a rest and a gentle jog with tweedle seemed to sort things out so all that’s left to say this week is …….

Thanks for the party Redway’s, it was fun! (I think)!

Amanda 

Week Twenty Five - Baby it's cold outside!

We kicked off this week with a fantastically freezing 11 miles with the Sunday Club Run. 3 weeks ago I would never even have dreamt this would have been a possibility but with the support of the club and my zero’s I made it to the end with the foot behaving itself.

My GP wasn’t too impressed when she looked at my X-Ray Monday and followed through with the phrase “are you running on this”? Awkward silence followed …. Er yes! There was much eye rolling but in the end she agreed with me – if it doesn’t hurt …...!! Don’t get me wrong I am being VERY careful and will rest at the slightest hint of pain but so far so good, the only pain has been of the self-inflicted heel wearing variety!

After a particularly difficult Tuesday morning club run I had a pretty epic hissy fit involving much sobbing about being too unfit to run. I had a word with myself then went out Thursday and got some of my pace back. Don’t get me wrong it wasn’t easy and every single step was a massive effort but it’s given me a glimmer of hope that all the hard work hasn’t been totally lost.

That said this morning’s venture out at 6am went from bad to worse. It was cold, my chest hurt, I couldn’t make my legs move and after three miles of what was supposed to be a five miler I decided I was just wasting energy and shuffled off back home!

These winter months are going to be a test for all of us but we have survived this far and nothing’s going to stop us now!

Stay warm (and stop wearing shorts Tweedle)!!

Amanda 

Week Twenty Four – Yo Yo Yo

Not Ho Ho Ho but Yo Yo Yo this week and for two main reasons; Firstly, despite what all the supermarkets will have you believe it is NOT nearly Christmas. Accepting that it is means I am grossly unprepared for the big day and also that the MK Winter Half is fast approaching and secondly because this week has been spent with totally mixed emotions about the foot!

It all started so positively with an almost eight mile run with some of my much missed zero’s. We had a lovely jaunt following sections of the winter half route and the foot held up well. I almost skipped home with happiness at being back out there thinking if I can do 8 miles’ pain free and still have 4 weeks we could be on!

Monday was the long awaited day that left foot was finally going to be X-Rayed. It was absolutely fine from Sunday’s run so much so that I contemplated cancelling the appointment. Alas I figured it would be good to find out once and for all so off I went. I have to hand it to MK Hospital I was parked, registered in and out within the free 15 minute parking allowance. 15 minutes … that’s all it took to convey my greatest fears “yes there is clear evidence of a stress fracture”. The rest of Monday was spent with a fair about of irrational sobbing.

Feeling brighter the next day I decided to just continue as I had been, slowly increasing the duration and intensity of my running with a view to stopping if there is any pain. So far I have completed a further 6 and 7 mile run with sections close to my pre-injury pace.

So what does any of this mean for the Winter Half? …. Who knows. I remain hopeful that over the next two weeks I can get my mileage up to 11/12 without pain I can hopefully give it a shot on the day! If I can survive the half marathon we should be game on for some serious marathon training over the next few months!

The week ended with some great new friends and far too much wine! Long may it continue, Tweedle has certainly ordered enough curry to see us through the next few drinking sessions. I am not sure Stony will welcome us back though!

Amanda 

Week Twenty Three - A Letter to Left Foot

Dear Leftie,

I think it’s time that you and I arranged a heart to heart. We have been together now for over thirty years and have covered a lot of ground. Maybe you think that I have taken you for granted, or that I have favoured your right counterpart, and if we are being brutally honest I guess I have.  Rightie is always my first port of call and he’s stronger than you too plus he doesn’t have the weird squished little toe but that doesn’t mean I don’t love and need you.

You are 26 of the 206 bones in my body, that’s pretty impressive and not something to be sniffed at.

I know you blame me for breaking you, I was too hard on you and expected too much but I only want what’s best for us and together we can be stronger.

I hope this goes some way to help you understand how much I need you. I have tried to show you how much I care over the last few weeks. I promise to keep up the late night massages and yes, the hot water bottle and ice packs can stay! I know I am starting to sound desperate but I will do anything, new socks, trainers, you name it it’s yours!

I am sorry leftie, I do feel like we are starting to make progress so lets fix this for good and move on.

I need you!

Amanda

Week Twenty Two – Starting over!

There may be light at the end of the tunnel …… only maybe mind and it might be a firefly that’s on it’s last legs but for now it’s light and I am going with it.

I have tried two very short jogs (and I mean short, like quarter of a mile), the foot started to hurt both times so I stopped but it recovered very quickly afterwards so I am taking this as a good sign and after spending the last four weeks not even wearing my trainers let alone running in them this feels like a victory!

This week has been distracting for lots of reasons but as it draws to a close it feels like a fresh start. So many people have picked me up (physically and emotionally) over these last few weeks and I am eternally grateful, one in particular has earned herself a special song:

Ode to Tweedle

(heavily plagiarised with the help of Rick Astley)

…. Sing along ……

We’re no strangers to pain

You know the miles and so do I

A full commitment's what I'm thinking of

Any less and we both might die!

I just want to tell you how I’m feeling

Got to make you understand

Never gonna give you up

Never gonna let you down

Never gonna run away and not loop back!

Never gonna make you cry

Never eat all the pie

Never gonna run in May without you!

Amanda