Ups and Downs!

It's almost two weeks since my last blog entry and so much has happened. I am currently back under physio treatment for sciatica. My back and left hamstring has been causing me grief and I have had to ease off the running over the past week or so. 

Track season commenced a couple of weeks ago and I went on the first Thursday but was out of action last week. 

Thursday 13 October - track

I arrived just in time to run once around the track (400m) before the first 3000m event. It took me 15:38 by my garmin although the official results say 15:49 which is even slower so I have lots of room for improvement! My back was hurting at this stage so I knew I was in trouble. I followed the run with the 1500m fitness walk where my garmin reads my time as 10:39 and the official results say 10:46. This is also slow but as this was the first track session of the season I hope my back allows me to speed things up a bit!

After these two events I went for a short warm down out of the AIS and up through the bushy trails with Ewen and his friend Bruce, who was visiting from Sydney. It was fun.

Total distance for night: 8.5km

Friday 14 October
I spent 3.5hours walking the streets collecting and delivering Avon books and later in the day took Teddy for an hour walk. I think in future I will wear my garmin as it's interesting knowing just how far I'm walking.

Saturday 15 Otober

I met Ewen and Andy at the war memorial and we ran a reasonably gentle middle distance run. We started and finished slowly but in the middle I was running at about 5:20 pace in order to keep up with the conversation! We passed a family of black swans with about 8 tiny cygnets - so cute and fluffy. I hope there are still 8 next time we run there! We ran from the war memorial past the ferry terminal and through the ANU grounds and back. After our run we enjoyed a reasonable coffee but there's room for improvement there too! I think the staff has changed and they need a new barista!

Total distance: 15m
Time taken: 1hr 34mins
Pace per km: 6:18

Monday 17 October

I did my usual gym session in the morning but my back was definitely worse and I made appointments with the physio on Wed and for a remedial massage next week.  It seemed wise not to go to training that night.

Tuesday 18 October

I opted to walk at Tuesday group this morning. I had delightful company and we walked briskly so I didn't feel like the morning was wasted. However we managed to become totally lost and didn't end up at our destination!

It probably didn't hurt to avoid a few hills at that stage anyway.

Total distance: 8km

In the afternoon I wore my garmin and walked for 6.2km with Avon and later took Teddy out for 5.2km. Every little bit of exercise must help although I must admit walking is not nearly as efficient as running:(

Total walking for day: 19.4km

Wednesday 19 October

For something different and to relieve the frustration of not running at BBQ Stakes I decided to go for a swim before my physio visit.

Total swim distance: 1km

Time taken: 26 mins

I was pleasantly surprised at how good this felt. I also had the spa afterwards and it felt wonderful as I sat there letting the jets ease my back.

Later I visited the physio who has given me some specific exercises to do religiously and I'm not supposed to run until my next visit. He checked my last MRI results and it does appear I have some discs out of alignment. Anti inflammatories and pain relief is currently needed. This is a problem that will flare up every now and then. I just hope the timing is not near my next event!

I took Teddy for a 5.3km walk later in the day.

Thursday 20 October
 Margaret and I had a fun day. We decided to take the dogs to Black Mountain Peninsula and wave to the Queen sailing past in her boat. It was a long wait for a fleeting glimpse of her lavendar hat but it was lots of fun especially taking the two Teddies for an 8km walk afterwards. They loved it, especially when we let them go for a swim in the murky water after a hot walk and chase sticks in the water.

Friday 21 October

I only managed to squeeze in a ten minute swim as the pool closed for the morning just after I started! In that time I swam 400m and then headed for the gym to change and do a workout before taking Teddy for his hour walk.

Saturday 22 October

I was a bit naughty and without the physio's ok I went for a short run from home. I ran slowly just testing to see how I would go. It hurt for the first half but I didn't feel too bad after that until much later!

Total distance of run: 10km

Later my daughter and her partner came for a visit from Sydney and we had a lovely family BBQ at our son's new house.

On Sunday afternoon I went for a swim again. I swam 1km in 26mins, stopped then swam 500m in 14mins and then another 250m before I had to stop with a severe cramp in my leg - ouch! But it felt great to be extending the length of that swimming.

Monday 24 October

First thing in the morning a 1.5hour workout at the gym concentrating on chest, biceps and abs plus my physio exercises. Then it was off to another physio appointment to check progress. I was given another elbow treatment in the butt and massage and an upgrade of exercises. Running has been cut back again. If I run BBQ Stakes on Wednesday and some events at track on Thursday then I must refrain from running after that until the handicap race on Sunday. 

Tuesday 25 October

Today our baby daughter turned 28. Now that's scary! It was pouring with rain for most of the day and as I had only planned to walk at Tuesday group Margaret and I decided to opt for coffee at the mall instead! Later in the afternoon when the rain had eased a little I took Teddy for a long rather wet walk for a total of 8km.