Life Will Be Changing!

I haven't written for a while and there has been a quite a big reason for this!  I'm 17 weeks pregnant.  

I've continued to run so far and during my first 13 weeks my steady paced running was actually getting quicker!  This was partly due to coming back from time off with my hamstring injury but I was feeling quite good in my legs too.  I've been very lucky and not had any sickness but there have been days of extreme tiredness.  On days where I have woken up really tired and not improved during the day so I have taken a rest day so I'm really listening to my body.  I have found that whether its a 30 min run or a 1 hour run about 1 hour after I have finished running I am absolutely wiped out! I'm very lucky that I work mostly from home as at least I can have an hour's sleep in the afternoon!

The tiredness is so different to any tiredness I've had before - its so much worse than when in the peak of marathon training!  As well as my body being tired my head feels heavy and I find it hard to concentrate.  I have to make sure I get any work done early in the morning before I go out running as I know I will have a hard job sitting at my computer in the afternoon!

Since 13 weeks my running seemed to significantly slow down.  That's been a hard thing to deal with as my legs still want to turn over quicker but I can feel I'm breathing heavier and my HR is higher so I have to make myself slow down.  

I didn't tell my parents until last week when I went down to London to visit them.  Its a good job my mum was sitting down as I think she would have fainted if she'd been standing up!  Its an understatement to say they didn't ever expect me to have a baby!

Its been really hard for the last couple of months when people I know keep asking how my running's going and what races have I got coming up!  I've ended up lying and saying I've got few low key 10ks then a half marathon target in the autumn.  At last I can finally start telling people!

Back into the Swing of Things!

I've now been back running 8 weeks and almost feel back to normal! I'm still keeping the strength work up but doing it just once a week now (this will have to continue as part of my running plan now). My steady run pace is not too far off what it is when I'm fit.

I'm back to running every day with one rest day each week.  My long runs have increased up to 1 hour 20, I've been doing hill efforts which were put in to try and engage my glutes and hamstrings and now finally my next block of training starting on Monday is actually race focused with proper effort sessions!  

Its coming up to one year since I last raced and its been such a frustrating year!  I blame myself for not getting it sorted when it first happened but I just kept on thinking it was just tightness that would ease.  If I'd had it sorted out around May last year I honestly think it would have been sorted out by the August and I would have been able to race in the back end of 2016.  Lessons learned and hopefully the break has done me good and I will come back stronger!

It's also coming up to the Manchester Marathon which I won last year.  I've decided I'm going to go over to watch it which is going to be really hard for me but may do me some good.  Dan is helping out with timing and I also have two athletes that I coach running in it so it will be great to give them some support out on the course. 

Running Again At Last!!

After 6 weeks of no running I'm finally back running again!  I can't tell you how happy this makes me! Cycling and swimming are fine but they don't give me the same boost that going out for a run does!  

I've started with running every second day and just keeping them short and at an easy pace. Towards the end of the second week I've started putting 2 days together then a day off and starting to gradually increase the length of the run.  As always for steady runs I've been sticking to my HR zones but my pace is sooo slow!  I've had to switch the average pace setting off from my Garmin so I'm not tempted to look at it as it just makes me think there is such a long way to go to get fast again.

I'm still keeping my strength work in 3 times per week.  I have no pain at all when running now but still have some pinching when I walk especially after I've been sitting at my desk working.  

Injured

I don't know why I put off going to a new physio for so long.  I'd been recommended Leigh from Chiro & Physio on the Wirral by a couple of people I know and finally went there in October.

My hamstring and glute had been no better and my worry was that although I was still running if I tried to race hard what could happen?  If it was just some tightness it should have gone away by now with the much lighter load of running recently and stretching.  I saw Leigh for 3 sessions over about 5 weeks where he gave me some exercises to do.  I then saw him a 4th time and it was no better so with that in mind he suggested I see a consultant and get an MRI on it.  

So I had the MRI and it revealed hamstring tendonopathy and bursitis.  I then had a cortisone injection in the hope of getting the swelling down and ease the pain so I could start a strength/loading programme.  To be cautious I had 1 week of no exercise at all then in the 2nd week I started to swim.  10 days after the injection and there was no change.  I was so frustrated.  After speaking with the consultant we decided I should start the loading programme anyway.  I could also start cycling as long as there was no pain during or within 24 hours after.

So back to Leigh for him to give me the strength exercises.  The exercises I have include weights and bodyweight work for hamstrings, glutes, core and back and I have to do them 3 times a week with at least 1 day off in between.  For the first week my legs were shot to pieces!  Almost 3 weeks into doing them now and my legs are getting used to them.  For the first time this last week I've started to feel that my hamstring is actually slightly better!  

I'm still not running at the moment which is driving me mad but I'm cycling and swimming every day which is helping my fitness.

Amongst all this doom and gloom with my running I've had a few short trips away including the Lake District, Copenhagen and 4 days in New York over thanksgiving.  New York was great and we had 4 days of cramming in as much as possible!  We were so busy that I didn't have time to get down about not being able to run.