Struggle Continues

Hi, I'm back after a lovely holiday in Turkey which was marred by me developing tendinitis in my right calf. The opposite calf to the one I tore in December. What can I do? Be patient I suppose. Anyway I've had another couple of week off running but I did go for a very intensive cycle ride on Saturday with my iron-man triathlete brother-in-law. We covered over 32 miles and I was very exhausted at the end. Its the first real cycling I've done for about 6 months. My bottom is still sore and my neck is also stiff! Still, all-in-all I'm chuffed that I managed to keep up most of the time and at the end my sore leg was perfectly fine. No twinges or anything.

On another note, take a look at the brilliant picture below. If you ever want to say sorry to someone then this picture should do it!!

Progress Continues

Over the past few weeks I've been slowly getting back to more competitive running. I've completed a number of runs over 10 miles in length without any setbacks in terms of tweaked muscles. At first I was really slow and was really concentrating on every stride just to make sure I didn't put my feet anywhere that might cause me to slip a pull another muscle. That's not a very exciting way to run and it was basically just a way to get my fitness back up to decent levels. I felt that I'd really lost my fitness big time and struggled to even complete 10ks without stopping but over the past couple of weeks I've started just running for the pleasure of it and trusting that my legs are okay. So far so good.

I've done two 10 mile runs in the past 3 days with no adverse results except feeling a bit tired after the second one.

I'm off to Turkey tomorrow for a couple of weeks so I'll get in some running in good weather - can't wait. Check out our website to see exactly where I'm going www.relaxinturkey.net.

Want Strong Bones? Skip the Milk!

So how do we get enough absorbable calcium into our diets if we aren't consuming dairy? Far healthier sources of calcium come from plant foods. Here are a few excellent choices:

White Beans
Soy Beans or Soy Nuts
Baked Beans
Okra
Spinach
Collard Greens
Mustard Greens
Turnip Greens
Kale
Swiss Chard
Bok Choy
Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts
Sesame Seeds
Almonds
Oranges
Tofu
Rhubarb

Also, Juice Plus Complete® is an excellent source of dietary calcium. Make a shake with chocolate or vanilla Complete and soy milk if you need a quick snack, or as a pre-or-post-exercise drink. Lastly, as important as it is to eat calcium-rich foods, it's equally important to do weight-bearing exercise, which strengthens bones, muscles, and ligaments.

Green Shoots of Encouragement.

Over the past couple of weeks I've been getting back to something approaching regular running. Only sort of 8-10ks but maybe three times a week, and at increasing pace. So far the muscles have remained okay but I am aware (or is it all in my mind?) of a tightness on my right thigh (the opposite one to that which was giving me trouble a couple of months ago).

I did a reasonably fast 10k on Saturday with Andrew (who had just returned from mountain climbing in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco and was feeling very fit) with no resultant injury. Triumph! By reasonably fast, I mean about 53 mins.

My brother-in-law, George is coming to stay with us for a little while, either a few weeks or a few months depending on the job. He is an Ironman Triathelete so I'll enjoy doing a few training sessions with him. He's a fitness fanatic and I'm sure he'll give me a kick up the backside for slumping into inactivity because of my muscle problems.

On a completely different and rather random subject - my son, Christopher, is doing rather well in his band and seem on the verge of a real breakthrough. If you want to listen to some of his stuff then go to www.livan.co.uk.

Easing my way back to fitness

Over the past few weeks I've been slowly getting back out onto the road again. Nothing too demanding, just a few short runs and a few 4 milers. I couldn't believe how difficult the first couple were but I've been doing this for long enough now not to panic at having to stop at the worst hills.

My past three runs have been over the same 4 mile course - includes two big hills - and my times have dropped from 40 minutes to 36 mins to 34 mins today. Still very slow but at least there is no further damage and I actually enjoyed the run. My target is to run today's course in under 27 mins. I will get there.

May and I have entered a 1o miler on May Bank Holiday Monday near Milton Keynes. Hopefully I can get some uninterrupted training in before then. The physio has signed me off so she must think I'm ready. Just before that we are out at our apartment in Turkey again for a fortnight's break (absolute heaven) and a chance to do some running in the sun after what seems a long winter. If you'd like to see where I'll be running then take a look at the photo below. I run right around this bay - can you see why I'm looking forward to it?

If you'd like to see it for your self then go to www.relaxinturkey.net and see a few more of my pictures and my apartment.

Marathons and Marriage

I read somewhere recently that the incidence of divorce amongst dedicated marathon runners was higher than in the general population at large. To some degree I can understand that, especially if the marathon runner in question does not share his/her passion with his/her partner. Anyone who runs a marathon knows the intense training that needs to be undergone and in the long run phase you can often right-off a whole weekend to run and recover from your run.

However, the theory goes that people who enjoy training for marathons are secretly trying to escape from the home for long lengths of time to escape 'the other half'. I really don't know whether or not this is true and in my own case I am not aware of ever having used marathon training as an excuse to escape intimacy.

What do you think? Have any of you reading this ever experienced your marathon hobby coming between you and your partner?

If you are struggling in your marriage to any degree then go to http://www.themarriagesite.com where you can get some helpful information and, if you want to, you can download my ebook, 'Building a Marathon Marriage'.

All the best with your marathons and your marriages.

Since Luton Marathon

Having injured myself quite badly, as it turns out, at Luton, I didn't run at all until just after Christmas when I went for a 7k run with my friend Sunnil. It went well although we both ran well within ourselves. I did another couple of short runs between Christmas and New Year with no reaction at all but on the 5th of January I went for a proposed 10k run with Andrew and Sunnil but within 2 miles my lower hamstring twaeked badly and brought me to an immediate halt. I limped slowly home, extremely dissapointed that another muscle had gone. A different one from before.

I booked an appointment with the physio and she gave me a thorough muscle examination. Her verdict was that I have been getting back to running too quickly each time and so the muscle that is currently damaged is drawing on other muscle groups for support and thus weakening them and so they in turn pop. She gave me a really good deep muscle massage but insisted that I do not run at all for the next 6 weeks. Ouch!

I will of course do as she says and if I need to exercise I'll need to swim or cycle.

I have no marathons planned in the near future so I'll just need to ease my way back to fitness after I get back to training. I'm thinking of running the Glasgow (my home city) half in August and maybe a full marathon in September somewhere. Any suggestions?