Bonjour le France

This weeks run total of 39.85 miles brings me up to a total of 345 for 2013 so far,still ahead of target, but not by much, in respect of traveling from Ripon to Moscow that now puts me on the A16 in France heading for Dunkirk, after emerging from the Chunnel in Calais. Dunkirk is a port in the north of France which faces onto the North Sea, it was probably founded in around 6AD.
Dunkirk is an industrial port with industries including; steel, oil, shipbuilding and food manufacturing. It has been ruled by many different counties over the years including; Austria, France, England and Spain. It was bought back permanently in 1662 by Louis XIV from Charles II, but Dunkirk is best known for the WW2 evacuation of 300,000 allied troops, on 26 June 1940.
Other totals for this week are;
Walking. 13.64 miles
Cycling. 73.41 miles
Swimming 0.57 miles

Could this be the key to my invincibility

The week did not start too great, the pain in my left leg was restricting my training. Last week I was disappointed not to hit my run targets, only 25 miles rather than my targeted 40.
People often ask how I manage to do what I do and avoid running injuries. The only injuries have had since I started running in 2007, have been linked to falls (whilst running) back in 2009 I fell and broke my little finger, couldn't run for 6 days whilst the swelling went down. 2010 , during the Brass Monkey half marathon, I hit a pothole badly at 8 miles, carried on and ended up with a week off with a sprained ankle. Nov 2012, a metal grate was raised and, I ran into it, injuring my right instep and big toe. I carried on running and it seemed to ease. January 2013 I hit a pothole badly and turned my left ankle. I carried on. (Bad move) over the last 3 weeks my right leg has become increasingly painful, hence last weeks reduced run mileage.
Now I feel that the secrecy to my injury free running is not one thing, but a combination. I take cod liver oil, glucosamine, chondroitin and a multivitamin daily. I increase my mileage, gently, I regularly run slowly (slower than normal) and now I swim and cycle too, I increase their mile ages gradually too, I have 1 lower mileage week a month, I eat well and I'm focused (pigheaded and bloody minded according to my dad) but the thing that I think helps the most is regular sports massages that I have been having since 2010. Initially theses were sporadic, but as my training increased they became more regular (monthly). When I started Ironman training last year these increased to fortnightly, agreed, this is not a cheap thing to do and I have reduced them to 3 weekly at the moment. On Wednesday, this week, Libby Hancocks http://puretreatmentrooms.com/libby-hancocks/ suggested that my leg pain was being caused because I was not running correctly, Possibly that since the accident in November, I possibly had not been using my big toe, but that the accident in January had forced me back to using it, but it had no strength and that other leg muscles were weakened. She gave me exercises to do, and dutifully I did them. Training on Thursday evening was no better, but on Friday I went for a run and it was great. Not totally pain free but the strength was coming back. I concentrated on planting my feet correctly. Saturday I cycled and walked. Today, I went for a 15 mile run, 2 miles to Studley, then up to the church and back 5 times and run home. The camber was starting to irritate my leg on the last lap, and on the run home the mud was not great. But I am very happy, again I feel like a runner.
So this week started awful and ended great.
Run 40.84 miles
Cycle 35.7 miles
Walk 14.25 miles
Strengthening exercises 1 hour

Total mileage for 2013 challenge 304.9 miles run so far this year, this places me running through the Channel Tunnel ( virtually) Still on target.

Injuries are a right pain in the ............

Ok you guys, I haven't blogged since Janathon. So lets update, Janathon was over (I was over the moon to finish 6th) and so was Sid's Poppyfields January challenge and Jantastic. The Poppyfields challenged morphed into Poppyfields 2013 challenge, needless to say I signed up to exercise every single day of this year and Jantastic evolved into Febulous which focuses on distance of a long run rather than amount of runs, so challenge wise I have just as much to keep me focused as ever.
Anyway, if you are a regular reader of my blog you will know that recently I ran into a pothole and damaged my ankle, pig headed as I am I continued with my running, swimming and biking, but the body (wonderful as it is) does not recover overnight. The pain in my left ankle eased and I started to get pain in my right leg, around my knee, groin and buttock, my leg felt weak. But I had planned a marathon for the 1 st weekend of the month, so with Ripon Runners annual dinner on the evening of the 2nd Feb, I decided the best thing was to do it that day, then I didn't need to go out Sunday after a late night. So, I ignored the discomfort in my leg and set out early on Saturday morning for 3 laps of town. Fortunately, within a few miles, my leg started to behave. It was a cold bright ay and the run, 27 miles was complete in under 5 1/2 hours. This now meant I could relax for the month.
Next day I was tired so I just walked and Turbo ed, my leg was not too bad but I made the decision to ease off a bit during the week, I have a few miles in the bank for the Moonjoggers and 2013 challenges.
I often use swimming for recovery, so Monday evening I went swimming and Tuesday my leg was sore again. But it was club night, I made 10 miles and Wednesday my leg was no worse but I just walked. Thursday my leg was improving, I went to training, I was ok when I was moving, but If I stopped it took a while to get going again. Friday my leg felt much better, this wa good because I had a 10km mixed terrain race. I didn't run, just walked and swam. Oh Oh! I was woken several times in the night because of my leg. Decision made, no swimming for a week and just a short turbo and some walking on Saturday. I don't mind cutting out swimming for a while, I don't really like it anyway, especially indoor swimming. I have a rule, if the the pain eases during exercise, continue. If pain increases during exercise stop for a while. Running and cycling are ok, the pain eases, but swimming irritates it so it has to stop for a while.
Sunday (today) the day of the race arrived its the St Wilfrids Muddy Boots, mixed terrain 10km. It's a local race, so I'm familiar with the route. We were forecast heavy snow, but it never arrived, it was cold and drizzly so the course would be muddy. My husband ran the race too. We walked the dog in the morning and then had porridge before walking to the race start. We had a warm up before the race and my leg started to ease. Soon it was time to gather for the start. I wished hubby luck, andI worked my way to the back (It scares me when the fast runners push past, I'm paranoid about falling). This was not a chipped race so I started my watch as the claxon sounded and off we went. We started running around the field and were soon directed through a gap in the hedge through a local dog walking area, the ground was uneven but I took my time and was soon on the road, working my way though the runners as we ran up to Lark Lane. With relief we turned and ran down the hill and worked our way through the housing estate towards Clotherholme farm and the first off road section. By now my leg was well warmed up 3km and I was running reasonably comfortably, I knew I would have to wait for the river crossing at 4 km so I pushed onwards, position is everything at this point. It was quite a wait for the crossing and my leg began to stiffen, I kept moving to alleviate this as much as possible. After the crossing the lane was not too bad leading to the tarmaced hill. The next field however was hard going, I was focusing on a club member ahead to keep myself going, I turned my right ankle twice and swore both times,( sorry if you were close by) I kept my pace steady on the downward part. As I crossed the road, it crossed my mind that the horses going down the road were forced there by the runners on the bridle path. Also, as I crossed the road, it looked like a herd of cattle had crossed the road, with amount of mud. Next came an uneven lane with puddles, ah! Time to make up some ground, people were avoiding the puddles, I ran through them. As I approached the farm and the water stop I could see smoke. There was a bonfire close to the route. (This was a worry with my asthma) I got a drink and then had to walk as I couldn't see or breathe. As I got clear of the smoke and regulated my breathing I had another chance to make up ground on the lane before the next field. This field was tough and again I turned my ankle ( thank goodness for compression socks) (apologies for language again) I just focused on the pink bobbing cap of my team mate as I headed back to Clotherholme Farm. As I passed through the gate, the Marshall told me that hubby was running well. That was good news. And now, 2 km to run, a route very familiar to me and I was running quite well for the stage of the race, I knew the finish was on grass so had to run well on the pavement until then. As I approached the Grammer School and turned onto the grass, my club mate had slowed, she looked back, "Go on" I shouted, I needed her to focus on, or I could easily have walked. And there it was the welcome site of the finish funnel.
I loved this race even though it was tough, I last did this race in 2009, it was snowy and frosty, the ground was hard, not sloppy and squelchy, it took me 71 minutes 48 back then. This time my Garmin reads 63 minutes 18 so I am really happy with that.
I cannot thank the race organisers and marshals enough, it must have been a very long day for them.
My leg and ankle are now a bit sore, but I have stretched and walked and covered them in Deep Relief so hopefully they will be not to bad tomorrow.
Overall mileage wise this week was not great but I have managed;
29 miles of walking
25.29 miles of running
10 miles approx equivalent on the turbo
2.4 miles of swimming.
I have exercised every day.
In regards to my own 2013 miles in 2013 running challenge Ripon to Moscow, I am now close to Ashford in Kent.
For Moonjoggers I have run and walked 54 miles.
And now some pics.