Edith Piaf Madam Motivator
So much has changed and so fast. The weeks of treatment seemed unending but now seem so long ago. Hanging out at Ninewells three times a week I was saved from boredom only by a succession of audiobooks. I started with Andrew Marr's A History of the World (good but not as good as his History of Modern Britain), then made my way through the Hitchhikers Guide series narrated by Martin Freeman (great books well narrated) before goading myself with Christopher McDougall's Born to Run. Lying on my back in hospital pretending to be in a spaceship with Arthur, Ford, Zaphod, Trillian and Marvin the Paranoid Android was one thing. Listening to a book about how we are all, literally, born to run was another. As I've mentioned, on several occasions, I'm not meant to be able to run anymore. However it inspired me to change my diet, my shoes and give it a go.
It feels like the turn of Winter into Spring...
Lots and lots of strength training seems to be paying off. Actually so does the complete diet change: combining abstinence from alcohol, sugar, and refined foods with at least 95g protein/day. I have more energy and feel better than I have in years. I guess the weeks of mast cell stabilising treatment at Ninewells might have helped a bit too... Maybe :)
Last weekend I ran 10.3 miles largely by accident, on Friday night it was 11.4, again by accident. The first time I wasn't wearing my Garmin and had tucked my iPhone (Nike+ Running app rolling) into my bag with my Epipen. There was something in the air that night. It was the sun! The second time I got lost, once by accident and once by design. I'm a little baffled as to where the ability to run these distances again has come from, I wouldn't exactly say I've built back up to it. I just put on my shoes and ran.
As well as doing more strength training and eating better I have switched into a pair of Inov8 Road-X Lites and fallen in love. They are as close to going bare foot as you can get without going native (Vibrams, Inov8 Bare-X Lite etc) or naked (Barefoot Ted and co.) They have a 3mm drop from heel to toe, most running shoes are around 9mm. I ran in them on Friday then again today (13.8M). My calves are a bit tight but otherwise no niggles, no blisters, nothing. They are Romeo to my Juliet. And they're yellow. Yellow are so last season, which in running terms means discounted (and still available from Wiggle Online Cycle Shop)
So I've gone from nothing to 13.8M in next to no time but I can't pinpoint exactly which changes have helped or whether it's a bit of everything, viz. I like to experiment on myself but I'm totally unscientific.
Another part of the great experiment was leaving the Garmin behind and making myself focus on running comfortably (landing on my forefeet not heels) and not pushing for time. But I still like to know, even if it's after the event, how far and how fast. So I downloaded the Nike+ Running app to my iPhone, which I have to carry anyway in case of emergency (anaphylactic or other). A cool feature on this is the ability to enable 'power songs' when you need that extra push. I don't know quite what went wrong at the set up stage but either it, or I, or iTunes decided that my French Pop collection was perfect. A quick note here, French Pop is a label given by iTunes to: Edif Piaf and Jacques Brel. Maybe best not to tell the Belgians. Or the French. This led to the interesting discovery that both make for good listening on the run. Except... when Jacques Brel's Au Suivant comes on as you run passed the only cottage in five miles and there is an elderly couple out pruning their roses. I don't use earphones so I can hear traffic and generally don't see other people who might be bothered by my music so just let it play. Here's hoping that they either don't speak French or didn't object to a lesson in sexual health, by Jacques Brel.
It was by turns cold and windy and sunny and breezy. The last few miles were hillier than expected but Edif and Jacques got me through.
Here are some lambs:
More seriously, and sadly:
My thoughts are with those affected by the bombings in Boston. It doesn't make sense to me, it just makes me very, very sad. I don't really know what to say, but Joad does (click to link to his blog):
"Of all of the events to attack in the name of God or a political ideology or whatever, why a marathon? There is nothing less divisive, less nationalist, less imperialist than marathons."
It feels like the turn of Winter into Spring...
Lots and lots of strength training seems to be paying off. Actually so does the complete diet change: combining abstinence from alcohol, sugar, and refined foods with at least 95g protein/day. I have more energy and feel better than I have in years. I guess the weeks of mast cell stabilising treatment at Ninewells might have helped a bit too... Maybe :)
Last weekend I ran 10.3 miles largely by accident, on Friday night it was 11.4, again by accident. The first time I wasn't wearing my Garmin and had tucked my iPhone (Nike+ Running app rolling) into my bag with my Epipen. There was something in the air that night. It was the sun! The second time I got lost, once by accident and once by design. I'm a little baffled as to where the ability to run these distances again has come from, I wouldn't exactly say I've built back up to it. I just put on my shoes and ran.
As well as doing more strength training and eating better I have switched into a pair of Inov8 Road-X Lites and fallen in love. They are as close to going bare foot as you can get without going native (Vibrams, Inov8 Bare-X Lite etc) or naked (Barefoot Ted and co.) They have a 3mm drop from heel to toe, most running shoes are around 9mm. I ran in them on Friday then again today (13.8M). My calves are a bit tight but otherwise no niggles, no blisters, nothing. They are Romeo to my Juliet. And they're yellow. Yellow are so last season, which in running terms means discounted (and still available from Wiggle Online Cycle Shop)
So I've gone from nothing to 13.8M in next to no time but I can't pinpoint exactly which changes have helped or whether it's a bit of everything, viz. I like to experiment on myself but I'm totally unscientific.
Another part of the great experiment was leaving the Garmin behind and making myself focus on running comfortably (landing on my forefeet not heels) and not pushing for time. But I still like to know, even if it's after the event, how far and how fast. So I downloaded the Nike+ Running app to my iPhone, which I have to carry anyway in case of emergency (anaphylactic or other). A cool feature on this is the ability to enable 'power songs' when you need that extra push. I don't know quite what went wrong at the set up stage but either it, or I, or iTunes decided that my French Pop collection was perfect. A quick note here, French Pop is a label given by iTunes to: Edif Piaf and Jacques Brel. Maybe best not to tell the Belgians. Or the French. This led to the interesting discovery that both make for good listening on the run. Except... when Jacques Brel's Au Suivant comes on as you run passed the only cottage in five miles and there is an elderly couple out pruning their roses. I don't use earphones so I can hear traffic and generally don't see other people who might be bothered by my music so just let it play. Here's hoping that they either don't speak French or didn't object to a lesson in sexual health, by Jacques Brel.
It was by turns cold and windy and sunny and breezy. The last few miles were hillier than expected but Edif and Jacques got me through.
Here are some lambs:
More seriously, and sadly:
My thoughts are with those affected by the bombings in Boston. It doesn't make sense to me, it just makes me very, very sad. I don't really know what to say, but Joad does (click to link to his blog):
"Of all of the events to attack in the name of God or a political ideology or whatever, why a marathon? There is nothing less divisive, less nationalist, less imperialist than marathons."
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