Back to running :)

I finished my recovery week with a lovely swim with a friend yesterday morning, before walking into central london for some good ol' saturday shopping on Oxford Street! Picked up a pretty spring dress too :)

Today was my first day back at the gym. I was quite nervous about getting on the treadmill, and so opted for a quick 20 minute spin on the bikes first (almost no resistance, so easy on the knees). Then with a deep breath I found a free treadmill and gradually speeded up until I was running. I ran for over 40 minutes continuously with no pain, but just this strange feeling that something weird was going on. It didn't turn into anything, and now as I sit plonked on my living room floor there is still no pain at all. I suppose it's all good. I didn't run very fast today, but figured there was no reason to push things today. I'll wait for tomorrow...ha!!! Very happy. Still feeling a little anxious that I won't be able to recover well enough for the marathon to reach my target time of 3 hours 45minutes. But... not much I can do about that.

Alright. Off to bed... going for a swim tomorrow morning before work, and then back to the treadmill after work. Goodnight everyone!

humm... is swimming my thing?

So another day of injury treatment, another day spent in the pool instead of on the road. I got up at some unearthly hour to go swimming this morning before work, and after walking into a very quiet rec centre found the pool buzzing with activity! So much so that the fast lane, which does describe me for at least my first few lengths, was packed and either I was swimming into the person in front of me or the person behind me was trying to overtake me. I eventually moved to the medium lane for more space, but it was full of slow swimmers who didn't want to admit it... hahahaha!!! Yes I can be cruel sometimes :P Actually I think the problem was there weren't enough lanes for the number of swimmers.... the five other lanes were obviously occupied by the special people who like to pay an extra £100/month for the gym membership. HUMPH!
Anyway my knee is feeling weird... something is up, but it is not really hurting anymore. I get a bit of a twinge when I go up and down the stairs, but that's all. I'm going to take the docs advice tho, and continue swimming and strengthening for the next week, and start running (if all goes well) next week :)
It's not looking quite so tragic anymore!! WOOOO!
Until tomorrow.... xx

getting over the injury :S

The doctor did some strange test where she pushed my leg sideways, and apparently it proved that I hadn't hurt my tendons or ligaments. HUGE relief! So basically I've got a pulled muscle. Unfortunately the doctor also said that I can't run for at least a week, so will have to swim instead. I swam last night for an hour and wow! I had no idea how boriiiiiiiiiiinnng swimming could be. I even walked/treadwalked the length of the pool, which definitely wasted some time. I skipped going tonight, but will go tomorrow morning before work, and then thursday, friday and hopefully this weekend as well :)
I've had lots of support from school. Everyone has asked how my leg is (I think I encouraged it all by whining and crying on monday morning :P). Luckily we also have matron who has loaded me with ice and antiinflammatories.
Alright... wish me luck. I'm going to try to do some balancing exercises, and other leg strengthening exercises tomorrow. Hope it all makes things better in the long run.

Night! xx

... I need a doctor!!!

So today I was heading out for a extra long, but very slow 20 miles. I was taking it easy, forcing myself to go slower than usual, casually running up crouch hill (long bloody climb), followed by another killer up muswell hill, when suddenly there was a tweak on the side of my knee. A little, rather sharp, pain. I immediately stopped to try to stretch it out, but there didn't seem to be a stretch that would reach the actual area... so I ran on even more slowly. But it just got worse. It didn't hurt when I walked, but as soon as I jogged even slightly the tweak was back! So at this point I was probably about 6-7 miles from home... without a bus pass. So I walked all the way back to Dalston! I was on the verge of tears, thinking that this might be the end of marathon 2010 for me. Everyone's heard of pulled tendons and ligaments... and if that's it, it's going to be slow careful recovery... not a 26 mile run! And I can't WALK the marathon! BAH!!!

So I'm going to try to see the doc tomorrow or tuesday. Of course I've already google-diagnosed and have started some exercises to help, but I still need a prof. opinion! Keep your fingers crossed that all goes well, and that I'll be back to training within the week. I'm going to be swimming, weight training and stretching for the foreseable future :(

And all that.... the day after my major success of a fundraiser! Yesterday The Great Shoreditch Switch was great! I'd been able to get an ad in Timeout magazine... which was super exciting... and almost 100 people came :) I also had organised a raffle, which I realised wasn't neccessary and not many tickets were bought. Next time I'll definitely skip that... it took quite a lot of energy to arrange, and took in about 25 pounds. Otherwise the swap was a major success. Two journalism students arrived from City University to feature the event, and interview me! :P There were definite peaks during the day... we were flooded at 11am, and then it gradually petered off before a second rush came around 2pm. I also think most people went away really happy. Many people went away with more than they came with. We were also able to bag up 9 bags of well-looked after clothes to donate to the Oxfam in Dalston. I would've loved it if it had been even busier, but according to the venue, it really was a success :) They would like to have another one at the venue... so I might take them up on that! This will take me over the 1000pounds that I need to raise by March 30, so the pressure is off until the final 1800 due around marathon time.

Fingers crossed that my knee is better tomorrow :)

running makes me feel better... who knew!?

All day yesterday I was limping around, having ran a little to fast on the weekend without stretching properly. Anyway I needed another run, so decided a very slooooow plod home would do the job, and what do you know my legs feel a lot better today!!!

Side note: organising for the Great Shoreditch Switch is all coming together! Last night I got a call from The Vortex Jazz Club and they are offering a FREE MEMBERSHIP as a prize! It's an awesome prize! I jumped up and down on my friends kitchen floor when I got the call... wooo! That'll make someone very happy, and bring blissful music to their ears. I've also got to pick up a prize from Tina We Salute You today!! It's great how to local businesses are really pitching in :)

Just getting volunteers signed up to help on saturday...

And need to finalize a few plans with the venue! It's going to be an awesome event!!! :)

Great race... bring on that marathon!

Yesterday I ran an official 10 mile race in a shocking 82 minutes! WOO ME!!!

More event info....

I've been getting a bit stressed recently with the fundraising. My friends and family have been fantastic with sponsoring me, but I wanted to organise an event that's fun for all (even people I don't know) and then it's more about everyone having a good time, than me squeezing money from every contact I have.

So I've been organising a clothes swap. I've got a venue for free... and a gorgeous venue at that! Funny, I got really excited because it has massive toilets with big mirrors (perfect for a big changing room :P). There's an upstairs and downstairs... I think the downstairs will be for the swap and then the bar might open the restaurant upstairs so people can sit, eat, drink....RELAX!!!

It really boosted my mood to see the venue. Then I stopped into a wine shop on the way home, and got the managers to donate a bottle of something special for a raffle. WOO! So felt a lot better again. So I'm going to spend this weekend visiting local businesses and see if they will donate other things... tickets to the Vortex? Cafe Oto? More wine? Gift certificates to restuarants? Wah nails????

Finally just checked out Timeout.com to see if my ad had been posted, and.... drum roll please .... THE GREAT SHOREDITCH SWITCH... right there in print! So that's topped my night. Now to get the Shoreditch Sisters to blog about the swap and then I will be a very happy girl!

So a couple more things to think about.... I need to get clothes rails and hangers from local shops to display clothes on. Need some more raffle tickets. Need volunteers. Need signs etc for the day :)

Awww.... it's coming together :)

Another day... another missed run!

Thought number one - Can't believe how awful my grammar is when typing fast. Just reread the previous blog and realised it was full of mistakes like "there"... mistakes I judge other's intelligence by!!! OOOPS! So please excuse the mistakes, I will judge others less from now on :P

Thought number two - Can't believe how much cocaine use seems to have increased! I suppose everyone has their experimental faze, but I've heard of too many people actually addicted to the stuff to think it's okay.

Thought number three - Will run home this evening. Will then head to The Last Days of Decadence to put up posters. And then will head up to Stoke Newington to harass businesses for raffle gifts!! I've already had a couple donations promised, so very excited. A little stressed about the attendance of the swap, but the word gradually seems to be spreading :) I suppose I have to be happy with whatever number of people turn up... it's all money for the Rainforest Foundation. But I want massive success!!!! You know... a queue to get in and loads of happy faces!!!

Thought number four - Didn't run yesterday, but went for a swim, and cycled a tiny miniscule amount. Is that okay? At the moment I need to be the most dedicated runner on the planet and I seem to have slacked a little. It doesn't help that I haven't been sleeping well, but I think after a good early night I'll be better. That's got to be my aim for tonight :)

Ciao!