running injury

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Still injured and no running on the horizon. It’s an Existential crisis. Help!

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This is the best front page I have seen on a running magazine. It’s the current November 2015 issue. I suspect that most of the front page females (and the occasional male) runners are models, at least in the most popular mags and are hardly representative of the mass of people running. This picture shows an undeniably overweight young woman, enjoying herself and showing good running form. She’s overweight but looks fit. It’s a cliche but I’ll use it. She’s inspirational and this image will give positive encouragement to legion other potential runners.

It’s two weeks since I fell at the Wimpole half marathon and injured my quadriceps. Recovery remains slow. I can still only go up stairs one at a time and I’ve only started to drive locally a few days ago. I did walk Cambridge parkrun last weekend (in 48 minutes) but in hindsight, it was a mistake and set me back several days. In hindsight, it was a mistake to continue to run 12 miles after I fell and also a mistake not to be doubly careful running over large rubble stones which really should have not been there in the first place. I can hear women all over the world mutter “typical male decision making”.

I marshaled at Cambridge parkrun today. Very enjoyable. I spoke to Mary Holmes (75-79) who is still getting sub 30 minutes and asked after Peter Chaplin (80-84) who used to run at Cambridge but is no longer coming. That’s a pity. He’s still physically able to take part, I think. These two people are excellent role models and demonstrate that age need not be an insurmountable obstacle to running and physical exercise.

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I came across a few Ladybird books in the loft recently.The Old Woman and her Pig and The Magic Porridge Pot are beautifully surreal stories and finely illustrated, much superior to the Disney-fied later editions. They were cheap, hardback, had pictures every other page and could be easily read in one sitting. Parents, seek these out on Ebay! But beware of the The Record Breakers (1970) which shows various sporting records. There are 19 text pages and 19 facing illustrations of superlative achievements by men. There is one page and picture of a female long jumper whose Elfin appearance makes her look like a young boy. So, no female role models in this Ladybird reading scheme. If you must own this edition, keep it under lock and key and show it to no-one, particularly children.

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I REMAIN SUBSTANTIALLY CLOBBERED. IT’S NOT MY FAULT. I BLAME THE EVIL TORY GOVERNMENT.

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Six days ago, I came a cropper during the Hoohaah Wimpole half marathon falling heavily on rubble. My left thigh took most of the impact. I picked myself up, dusted myself off and started all over again (thanks, Nat King Cole). I fell at just over  a mile in and continued running for the next 12 miles. By the evening I was hardly weight bearing on my left leg leg and couldn’t bent it at the knee.

Now it’s six days on.There’s clearly been some improvement but it’s slow. I think I’ve had an impact injury to my quadriceps (and specifically to the rectus femoris), the type that footballers get when they get kicked in the thigh. I can walk but not jog, I haven’t been able to drive and I’ve got limited movement in my knee joint because any kind of stretching movement hurts.

Today is parkrun day and if I didn’t do it, I know I would have been subjected to a torrent of hate mail, Sinton-Hewitt would have been on my case and people would have openly wept in the streets of Cambridge. I don’t want that kind of attention so I decided to walk it .Usually Cambridge  attracts around 450 runners and more often than not a few people are walking most of it. Unfortunately, no-one walked it today although I wasn’t too far behind the people in front of me. Cambridge junior parkrun provided all the volunteers , including the 13 year old run director Chloe who gave a very confident pre-run  address to the assembled crowd. I was accompanied by tail runner 12 year old Ben who was very supportive to me and gave vocal encourage to the myriad runners who flashed past us. I hope he didn’t hear me grinding my teeth as I watched them recede into the distance. I came in at just over 48 minutes which, interestingly, is exactly twice the time I do it on this course when I go full pace. Young Benji, who has cerebral palsy, started late and came in a minute behind me. He ran with his mum and came in strongly to enormous applause.

Hopefully, I may be able to gently trot around Cambridge parkrun next weekend and then the subsequent one will be my 250th. It won’t be a PB!

Recent reports show the NHS in dire financial straits, suffering financial mismanagement, imply inefficiencies, experiencing poor staffing levels, missing targets and spending mountains of money on agency staff. If you treat the NHS as a market economy, require it to compete and make a “profit”, continuously emphasise poor financial governance, cut staff levels, employ dodgy borrowing devices with the private sector, continually reinforce the private sector has the nous, nerve and expertise to do a great (and cheaper) job and create standards which are designed to fail because of under funding, then it’s an inevitable set of outcomes.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/oct/09/chain-failings-led-death-charlotte-bevan-newborn-baby-coroner-rules

This is a very, very sad coroner’s report of the death of a mother and her newly born baby. She had a long history of mental ill health, sectioning under the Mental Health Act and had stopped medication in order to breastfeed. Tragically, she left a Bristol maternity hospital unchallenged and killed herself and her child shortly afterwards.

Reading the coroner’s comments and conclusions, it’s hard to comprehend the apparent complete lack of joined up, considered care for a patient who is so obviously at risk.. Vulnerable mothers with a history of severe mental illness have been having pregnancies and births for decades in a health system which is a aware of the level of input required to ensure the safety and well being  of mother and baby. I don’t think this event occurred because of a lack of understanding of the health requirements. I think it’s much more likely to be due to staff shortages, cost and unavailability. These days, I can’t accept that general hospital staff are so out of touch with mental health issues that they are capable of willfully ignoring them.

 

 

 

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HOOHAAH WIMPOLE HALF MARATHON – I GET CLOBBERED !!!

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Here I am, cruising along effortlessly,way ahead of everyone apart from the 102 people in front of me. But this relaxed, highly efficient running style  obscures a painful reality. At just over a mile into the half, we encountered a newly laid rubble farm road, full of large, sharp, vicious stones just waiting to wreak havoc. We had been warned about this surface and it couldn’t be avoided. Nevertheless, I failed to pick my feet up sufficiently, stumbled and fell flat. I don’t remember falling in a race before and I don’t intend to repeat the experience. It was embarrassing and very painful. I landed heavily on my left thigh and hands, got up, reckoned I was fit enough to carry on and started running again. My thigh continued to hurt but there was no discomfort in my knees or hips and the cuts on my hands were minor. I couldn’t see any bones protruding. So I carried on and did 12 more miles. When I stopped running my thigh started to stiffen up and swell. By the evening it was virtually non weight bearing and finding a comfortable position sitting or sleeping was very difficult. It’s more comfortable today although flexibility is limited.

Still, given the fall and residual cold symptoms, I did OK. The weather was lovely, the course a delight (mostly) and I met up with a number of chums who looked after me.

The previous day we did a bit of parkrun tourism and ran Brandon Country Park, a very enjoyable trail path about 40 minutes away from Milton.

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I am in a yellow jacket flanked by two running pals who didn’t run at Brandon. Kerry, in the red jacket, has a parkrun PB of 21 mins 24 secs this year and Mike, his arch rival, on my other side, has a PB of 22 mins 8 secs this year. They are both in the 65-69 age bracket and neither have been running longer than 3 years. There’s no justice in parkrun world. I think I’ll object to a higher authority on the grounds that parkrun is a social run not a race. They obviously take it too seriously.

We seem to have done a lot of running and socialising this weekend!

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Aliveandrunning January 29 2015 Janathon Day 29

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I bought this book after listening to Joanna Bourke talk to Laurie Taylor on BBC Radio 4’s Talking Aloud (on podcast). It discusses how  military imagery and acceptance of violence is ingrained in society, along with dependence on jobs and expenditure on research in industry and universities. The UK’s annual expenditure on military expenditure is around £69 billion, the fourth highest in the world. I’ve just dipped into it (the book not the £69 billion) It makes for sober reading.

Too many people, I think, are excited by violence, righteous destruction, punishment, use and appearance of weaponry, controlling nation states and manipulating them economically. I could go on but I’ll leave it there.

So often, there is an apparent absence of empathy and unwillingness to respond to the suffering of others at the most basic level. We just cut ourselves off  from it and focus on  our own narrow interests. This Tory government is very adept in this respect, imposing   thousands of cuts on the NHS and putting services in the hands of private providers.

One of the most important features of a civilised and humane society is the degree to which it provides practical, financial and professional support to the physically disabled, to people with mental health problems, those with learning disabilities, to the vulnerable and to children. So much lip service is given to this segment of society’s needs and so many cost saving cuts inflicted upon them.            

Yesterday’s Guardian (Society section) had a report on delays and problems with new disability claims http://gu.com/p/45876/sbl  and a feature on the Haven project, a service for people with personality disorders which is now under threat following the ending of central funding and the local clinical commissioning group deciding it’s not value for money http://gu.com/p/456db/sbl . The tax payer can breathe a sigh of relief and protected, subsidised and tax break corporates can laugh all the way to the bank.

So, back to running! I haven’t done any today. I ran out of time. I could run a couple of miles even now, in the dark, but I won’t. Deep down, in the murky id sediment of my mind, I know that a bit more rest after my glute injury is probably a good thing. I still have to sit down and get up carefully but otherwise it feels OK. I’ll run 2 miles or more tomorrow and parkrun on Saturday. If all goes well, the longer runs will start next week.

Janathon total for today : 2 mile dog walk.

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Aliveandrunning January 28 2015 Janathon Day 28

WP_20140612_016 I haven’t bought a book in this Cambridge shop. I’m still waiting for permission! I don’t think I’ve even been inside it . It’s not very big and doesn’t give the impression of being haunted but the little shop window is always stuffed full of old books with evocative illustrations  and nostalgic content. I know if I passed through the door an ancient person would look up from reading at a Regency gentleman’s desk and murmour “I’ve been waiting for you to visit me……peruse these original 1940’s Rupert annuals and take your time. When you’ve made your choices, cast your eyes over these Dore illustrated bibles…..you’ll find them irresistible” Of course I would take them all, as recommended, and then start looking over the bulging shelves. As the natural light fell, the bookseller would light the many candles on the chandelier, still muttering “Take your time.”

I decided not to run today. Yesterday’s 7k with the club was quite a hard workout for me and although my glutes felt reasonably OK this morning, I don’t think resuming daily running would quicken recovery. Possibly the opposite! As before I’m counting a 2 mile dog walk in my Janathon total. At the end of this month, it’s around 5 weeks to the Cambridge half marathon so I need to be fully fit to do the longer training runs. The good news is I can take my own socks off and can get out of a car seat without help.

 

 

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Aliveandrunning January 27 2015 Janathon Day 27

IMG_20150127_091134732 Snowdrops! Always lovely to see in mid winter. You don’t tend to notice them until they flower and then you wonder how you could have missed them.

I went running with the club this evening and I paid particular attention to the low curb near the track which caused me to fall last week. Looking at it very closely, I found it to be impossibly high. No wonder I came to grief. It was the curb’s fault after all and nothing to do with me not picking my feet up. Vindicated!

We did a 1k time trial then 5 x 1k with 3 minute recoveries. I didn’t have any difficulties with this and I don’t anticipate any adverse consequences tomorrow. My right gluteal muscle still feels bruised but it’s getting better and shouldn’t cause any further problems (hopefully).

Today’s Janathon total : around 7k.

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Aliveandrunningt January 25 2015 Janathon Day 25

10924155_1633228066905426_6909118553104344513_o Cold and frosty this morning but Cambridge junior parkrun went ahead. Given the I’ll-stay-in bed weather, it was surprising the turnout was a record – 158! I know I’m repeating myself but it really is wonderful to see the enthusiasm and joy on the children’s faces as they run around the 2k course, particularly the youngest ones who visibly respond to encouragement. This pic somewhat contradicts that assessment, of course. These children are  older and look more competitive.It just shows how junior parkrun can cater for all ages and abilities. Photo by Chris Gent.

A non running day owing to my injury which is still limiting movement in my hip. I took Rupert for a 2 mile walk. Walking is not a problem. I was going to run 2 miles tomorrow. Perhaps it would be wiser to give running a rest for a bit longer. After yesterday’s parkrun, I felt OK. Should I go running with the club on Tuesday? (please regard this as a stream of consciousness}.

Bought New Scientist today on the basis that there were at least 3 articles I couldn’t afford not to read (I’m good at this type of rationalisation: it’s called sophistry).

1. Are shoes destroying our feet? I kept nodding off while I read this. I think the answer is no but I’ll have to read it again.

2. What’s the beef? The truth about meat and your health.

3. Risking everything – Why people lay down their lives for strangers.

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Aliveandrunning January 24 2015 Janathon Day 24

DSC_0199 This is the tithe barn in the village where I live and today it had an Open Day. In 2027, it will be 500 years old but there is currently a struggle to obtain funds to restore and maintain it. If these efforts fail, it could be converted into a house or houses. That would be a great pity. Unfortunately there are limited options regarding how it could be used if funds could be found to save it.

DSC_0213  It’s on church land but is owned by either the parish council or south Cambridgeshire Council. A £100,000 is needed to restore it internally and to repair the thatch (straw on top of reed).There’s no parking and access is restricted to the grass path  in the pic below.

DSC_0244 We went to Wimpole Estate parkrun today. The weather was glorious – sunshine and blue skies. It was cold but that’s often a common feature of winter, isn’t it (see how knowledgeable I am about meteorology and seasonal variations!) There was more mud than last week and, blinded by the low light, I followed the couple in front of me into a quagmire whilst wiser runners skirted around it. A lovely run and good coffee and jam scone in the cafe with running pals. If there was a cloud on the horizon, it was the second hand bookshop not opening before we left (again). The cries of the books begging to be re-homed was pitiful and clearly audible through the heavy locked gates of the Courtyard.

WP_20150124_001 This weimaraner waiting patiently for its owners to reappear fixed me with its plaintive gaze. I half expected it to drive away!

I’m still only 70% fit. I can run but have difficulty putting my socks on. I may have another walking Janathon day tomorrow and run on Monday and Tuesday,

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Aliveandrunning January 23 2015 Janathon Day 23

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I sauntered into the surgery displaying a devil may care attitude. Booking in for my annual cardiovascular checkup, the counter staff were obviously struck by my charisma and magnetism. I wandered over to look at the reading matter table and it all fell apart, big time. Carpworld had escaped from Tesco’s shelf and wormed its way into a GP’s surgery! This is really toxic stuff which deserves to have its front page covered. It’s peddling lies. Are we expected to believe this is a real fish? Surely it’s inflated with air! If it is real, could this clearly elderly man summon the strength to pick it up? And why is he looking at it as if he’s holding a great, great grandchild? Completely bewildered, they led me to the clinical room containing the Health Care Assistant who spoke to me gently and did her devilish tests. Her top advice? Stay away fro angling mags, Oscar; they seem to work you up.

Following my fall, the pain in my butt continues to improve and I thought I would go for a little run to test my fitness. I ran my usual default 2 miles without problems and 3 hours afterwards, it’s fine. That means I’ll do Wimpole parkrun tomorrow. Hopefully it will be warmer than this morning’s -6c at 8 am.

The Guardian’s Lost in Showbiz is worth reading today, particularly if you are a fan of asterisks being called upon to part censor dangerously rude words in Sun world. http://gu.com/p/4557x

Stop press : Cambridge United has just held Manchester United to a draw at Cambridge in the FA Cup competition. Think David and Goliath.

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Aliveandrunning January 21 2015 Janathon Day 21

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“Ouch….ouch….ouch” I’m quoting myself  here and I could have continued with with significantly more ouches. This follows last night when I fell to the ground after tripping on a curb at the track. I was walking at the time, selflessly thinking about the needs of others because I’m that kind of guy. My judgement is second to none and I decided to go running with the club as planned since there seemed to be only minor discomfort to my right bottom area. I followed this up with warm down stretches and returned home. I had difficulty getting out of the car. It was painful on movement for the rest of the evening.

This morning, however, it felt much better and has further improved during the day. Certain movements are still painful like stooping or crossing my legs but full recovery is in sight. Just a bit of bruising, that’s all. My decision to run yesterday is thus fully vindicated and I remain infallible.

Nevertheless, I decided not to try to run today and went for a brisk walk with Ms Alive and Running. Around 2 miles. I’ll rest for a further day tomorrow and see how it is on Friday. Because I sometimes have the power of seeing into the future, I know it will be fine and I will do parkrun on Saturday.

Radio 4, File on 4, 20.1.2015, last night at 8 pm on benefit sanctions and claims that the system punishes or penalises vulnerable people, particularly the mentally ill. The claims ring true. Should be available on podcast.

This pic reminds me of last year’s London marathon. Looking forward to spectating again.