Injury and recovery

How do you actually know if any sort of injury has had enough time to heal? Do you sit around and wait for time to do it's thing? Do you give up and wait for the next fad to hit you? or do you give it a go and risk taking a few steps backward....for a little while.....I seem to have done the latter recently.

I have the remnants of a cold, a hairline fracture to a rib and have been suffering with tendonitis. The weather yesterday evening looked so lovely that, although after a restless nights sleep that left me feeling very tired and I was already below par, I was motivated to get back out.

Su and I did the Down's again. The place was heaving...joggers, kite-flyers, dog-walkers, footy games, soft baller's, bar-b-q er's and landsailer's were about. Nobody can deny how lucky we are in Bristol to have such a space like that, which manages to hold so many activities and people without seeming crowded. The bushes just after seawalls have also had a mega haircut, obviously an attempt to help Bristol fire brigade with it's mainbeam (long story)

My right achilles was aching a bit to start with but eased off fairly quickly and athough I could feel the ache in my right side (where the HAIRLINE (mum) fracture is)
it didn't seem to be causing me any problems, exactly. I didn't however feel great. The weather was pretty muggy and the end tail of my cold was causing me a bit of a problem, along with the fact that due to various injuries I've lost a bit of fitness and sometimes, well you simply just don't feel great.

Today driving to work, the sun was out and I was listening to heart fm. Carwash by Rose Royce (could you get more 70's?) came on and that, coupled with a much needed restful night, has got to put you in a jolly frame of mind.....AND for the first time in a month no pain in my achilles, yey! However slightly concerned that the dull ache in my right side has turned into a sharp pain and seems to come from under, rather in, my ribs. I am hoping it's just a bruised muscle rather than a bruised liver. I need that liver for a bar-b-q on Friday. Oh and on Saturday :-)

Paris or Cassis?

Having rested, yet again, due to achilles tendonitis. I managed to cajole L (all be it on a scooter) into accompanying me on a 3-4 miler around Henleaze. This was a stupid idea. Not only was my right achilles still uncomfortable and I still had a streaming cold, but I had also taken a blow to the right side of my ribs, having fallen whilst balancing precariously on a chair (I know, I know) putting up a curtain rail the day before....which, after the initial shock and reassuring "no but fu" to the question "oh my god, mum are you dead?" L and I thought it quite hilarious. At the time.

Although there was a bruise on the right side of my torso the pain wasn't too bad and I thought a bit of exercise would 'loosen' things up. Wrong. It certainly wasn't long before I could feel 'movement' in my rib cage and a sharp stabbing pain........yep, I have been struck again and now have a fractured rib (it may only be a hairline one but it blumin' well hurts, especially when you need to cough, sneeze, blow your nose or laugh at crap jokes...i'll spare you).

So, as it was Paris who shot at, AND killed Achilles (even though he was guided by Apollo because he was apparently actually rubbish at archery or something like that) I have decided I shall not be visiting my Brother who lives in the city of Paris this spring. I will, however, take up the invite to visit him when he and Estelle go to their place in Cassis in the summer.....beaches, sunshine oh and the appellation Cassis wine received; the appellation d'Origine Controllee in 1936, the first in the region (Provence). See, every cloud....

Achilles, the Trojan War Hero of Greek Mythology

His Mother tried to make him immortal by dipping him in some holy river or other, unfortunately she missed a bit at the back of his heel and it was an arrow that hit that exact spot that killed him. I'm wondering what other parts of my body were missed by the holy water (is that what they use?)at my christening.

I had taken another week's rest after the pain in my right achilles returned, though last night decided to try it out again. Su and I set off to do the usual 'Downs' run, we took a steady pace in an attempt not to cause anymore inflammation or pain. I was nervous and realised I was compensating when my calf muscle and shin started to ache at about 3 miles, so I decided to relax into the pace and see what happened.

Things were going well, so well infact that when we passed Funderworld (or better known-pay eleven pounds to get your head kicked in, verbally abused or at best gobbed on), which has been set up on the Downs over the Easter holiday, a tune from my running play list was blasting out (see the young, trendy and err sordid play one of the songs on my play list so I must be a little bit kewl, at least?) Anyway this spurred us on and we decided to double loop the Downs before going back through Westbury Park taking us to 6 miles, according to mapmyrun. A jolly well done to M for keeping up cycling, managing to avoid the traffic and who's bike I was eyeing up as an emergency vehicle should I have needed one.

When I got home I did not sit in an iced cold bath (lesson learned) but I did shower the back of my ankle with freezing cold water, stretched and massaged the area. However today, not only have I woken up with a stonking cold but I also find myself, yet again, sat at my desk with icepacks shoved down my socks to ease the pain in my right achilles tendon. I am not only frustrated but I am also very sad, tomorrow I head up North to family for Easter and now I will no longer be having a guilt-free chocolate fest. Boo Hiss.

Achilles tendonitis and spare tyres

I love food. It is a fact, and I don't like to deny myself. I don't love running but the consequences simply outweigh the pain. However, what happens when you injure yourself and can't run? well in my case you put on nearly half a stone in 2 weeks. It is not a joke.

A couple of Wednesday's ago I had arranged to go on a run with Phil after work, It would be our first run since his sterling performance at the Bath half coming in at 1.32. I was late off work so hurried to meet him in Hanham, without stretching....there is a common theme throughout this blog about the impact of stretching, or not as the case might be, and tendon problems. Suffice to say as we ran up Wilsbridge Hill, I felt my right achilles start to pull and then rapidly turn into a smarting pain and we had to stop, something I hate doing. Worst of all the stopping didn't arrest the pain over the next few days even though I spent the whole time sat at my desk with ice packs strapped to my ankle. The result has been that I have had to rest it for 2 weeks, turn down a 9.5 miler with Jon (who's training for the Bristol 10k and subsequent Bristol Half is considerabley better than mine) (phew) and the spare tyre nestling around my midriff has enlarged itself (nothing to do with me).

Last night I decided to give it a try, so Su and I set off to do a gentle four miles-unfortunately the pain returned despite the rest, ice packs and stretching but we did manage to finish up. So here I am sat at my desk with my boot off and an ice pack strapped to my ankle again and I'm frustrated to say the least, especially as I fought through the pain barrier whilst submersed in an ice cold bath last night (stupidly, I believed THAT joker's idea and it wasn't even April Fool's day yesterday)....I'm hoping to find the very young, very fit, very tall, very fit physio in work later today to see if he doesn't mind taking a look. Don't worry my legs have been tended to and are silky smooth this time :-)

Cycling to Bath to watch the half marathon, or not

If you ever decide to cycle to Bath from Bristol on the tow path to watch the Bath half marathon here are a few tips; make sure you know exactly how far it is to Bath from where you join the cycle path (that way you won't miss the race like we did), stock up on plenty of fluids, cake and sandwiches AND if you go with a 13 year old; make sure their bike seat has been adjusted since last year to the correct height or you will, I promise, feel terribly guilty when you've made the 14 miles to Bath and realise why your child hasn't enjoyed the ride AT ALL! Luckily for us at the end of the track there was a pub for refreshments and a jolly helpful chap fixing his boat who was happy enough to make the required adjustments.

The good things were; we had sunny weather, beautiful country side, the track takes you past a working steam railway and is traffic-free, the various 'artifacts' along route, the long dark spooky tunnel, the variety of cakes at the tea shop on the way (my vote; lemon drizzle) and we found an excellent pub on the canal at the end of the track.

The bad things were; one fed up teenager, not enough fluids for the journey, forgetting to wear padded shorts hence the John Wayne walk for 2 days, getting up off the bench in the pub garden finding my body had seized up and we still had to cylce the 15 miles home....and finally, when we did get back to Bristol, the added insult of being "the most embarrassing mother on the planet"....well there was a rock band playing in the Farrier's Arms garden next to where I had parked the car.......