Running for my Disney - a PPTR...

[zanzibar138]

This week was a bit of a struggle emotionally with all the tragic events in the US I'll admit right here and now that I probably ate more comfort food than I should have. The good news is that I did extra exercise this week, and managed to still lose a couple of hundred grams. One more kg to go until I get to my first goal.

I had my physio appointment booked in before work on Tuesday, so I was up bright and early to be there by 7am. Unfortunately there was no booking for me in the calendar and, as the physio wasn't actually there, I had no choice but to just book in for another time and move on. While it was still early and I was in my workout clothes, I decided to take the opportunity to go for a walk in a different area, and managed to clock up about 4km.

Bootcamp was on Tuesday evening, and I pushed myself a bit harder, having pulled up ok after the last few. I thought I may have overdone it after the walk in the morning, but after a good stretch and an ice massage, my legs felt fine the next day.

Thursday morning I went back to the physio and actually managed to see him He was quite pleased with my progress (that I hadn't had too much soreness after bootcamp) and decided to change his plan of attack. He had planned to get me through with strapping, but with a glimmer of hope that I could make it without strapping, he did a lot of massage and some more acupuncture. Ouch!

Yesterday morning was another bootcamp session, and I pushed myself harder still. I'm now up to doing 1 1/2 laps of the oval at a jog without causing any lasting injury, and I do the sprint part of the circuit, but I'm still walking the zig-zagging around cones part. I figure zig-zagging is probably the most likely to cause injuries.

We had a visitor from Perth stay with us last night, and she was keen to go for a bush walk in our area (we are surrounded by beautiful temperate rainforest with heaps of great bush-walking opportunities). We ended up walking to Sassafras, which is at the top of the 'mountain' (the mountain is only about 600m high). It was nearly 10km, and the last section was quite steep. After my morning bootcamp workout, it was very hard work! We rewarded ourselves with coffee and cakes at one of the little cafes. My legs coped with the walk very well, and today I only have muscle soreness, which is fine.

Unfortunately I seem to have injured my wrist somewhere along the way (I'm going to blame the 'crawling' we did at bootcamp last weekend). It's mainly just been sore on certain angles, but it's definitely getting worse, and last night I noticed that it's a bit puffy compared to the other wrist. I figure the push ups/dips etc we do at bootcamp aren't helping. Anyway, something else to have the physio look at when I see him next

 

[PrincessInOz]

My progress this week was to cut back on the amount of food I'm eating! Not as momentous as yours.....

Keep up the good work.

 

[mickeyd78]

Sounds like things are improving. Sorry to hear that your wrist is giving you trouble. At least your wrist shouldn't prevent you from doing your walks and jogging.

 

[zanzibar138]

My progress this week was to cut back on the amount of food I'm eating! Not as momentous as yours.....

Keep up the good work.

Thanks PIO, though I don't really count my progress this week as 'momentous'

Sounds like things are improving. Sorry to hear that your wrist is giving you trouble. At least your wrist shouldn't prevent you from doing your walks and jogging.

Yes, a sore wrist I can deal with As long as my legs keep improving I'll be happy.

 

[Minniemum]

It's good to hear you've had a good week with your shins.

 

[zanzibar138]

Just a quick update here before I go to work, otherwise I'll never get to it!

My legs were steadily improving last week, but I did notice that my wrist was getting worse! The physio did lots of massage all the way up and down my arm, and some acupuncture in my shoulder, as there was a lot of tension there. It improved a little after all that, although I did end up with big bruises all the way down my arm He also did some more massage and acupuncture on my legs, and is very pleased with how they're progressing. Although he did say to me to make sure I stop running after I do this run

Unfortunately as I got stuck at work on Tuesday, I didn't make it to bootcamp. I went for a walk on Thursday to make up for it - ended up doing just over 10km and my legs felt great afterwards.

I did make it to bootcamp on Saturday. I told the trainers about my wrist and they said they could amend the workout for me. The 'runners' in the group all went off for a run through the forest, and a few of us non-runners stayed and did laps of the oval. I pushed myself a bit more and did 2 laps of running at a time, with one walking for a rest in between. It felt pretty good running a decent distance at a time again

When the others got back, the trainers brought out the boxing gear Of course I couldn't do boxing in the traditional way because of my wrist, so I got paired with one of the trainers. For the first section I had to box with my elbows, which was odd but not too bad. The next section they were doing upper cuts, and I had to do it with my knees! It just about killed me, and on the last set I had both trainers encouraging me and counting me down to the end

Unfortunately I overdid it, and my legs have been sore again ever since On the plus side though, my wrist seems to be getting better

 

[PrincessInOz]

Sounds like too much pain for me. But as they say, no pain, no gain!

 

[Minniemum]

A big thumbs up for your wrist improving! You're braver than I doing acupuncture.

Why do our bodies and minds trick us? The scenario plays out something like this...you're all warmed up, your body lulls you into that "I'm feeling good", your mind responds with a "yeah, you can do this!", you finish the session and think "Wow! I've worked hard and no pain" then during cool down the pain starts. With all those endorphins running around during exercise it's so easy for them to cloud your mentally responsibility. The upside out of all this is you're mentally strong.

Here's to a less painful week.

 

[zanzibar138]

Sounds like too much pain for me. But as they say, no pain, no gain!

That is true PIO, especially when it comes to exercise! But there's good pain and bad pain. I wish the bad pain would just leave me alone for a while!

A big thumbs up for your wrist improving! You're braver than I doing acupuncture.

Why do our bodies and minds trick us? The scenario plays out something like this...you're all warmed up, your body lulls you into that "I'm feeling good", your mind responds with a "yeah, you can do this!", you finish the session and think "Wow! I've worked hard and no pain" then during cool down the pain starts. With all those endorphins running around during exercise it's so easy for them to cloud your mentally responsibility. The upside out of all this is you're mentally strong.

Here's to a less painful week.

Yeah I'm not sure why my legs are so sensitive - it doesn't actually hurt while I'm running now, just afterwards, so it's really hard not to overdo it I just have to get through the next 18 months though Acupuncture was BAD this morning with my legs being so sore already

 

[zanzibar138]

Last week I had my last weekly physio session. From now on I'll just go once a month or as I need it. As I mentioned in one of my other posts, the acupuncture was really bad Not sure if he was being extra mean or whether it was just because my legs hurt quite a bit already

I missed bootcamp last Tuesday as well. I don't have a proper excuse - I really could have made it if I rushed. But I just felt like I needed a relaxing night at home. And I have to say it was worth it

It was pretty tempting not to go on Saturday morning too, but with DH's 'help' I managed to drag myself out of bed and get down there. Unfortunately once they brought out the skipping ropes my legs were pretty much shot for the rest of the class, but I did what I could and felt better for going.

After our DisMeet lunch on Saturday Minniemum and I went for a walk around the 'Tan', which was a nice way to loosen up after the morning session. Unfortunately though, my legs still haven't recovered from bootcamp

On the plus side, my savings is up to nearly $1500! I've done up a sample itinerary and budget and I'm right on track (and my parents like the itinerary too which is important since they'll be with me!)

 

[PrincessInOz]

YAY for the savings! That's a great effort all round.

 

[zanzibar138]

Hmm... didn't realise this was week 38. I've usually considered 38 to be a lucky number, but not this week My legs have been playing up all week - I've been getting twinges of pain in my shins and ankles while I've just been sitting at my desk, or driving etc. Luckily it hasn't gotten to the stage where it's hurt to actually walk. So I've taken that as a sign that I have once again been overdoing it, and have really cut back this week.

Instead of going to bootcamp, I've just been walking or doing some strength exercises at home. It's just too hard not to overdo it when I go to bootcamp. I'm really hanging out for this gym to open, but apparently there may be another delay I just really need to start doing some physically demanding exercise that is a bit more low impact.

I've kind of given up on the idea of any sort of running training for the event, and figure I'm just going to have to work on my fitness in other ways, and hope that it will be enough to get me through. I figure if I can do 10km on the cross trainer at a decent pace, I should be aerobically fit enough to run 10km, so that will be my ultimate goal at the gym. My legs will just have to deal with it the best they can on the day.

I've been thinking about the consequences of going in with this attitude as far as travel insurance goes. It's quite possible that I'm going to need medical attention for my legs after the race, perhaps even crutches or other medical appliances (hopefully not a wheelchair, but it's possible if I end up with stress fractures in both legs and can't walk at all). I've thought about ringing around a few insurance companies and seeing what their policies are etc, but knowing what travel insurance for the US is normally like, I can imagine that this is going to turn into a ridiculously expensive exercise Does anyone have experience with travel insurance for existing conditions? Any suggestions/recommendations would be gratefully received

 

[PrincessInOz]

No real experience with medical insurance for pre-existing conditions. Sorry. That's the benefit of being a couch potato.

 

[zanzibar138]

Well, not much to report this week. I've hit that really unmotivated stage again. My legs just aren't improving, and there's so little exercise I can actually do from a practical perspective at the moment being dark all the time and the gym having more and more delays to opening.

Mum gave me a talking to about my plan to just work on my fitness and do the run whether my legs are ready for it or not. She doesn't want to spend the rest of her holiday pushing me around in a wheelchair and carrying my luggage for me - fair point So that has dampened my spirits a little. I'm really starting to lose faith that I can actually do this We'll still do the event, but am starting to resign myself to the fact that I probably won't be able to run the whole thing.

I've decided to just let myself give it a rest for a couple of weeks and hopefully get back into it with renewed enthusiasm. I am also thinking about actually going to the doctor regarding my legs.

 

[mickeyd78]

Zanzibar,

How fast can you walk? During my training I discovered that at a brink walk I can comfortably stay below a 10min/km (usually around 9min/km). The Disney races have a 16min/mile (10min/km) pace limit, so provided you could stay just under that it might me feasible to brisk walk the 10miles - Maybe the reduced impact would save your legs?

 

[PrincessInOz]

Good idea about the fast walking.

 

[zanzibar138]

Zanzibar,

How fast can you walk? During my training I discovered that at a brink walk I can comfortably stay below a 10min/km (usually around 9min/km). The Disney races have a 16min/mile (10min/km) pace limit, so provided you could stay just under that it might me feasible to brisk walk the 10miles - Maybe the reduced impact would save your legs?

Unfortunately walking fast also hurts my shins (but to a lesser extent). It's not just about the pace though, I'm worried that I will come away very disappointed if I have to walk it. I've never had any problem walking 10km, so to do the event at a walk won't be much of an achievement. Besides, I want to have time up my sleeve to get photos etc

 

[PrincessInOz]

I think your mum has the right idea. Just work on your fitness and see how you go.

 

[Minniemum]

Zanzibar I'm sorry to hear your shins are still causing you trouble. Are you able to substitute your running/walking with something else? Swimming? Stationery bike?

 

[zanzibar138]

Zanzibar I'm sorry to hear your shins are still causing you trouble. Are you able to substitute your running/walking with something else? Swimming? Stationery bike?

Not as yet. It's a bit tough at the moment because the gym *still* isn't open and without that I don't have access to any exercise equipment. Yep, it's getting a bit ridiculous now When I do have access to the gym I plan to do lots on the cross trainer and exercise bike, and maybe even work up the courage to do some swimming. Mum said I can probably use a kickboard to decrease my risk of drowning :rotf: