Feel The Fear.....& do it anyway

Good Morning Fudgey followers

As promised a wee update on this week.

Monday: First Run of Official 12 week plan. 30 minutes easy run. Groin was still feeling really tight but I felt I couldn't miss day 1 run 1. Once I got into the run it was good. Ran slower than my normal pace - it was supposed to be easy after all. Ran 4.83km in 31 mins 41 seconds. The running felt OK but afterwards I think if the muscles in my right inner thigh & groin area could have disowned me they would have.
On a positive note though the ITB is perfect :-)

Tuesday: In the Gym. My Happy Place. So many tensions / stresses / anxieties get resolved when I go for a workout. I confess I am a gym junkie these days but it helps keep me sane and makes me feel so good. This was a non running day on my schedule and was planned a cross training day - there was a little treadmill running though.
10 minutes Run 1.73km
Superset of 15 reps swiss ball plank roll & 12 reps lower back extensions x 3 sets
Superset of 15 reps Olympic bar squats with 5lb on each side & 10 lunges each leg with 20kg bar x 3 sets
3 sets of 15 reps bosu ball squats with 7kg dumbbells
and finished off with another 10 min run 1.75km

Wednesday: Rest Day. I was limping :-( The right side wasn't feeling happy at all. Thankfully I had the opportunity to get a sports massage. For anyone who hasn't experienced a sports massage it's not like going to a beauty salon & being all relaxed - it can actually be quite painful. My massage therapist was delighted with the ITB on the left leg & pleased with my legs in general but when she came to work the right inner thigh & groin I thought I was going to be sick with the pain.
The muscles felt a lot looser afterwards but the heat from my leg was intense and it felt like a deep bruise might develop, but one of the best ways to avoid serious & permanent injuries is to deal with niggles as soon as they start.

Thursday: Was meant to be a running day and an interval session was planned, but I did nothing. The right leg although feeling much more relaxed was very tender. Since I have a 5km Race on Sunday I thought it better to take another rest day and see how I felt on Friday

Friday: Feel the Fear.....and do it anyway. Today was also a running day on the schedule a 40 minute steady run, but I opted for Thursday's missed interval session instead & chose to head to the gym to do it so that if anything didn't feel good I could work round it by cross training i.e cycling, rowing, cross trainer or even heading down to the pool. About an hour before I headed to the gym I ate a banana and 30 minutes before I had a Viper Extreme bar
Session consisted of 10 minutes easy running followed by 6 x 4 minute cycles (2 mins fast, 2 mins easy) and then finished off with 10 minutes easy running.
I was so apprehensive when I stepped on the treadmill - what if I couldn't run? what if it really hurt? would I be able to run on Sunday? I could have h=just decided not to even try and headed to the swimming pool but sometime you have to Feel the fear and face it head on. The first 5 minutes felt awkward and a little uncomfortable but as I settled into a stride and relaxed it got better. It took a full 20 minutes to find my running form and overall it wasn't my best session but I did it. If it had been really painful I would have stopped. It is important to listen to your body , but sometimes you have to push yourself out of your comfort zone.
Some major stretching and cooling down after the session and I actually think that the increased blood flow through my muscles helped the inner thigh / groin.

Friday Night Inspiration / Motivation

Eddie Izzard - Eddie Iz Running If you haven't seen this you have to try and catch some of it. You can get it on the BBC iplayer or follow this link
The crazy guy took up the challenge to run 43 marathons in 51 days for Sports Relief
An incredible challenge for an experienced runner but when the programme starts it turns out Eddie has done 2 weeks training and the challenge was to start in another 4 weeks.
We watched the first episode and it made me laugh, cry, sit open mouthed in sheer disbelief. By the end of the episode not to give too much away he had run approx 10 marathons. It made me think if he can do that of course I can run the half marathon in May. In fact I'll go out and run it now - it wouldn't be easy and yes it would hurt but I COULD do it.
Go on give it a quick peep.

Saturday: and we arrive at today. Since I have my 5km race tomorrow rather than a usual Sunday long run I decided I'd head out for a quick 2.76km run. This was really to test out how the whole body is feeling especially running outside as it is completely different to running on a treadmill. I was still apprehensive about the right side though it is feeling pretty good.
Fast Fudge or Little Running Wife as hubby has started to call me annihilated the 2.76km this morning. 15 mins 4 seconds - that is incredible pace for me. Everything felt good so I'm now super excited for tomorrow.
Will let you know how I get on.

Well I had better get on with some housework now.

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend

Oh & special mention to another crazy running chick - Rachel is running the Bath Half Marathon tomorrow. Go get em Rachel. GOOD LUCK :-)