Blog has moved

Howdy readers - I have moved my blog

Got fed up with this Beta version so I have moved to the more Mac friendly word press.

I won't import my old posts so I'll hang onto blogger.com for the history

You can find me at www.emruns.wordpress.com

hope you like my new site! It is still under construction and will evolve over the coming weeks.

Another Breakthrough

RunningRiding
60 Minutes tempo session today, warm up for 20 minutes then last 40 minutes of steady pace at increased effort. Frankly, the sooner I get off that thing the better really, tonight was a real drag. But I have good news, today I decided I could manage a walk home from the station. Under normal circumstances I always walk home from the station, the bus is never on time and it's only 2km anyway. For the last 2 weeks I have been confined to the bus, but today I had a very pleasant and very comfortable walk home, bliss! And I was able to walk around barefoot for a short while, though I am not risking too much of that, I can definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel now. Of course this brings me to the next and perhaps most frustrating phase. The "almost better but it could all go to hell again if I try to return to early" phase. So now I must be super patient and stick with the bike and the pool for AT LEAST another week, possibly 10 days. On that note my floatation belt arrived yesterday so I am going to the pool first thing tomorrow for an hour. I'll be well and truly throwing vanity out the window, it looks like some sort of weird bustle sort of arrangement

I bought some more Sofsoles today and at the risk of sounding like a a paid spokesperson, I love these things. In my totally uninformed opinion shoe companies let themselves down with the quality of the insole they put in the shoes. All this wonder technology goes into wizz bang jiggery pokery that does everything but go on the run for you, then they put these crappy tatty useless insoles into the shoe. Now if you have freakishly high arches like me you need something extra. So when ever I get a new pair of runners I buy the Arch Support insole, yes at $50 a throw they are insanely expensive, but as I am generally getting my runners on the cheap from the US these days it's not so bad. And for the sake of my feet it's worth it. Anyway, this is a long way around to getting to the point. Nike came through this time around and my Air Equalons had great arch support so I didn't need the inserts. But I picked up a pair to put inside my street shoes and they made a huge difference so I'll just rotate this pair around all my work shoes and street shoes, keep up with the stretching, look after my calves and hopefully this PF will not become a monkey on my back

Other Stuff
No other stuff today. I was of a mind to have a little whine and a moan (thanks Lilly Allen) about feeling like a fat cow as I am sure I have put on weight (refuse to get on the scales), but you know what! Who gives a rats!!! Let's call December my month off, I need to rehab the injury, I am still cross training and after a year of building a base and losing more weight I reckon I can kick back for a few weeks, have a few drinks and chill, I 'aint gonna feel bad about it. Next year will be huge and any extra weight will surely be gone by the end of January anyway. And let's face it, my definition of indulgence is most peoples Normal.

Been out for a while now, but has anyone heard the latest from the John Butler Trio, Funky Tonight? JJJ listeners surely would have. Man I love that song, I am a big JBT fan anyway but this one is something else. Just makes me want to get up and dance around and sing every time it comes on, really puts a smile on my dial.

A break through!

RunningRiding and Injury Update
Nothing today, very long and stressful day at work then decided to go out for dinner on the way home, a few relaxing wines later and I just decided to pack it in for a change. Guess I am human after all ;-)

Good News, walked all day today with no discernable discomfort, even forgot all about the injury and was power walking a bit at one stage. I can walk up hills with no pain now as well, where previously I was doing this weird side step shuffle. This afternoon when I got home I even tried walking bare foot. Happy to report almost (almost but not quite) no discomfort there as well. Things are looking up!!!!

Ranting
I am well and truly on one of those moods tonight. Quite a stressful day at work, in fact close to one of the worst, I nearly had my first "run to the toilets and cry" moments, not because I was upset but out of frustration. I won't bore blogland with the details because it would just unleash a tsunami of bile and vitriol and that does no one any good at all. Made 100% worse by the fact that I would usually head of for a long relaxing run after work and forget all about it, instead I resort to stuffing my face and drinking.

To add to my aggravation this was the insane scene that met me not long after leaving the office, on my walk to the station. WHY, I ask you WHY, do people insist on entering an intersection, especially during peak hour in the city, when there is clearly no room on the other side, thus blocking said intersection when the lights change? In this case this evening two dumb asses in a ute with the back end blocking the pedestrian walkway and another dumb ass P plater blocking the intersection proper. In a split second lights change, pedestrians start crossing, P Plater gets honked and abused, panics and surges forward, pedestrians (me included) collectively jump out of our skins. In the meantime a poor blind guy with a cane walks straight into the back of the ute and dumb asses start yelling at him, until another guy helps the blind man and gives the dumb asses a well deserved spray. All of this pretty much happens in the blink of an eye. A few weeks ago when crossing the same road I had to jump out of the way as another idiot P Plater who does not know how to do a hook turn also panicked and ploughed through the pedestrians, it is a miracle no one was hurt or killed.

Now I have lost someone very dear to me as a result of speeding motor cyclist meets pedestrian, so perhaps I am a little sensitive. But seriously why can't people just relax and not carry on like total fuckwits, everyone wants to get home sooner rather than later, but just chill and take it easy, for pity's sake.

Hey Pilbara, thanks for the comment about Trixta, he is a He though and while looking fairly cute and innocent in the photo he is in fact a right little bastard most of the time, of course I still love the little rug rat and did name my blog after him.

Something 'aint right with my new toy, Yellbox. In the mac browser Safari I can see it properly, but in other browsers it is cut off along the side. Anyway, too annoyed to work it out tonight, I'll play with the HTML on the weekend. Also not too happy now that I have changed to Beta Blogger, something weird is up with the comments.

2 weeks since I last ran

RunningRiding & Injury Update
I suppose I should be saying what I am doing on the bike because I am not just peddling away aimlessly. Yesterday it was intervals, total ride time was 60 minutes with about 30 minutes of intervals. Alternating between 30 second "sprints" with 30 second recovery and 60 second "sprints" with 60 second recovery. Today was rolling hills while keeping the RPM above 100 to work on strength, this was also a 60 minute session. Tomorrow will be a tempo session, 60 minutes with 40 minutes at tempo pace.

The foot is improving every day. Today was the first day in over a week without being taped up and I am happy to report I felt pretty comfortable. Lot's of stretching before getting out of bed, then on with the Birkenstocks, I could feel the first couple of steps but was fine by the time I got t the end of the hallway. Most notably there is very little discomfort when I get up after sitting for a while, also I am becoming less conscious of the injury.

So it's been 2 weeks exactly since I last ran, I remain positive but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't frustrating. I have noticed that my mood is decidedly downbeat at work, I really struggle to get through the day, and it’s fair to say I am not my usual cheery self. I have read that exercise has a positive effect on Serotonin levels, so maybe that explains things. Sure I am riding but as I have already mentioned it doesn't cut it for me. I am also worried about putting on weight and confess the comfort food has got a bit of a look in lately, still, at least I am remaining active. Hopefully I'll be able to have a trot next week, I plan to ease in Run/Walk style.

Stuff
Found a new toy today, it's called Yellbox, you can get it free from Yellbox.com it's over there in the sidebar, not sure if it will be of much use but I'll give it a go, thought it might be a nifty way of responding to comments left here.

I hooked my digital camera up to my Mac for the first time today, amazing, it immediately started downloading photo's into iPhoto, no hassles. On my old lap top I used to have to stuff around for ages to get the Kodak software to work properly, used to drive me mad. I took a picture of the dreaded exercise bike last night after my workout, though I shouldn't call it that it is serving me well. It's also a rowing machine but I don't bother with that, my puny little girls arms and runners upper body are too weak and I am stuffed after 5 minutes. For some strange reason Trixta (AKA Asterix) loves sleeping on the seat.

RunningRiding & Injury update
Another 60 minutes on the bike this afternoon. At least I had the test match for company, amazingly we turned this one around and got up for a win after the Poms choked and were bowled out easily this afternoon, leaving us chasing only 168.

I took the tape off my foot tonight, damn it was nice to be able to shower without a plastic bag taped to my foot! This also means instead of wearing my runners around the house I can switch to my Birkenstocks, much easier to slip into. Now I can start the regime of stretching and massage, out comes the old baseball to roll under my foot, also The Stick is quite good too, just need to prop one end up on some books. I have a floatation belt on order that should arive by Thursday. My Aunt and Uncle live close by and they have a pool, as Satuday is going to be a stinker I'll pop over there and do my "long run" in their pool, hopefully one of my cousins will keep me company. Will have to remember to slip, slop, slap though.

Perspective and Dim Sims
I was reading Kelly Holmes' autobiography on the train this morning and was a bit embarassed as I started to get quite teary. She had to endure quite a bit of injury during her career, not to mention ongoing abdominal troubles that would cause her great pain after training. I was reading about how low she felt after tearing her Achilles Tendon and rupturing her calf muscle. She went through many periods were she couldn't run for months, it really put my own injury into perspective that's for sure. She has been pretty honest about her feelings during these times of injury. It makes you realise that elite athletes are simply ordinary people with an extraordinary talent, but with the same fears, doubts and insecurities as the rest of us, and with a hell of alot more pressure to deal with.

Please, when are they going to ban Dim Sims on the trains. Nothing makes me retch more than sitting next to someone chowing down on a bag of steamed Dim Sims, I feel like saying, "I don't mind you eating those if you don't mind me vomitting all over you". And YES I could move, but by the time you get to Museum, sorry showing my age, Melbourne Central station there is no where to move.