Steady running

I managed a good 75 minutes today. It would have been less but I got lost about three woods away from home. I have only been in there once and then there was snow everywhere so it looked different totally. Still it was beauticul weather and empty forest so it was great. My legs ached a bit near the end but i stll did not feel the dep tiredness I used to when i was training hard. perhaps I am being a bit soft on myself in my old age!!

Gower Hills

At my sisters in the Gower near Swansea in Wales. Went for a run up the hills and lanes. It was wonderful and totally different from Latvia. I went down and back up again it was so good. part of the road was at least 1 in 4 and I had to walk it was so steep. But a real boost to morale as I recovered quickly at the top and ran really well and fast along a lane for about a kilometer. It was also great to ruun fast downhill without any feelings of stress around my knees or legs. I loved it.

BACK ON FEET

I ran in the Riga orienteering championships yesterday. It was great feeling to run through a fresh spring forest in the warm and sun. The colours were wonderful and for a change the course was challenging both for my brain and body. OK - truthfully I made loads of silly mistakes. Most of these were because it is really 2 and a half years since I was in the forest last, in Estonia. My mistakes were mainly drills and lack of practice but lack of self confidence also played a part.

Anyway I go to Finland in June for another go and I must do some more training before then. Lets hope my body stays whole and I can train properly and well.

BACK RUNNING

At last, am back running properly again. I was wary of writing anything until I had handled a couple of days of steady work over 40 mins. This calf tear has taken 2 months to cure. the problem was simply that the right calf was so strong that I could not reach the deep muscle to stretch it. When i worked on it with my thumb and ice i could break up the tissue but then the next day I could not keep it stretched so it reformed. very frustrating.

I found the best way was to stretch on the up escalator because the metal edges were able to hold the sole of my shoe tight without slipping. But I could not go up and down all day. I had to make special vists to centre shop and go to the top floor just to dig at the calf.

Anyway today I ran a bit faster and it all seemed OK. I would like to run the Riga half next week but that may be risky. We shall see. I have Jukola Orienteeering in Finland in 4 weeks as well. I missed last year with fever so I dont want to miss another year.

CALF TEAR

The calf tear I picked up when I fell in my ski race back in February is lingering. I am doing all the right things I tell others to do but it persists. I knew it was bad at the time because It really hurt and that is unusual for me. I am jogging slowly, stretching, ice, heat and rest and trying to eat well. Hopefully it will recover stronger than ever. I would really like to have a season on the track as a 55 year old. I am ready apart from the calf. very frustrating indeed.

SNOW - AGAIN

I left my scarf in Loughborough by mistake and told Alex that it didn't matter as spring had come to Latvia. So here we are again - it snowed again in Riga last night! Today was my first serious run since I tore my calf and the woods were beautiful, warm and white. Underfoot was seriously slippery as it was powdery wet snow on ice. I nearly went over a couple of times. I think I have jarred my neck in the process. It really hurts now. What we do to be athletes!

BAD LEG

After an amazing ski on saturday in near perfect conditions I have been forced to be idle since then with a bad calf. I am doing al the right things, ice, heat, stretching, but it refuses to heal. My problem is that my calves are quite strong so I cannot get past the muscle strength to stretch them fully. I need to be doing this constantly but when I am injured it becomes really hard to get it right. I shall rest and stretch today and then try running again thursday. If that fails I shall just run and suffer until it sorts itself out. it always does work this way but it does hurt doing it.

Loads of snow and plus 4 so park is completely hard running on ice, water and slush. Oh well!!