Tag: running

Nerves

~ e.v. ~ 4 Comments

Sadly I am going to end my current 38 day running streak. I have run every consecutive day for the past 38 days, for a total of 388km. That’s an average of 10km a day. Not bad!

Before that, I was on a 40 day streak, but took one rest day. So I’ve run 77 of the last 78 days.

But the neuroma in my foot isn’t quite right. I thought it was improving, and maybe it is, but the last three days while I’ve been running my toes have been intermittently numb. That’s actually a new symptom. Over the years I’ve had a lot of dull achy feelings, some sharp pains and even some burning sensations, but I’ve never had it feel numb while running. I don’t know what to read into that. It’s confusing because the mild discomfort I’ve had from it over the past few weeks has settled down, so I thought it was improving.

So anyway… I’m having a few days off running and I’ve broken out the ice packs and I’ll try a few days of ibuprofen just in case there’s some inflammation that’s pressing on the nerve. I forgot how much my stomach hates ibuprofen. Some of the noises it’s made today…

But really my attitude is still the same as it has been for the last few years. I don’t mind having a few days down time every so often, but in the long term, either the nerve cooperates or it gets treated surgically.

I’m finding that metatarsal support helps. Here’s a page showing how to create a home-made metatarsal pad.

Holism

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For the last few weeks my running effort has been consistently quite high, which sounds good, but I’m not so sure. I did a couple of long runs last weekend and then I remember feeling ’empty’ Sunday afternoon. Not tired, more drained.

This last week was better, but I seem to be having a bit of an anxiety relapse at the moment. Maybe it’s also because I’m still gradually coming off the tablets, but I feel very bleh today. I woke up at 4 AM and felt quite stressed, which is something I used to experience all the time, but I haven’t had it lately. I feel tired now because of that. I don’t know if I feel worse now because I’m tired. I want to wake up tomorrow feeling well rested and content. I think whether I am awake at 4AM is a good barometer for my mental health.

I don’t really feel like I’m running any more than I have been doing, but I have various apps tracking my running intensity using various methods and they’re all saying I’m training the hardest I have been since I got a heart rate monitor just over a year ago. I don’t feel like I am, but the numbers say I am. Maybe I am over training a little. I don’t know.

The other thing is that I have something called a neuroma in my foot. Or at least, something with the symptoms of a neuroma (I had an ultrasound a few years ago which didn’t show anything, but the podiatrist I was subsequently referred to thought the ultrasound was probably not significant. And after trying to look at ultrasound images of neuromas myself, I have to agree with him).

So, a neuroma is basically an enlarged nerve. They can cause a lot of pain (it’s a nerve), but for me it’s been nothing but the odd twinge or tingle for years, possibly thanks to a pair of insoles the podiatrist gave me, which have a metatarsal dome on them to lift the metatarsal bones when I run. Neuromas are not uncommon and they can be removed surgically, and if they’re limiting your life then that makes sense, but for me, I’d like to avoid it getting to that point. (Paula Radcliffe had one removed). I mean, I think inevitably one day I will upset it a bit too much and I’ll have to have it removed, but I’m hoping that’s 15+ years away.

Unfortunately lately it’s been twinging and tingling quite a lot more than it used to. I think I set it off by wearing a new pair of shoes, either because I didn’t have the insole in, or because they were laced slightly too tight (I suspect this option), or perhaps even because it’s been so hot and my feet have swelled a bit and put more pressure on the nerve.

The problem with the insole is I have only one pair and it’s really worn. I have tried so hard to find a replacement and it’s just painful. Most of them are unfit for purpose because they’re too soft, they’re not durable, the dome is so big that it completely misses the point, blah blah blah, maybe there’s the perfect metatarsal dome on Amazon but it’s hidden in a sea of rubbish. The insoles I have are from a German company called but trying to get hold of another set in this country is near impossible (unless you’re the NHS, presumably).

Anyway, I did some research and there is an alternative method people use, which is to cut out the dome shape from a sheet of self adhesive podiatric felt and then stick that into your shoe. I ordered a sheet of felt and I now have a lump of it stuck to my shoe. I’m not completely convinced, because it’s flat and not a dome, but maybe that doesn’t matter. We’ll see.

12th May 2020

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This is just going to be a big summary post.

1. I’ve decided to try coming off Citalopram. I feel happy. I’ve felt happy for months. I feel stable and settled. I’ve been on it since August and I think it’s time to say that I don’t really need it anymore. I’m currently on 20mg per day so I’m going to bring it down to 10mg for a couple of weeks and see how that is. I’ll do it slowly. I’m going to keep a log of the dosage along with heart rate and stress data from my watch, which should be interesting.

2. I watched Belgravia. I didn’t like it to start with, but it’s only six episodes long and by the end I quite enjoyed it. To begin with it just seems like a bunch of dislikable people scheming against each other, though.

3. I ran another half marathon distance on Sunday. It went much better than the last time and I finished five minutes faster. I was pleased with that.

4. I seemed to be doing better with the iron tablets, but I took one this evening and now I have stomach aches. Hmmmm.

Halves

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Today would have been the Stratford Half Marathon, if it wasn’t for the fact that nothing is happening at the moment. I decided to run the distance this morning anyway, just because.

It was absolutely dreadful and I have no idea what I was thinking. Obviously it’s not comparable to an actual race because you’re not doing it on closed roads, and, more importantly, there’s no excitement and adrenaline from running with people and having spectators cheering you on. But it was both my slowest half marathon and one of the hardest runs I’ve ever done. The weather when I left was supposedly a cool 7 degrees, but it was a clear sky and bright sunlight so it was really a lot hotter.

The first 10k were fine and I was sticking to a 5 minute per kilometre pace pretty evenly, but by about 15k I’d had enough and I slowed down. I didn’t have a route planned, so I ended up going onto the nearby cycle track and doing kilometres 19 and 20 running around in circles. It seemed like the kilometres were getting longer and longer and I was slightly worried the GPS on my watch was under-measuring the distance in a circle, but it also said I was getting faster so it was probably just my perception of time. There were a few people around on the cycle track, which was energising and I was able to pick up the pace a bit.

In the end, I averaged 5:12 per km and finished in just under 1 hour 50 minutes. This is approximately 18 minutes slower than I was in October (almost 1 minute per kilometre!), which is OK because I certainly wasn’t aiming to beat that, but it wasn’t OK because I felt fine at the end of it in October, whereas today I lied on my living room floor in a sweaty mess and had to stuff two bananas, two croissants and two cups of tea into my mouth and have and a cold shower before I started feeling normal again. Only a week earlier I’d done 17k at only a slightly slower pace and barely felt like I’d broken a sweat, but it was cold and wet that day. The weather makes a big difference. I wish I’d weighed myself before and after to see just how much sweat I lost.

Overall it was great, 10/10, would do again. But maybe not for a while. I think tomorrow will be a rest day.

Pain is in the mind

~ e.v. ~ 2 Comments

And also in the shin, apparently. My shins have been very sore this afternoon but I iced them this evening and now they feel a lot better. Perhaps I won’t need to take one of those dreaded rest days tomorrow after all. Fingers crossed!

I realised that I forgot to take my tablet (anti depressant) yesterday morning. Oh well, it happens. I find one day doesn’t really make a difference. But when I came to open the packet this morning, I realised that I probably forgot to take it the previous day too. I’m not 100% sure, but I’d only taken one tablet from the tray, and I’m pretty sure I didn’t open it on Friday… There is something to be said for the packaging that has the days of the week marked on each tablet.

So I think I went 48 hours without it, which is a first, and might explain why I’ve felt a bit angsty and nauseous today. Or maybe I’m just tired from running too much and frustrated with my shin. I don’t know…

This is actually a lockdown problem. I never forget to take it when I’m at work, because it’s just part of my getting-ready-for-work routine and I have an alarm on my watch set to go off a couple of minutes before I leave, just in case I’ve forgotten (which has never happened). I need to get more on top of this…

Lockdown life

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The lockdown has been pretty great for me if I’m honest because it finally gave me the time to sort out my plants. I am actually getting towards the end of my plant todo list, which is amazing, really. Were it not for the lockdown, I’d be spending my weekend afternoons wandering around parks and sitting in coffee shops and not doing anything at home. It’s been a nice change of pace.

I haven’t sacrificed my running at all though. When I was in good shape last year, I’d do Parkrun on a Saturday and intervals on a Wednesday. I’d be running every other day too, but those two days would be speed work. Without having done any speed work for months and months, I’ve been feeling slow lately. So last week I started back with interval Wednesdays. Intervals are a fun way to experience the joy of starting running all over again, in as much as by the end of the 5th interval you just try to avoid collapsing on the ground while thinking “oh my god, why am I doing this to myself?” as psople walk past you with a mild expression of concern on their face. No it’s alright, I’m doing this on purpose, you see. It’s hard to pace intervals.

This week I also added some 1km intervals onto the end of my Saturday long run. When Parkrun starts up again I want to be in PB shape. We’ll see. I have some pretty sensitive shin splints this evening though but they usually settle down as quickly as they appear, so hopefully they will do that again this time.

I was supposed to be doing a half marathon next Sunday, which obviously isn’t happening now, but I’m planning to run the distance just because. I won’t do it fast because for me the recovery from a race pace half is significant (unlike a 10k), but I just want to say I did it.

I’ve also been trying to get back into some strength work for running which at the moment just involves a few sets of squats. I think squats are an efficient way to hit your legs and hips and abs at once and hopefully even out any imbalances. Last week I fit them in before starting work (thanks to working from home and not having to commute). That’s another way the lockdown is a positive thing for me.

Actually I’m finding the lockdown quite relaxing. I see a lot of attention now in the media towards paying attention to one’s mental health in these stressful times, but for me at least, it’s been quite nice.

Strange times

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I heard from a friend from my previous job today. Apparently they’ve lost a lot of work and they’re struggling to keep the business afloat. I can’t say I’m surprised by that. I wonder how I would feel if the company went under. Sad for some of my ex colleagues but definitely not sad for my ex boss. Hmm. We’ll see.

Life is really bizarre at the moment. Working from home has all the days running into one. On Wednesday I thought it was Tuesday. I’ve kept my hours strictly the same and I’ve also kept my lunch time runs as a constant. The running has been a bit difficult to get back into since I was ill. I spent a couple of days with quite painful shin splints, which magically resolved as quickly as they appeared, but now my hamstring is feeling very tight. I think that’s the effect of lying in bed for a week and then a few days later trying to do long runs again. I’m not doing any walking either, which probably doesn’t help. I’ve started doing weights at home (squats) too, to try to even my muscles out a bit. Maybe I will start sneaking out for a walk as well as my run…

It’s lovely and quiet outside though. It’s lovely to get to the main road and just go straight across it without having to wait for a gap in the traffic. I ran over the motorway bridge on Sunday and the motorway was pretty much empty.

Overall though I seem to be handling the sudden change in lifestyle just fine. I feel content working from home and the lack of going into the office every day hasn’t really affected my mental health, even though I thought it might.

People

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I was out running at lunch time in my almost deserted local park. In front of me there was a girl in her early 20s who was probably in the (surprisingly large) contingent of people who have just taken up running in the last couple of weeks.

She was on the right edge of the path, and coming the opposite way were an older couple (70s) who were on the left. This is a wide path, there’s ample room for people to pass in single file while maintaining ‘social distance’. So, did the couple move over onto the left? The (presumably) wife did, but the man had other ideas. He veered over to the right towards the running girl and said something aggressively to her which I didn’t quite catch, but the end of it sounded like “get over, bloody fiend”, while making a kind of swatting gesture in her face by swinging his arm as if to push her away. I presumed the context in his head was that he felt she was violating his “social distance”, though she really wasn’t.

By this time I was probably 10 metres behind her. She completely ignored him and just kept going (good choice). I was expecting something similar and as I was full of adrenaline I would have told him exactly what I thought. But then he probably guessed that from looking at me, and didn’t try anything with me. Which makes him a bully, only picking on people he doesn’t expect to retaliate.

A few seconds later the path forked, she went left and I went right and that was that. These things just happen so quickly, you don’t really process it at the time. I probably should have asked if she was OK but she might not have appreciated it.

I hope she’s not put off running again.

Days 11 and 12

~ e.v. ~ 3 Comments

Good: The cough has eased off, which has made sleeping a lot easier. I went for a walk at lunch time yesterday and survived (first time leaving the house for a week and a half!), and today I did a 5k run. It wasn’t the best run but it also wasn’t the worst. My lungs seem to be fine, I’m just tired.

Bad: My throat is still sore and my resting heart rate is still sitting a good 5bpm higher than it was a few weeks ago. I’m much improved but I’m not 100%.

But overall I’m feeling pretty good again.

Saturday

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Saturday is Parkrun day after I missed it last week with my stomach bug. I was pleased today as I went sub-21 for the first time in quite a while, or at least, my Garmin time was sub-21, my official Parkrun time was slightly over, but whatever, Garmin is more accurate for me. Hooray, I’m getting fitter again.

In total I ran a bit more than 14km this morning at an overall speedy pace, but my hip was a bit achy when I got home. I have been neglecting the stretching and foam rolling this week, so I need to get back to that, but I also need to start building some more glute strength so hopefully I won’t need to keep stretching so much.

But let’s keep it in perspective – six weeks ago I couldn’t run a few kilometres without hip discomfort, now it only happens after 14km at an intense pace.

I found out this morning that the half marathon I had planned for early April has been cancelled. I was worried about this when they started mentioning curtailing “large scale gatherings” due to the coronavirus, but actually it was cancelled for the opposite reason: not many people have signed up.

I can’t help but be slightly irritated by this because the organisers didn’t advertise it and they were holding it on the same day as the Coventry half. The only reason I even knew this one existed was because this time last year someone mentioned it at Parkrun and I thought “I’d better make a note of that for next year”.

So I could do Coventry, but, let’s be honest, nobody wants to go to Coventry. Also, I’m just not really feeling well prepared. I’ve had injury and two illnesses sideline me when I should have been training. I’m not as fit as I was in October and I’m not sure I’d be happy with the result. So… I’ve signed up for a different one at the end of April instead. That gives me an extra three weeks.