Like a bear

with a sore head. That's how I've been. No riding, no running. After a few days it's getting to me. Glyn has obviously had to deal with most of it and has been yelled at several times for no reason, good thing he loves me.

Trio and another friend are road riding today, I had to decline, my back just couldn't cope with 40 miles in the saddle, but I did decide to see if it would tolerate a little jog. A very slow 2 miles on the canal tow path. I had to really make myself turn round at the mid-point. I did all my stretches when I got back. It hurt, but maybe not as much as I expected. More physio tomorrow. It better sort itself out I've got plans, and they don't include being broken.

Resting and stretching

I've been dutifully resting and stretching since the physio on Wednesday but I'm still feeling very crunchy boned. I have another appointment on Tuesday so let's hope a bit more magic can be worked then. My weekend plans are however looking unlikely. The plus side to resting up is it allows for a bit of wishful thinking........ a few race websites have been looked at, some kit priced up......

Crunchy spine

Lower back and hips have been feeling a bit sore just lately, this morning after walking Flipper there was a lot of difficulty bending down to untie my boot laces, I knew I couldn't just ignore it any more and rang the physio. A cancellation meant she squeezed me in this afternoon. She kept on finding bits of me that were all crunchy, especially once I mentioned that my shoulder had been feeling a bit sore too. The tiny needles have been stabbed into me and I've been pummeled. It's still hurty, but a different sort of hurty now. A few days of taking it easy have been ordered, and the reminder of the importance of core exercises given. No club run for me tonight, it is presently an effort to lift a mug of tea, but I'm optimistic for the weekend.

Boggart Hole

Cross country racing at Boggart Hole Clough. It was brutally fast, I was woefully slow. There's not much more to say on the matter.

Nearly too tired for anything

Lack of sleep last night made me glad plans to head over to Sheffield for the day had been scratched, I'd have just been too tired for driving, bouldering, driving. I was also feeling too tired to accept Trio's invitation to night ride. A last minute reminder to myself that I am trying to shift some lard before holiday in 5 weeks made me overcome my yawning, pull on my trainers and head out for 5km on the road. I did my trusty, well run "cat corner loop" route. It's a boring tarmac loop, but one I've done so many times that with the aid of the iPod I can almost do it on auto-pilot, plod, plod, plod, 5km in the bag, a few extra calories burnt, a few more miles in the legs towards the secret winter training. A bit of a reminder of covering shorter distances at a steady pace just in time for cross-country racing at the weekend. I felt sort of better and sort of worse after it. I trust Morpheus will hold me a little tighter tonight.......

Run fast, stop, catch some breath, repeat.

Run club tonight, I was on the tarmac rather than the fells as my headtorch is off on its holidays. Bit different to usual, not much distance covered (6km) but some sprinting drills. It made a change and was actually good fun and quite social. Was probably good for me too!

Running off some pud

The last couple of mornings I've woken up convinced I've got a cold setting in, headache and non-functioning nostrils. I decided not to race yesterday because of it. Thought today I'd see how I felt and try and get out for a run this afternoon if I felt a bit less snuffily. By mid-afternoon I was feeling fine but then that pesky clock change nearly caught me out. I was merrily thinking I had ages before it got dark, fortunately Flipper the dog has not adjusted the timer built into her ever rumbling belly and I realised when she came asking for her dinner that I better get my arse out the door for that run before it got too late. A nice 3 and a bit miles, including a little bit of speed work (in the loosest sense possible). This will have done little to counteract yesterdays comfort food intake, Glyn got all masterchef and made peach melba, including spun sugar baskets, as Michel Roux Jr would say, "veeeeerrrrrry nice!"