A comeback

I said a few days ago that I thought it took a couple of weeks for your body to catch up with what you are doing to it, and on Friday I had my first acknowledgement of this as I noticed the very top of my abdominals felt tighter and smaller than that of late. Yesterday before my run I felt "skinny" (although the scales have not caught up with that notion yet) and when measuring my waist I found it had gone down by 1.5 inches in a week (this sounds good but it had gone up by 3 inches since India, so it's not back to normal quite yet). I would prefer to be happy with "inches lost" and clothes feeling back to normal than actual weight lost... I think weight isn't the best indicator, especially when you do a lot of weight training. This is probably a good view to have, as when I was on my Christmas night out with my fellow dispensers (who are all men) I was informed that I didn't look like a typical runner as I was too muscly. They later said that this was meant as a compliment, but I could easily have taken offence to that if I was body conscious to the point of wishing I had that lithe minuscule look that so many runners have. Fortunately... I took it as a compliment anyway, whether it was meant or not! :-)

So yesterday after finishing work I ate 2 crumpets and had a cup of tea and set to work getting all of my kit ready for my run. I packed my new OMM gear with around 75% of the weight I would use as mandatory kit in the races I have planned, and also put my XL vest on. Despite feeling a bit nervous about the very hilly run I was about to face (after failing so miserably last week and having to phone for a lift home when I had the asthma attack), I was really looking forward to doing it. The weather was beautiful... zero degrees with frost on the ground but not one breath of wind and bright bright sunshine. It felt fantastic to get the sunnies out for the first time since India.

The first four miles of the run is pretty tough... you get a gentle incline for half a mile immediately leaving the house, then a nice half mile downhill and then straight into a tough steepish half mile hill again. I had decided to go back to my 15:5 run/walk that I had done in the run up to India, but halfway up the steep hill my legs were like lead and my breathing wasn't great. I had pushed until I felt too uncomfortable and then walked. I expected to have to walk the remaining quarter of a mile to the top, but after about 30-40 seconds I had recovered enough to be able to run the rest of the hill, so I was really pleased. It was right at the very top when my first 5 minute walk break came and I really needed it, especially as another long slow incline (which lasts maybe 2/3rds of a mile) lay ahead of me.
I was pleased to be able to recover quite quickly and tried to maintain as fast a pace as possible while walking but I have to admit that the exercise done yesterday on the step was making my legs feel like a dead weight. This is something I'm pleased about though, I really want to make my long runs as difficult as I can as I now know how important that is during an ultra!
The rest of the run went very well and I only needed one extra 30-40 seconds unscheduled walk in the middle of another hill and then was able to carry on afterwards, so I was very pleased with my comeback as this has been the quickest I have managed to get my fitness back after a lay off. I don't know if that is because of my determination or muscle memory... or both!

As the day wore on yesterday I became aware that my abdominal muscles were really starting to ache, and when we went to the cinema I found after an hour of sitting my feet had got quite puffy and I had to put them on the back of the chair in front to get them back to normal (luckily there was nobody in the seat in front and this worked after only 10 minutes). Graeme ate a huge amount of shit while we were there and as he had bought me nachos, I ate a small amount and then thought about all of the work I'd done today and didn't want to ruin it all eating my days exercise calories in a crappy snack... so I binned them and waited until I got home and had a sandwich instead. I have also decided not to drink alcohol... I gave alcohol up almost exclusively for one and a half years (only having the odd glass of champagne on special occasions) and I'm already feeling the benefits again... waking up before the alarm goes off, not feeling sluggish, yada yada yada... My work conference is at the beginning of February, and that was going to be my first alcohol of the year, but I don't want to have it... so I'm not!

I got home from the cinema to see an email from William and Shaun about the first change to my training, and I was very surprised to read what it was. I am to alternate my long run at the weekends with heavy weighted walking. I'm to use 30% of my bodyweight in a rucksack and walk at least 5kph building up the time to 3 hours plus! They advised that it was very tough and will help strengthen everything so it feels easier in a race. Immediately I thought it sounded a great idea, as my only concern about the races I have coming up (in fairly short succession) is that I will take a long time to recover if I get any more ITB issues. I can also imagine the cardiovascular benefits to walking up hills with around 20KG on my back!!! At the moment I have no concept of how that is actually going to feel, but I'm going to find out soon enough.

I didn't have the best night sleep last night as my abdominal muscles are absolutely killing me. Every time I moved in bed they really hurt. The only thing I have done differently is the back bridge with no hands... so that must have caused it. Shows how good that exercise is, doesn't it? Who needs sit ups and crunches!!!