Stark Reminders

Another successful trip to see the podiatrist on Friday morning resulted in a new pair of orthotics being ordered and him saying he thought it would only be around 3 weeks until I could resume running again. I felt on top of the world, so when it came to doing my deep water running intervals that afternoon I approached them with a renewed sense of hope and vigour.

After the first two intervals I was aware my foot felt a little achy but was sure it was nothing and so pressed on until I'd done all four intervals. Later that night my foot felt quite tender, and I sort of wished I had been more careful.

Getting up on Saturday morning there was no change (which I thought was probably a good thing) and as we were driving down to Kerrys' 50th birthday party, I thought keeping my feet up for the day could only help matters. When it came to the party, my new shoes fitted great and felt very comfortable so I felt much better about things and looked forward to seeing everyone at the party.

It was an absolutely fabulous night, and despite promising myself I wouldn't dance, this pretty much went out of the window from the off. I did try to stop my foot bending however, which I'm sure saved me from being in complete agony on Sunday. It was during the party that Graeme told me he had already decided he didn't want to run in Bangalore and had kept it all quiet until I had booked the hotel/flights etc. I was a bit gutted as felt very selfish for going out there just for me (when I honestly thought he wanted to run too), but he said he knew I'd feel that way and so hadn't mentioned it until now. He is now going to be my supporter (which, to be fair, is very good for me and saves me having to take all of my stuff from the beginning of the race and enables me to take whatever I need for just the one loop). It was still a huge surprise to me though, but he assures me he is still excited about going as it's going to be a great holiday!

I went to bed at around 1.30am (early for me) and left Graeme to it. He was telling all and sundry about how I came 2nd in my first ultra and I was absolutley mortified as he wouldn't shut up about it, leaving poor unsuspecting party goers forced to say, "Oh, how marvellous!"

I awoke at 3am feeling very thirsty. Graeme was nowhere to be seen, so I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone and go downstairs for a drink and check to see if he was still alive. He was. He was absolutley plastered, which made me laugh. Prior to the evening starting we had agreed that this would be our last alcohol fuelled night, as we both felt it was starting to make us feel crappy the day after we drank. As training is now not far off, that night had seemed a good night to finish on, and Graeme looked like he was going out with a bang.

So, I had a black coffee with Emma, Sandy, Paula, Micheal and Graeme (actually... scrap that... Emma and I had a black coffee... everyone else was still largeing it up!) and then I retreated back to bed with Graeme pathetically asking could he come too. I literally had to drag him up the third floor as he was done in, and as he lay on the floor in the bathroom, I knew it would take him a considerable time to get to bed. I was right... it took him 3 hours to edge his way to the foot of the bed, only to decide he needed the toilet and had to drag himself back again. It was highly amusing, but all I could think was how fortunate it had been that I had not drank myself into a stuppour, otherwise who would drive us home?

Sunday my foot was painful and yesterday (Bank holiday Monday) I took the decision to ice it. I also did my leg extentions and leg curls, airborne running and a 20 minute core session. I felt so good for doing them, but having a bath later, I couldn't help but feel gutted because it has been such a long time since I took a bath purely to try and ease aching muscles that had been pummeled because of a run, etc. I remember that bath I had in Bangalore on the evening of the ultra! Oh God, I could barely move, and Graeme had had to help me in and out of it. But, it was a good pain... a pain I look forward to experiencing again.

And speaking of baths... I emailed Sanjay at the Taj West End Hotel in Bangalore and he has guaranteed a room with a bath and has secured us a special rate for breakfasts which works out under £6 a day. Fantastic!
I had also emailed the Burj al Arab and was trying to organise a special meal while we were out there (for Graemes' 40th birthday), however it turns out they are fully booked already. After asking could they accomodate me as a vegan, they had emailed back and asked what I meant by that, and then when realising they were already fully booked had emailed back and offered me a meal in the seafood restaurant instead. I somehow don't think they had grasped the vegan ideal! So, we aren't going after all. Graeme said it was a nice thought but he's glad we won't be spending that sort of money on one meal. I suppose he's got a point!

So, the good news is, today my foot feels as good as it did on Friday before intervals in the pool. I'm very relieved, but it is a stark reminder that when the podiatrist said to come back very slowly to avoid reinjury, he really did mean what he said!