Listen to your body…

...or that is what my GP told me this morning…hmmm...its quit obvious he doesn’t have a clue what my body normally tries to tell me.

It has taken me years to get into some kind of discipline to quit smoking, drink normally and start to exercise frequently! So for him to say bluntly “just listen to your body” might damage that progress with just one easy blow…

He answered my question on how I should proceed with my running, somehow my body is still violently objecting to whatever pace I tell it to run, by giving me nasty stomach cramps. He suggested to take my cardio training to a less “impactful” style, for the time being until I would feel more powerful again…

Okay, question of the day, how do you cardio train with less impact?! My flatmate automatically suggested getting a “home trainer” bike in the house, apparently he owns one and it has been collecting dusts at his parent’s house for ages.

I looked at him suspiciously….”home trainer” is in my dictionary far removed from being “cool”.

And I probably have to explain this, those of you who now think of a “Flash Super Bike” like the ones you currently see in gyms all over the place, think again! His “home trainer” is a beige, yes the colour they used for everything made back in the 80’s, metal-framed, 15-year old bike, so heavy that even if you want to move it you would not be able to do so on your own.

Anyways, it does seem to be the solution so I may be tempted to agree to let the bike in the house for now, better to cycle than to do nothing I reckon.

I’ll keep you posted on my cycling adventures….in the living room ;-)
Take care
AZ

O Sister, Where art Thou?

Yeah, you probably are wondering what has happened to me, is she still running, or alive for that matter? And the answer is no, not at the moment. Well, running that is, I am still breathing, last time I checked.

I got struck down with an infection, wobbly stiff knees and a severe cold in one and doctors orders were given to not lift heavy items, do vigorous sports exercises or anything else that exerts the breathing…apparently running 10k is considered a vigorous exercise according to my new GP and when I (secretly) did train on Monday I was struck down with mysterious stomach cramps, so maybe he had a point.

Anyways, I was in need of some antibiotics, so I had to register with a new GP as I had just moved into this area. Now in the UK, it is quit common for a nurse to give you a health check when registering with a new GP, before he even sees you. Now at these so-called health checks they ask all kind of medical questions. These questions seem rather futile:

Nurse: "Are you healthy?"
Me: "Yes, I am..."
Nurse: "Ok the doctor will see you now! "

They also want samples of most bodily fluids. Now during this check, I was given a tiny bottle and asked to provide a sample, I looked quizically at the size of the bottle and ventured politely “Saliva?”…because my mind was thinking "this bottle is just about big enough to manage to drip some saliva, if I am lucky and concentrate really hard!"

Now for some reason, nurses I meet always seem to have lost their sense of humour and with a annoyed voice and a look that could kill, she told me it was to provide a urine sample.

I was horrified and looked again at the size of the bottle. Could they have MADE it any smaller??!!

For men it probably is relatively easy, as there is a certain ability to aim, but we, as in women, don't exactly sit/stand in the most convenient way to catch a stream of…well I spare you the details… For those curious, yes I did manage to also get some in the tiny bottle, and was able to provide said nurse with requested sample.

All turned out to be “negative” which in doctors language means I am as healthy as can be, besides this tiny infection which I now nearly battled with a course of antibiotics. So, I am back running again on Sunday!

My Expert Trainer in Spain (now that sounds really nice actually! – I will use those words more often…) has advised me to start with a 30-minute run and slowly build up again to my old level of fitness.

I will let you know how I got on…
Cheers
AZ

Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!…

I feel like I aged 20 years and no my Birthday on Tuesday had nothing to do with that. My whole body is suffering from muscle ache. To say I have a little muscle ache would be the understatement of 2006! All because on Wednesday I had a “good” idea and played a game of squash with a very good friend and also (V)RB. It was on the way to the courts he briefly mentioned he used to play in the league on Sundays…with hindsight, this would have been the moment I should have proposed to go the pub straight away and forget about the game all together…

45 minutes later and I looked like a right tosser, wet from sweat, hair sticking too my face, which by the way, was glowing bright red. He, on the other hand, barely looked like he even raised his temperature, he looked fit and fresh, not even one sweat drop appeared on his face.

The muscle ache started during the day yesterday, mildly at first, so in the evening I decided to go for my normal Thursday Run. I did do really well, considering, roughly about 10k in just over 50 minutes. A lot better than Tuesday when I barely did 8k in an hour, must have been the fact I had not run for 4 days on Tuesday.

When I woke up this morning, my right arm was rendered useless, as in totally unable to move it without massive pain shots shooting through it, on top of that, the rest of my muscles (specifically the ones in my bum) gave signals to my brain telling it to find another source of movement, as they were on strike.

I tried to negotiate a deal and we came to a compromise, I promised to not try any sudden movements and give at least a 5-minute warning in advance, and they would keep the pain to a minimum... so far its working and I managed to take a seat behind my desk and computer, everything is in arm reach, and I am settled for the day ;-)

If I can move on Sunday, my next run will be then.

Have a nice Friday!
AZ

Back in the UK...

...I felt like I was choking..water everywhere, it overwhelmed me, it pulled me down, what was happening? I felt a panic rise within me, something told me to plough through, but the water kept taking my breath away, Help! Somebody Help!...I am drowning...

Oh..Hang on, I am back in the UK and simply running in the rain. Gone are the days of running along the beach in Marbella. It's Tuesday, 3rd October, late afternoon and its pissing it down. Why did I run in the afternoon I can hear you ask? Well I woke up with a bit of a hangover, having celebrated my birthday the night before ;-), and the state of my body upon awakening did not exactly encourage any kind of fast movements, let alone running.

To be honest, I secretly had ruled out any running as it was my birthday, was it not for my two VRB's. The first one texted me from Turkey early in the morning on how he had run for 30 minutes and followed up with a text later on how, on top of the running, he also had gone for a long swim. My second VRB, mentioned while talking on the phone, how he had run for 1 hour and 15 minutes that morning... I felt obliged to go out now, not that I am competitive!

So I did, initially I was going to wait until the raining had subsided, four hours later I decided to just go and put on a rain coat. Admittingly the first 30 minutes were very tough, The "ugly" person roared magnificently with no one to encourage me along like in Spain, the second 30 minutes were fantastic. Although I covered less distance than in Spain (there are a LOT of hills in this area!!) I totalled 1 hour and 5 minutes of running time!

Well done me!
Speak soon
AZ