Sunday 26 January 2014

Reasons to be fearful. Reasons to be cheerful.

A week of ups and downs that has been dominated by an injury to my foot which started off a couple of weeks ago as what I thought was bruising. I dismissed it as just a 'knock' and carried on training. After a long rough run last Sunday it was quite sore so I had my usual rest day on Monday. A combination of Charleston dancing (don't ask!) and a hard, rocky club run on Tuesday left me hobbling and in some pain on Wednesday. It was that sore I thought it was a stress fracture which I knew would mean 6 - 8 weeks out and seriously put the Munro round in jeopardy. Needless to say I was very nervous as I waited to get it x-rayed in A and E. An excellent doctor saw me and diagnosed it straight away as metatarsalgia - inflammation of the foot joint. So not fractured, but no running for 2 or 3 weeks. Not great, but not the end of the world. Training this week has been on the bike with a bit of pilates and a swim thrown in. Quite nice for a change actually. I'll give it another whole week of no running this coming week then see how it is after that.

M: Rest
T: Club run 1 hr 45 mins
W: Rest
T: 1 hr bike + 30 mins pilates
F: 1 hr 15 mins bike
S: 2 hr 30 mins bike + 30 mins pilates
S: 2 hrs bike + 30 mins swim

Totals:     Run 1 hr 45       Bike 6 hr 30          Pilates 1 hr         Swim 30 mins

The up side of this week has been the support I've received from Wheelbase Cycles and The Climbers' Shop. Toby at Wheelbase has very kindly offered to service my bikes before I set off to make sure they're running well. I've bought all my bikes in the past ten years and plenty of other kit from their shop and would recommend it to anyone.

I had not met Nick, the manager of The Climbers Shop, before today, but found him to be friendly and enthusiastic, with a wealth of knowledge and experience of gear and ultra running. He gave me a few useful tips on eating on such long days on the move and purifying water with iodine tabs which I've never used before. The shop will hopefully be able to help me get some of the kit I need for the trip at a reduced rate. Again, I think you would struggle to find a better all round technical mountain gear shop anywhere!

Getting support in this way has helped to keep the costs down a little bit and is hugely appreciated. The next big spend will be on the motorhome which we need to get within the next couple of weeks ideally before a trip away in it over half term. Anyone selling one?!

12 weeks to go

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