Unbelievable! I am getting a bit fed up now of things getting in the way of training, especially when it's been going so well. Yesterday my balance went completely and I couldn't stand up. It was like I'd just stepped off an incredibly rough fairground ride and then been spun round 20 times by somebody. I fell over to the ground from standing and everything.
I have to admit, I was terrified. It was an incredibly scary feeling, suddenly having no control over my body like that. The feeling persisted for the rest of the day and when I woke up this morning I was still feeling unsteady on my feet, a bit like I was on a boat. I went to the doctor and he diagnosed me with Labyrinthitis. Yes, that is a real thing! It's when part of your inner ear (known as the labyrinth) becomes inflamed following an infection or virus and this affects your balance and throws it off. I had a cold and some sinus pain a few weeks ago, so they think it's related to that.
I've been told it can take a few weeks to recover from, which is incredibly frustrating, as it's going to make it very hard to run, especially because it also makes me feel physically exhausted. Fingers crossed it goes away quickly and doesn't interfere too much with my training.
Cass x
Just a reminder if you want to sponsor me: http://www.justgiving.com/cassieleedham
Monday 11 October 2010
Thursday 7 October 2010
Best run yet!
I managed to drag my broken self out tonight (mostly thanks to Ed, who encouraged me- thanks Ed) and decided to take a slightly different, longer run. It started out ok; my hip was sore still, but not enough to stop me or slow me down, just enough to be a bit distracting.
I really quickly fell into a comfortable breathing rhythm again and kept it up all the way round my regular route, then past it, and further than I've ever been without stopping! At this point, my breathing had become so comfortable that I was barely even breathing hard.
The thing that got me in the end was stomach cramps. (It's weird thing and I'd love some advice if anyone has any - I'll detail this more in a minute!) So I slowed down to a walk for a minute and then ran again and managed to run all the way back down throughout the final third of the run.
I felt great at the end and not too tired or out of breath. My legs were a little weary, but not too bad and no worse than usual really. I am totally blown away that the improvement is so noticeable and so fast. I really didn't expect this! Running for 2 hours is starting to seem like something I could definitely do and I really never expected to be saying that.
So, I felt pretty good, but then the stomach cramps became unbearably painful, so much so that they made me feel queasy and much to my surprise I was even a bit sick and said hello to a bit of my dinner again! (Sorry if that grosses anyone out!)
I ate dinner at about 7.15 and didn't run til about 9.45, and dinner was wholemeal spaghetti with vegetables and tomato/chili sauce. Did I not leave it long enough? Could it be that I ate too much? I've been eating pretty small portions recently and tonight's dinner was a little more than I've had in the last week or so.
Any advice anyone can offer me would be great. The stomach cramps have lessened now, but they were really terrible for about 20 minutes after the run. All in all, the stomach pain hasn't reduced the great feeling of achievement I have after tonight's run. Onwards and upwards!
Cass x
I really quickly fell into a comfortable breathing rhythm again and kept it up all the way round my regular route, then past it, and further than I've ever been without stopping! At this point, my breathing had become so comfortable that I was barely even breathing hard.
The thing that got me in the end was stomach cramps. (It's weird thing and I'd love some advice if anyone has any - I'll detail this more in a minute!) So I slowed down to a walk for a minute and then ran again and managed to run all the way back down throughout the final third of the run.
I felt great at the end and not too tired or out of breath. My legs were a little weary, but not too bad and no worse than usual really. I am totally blown away that the improvement is so noticeable and so fast. I really didn't expect this! Running for 2 hours is starting to seem like something I could definitely do and I really never expected to be saying that.
So, I felt pretty good, but then the stomach cramps became unbearably painful, so much so that they made me feel queasy and much to my surprise I was even a bit sick and said hello to a bit of my dinner again! (Sorry if that grosses anyone out!)
I ate dinner at about 7.15 and didn't run til about 9.45, and dinner was wholemeal spaghetti with vegetables and tomato/chili sauce. Did I not leave it long enough? Could it be that I ate too much? I've been eating pretty small portions recently and tonight's dinner was a little more than I've had in the last week or so.
Any advice anyone can offer me would be great. The stomach cramps have lessened now, but they were really terrible for about 20 minutes after the run. All in all, the stomach pain hasn't reduced the great feeling of achievement I have after tonight's run. Onwards and upwards!
Cass x
Oops!
I managed to slip down the stairs a couple of days ago and landed a couple of steps down, right on my hip/coccyx incredibly hard and have since been in a lot of pain. Warning to everyone - woolen tights and carpeted spiral staircases do not mix! So that has unfortunately put me back AGAIN as I haven't been able to run for the past 3 days. Not good.
I'm hoping I can get out there tonight, though it's still hurting quite a bit. Not sure how it will affect me, but I need to keep going if I want to see improvement.
I'm hoping I can get out there tonight, though it's still hurting quite a bit. Not sure how it will affect me, but I need to keep going if I want to see improvement.
Sunday 3 October 2010
Getting through the mental barriers...
It's been about three weeks now since my last post and I've finally started to feel like I am making some progress, after a couple of false starts. I can now run my route once without stopping every time (which to a real runner may be a small thing, but to me is progress!) and tonight, for the first time, I saw the finish line of the route approaching and thought "you know what? I can keep going. Let's keep going!". So we carried on for another few minutes before a little walk and then ran the rest.
My pace was a bit quicker tonight too, averaging about 10km an hour, which I think is pretty decent. I also noticed that I very quickly got into a normal breathing rhythm that felt comfortable and sustainable. The usual struggling to breathe and painful throat/windpipe/chest was gone. It still feels like I'm breathing hard, but I don't feel like I'm fighting for each breath. It was something of a revelation :-)
Anyone who is anything of a runner will now laugh when I say how long I ran - It was 2 and a half kilometres. Not far, I know, but it's already noticeable how much easier it's becoming and I'm only in week 2 of what I consider "proper training", which means running every other day. I feel good about that and I feel like the goal is now looking far more achievable. Hoorah!
The next step is getting back to the gym and strengthening everything. My breathing may be easier, but I need to make sure my body is strong enough to keep going. Having had a lifetime of bad knees, back ache, incorrectly moving shoulder blades and trapped nerves, it's been surprisingly pain free on my body so far, which I am both glad and relieved about. Now I need to make sure I give my body as much help as I can to keep going as the distance increases, because I really need to start ramping it up now if I want to get those long distances.
All in all, tonight has been a really positive run and I'm looking forward to another!
Just a reminder if you want to sponsor me: http://www.justgiving.com/cassieleedham
My pace was a bit quicker tonight too, averaging about 10km an hour, which I think is pretty decent. I also noticed that I very quickly got into a normal breathing rhythm that felt comfortable and sustainable. The usual struggling to breathe and painful throat/windpipe/chest was gone. It still feels like I'm breathing hard, but I don't feel like I'm fighting for each breath. It was something of a revelation :-)
Anyone who is anything of a runner will now laugh when I say how long I ran - It was 2 and a half kilometres. Not far, I know, but it's already noticeable how much easier it's becoming and I'm only in week 2 of what I consider "proper training", which means running every other day. I feel good about that and I feel like the goal is now looking far more achievable. Hoorah!
The next step is getting back to the gym and strengthening everything. My breathing may be easier, but I need to make sure my body is strong enough to keep going. Having had a lifetime of bad knees, back ache, incorrectly moving shoulder blades and trapped nerves, it's been surprisingly pain free on my body so far, which I am both glad and relieved about. Now I need to make sure I give my body as much help as I can to keep going as the distance increases, because I really need to start ramping it up now if I want to get those long distances.
All in all, tonight has been a really positive run and I'm looking forward to another!
Just a reminder if you want to sponsor me: http://www.justgiving.com/cassieleedham
Friday 17 September 2010
Progress....hmmm.
The point of a blog is to be honest right? That's why people read them, I think. So, here's the honesty: I am not doing very well in my training. I've not done as much as I'd hoped, I've not progressed at all really and I'm still finding a 10 minute run really hard. How pathetic!
A couple of weeks ago, I was in the gym and a funny thing happened - at first there seemed to be blank spots in my vision that were really blurry, or just not "visible" although there weren't any actual dark areas or anything. Then I got a weird shimmering in my vision, top left. It wasn't in one eye or the other, it was there when I closed either eye, and it started around the outside of my vision and spread until most of my vision was filled with shimmering and I couldn't see. I've since googled it and discovered it was a visual migraine. I wasn't doing anything particularly strenuous, but it freaked me out a bit. I wondered if maybe I was overdoing it, but in hindsight, I think that's a bit silly. It's not like I've been going crazy with running - I'd only been on a few short runs!
So anyway, I didn't run for a week or so after that. The next time I ran was a day when I felt tired and achy and my body didn't feel right at all. But I'm a bit of a hypochondriac, and I'm trying not to be, so I told myself to get on and do it anyway. And good god did it hurt. I got about a minute into it and my chest felt like it was going to explode and my body just would not keep going. My legs were like lead. I pretty much collapsed by the side of the road and had to sit for a few minutes, feeling sorry for myself.
At that point, I really started to question what the hell I was doing. I'm not cut out for this. My body is not a running body. I can only just get round the block without puking, and that's on a good day. But then I thought, just get up. You can't do it yet because you aren't just getting on with it. It's going to be hard. It's going to be bloody horrible. It's not supposed to be nice! So I got up and I ran again and it still hurt, but I kept going until I got round the block and home again. I felt a bit better then, but still very apprehensive.
Since then, I've only run once, but I did keep going and not stop, even though it was still only 10 minutes. I'm not doing enough yet and I should be progressing onto 20 minute and half hour runs by now, so I'm concerned. I think I keep hoping that I'll wake up one day and really feel like going running and suddenly my body will be good at it, but that's not going to happen. It's going to take a lot of hard work to get to that point, and I need to knuckle down and get on with it, or this is never going to happen.
A couple of weeks ago, I was in the gym and a funny thing happened - at first there seemed to be blank spots in my vision that were really blurry, or just not "visible" although there weren't any actual dark areas or anything. Then I got a weird shimmering in my vision, top left. It wasn't in one eye or the other, it was there when I closed either eye, and it started around the outside of my vision and spread until most of my vision was filled with shimmering and I couldn't see. I've since googled it and discovered it was a visual migraine. I wasn't doing anything particularly strenuous, but it freaked me out a bit. I wondered if maybe I was overdoing it, but in hindsight, I think that's a bit silly. It's not like I've been going crazy with running - I'd only been on a few short runs!
So anyway, I didn't run for a week or so after that. The next time I ran was a day when I felt tired and achy and my body didn't feel right at all. But I'm a bit of a hypochondriac, and I'm trying not to be, so I told myself to get on and do it anyway. And good god did it hurt. I got about a minute into it and my chest felt like it was going to explode and my body just would not keep going. My legs were like lead. I pretty much collapsed by the side of the road and had to sit for a few minutes, feeling sorry for myself.
At that point, I really started to question what the hell I was doing. I'm not cut out for this. My body is not a running body. I can only just get round the block without puking, and that's on a good day. But then I thought, just get up. You can't do it yet because you aren't just getting on with it. It's going to be hard. It's going to be bloody horrible. It's not supposed to be nice! So I got up and I ran again and it still hurt, but I kept going until I got round the block and home again. I felt a bit better then, but still very apprehensive.
Since then, I've only run once, but I did keep going and not stop, even though it was still only 10 minutes. I'm not doing enough yet and I should be progressing onto 20 minute and half hour runs by now, so I'm concerned. I think I keep hoping that I'll wake up one day and really feel like going running and suddenly my body will be good at it, but that's not going to happen. It's going to take a lot of hard work to get to that point, and I need to knuckle down and get on with it, or this is never going to happen.
Monday 23 August 2010
Looks like I really am doing this!
I'm excited today, because my stuff arrived from Brain Tumour UK, which makes me feel like this is really going to happen. They sent me my tshirt, which I love, and a couple of banners and advice on fundraising.
Ed, my boyfriend, has decided to do the run with me, which I'm really pleased about. I think it will really help me to keep going when it gets hard, because he's a lot fitter than me!
I'm planning a trip over to Up and Running in Birmingham this week, to get myself properly fitted for some good running shoes. They do gait analysis and all that malarkey, so I may just get away with having flat feet and knocked knees. Having the right shoes is super important (so I am told) so hopefully they will make a big difference to how painful the run is.
So all in all, it's becoming more and more real by the day, and I'm getting more nervous by the day, thinking that I have to train so much. I'm really starting from nothing, and some people have questioned whether it's such a good idea. I have friends who can run 5 to 10k without a thought, and even they say they'd be nervous about a half marathon.
I've also just been on a hen-do over the weekend, and I think I've broken myself pretty badly, but I still need to get out running. The amount of commitment it's going to take is starting to dawn on me!
Update: went for a run tonight, after downloading an Android app called Cardio Trainer, which is great! It told me how long and far I had run, showed me my route on a map and even told me how many calories I'd burned at the end. I managed to run a little quicker and with no slowing down this time, even if it was only 1.6km. Gotta start somewhere! I'm looking to add a little to that this week, going up to 2km next week.
Sponsor me here: http://www.justgiving.com/cassieleedham/
Ed, my boyfriend, has decided to do the run with me, which I'm really pleased about. I think it will really help me to keep going when it gets hard, because he's a lot fitter than me!
I'm planning a trip over to Up and Running in Birmingham this week, to get myself properly fitted for some good running shoes. They do gait analysis and all that malarkey, so I may just get away with having flat feet and knocked knees. Having the right shoes is super important (so I am told) so hopefully they will make a big difference to how painful the run is.
So all in all, it's becoming more and more real by the day, and I'm getting more nervous by the day, thinking that I have to train so much. I'm really starting from nothing, and some people have questioned whether it's such a good idea. I have friends who can run 5 to 10k without a thought, and even they say they'd be nervous about a half marathon.
I've also just been on a hen-do over the weekend, and I think I've broken myself pretty badly, but I still need to get out running. The amount of commitment it's going to take is starting to dawn on me!
Update: went for a run tonight, after downloading an Android app called Cardio Trainer, which is great! It told me how long and far I had run, showed me my route on a map and even told me how many calories I'd burned at the end. I managed to run a little quicker and with no slowing down this time, even if it was only 1.6km. Gotta start somewhere! I'm looking to add a little to that this week, going up to 2km next week.
Sponsor me here: http://www.justgiving.com/cassieleedham/
Thursday 19 August 2010
run number two, amongst other things...
So today is three years exactly since my mum died, and it is also the day that it has been confirmed that I am running for brain tumour UK and there's something "right" about that.
My second run was a 10th minute run, followed by another, slightly shorter run, with a rest in between. What i found really interesting was how good it felt when I ran the second time. My body felt lighter and I really felt strong. It was fun! I hope that getting good at running will feel like that, even when I've been going for an hour. I just hope I have enough discipline to get through the tough bits...
My second run was a 10th minute run, followed by another, slightly shorter run, with a rest in between. What i found really interesting was how good it felt when I ran the second time. My body felt lighter and I really felt strong. It was fun! I hope that getting good at running will feel like that, even when I've been going for an hour. I just hope I have enough discipline to get through the tough bits...
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