The Long & Slow Road to Recovery

Yes I'm still recovering from shinsplints - it's been 4 weeks now.   I've had 4 weeks of physio with various treatments - massage, ultrasound and 3 weeks of taping !

Week 1 - Calves

Week 2 - shins

Week 3 - shins (to go with my Color Run outfit)

Week 4 I've no tape - quite a relief in some ways, some of the comments I've had and the staring won't be missed.    I was sceptical that the K tape worked but not having it on this week I can feel there is a difference!

I'm still swimming, and thanks to Groupon I have swapped this

 for this, for 10 sessions.

I may go back to the public baths for a couple of swims a week because it's difficult to get to LA Fitness at the weekends.

I've also been given the thumbs up to find an exercise class and to get on the bike.   I haven't quite found an exercise class (may have to dust down Davina or the Wii!) but I have tried out 15 minutes on the static bike at the gym - I think I did it for too long as the shins on Tuesday night were a bit sore.  However, that could be as a result of Saturday's activities - standing around in Guildford High Street 9.30am waiting for the Tour of Britain to arrive from !

No physio this week - instructions are to wait til next week and then assess how the legs are feeling!  The calves are feeling great - no tightness, no soreness.  The shins are a different story - the soreness is going, but it's still there, niggling away.  Just need to keep my fingers crossed that I am repairing and it's not going to result in a visit to the useless GP for a referral for a scan!

#Run With an Idea 5 - Fitness - Just A Trend?

Welcome to Post 5 of the Run With An Idea debate 

Fitness - Just A Trend? 

Whilst thinking about this post I did look up the definition of fitness :-

 *A set of attributes (qualities) relating to people's ability to perform physical activity.

*A state of well-being with low risk of premature health problems and energy to participate in a variety of physical activities.

*The ability to meet the ordinary as well as the unusual demands of daily life safely and effectively without being overly fatigued and still have energy left for leisure and recreational activities. 

Experts agree that physical fitness has many dimensions and levels. It has been further broken down into two categories of components that, collectively, help define it:

*Health-related: cardiorespiratory (aerobic), muscular strength and endurance, muscular flexibility, and body composition.
*Skill-related: agility, balance, coordination, power, reaction time, and speed.

Any definition of fitness may include health-related and/or performance-related components, and they are not mutually exclusive--they overlap. You cannot develop power without training for speed and strength. Agility is comprised of speed, strength, power, flexibility, reaction time, balance, and coordination (skill), so sports training to improve one component also improves others. 

I really did not know where to start with this week's debate post so taking it from a personal perspective - I don't think fitness per say is a trend, although within the fitness industry there may be some.   We've seen some ideas of fitness come and go, and we've seen some evolve.

Personally I've always been into "fitness" - as a teenager I was a keen hockey player and was lucky enough to play for a season with a local 2nd XI - I wasn't that good but I was as keen as mustard!  At 19 I did an induction at a local gym - that didn't last long but I'd also found the mass exercise class popular in the mid-80's.  A chance to dress in lycra leotard, leggings and a pair of legwarmers!   The classes in those days seemed populated by young women of my own age.   Go to a mass exercise class these days and you'll find all ages - maybe those ladies are the ones I was working out with all those years ago.   The women of the 80's have maybe passed on their love for fitness to the younger generations - I have certainly been known to attend a Zumba class with my own 17 year old daughter, and we have taken part in Race for Life together and recently the Color Run.  I'm a firm believer in setting a good example to kids - if they see loved ones exercising or taking part in a sport they enjoy they may be motivated to do so themselves!  My participation in sport/fitness has certainly changed over the years.  From those early days jumping around in an aerobics class I've done Legs, Bums & Tums, Step, joined a gym and used free weights.  I've been running for 6 or 7 years and lately, due to injury, I've taken up swimming.  As soon as I'm able I'll be getting on the bike to try my hand at cycling, again, and once the shinsplints are sorted I'll be back on the road running! I've also been known to wear sportswear when I'm not taking part in fitness!  Does that make me trendy?

Yoga in the good old days seemed to me to be a bit hippy but nowadays just about everybody is doing it, not only for its own sake but as a complement to other sports, including running.  One example of an activity evolving over the years.

The wealth of sport available to the "ordinary" people is staggering - from Archery to Zumba, there are no limits - apart from your own bank balance!    My daughter is a keen karate ka - not the cheapest sport in the world with it's competition entries, travelling costs and working through the belts and levels.

With the growth of the worldwide web the fitness industry has found ways to involve people from all walks of life.   There's advice about healthy eating, online weightloss sites and places to buy accessories.   I'm not sure that people see fitness as trendy - although some of the clothing available from the top sports company can make people look "sporty" without them actually taking part in any sport or fitness regime.  Sportswear has become trendy as "everyday" wear.

Of course there are always going to be those "who don't", as runners we've all had those conversations with non-runners and people who think fitness is walking to the shops to buy a pair of trackies, and fitness trends are often vilified in the press.  Maybe we are just trendsetters!

 So, what do you think.   Do you think fitness is trendy?

Visit the Run with an Idea website and see what other contributors are saying and join in the discussion - your comment could win you a prize!

Color Run Brighton - The Happiest 5k in the World

It seems like ages ago since I signed me and Danni up for Color Run at Brighton - the time finally arrived to don our Tshirts and headbands, and head out the door dressed appropriately for the "happiest 5k in the world".   We bought white cycle shorts (which Danni later refused to wear), white pumps, shutter glasses and tutus to bling it all up a bit.  We later realised we hadn't blinged enough but that's noted for next year!

We met up with fellow Boshettes, Michelle & Nik and then walked down to the start area, meeting up with Sam and Hannah and Marie on the way.

It was quite a trek to the other end of Madeira Drive - Volks Railway were offering free rides  down to the start - but we decided to walk!   The start area was a bit crazy so  we just slotted ourselves in - gave Shaun the bags to carry and the very important camera!

Ten minutes late starting, not sure how far back we were but I think we were in the second wave of 500.  Crossing the line walking felt a bit strange - I'm still banned from jogging/running but I'll save the injury update for another day!   We were headed towards the "pink" area but were smartly turned right up the slope towards Marine Drive, then back down to Madeira Drive - we were finally at the first color section - PINK !

The "colorists" were shouting drop & roll at us - no way I was doing that in the first one - I'd never get up again, I saved that for later!   Buff up to mouth & nose, glasses down & slowly walked through screaming liking a bunch of loons! 

We're in there somewhere!

 After PINK was PURPLE ! 

We did the whooping & arm waving a lot!

Still whooping, waving our arms & grinning like loons!

 After PURPLE was yellow - this was my favourite & I was ready to drop and roll - well actually

 It ended up as paint angels, front and back - whilst trying not to get trodden on & bash my legs!

 That was so much fun!

 YELLOW done we're heading for ORANGE! 

 and Michelle was rolling around like there was no tomorrow - so glad Shaun caught this shot! Me?  I was shouting "Color me" at anyone holding a paint bottle!

 The walk from ORANGE back to the finish was a bit boring but a great chance to recap what a lot of fun we'd had

 and to have some PINK envy on the way past - we really should have dived back in!  Lesson learned for next year.

 Back over the finish and yes we're all still laughing and smiling - Danni, Sam & Nik going for the sprint!

 After the finish we made our way into the finish festival - basically every one standing around waiting for the 15 minute "paint trolls" which give the infamous paint cloud associated with Color Run.

 Another chance to get absolutely smothered - including any spectators!

so that's it - the inaugural Brighton Color Run - DONE 

4 happy smiley girls !

Not sure what I'm supposed to do with this lot!

I honestly think everyone should take part in this race - it's for just about everyone - big, small, old, young, men, women, children, people in wheelchairs, on roller blades, scooters and even dogs!    

The happiest 5k in the world - hell yeah.   

Actually it's not 5k, it was a bit short but who cares - it's a fun run, time to go naked & not give a monkeys about PBs and pace.    

Our only complaint, not much atmosphere apart from the start/finish and the color areas, it could do with some music of some description - a Samba band or DJ would be great.

Do it again - try stopping me!  Color Run should be on prescription to be taken daily !

Swimming - an alternative to running!

Following on from my injury confession post I had an interesting weekend - I went swimming, in the local public swimming pool.   I haven't swum in the local public swimming pool since Danni did swimming lessons - which is a fair old time.  I have, however, swum in various pools on holiday and during the summer had membership of LA Fitness and swam in the spa pool twice a week for 5 weeks.

The difference between the different types of pool are huge - the ones you swim in on holiday are rarely regular shapes or size and there's no chance of lane rage as there are no lanes and you can leave your towel on your sunbed - all very civilised!  Oh and they are always freezing cold.

The only downside of the holiday swimming pool unless you get up at the crack of dawn is that they're always packed and there's always an idiot with an inflatable that takes up the whole pool!

The gym "spa" pools are a lovely experience - the one at LA Fitness Brighton isn't huge, has 3 lanes for different speeds of swimmers and you can hang your towel on a hook.  There is no lane rage at this type of pool, everyone swims as instructed (up on the left, down on the right) and in the correct lane for their level/speed.   There was also very few people, if any, in the pool!

The water is always a constant temperature and it's rarely noisy - apart from Mr Speedy swimmer.  Also you can have a proper shower and the changing rooms are single sex!  I paid £19 for 10 sessions on a Groupon deal!

Swimming in a local public swimming pool is the complete opposite of the above two experiences.  

The difference starts the minute you walk through the door - for one thing it's £4.25 per person to swim!  Next is the communal changing rooms - "Mummy" side cubicles, "Daddy" side cubicles, "family cubicles".   Guess who nearly went on the wrong side!  So off I went to the pool having got changed, put my bag in the locker and went to find somewhere to put my towel - hah!  "The wall" is the only place to put your towel, and if you dare put it in the wrong place it gets moved.  Getting into the pool on Saturday morning was pleasant enough - there were only a couple of other people swimming and the water was like getting into a bath.  There were also children's swimming lessons going on.

Actually swimming on Saturday was a doddle.  Instructions from Matt to mix up my stroke - what I hadn't told him was that I only "do" breaststroke, however that's only my arms - my legs do a mixture of leg strokes, sometimes breaststroke legs, sometimes crawl legs - so hopefully that's as mixing it up as I needed!   I swam gently for about 45 minutes and then got out and showered.   Saturday was easy - Sunday was a bit different.  For one thing there was no room on "the wall" for my towel, and secondly the water was freezing!  I'd made the mistake of going 15 minutes later too so it was a bit busier and the likelihood of getting in someones way was high!  One thing which I did find annoying was one young couple who got in, walked up to the halfway point and then sat chatting for the half hour that I was in there - honestly go to Costa buy a coffee and chat away, it's cheaper and you won't get wet!

I actually quite like swimming - apart from the local swimming pool thing but it will do, for now!  One of my Facebook friends suggested one of these

The Endless Pool - I actually want one!