Walk before you run!

Today is exactly three weeks to the day since my left total hip replacement and it also saw my first physio appointment since leaving hospital (on day 4).

Before the operation I had received a physio booklet outlining the exercises that I should carry out both straight after the operation (whilst still in hospital) and ongoing for the weeks after leaving hospital. It also contained plenty of other do's and don'ts plus techniques for things "normos" can do easily such as climbing and descending stairs, going to the toilet and putting your pants on! All useful info I can assure you in my recent situation! It's quite strange getting to the bathroom and then wondering how to physically do what you have always done naturally, but I'll leave that there.

Before I left hospital, the on-site physio team had repeatedly tested my understanding of the exercise routine and I felt well drilled before I left.

Further instructions in the booklet described what I should do regarding walking, both that it should be with two crutches, should start with small distances, but also that the distance should be slowly increased daily.

So here I was, left with a set of exercises to repeat and walking distances to increase daily, plus what is best described as a "runner's brain"! And advantage you would think.....

My "runner's brain" told me that, if I can do these exercises well and comfortably, then I should gradually increase the quantity. So what started out as 5 repetitions of each exercise gradually became 15 of each exercise, with all the exercises repeated as a block 6 times a day. AND what started out as a 100m round trip up the road and back had increased to 600m within a few days, had gradually increased to half a mile 3 times a day and then for the last 3 days, it had increased further to 1 mile each time, 3 times a day. Over that period, my walking speed had increased too, fairly significantly early on, but for the last week it had evened out at very roughly 2 miles an hour, or around half the speed I would usually walk. This was a safe speed and I had no desire to go any faster than this whilst using crutches.

To runners that just sounds like training doesn't it? Gradually increase repetitions. Gradually increase distance. Gradually increase speed.

Today I saw my physio and finally understood the point of all of this!

For years, due to my deteriorating hips, a sub-concious decision to prevent the discomfort of osteo-arthritis, a concious decision to prevent the sharp pain I would sometimes get when my hip got into the wrong alignment, plus the gradual physical changes to my skeleton (yes my skeleton actually adapted itself to prevent pain), my walking gait had become abnormal. To anyone that knows me, I'm sure this has been obvious for many years, and even to myself, when catching a glimpse of myself in a mirror or shop window, it was obvious that I was walking like "the missing link", hunched forward, leaning into the next stride. And it was impossible for me to correct.

This style of walking is not normal, and along with removing the pain, one of the main objectives of the surgeon and the physio team is to return me to a "normal" walking gait. That does not mean back to my normal, but instead to "normal" normal! And this is the point of the physio exercises and the recovery period. Now this might be obvious to everyone else, but as a runner I had missed the subtlety of the old adage of "quality NOT quantity". Today I finally got it!

I have now been given a greater number and variety of exercises. These are to be performed in smaller sets. The idea here is that for each exercise, the first repetition is naturally tentative, the second increases the range of motion and by the 4th and 5th you have probably gone as far as you are going to that time (trying to push the boundary a bit on those last two if possible). Any more are pretty pointless. As my physio said, "this isn't strength training - you are only lifting your own leg!". But there was thing I had spot on, I should be repeating all the exercises as many times a day as I can, without causing too much pain or swelling.

Walking greater distances at greater speeds is also important, but I really do have to "walk before I can run". And in my case I need to learn how to walk properly again first, This is not just a mental thing, I also have to physically teach my muscles, tendons and ligaments to be able to allow and control a different and greater range of motion in all directions. For the last 5 years I have been a runner, when I couldn't really do any other sport any more. This can only be due to the fact that moving my legs in a straight line (front-to-back) didn't hurt (as much) in the same way as lateral movement. But this has also ensured that front-to-back movement is all I can really control, and controlled movement in all other directions now has to be re-learnt.

So, for the next week at least, I will be on a reduced daily walking distance and an increased and more varied set of physio exercises. I'm really pleased that I had my physio appointment today and that my focus has been shifted into the right areas that are really going to have the effects I need to get me back to "normal".

And one thing is for sure, now that I know the exercises that I need to do, as "a runner" I have no problem at all in repeating those exercises over and over again - after all, it's only training!

Monthly mileage record

February may well be the shortest month of the year and having set my highest monthly running mileage record in January, it was always going to be a tough ask to up my mileage any more or even get close to it.

However, having run 141.7 miles in January, I somehow managed to clock up 142.2 miles in February.

There wasn't even any conscious attempt to creep past my figure from January, it was just the way it turned out that I happened to break my mileage record by just half a mile.

I'm not sure how long I can keep up these distances. At this rate I am on for roughly 1700 miles this year, which would smash my record of 1000.8 miles set last year. I am sure the figures will drop off at some stage, but even so, 284 miles already in the year is some going for me.

March is likely to see a bit of a drop as I taper my distance and frequency of training for a couple of races, but I am still hopeful that I can get up reasonably close to those figures again. Who knows, I may even be able to set a new monthly mileage record for the third month running. Only time will tell.

365 in 365 challenge - progress so far

We are already 2 full months into 2013, doesn't time fly when you are having fun!

At the turn of the year, one of the challenges that I set myself was to attempt to do 365 training sessions in the 365 days of 2013. Given that I only managed around 180 different training sessions last year, this is a significant step up. I am only counting running and cycling at the moment and I do allow more than one session a day, but they have to be distinct, separate sessions.

The intention of this plan was purely to increase the amount of exercise I do to try to both prevent injuries and aim for some PBs at various distances in the spring.

So in total over January and February I managed to complete:
- 39 running sessions (284 miles)
- 24 static cycling sessions (over 17 hours)

For a total of 63 training sessions in 59 days. Not a bad start to the year at all! And already 4 training sessions ahead of target.

If you add to that all the core exercising (26 times) and the stretching that I am doing most days, it is a job well done so far.

Now I just have to hope that it has the desired effect and I can get some PBs in the spring.

To be included in my training plan

So I have decided that I want to get PBs in 2013. I have considered this and believe that it is still realistic that I am capable of a PB. I have thought about the factors that influence achieving a PB. I have thought about how to fit training in and not annoy the family.

So now it is time to work out what types of training I need to include.

I'll start with the obvious and work on from there:
1. Running - If running is my target, then it is pretty obvious that running is going to have to be the mainstay of my training. I will need to do long runs,
short runs, fast runs, slow runs, intervals and hill sessions. Finding the right balance of all of these will be key. The sheer quantity of different types of
runs required suggests to me that I either concentrate on different types for periods at a time, or I adopt a 2 week rotation, rather than one week.
2. Cycling - Sometimes this may be proper cycling, but for convenience it will generally be indoor cycling on my static bike.
3. Yoga - On and off over the past 2 years I have used a short yoga routine of 6 different running related exercises, which takes roughly 10-15 minutes
to work through. These exercises are great for strength, balance and flexibility and should I find a way to do them regularly I am certain I will see the
benefits.
4. Stretching - I have never been very flexible and with age this is only getting worse. Finding a good set of stretches and ensuring that I do them
regularly will help no end.
5. Core strength - This is an area that I have never really concentrated on, so in theory it is an area where I can probably improve most significantly.

So those are the types of training I want to fit in. Now on to the ways that I will use to fit those sessions into my life:
- On occasions in the past I have got up before work and done some time on my static bike. I'll need to do that again.
- I work from home a couple of times a week and will need to continue to use those days to fit in decent lunchtime runs. Often I haven't run on  my
Friday lunchtime at home, saving myself for parkrun on Saturday. But I think this needs to change, apart from before any parkrun that I decide to go
fast.
- I probably need to use one of my work from home days for another static cycle session too.
- I must make sure I attend parkrun each week.
- I must also make sure I attend my club training on a Thursday, which I have been hit and miss with over the last few months.
- I should probably also consider the club Monday night core training session and the track session that follows. This hasn't been convenient for me up
to now, but perhaps I should try to attend once a fortnight.
- I also need to find a way to tag stretching, strengthening and some yoga onto the start or end of many of these sessions.

The training and family life balancing act

There is no doubt in my mind that one of the trickiest things I will have to contend with whilst trying to train for some PBs in the spring, is finding the time to fit training in.

With a wife and three kids to spend time with, keep happy and play my part in all that goes on, this will not be easy. I am going to have to be quite flexible and pretty inventive with when I fit training in to make sure I don't annoy my family.

If I can't find a way to fit in my training I will not be content. But if fitting in training comes at the expense of my family time then neither my family or myself will be happy. It's a balancing act for sure.

I will need to make use of every part of the day and the week to make this work:
- before work.
- lunchtimes on work from home days.
- evenings.
- weekends.
All these need to be part of my plan, but with plenty of flexibility so that training sessions can be dropped or replaced where family needs require it.

If I can find a way to balance all of that and not annoy my family, I will be doing very well  and I may achieve my PB targets.