New year, new challenges



Heading back to Sheffield in the
early morning snow



After some excellent running conditions in the snow and ice the snow has gone. I got good use out of the “Yaktrax” snow grippers I bought in December and was well pleased with their performance, saving me the usual slippery trepidation the snow brings.



Houndkirk Road on the day after the Derwent Marathon



The festive season is also now over and it’s now the last push to the start line. At least it would be if my back hadn’t been playing up over Christmas – disaster!

All was going so well – running on consecutive days, increasing the pack load to 8kg+,and some excellent coverage in the local Sheffield Star and Sheffield Telegraph before Christmas. Rich and I managed a pre-Christmas marathon distance run around the Derwent Dams in the Peak District which was fantastic – we completed the distance in 5 hours, carrying 8kg packs with half the distance completed in the dark and in pretty icy conditions. Both of us felt good pretty much all the way round, and apart from a close call with mild hypothermia once we’d finished it was a great success.

The training plan was always to take it easy in the lead up to Christmas and focus on back-to-back running between Christmas and New Year. The plan was adhered to, but after the 3rd of our back to back runs my back felt really stiff. The 4th day’s 10 miles was painful, and in hindsight carrying the pack that day probably wasn’t the best idea, but you know how it is. Adding to my woes, I managed to aggravate my recovering shoulder injury, rather pathetically by pushing myself up out of the sofa on Christmas day in order to get another beer from the fridge. Luckily the strong anti-inflammatory drugs I’ve been taking for that are also good for helping my back!

A trip for a sports massage, followed by a visit to the GP and then a physio have all confirmed a bout of sciatica. Luckily it appears manageable (which I take to mean it’s not totally debilitating, but it hurts!) and actually a week or so on, it does feel better. Last week saw the turbo trainer being dusted off and set up again in the garage to try to maintain my cardio fitness, whilst not running. The weekend’s long run was translated into a 15 mile march around the Derwent Dams with a light pack. That produced no ill effects in terms of my back, and was completed in sub-15 minutes/mile pace which was positive.

So, before the final push, a bit of recovery and not being silly about trying to do too much too soon. It’s not what I wanted at this stage, but as so many people keep telling me, I’m almost 40 now and I can’t expect my body to cope and/or recover as well as when I was younger. Great, thanks for that.

One thing I can focus on whilst injured however is the fund raising. As I post this update, our running total stands at £455 (http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/ianandrichmds2012) and we’re now selling tickets for a fund raising Moroccan Themed Night at our sponsor’s restaurant Otto’s on Sharrow Vale Road in Sheffield on 24 February.