As my health is an ongoing work in progress and I haven’t had any official diagnosis yet – regardless of it being nearly a year since I began to get unwell – I have had to evaluate my training regularly. I can’t follow snazzy training plans because if I’m knackered that’s me not getting out of bed tomorrow. This gets even trickier because I’m allergic to over the counter anti-inflammatory medicines so I have to rely on Paracetamol which doesn’t really impact it. So my training has been barely scraping the 10 miles a week barrel I’d half-heartedly set on Jan 1st and is more just ad hoc – doing what I can when I can.  Consideration of self capabilities is super important.

What else have I been doing?

Honestly, studying has been taking up much of my time. I’m finishing the last module of an Open University degree so my nights are spent researching Greek and Roman myth until past midnight in hopes of achieving a predicted 2:2. This means a lot less time to spend in the gym or working out.

Improvisation is key. I’ve been doing yoga daily either in the morning before work meaning a six am rise (thank heaven for SAD lamp!) or in the evening after I’ve put my daughter Holly to bed. This time last year I was running – or trying to – and doing yoga probably once a week if I remembered. I’ve found yoga such a great way to stay mobile with my spinal back problems and I’m really relishing my time on the mat. It’s so awesome when you get to see measurable progress. Things like being able to put the entire foot on the floor during a Downward Dog or indeed keeping stable on left leg balancing exercises. The left leg is where I get the pain from my back issues causing
some entertainingly shaky Tree poses! Hats off to Yoga With Adriene! Her videos are legendary. Alongside that I’ve been dancing with friends and the occasional social bouldering session. Bit of an ad hoc mix as I say but it appears to be working at keeping me fit and keeping off any weight increase from doing less than I’d like.

Running wise I’ve been slowly building using the 10% effort increase method over mileage and speed. I’m able to get away with doing 2-3 miles two times a week. I want to get confident in 3-4 miles so I can start club running again in spring and enjoy the lighter days in summer.

My highlight of February has been on training for Run Director as part of a team of Run Director trainees banked for a new Junior parkrun event at Eastville Park in Bristol. As part of the training we ran Little Stoke Junior parkrun as a group and attended an arkrun ethos and event running protocols. Last weekend we hosted our trial event with 11 runners and plan to launch on March 5th. It’s beginning to feel real now!
Happy running,

Eleanor