A journey from fat(ish) to fit.

Dubgal72

ariana` wrote: »

Great you're getting the scan so quick. Let us know how you get on.

But can i just 2nd Dubgal's post - you may as well crack the breathing while you're injured, ya won't be able to really build up stamina in the pool til you do!!! I'm half-way through a pregnancy, still running, but already plotting some swim sessions when i get to the stage where i can't run, i'm kind of looking forward too it, it'll be nice to have a change from plodding the streets feeling like a beached whale

Sorry for the hijack Ronan but congrats on the pregnancy Ariana and double congrats on running through your pregnancy (my pelvis gave up about 18-20 weeks ) Where is your log?? I think you would bring a whole new dimension to the training logs section, we have quite a few mammies on there, we'd love to see you there!

RonanP77

Yeah you guys are right, I need to get the breathing right to really get the benefit of it.

Lessons started back tonight, it was mostly a new crew, 2 of us from December and 6 new people. We've been separated into 3 groups, 4 absolute beginners, 2 intermediate beginners and myself and another lad are down the deep end as advanced beginners. There's a new instructor, she's totally different, it's more structured now, definitely better.

We didn't work on the breathing tonight but we will next week, we worked on our stroke and I could certainly see an improvement in mine. Hopefully I'll make good progress. She made everyone else get out and stand alongside the pool to watch me do a few half lengths so they could see how it should be done. I dunno if I was happy or mortified, I suppose it's nice to know you're doing it right.

Running is definitely off the table, probably for the next few months, if not longer, I'm not sure if I'll be allowed to cycle so I might as well make the most of the swimming. I'll go twice a week from now on.

ariana`

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Sorry for the hijack Ronan but congrats on the pregnancy Ariana and double congrats on running through your pregnancy (my pelvis gave up about 18-20 weeks ) Where is your log?? I think you would bring a whole new dimension to the training logs section, we have quite a few mammies on there, we'd love to see you there!

Ah thanks Dubgal, i've been toying with starting a log but then i keep thinking i might have to pack it in any day now. I'm 19wks now and trying to just take it day by day but i'd love to get to the end of the 2nd tri still running if i can. Hmmm, i might just re-think that log now that i've been given a push (watch this space... )

Again sorry ronan for hijacking Sounds like you're the star pupil in your new class which is great but don't let it stop you from trying to push ahead furthur, once you master breathing (do i sound like a broken record yet!) you should be able to move on from a beginners class altogether to an intermediate class where you will be challenged furthermore

RonanP77

I picked up my new bike today, rode it tye 4k home from the shop. I didn't bother going any further because of the wind and injury.

RonanP77

I was in the pool this morning, only about 200m of swimming but a lot of kicking my legs at the side of the pool and trying to figure out how to tread water. I got plenty of exercise in and none of it would be hard on my ankle. Tomorrow morning I have my scan and I'll know what the story is then.

ariana`

Good luck with scan today.

RonanP77

I just got off the phone with the doctor, she said the MRI shows that one if the ligaments on the outside of my foot, just in front of the ankle bone is torn.

She's not my doctor, he won't be in until Friday so she said to ring him to see how he wants to go about treating it. She mentioned seeing an orthopaedic guy and said that sometimes they immobilise these kinds of injuries. I'll see what my own doc says on Friday.

I'm allowed to go to my swimming lesson tonight but she warned me not to try running. I haven't run in over 2 months now so wasn't going to do it anyway. I'd imagine it'll be another two months at least before I run again. It's just as well I enjoy the swimming lessons. If I get a cast I won't be able to do those either.

RonanP77

Swimming was class tonight, I was swimming on my back, treading water and I'm making good progress with my breathing. I really enjoyed it.

pointer28

At least you have some kind of idea what's wrong with your ankle now and you can move on from there.

There's nothing worse than having a problem and not knowing what's causing it.

RonanP77

Yeah, I glad I know exactly what it is now. They should be able to give me a rough time frame for when it'll be sorted.

RonanP77

I heard from the Doctor yesterday, he said I needed to see the physio for a rehabilitation plan. I rang the physio straight away and got an appointment for today. I just got back from seeing her.

I'm in worse shape now than I was when I saw her two months ago. My left ankle and whole lower leg is visibly smaller than the right. I have a lot of work to do to build it back up.

I have to carry on swimming twice a week, I'm allowed to do short a short cycle on flat ground once a week, I have to start my flexibility exercises again too. Obviously there's no running but I'm not allowed to even go on short walks and I won't restart the strengthening exercises yet either.

It's good to have a program to work with again, even if it is a 2 month setback.

RonanP77

A throat and ear infection kept me out for about 10 days. I was back at swimming lessons last night and from next week I'm in at 9-10 with the intermediate and advanced classes. I'm happy enough with how last night went, considering I'm just coming off those infections. I got the breathing right about 50 % of the time and that should keep improving.

I'll start back on the bike this Sunday but only a 5k spin. I'm using a band now to strengthen my ankle, as well as flexibility and balance/strength exercises. It feels good but I'm not getting ahead of myself. I'm still going to take it very very slow and easy. The current target is to be running 5k again regularly and at a 5-6min/k pace by October.

I might do a few parkruns at the end of the year but have no other events planned and no goals for setting PBs over any distance.

RonanP77

Last night was my first swimming lesson with the advanced class. 3 of us are meant to be intermediate but we were doing pretty much the same as them. I was good and I learned a lot. Parts of it went well for me, other parts didn't. Overall I was happy enough.

We had a different instructor last night with a different approach. I liked her way of doing things, very friendly and encouraging but doesn't let you get lazy. Our regular instructor is a lot more strict and shouty but that's needed at times too. I'm happy enough with either one. The lad we had starting out was very relaxed, perfect for absolute beginners but not once you get past that level.

RonanP77

Just back from the physio, boy that was painful. She really drove the needles in tonight, one in particular to the left of my shin bone. I almost kicked her in the head.

The good news is that I'll be back running in the next 6 weeks. I'm back walking tomorrow then build it up slowly. It'll be a walk-jog-walk kind of thing buy I'm REALLY looking forward to it.

RonanP77

I went for my 3rd short walk today, 2km at a very very slow pace. The ankle feels strong so I got brave a did a very light jog for 100 steps (my first jog in 4 months) before walking again. I'll keep doing it like that and add in extra little spells of jogging. In 6 weeks I might be jogging a few k. I'll not try actually running for a few more months.

I'll cycle or walk Tuesday and Friday this week, swim Wednesday and cycle or walk again Sunday. 4 days a week of light exercise shouldn't be too much, especially if one of those is swimming. I won't step it up from 4 days a week until Autumn or even next Winter.

RonanP77

My longest walk since Christmas today, 3.2km. I'll stick to this distance now for a good while. I jogged 100 steps again and it felt good, no problems so far. I'm walking at a very slow pace but I'm scared to go any faster for now. I'd rather walk slowly and increase the jogging distance than walk faster and risk injury.

Tigerandahalf

Was it a torn ligament you had in the ankle?

RonanP77

Tigerandahalf wrote:

Was it a torn ligament you had in the ankle?

Yeah, it was indeed. It seems to finally be coming good now but I'll be patient with it.

Tigerandahalf

You would be better off to take it easy for a bit. Ligaments can be tricky. Some people heal very well and others can break down months later. The swimming and cycling won't put too much pressure on it. The walking will help too. I see no reason why you shouldn't be back jogging within a couple of weeks though as long as you have stuck to the healing time. The ankle should tell you quickly enough. After that just build it up slowly.
How is the swimming coming on?

RonanP77

I'm enjoying the swimming, some things I'm picking up faster than the others, some things I'm a little less confident on. I can do a full length now at times, other times I stop half way because I've drank a few mouthfuls of water.

The instructor told me last week that if were measuring things the same as kids do we'd be between level 4 and 5. That doesn't mean a lot to me but anyone that swam as a kid or has kids swimming will be able to tell how far along I am from that.

I still prefer running but I think I could be good enough at swimming if I stick at it.

johnruns

Hey Ronan havnt read your log before just jumping in cause saw your thread on the main page,think its good your enjoying the swimming I find it compliments run training,even though your working hard the no impact helps with recovery and it is great for upper body and core strength which I find the run training drains me of.

RonanP77

Just back from swimming, it went really well tonight. We did the breast stroke for the first half an hour or so, my arms and hips/groin are feeling very tired. We were doing the back stroke then, I'm not confident on my back but it went alright. I did a little of the front crawl mixed in amongst that and the breathing went well for me. It was an enjoyable session and I feel like I'm making good progress.

I think it will be a nice mix with the running, it's good to have something that uses so many muscles and is so low impact. My core is a real weak point for me so hopefully swimming helps with that.

RonanP77

I've stepped up the jogging a little now, I ran 350 steps on Sunday. I was due to go out again last night but the ankle felt a little tired so I skipped it. I intend being very careful this time around.

I've started a morning routine now before work. I do mainly a warmup up routine we used to do at kickboxing and stretching but do pushups, leg lifts, plank and squats too. I have very very light weights for the squats. I also do something I don't know the name for, I hold the chair behind me and dip down fairly low. When I'm fully healed I'll add lunges and maybe a little skipping. I do a little weights after that but just with dumbells and I don't have much weight on them. The idea is to strengthen my core and firm up pecs and abs. I need to look up proper exercises add so the routine is more effective and lasts longer than the current 15 minutes.

I don't have breakfast now until 9 o'clock at work, I haven't reduced my overall calorie intake just eating more at 9 than I used to. I'm still slowly losing weight, just below 149 now (I was 162.2 on new years day and about 182 when I started out a year ago) I'm not actually trying to lose weight any more so that should stabilise now and go back up a little.

I'm looking forward to swimming tonight, it's the first lesson I'm feeling healthy for since Christmas.

RonanP77

Things seem to be looking up this week.


Swimming went well on Wednesday, for the first 40 minutes or so anyway, after that I was wrecked. I was getting the breathing right about 80% of the time and I'm feeling more and more relaxed all the time.

I went for a 4k walk-jog-walk yester evening on the way home from work. I ran about 1k of it so that's a real step in the right direction. My ankle felt tired and a little sore last night and this morning but I've been on my feet all day and it feels fine now. I'm doing plenty of gentle stretches and flexibility exercises on it.

Tomorrow I'll probably go out on the bike, I need to keep active but don't want to push my luck by jogging again. I'll swim Wednesday and won't jog again until Friday, I'll do another 4k with 3 of it walking. I'll be in Spain the week after so I hope to get plenty of exercise out there.

Dubgal72

Baby steps now things are going forward, nicely done.

RonanP77

Dubgal72 wrote:

Baby steps now things are going forward, nicely done.

Yep, no big increase in distance or tempo now for a while.

I went for a 10.5k cycle around the two lakes and forest paths on the hybrid. I didn't realise how rough it was going to get. Luckily I only had about 1k when it started raining and the wind got really bad.

I stayed in the low gears and pedalled like crazy so it was a good workout but with no pressure in the ankle. Tomorrow and Tuesday are rest days now so next up is swimming on Wednesday.

RonanP77

My ankle has been a bit sore the last two days, I don't know if it's my morning workouts causing that, maybe being up and down ladders a few times a day or hurt at work again. It's not injured again, just a bit tender.

Swimming was tough tonight, she really pushed us. It's only a 20m pool but we did 30 lengths or so. It doesn't sound like much but we're still only learning so endurance and skill levels are fairly low. Lots of mixed drills tonight, some went perfectly, some a bit crappy. I had 10 really bad minutes I'm the middle of the lesson but other than that it went really well.

I have the breathing sussed and that was my only real problem. I can confidently say now that I can swim, it's just a case of how good I want to get. I'll keep at it for another few months anyway, the idea of a Triathlon seems a long way away though, it certainly won't be this year and maybe not next year either.

RonanP77

I had to miss todays scheduled run, it was the only day I could get an appointment before next week's trip to Spain. My calves needed a little work and the muscle beside my shin (the tibial?) was very tight, it felt similar to shin splints - itchy or stingy.

My old ankle injury is not playing up so that's good. She told me to step things up a bit now but still not overdo it. If I feel a little niggle or soreness don't panic, it's to be expected.

RonanP77

I'm just back from a 5.3k run/walk. After the chat with the physio I felt confident to step up the amount of running. I cam push on now faster than I had intended. I probably walked about 3k of it and ran the 2.3 at an easy pace, not so much a jog as a LSR pace. I was still careful not to overdo it. It'll be quite a while yet before running the full 5k.

My ankle felt great, no problems at all. I'm expecting my right hamstring, both calves and me left shin to be a little tight and sore in the morning. I'll be on the foam roller tonight and then I have two test days so all should be fine.

I thought the last day out that my fitness levels were still fairly high and today was the same, I could definitely still run a 5k without a problem. Swimming has kept me fairly fit along with the small amount of walking and cycling I was doing.

RonanP77

Tonight is my last night in Spain, I've had my most active week ever.

Wed 8th;

Swim 30 mins.

Thurs 9th;

Swim 1 hr.

Fri 10th;

Run 30 mins

Sat 11th;

Run 30 mins
Swim 1 hr

Sun 12th;

Swim 1 hr

Mon 13th;

Swim 1 hr
Tennis 30 mins
Badminton 30 mins

Tuesday 14th;

Walk 2 hrs (including 10 min run at pace)
Swim 1 hr

I'm feeling great after it, hopefully I'll be the same in the morning. I'll ease off and take it handy for the next week, I'll only get out 3 times, one swim, one cycle and one run.

The pool was a nice surprise, 1m in the shallow end, 2m in the deep end, 10m long and 2 lanes wide, it was heated too so that was good.

Some of the runs were done in cool weather but today's walk was done in the high 20s with some seriously steep terrain so it was tough but enjoyable.