For foot’s sake!

2 weeks on and a total of 2 miles running.  Went to the physio at Hampden and I have Plantar Fasciitis (don’t think I have ever seen two i’s together before!).  So no St Ettienne to Lyon race for me although hopefully I will be running again by then if I work hard at getting rid of this.

It was acute onset (less common) brought on by that run on Rannoch Moor possibly in shoes that did not support my arches enough although I had worn them a few times for quite a while before that but not terrain quite like that.  She said acute onset means it should be quicker to heal but I was tears while she worked on my foot and I have to try and do that to myself with a golf ball as much as possible and get some massage if possible.

She said it was probably lurking before that and that my anke and joints in my foot were really stiff and immobile as well as my calves being tight which is the same problem I was having before the Fling.  I may have to be facing facts that even 3/4 times a week in high heels is no good.  It’s really hard being short and generally having suits that all need high heels.  I don’t think I can really pull of suits with flat shoes!  Plus when not in heels for work I was wearing little pumps which I have now been informed are just as bad as they give my arches no support either!

So it’s trainers and suits at least while driving and in the office – what a fashion statement!  And cross training only as well!

Sunday 18th

cycling

Monday 19th

cycling

biceps, triceps, shoulders, stomach weights

Tuesday 20th

Body Pump

Thursday 21st

cycling

biceps, triceps, shoulders, stomach weights

Friday 22nd

2 mile run

Tuesday 27th

cycling

Wednesday 28th

5km row – 28.34 mins

biceps, triceps, shoulders, stomach, chest weights

 

Another post with no running!

With my foot still being sore I decided on no running during the week so that hopefully I would be okay for Sat’s run with the glee club.

Tues 13th Oct

30 mins cycling

Body Pump

Wed 14th Oct

Ben Lomond

Thurs 15th Oct

40 mins climbing wall

Sat 17th Oct

I mile run, I mile walk

Now I know that Lomond and the climbing wall were not exactly letting my foot rest properly but I had my two best boys staying those days and we have been promising them for months that we would take them up Ben Lomond as their first munro so I did not want to back down.  And we were not exactly slow going up, or down!  They put me to shame with their running to the summit!

In hindsight I should have done a very small run on Friday to see how my foot was and not wasted all that time, effort and petrol driving to Tyndrum, especially when I did not even see anyone but hindsight is a wonderful thing!  Anyway now I am really annoyed about my foot. Hoping to catch up with a long run next weekend (Drymen to Balmaha by road, then Rowardennand and back to Balmaha and back to Drymen via the WHW if anyone is interested) but if my foot is not better and I can’t do it then I think France may be out.  I can’t go on not enough training when I have to finish the 42 miles in under 9 1/2 hrs (I think).  So I was rather grumpy yesterday!

From Potential to Success – Dr Frank Dick

Dr Frank Dick gave the closing keynote speech at the Scottish Learning Festival last month and related the above title to our new Scottish curriculum – A Curriculum for Excellence.  There were  a lot of sporting analogies as well though with plenty of video clips to watch and relate coaching in sport to teaching in education.  It was certainly the most entertaining and interesting keynote/seminar I felt I went to over the 2 days.

It has taken me so long to get round to writing about it that I am not sure it will make much sense but I will give it a go (and leave out the education bits mostly).

• He started off by saying that people are valley or mountain people and it is mountain people who have the winning difference. 
• 3 R’s of coaching: 

1. You have responsibility for your own performance and should be the best you can be
2. You have responsibility for your own development and you should accept/seek coaching
3. You have responsibility for coaching other players/coaches

Not sure if I have that quite right but I can see exactly how it fits for teachers and in that sense I am not always very good at accepting/seeking coaching!

• Coaches should have double vision; focus on the dreams of today and the milestones of the future.
• Plan backwards; for example for London 2012 they will be thinking now what they want their athletes to look like 6 weeks before, 6 months before, 1 year before etc.

Winning is being better today than you

were yesterday, every day!

The above quote will be up in my classroom when I go back to having a class; for both me and the pupils!  The analogy he used was of coaching a kid who started off by coming last in 100m races and gradually got better by focusing on beating her own times, not thinking about beating other people.

He talked at this point about the reason to seek out competition is to make yourself better and that was about needing other people racing beside you to push yourself on (if I remember rightly).

You have to know what winning is to you!

At this point he showed a clip of Ussain Bolt winning the 200m in Beijing (he was there!) and pointed out he had easily won the race coming out of the bend and who was he racing against by then – well it was himself to get the new world record.

The clip I have put on has Steve Cram commentating and you can just imagine him jumping out of his seat with excitement; I watched another one with an American commentator and he could not have been any more unimpressed – there was complete silence in the last 100m!

• Coaching Process:

Be the light  (direct)

Fuel the light (coach)

Reflect the light (support)

Stand out of the light  (counsel)

The first two above were about giving pupils/athletes the roots to grow and the next two about giving them the wings to fly!

• Own – take personal ownership of every opportunity to make the winning difference
• Decide – take considered risks and decisions making and judgement calls to be the winning difference
• Do – just do it!  Act effectively and excellently

He also talked about not giving up until the end – I would love to show the kids in Malawi the clip below as each time I have been out and have done a sports day they have given up running in their race as soon as they see someone winning.

Cathy Freeman was also mentioned and I cannot remember the details of why but it was to do with the hype and controversy of the 400m final in Sydney and how she had to deal with that and run her own race.  I could not find the exact same clip which was of her being interviewed about how difficult it was at the same time as showing the race.

The goal of intellectual life is to enable the next generation to learn from what you have learned from and act on it!

You are there to make it possible for other people to succeed!

The teacher/leader is conductor of their own orchestra!

The three quotes above I will have on the staffroom wall if I ever become a headteacher!

He then showed a clip from the film Pay it Forward, which I saw years ago and sobbed my way through and finished off the address with:

If not you, who?

If not now, when?

Think of an idea to change our world and put it into action!

Perils of running over Rannoch moor – twice!

Sun 4th October – Bridge of Orchy – Kingshouses – Bridge of Orchy

24.23 miles, 5.25.30hrs, ave pace 13.26m/m

BO – VB – 2.9 miles, 41mins, 14.08m/m ave pace

VB – K – 9.14 miles, 1.52.34hrs, 12.19m/m ave pace

9.16min break

K – VB – 9.16miles, 1.57.16hrs, 12.48m/m ave pace

VB – BO – 2.89 miles, 45.10mins, 15.37m/m ave pace

We (pacepusher, weirrunner and I) were very glad we waited till Sunday to do this run after Saturday’s weather!  Today was just perfect for running.  I did not feel I had a good day, especially on the way back, just that my legs were heavy and tired and I did not feel like myself but was pleasantly surprised with the ave pace over the moor each way.

I found it really hard on the way back as it was so cobbly and hard on the feet and I have paid for it since.  The inside of my left foot got swollen and sore and it is still not right.

I got changed for the club on Mon and got up there but after running through the car park realised there was no chance of me running.

Wed 7th Oct

10 mins bik

2 miles treadmill

Thought I would try this to see how my foot was and it was okay but not great.

Thurs 8th Oct

Body Pump

Body Attack

And here was my mistake – doing Body Attack as desperate to lose the extra weight.  Now I’m resting it for a bit but pretty annoyed about it!

2x out

26 miles

A bad week for running!

Monday 28th Sept

5.3 miles, 47.26mins, ave pace 8.57m/m

9.20, 9.05, 8.58, 8.52, 8.34, 8.47

This ended up being the best chance of running that I had all week after me not getting into the house till 10pm on Sunday night after the hardmoors.  Spent all of Monday working at home despite the holiday and then Chris picked me up to go to the club – only we missed them all!  So no speed session for me although it looked like only 2 people were out from my group in the end, having spoken to the coaches.

Chris was very good though and took me out which must have been very slow for him!  I enjoyed my run although had a really sore right Achilles heel towards the end.

Tuesday 29th Sept

No run for me today and the incident which hampered my running for the rest of the week.  Schools in-service days have now become our busiest days with us being called in to do training sessions.  The oil light had kept coming on in the car and I put more in it on my way to work and it was making terrible rattling noises.  Went to a morning session in another girls car but then had to go down the M74 in my own in the afternoon to another school myself. 

Well I never made it to the school!  The engine died and I glided onto the hard shoulder somewhere between junction 7 and 8, very grateful that it had not happened on the huge roundabout that is the Raith interchange!  Very grateful as well for AA coverage and sympathetic staff back at the office who phoned the school and explained I would not be coming.  It was still over an hour to wait in the cold for the AA to come though and another 1/2 for him to look at it and sort it out for towing which was not an experience I wish to repeat!

Unfortunately the car is irrepairable (oil had got into the engine and it is dead basically) and I have spent most of the rest of the week travelling by public transport for between 3-4 hours a day to get to and from work.  And that in the middle of 5 inservice/courses to run in the space of 3 days with lots of materials to carry about was not easy or fun!  It did not exactly help me recover from the weekend!

Wednesday 30th September

2.7 miles, stairs session

1.5  mile warm up

1min, 54 secs, 51 secs, 1.04mins, 1.01 mins, 58 secs, 47 secs, 48 secs

Excrutiatingly tired but managed to get out for a bit before going to the MOBO’s.  Too exhausted the rest of the week to do anything!

2 x out

8 miles