Alternative training

I am notoriously difficult to get out the door to exercise when said exercise doesn't involve running. Don't get me wrong. I love it once I'm out there, I love getting tired, but I need a lot of coercion to get going. Walks? Meh. Bike rides? If I have nothing better to do. Climbing? If you promise me chocolate afterwards.

So this long injury period combined with my reluctance to move my arse and my continuing to eat as if I still log 60 kilometres' worth of running per week has led to the acquisition of some extra cushioning around the waist. Realising that if my current lifestyle remains unchanged I might have to switch sports to sumo wrestling and it's something that I REALLY cannot see myself doing, I forced myself to get out the door this morning.

After an hour long walk, I went to the gym.

Not only did I go to the gym, I even did some exercises there.

Granted, some exercises were easier than others. Leg exercises, for instance, were no problem. My leg muscles have not yet deteriorated into jello.

Then I tried doing some shoulder and arm exercises. Pretty soon I formed a theory that I needed to build up my strength in those muscles considerably, when I found lifting the pin you put in the weights to keep them in place was hard. My suspicions were confirmed when I tried the Skierg machine (a machine that allows you to train your cross-country skiing muscles) and could only ”ski” for two minutes before collapsing in a heap on the floor.

Next time I'm shooting for the stars and aiming to ski for 2,5 minutes!

The road to recovery is long

There are only so many hits a person can take before she breaks. Only so many disappointments. Only so many setbacks. One day, she finally has enough. One day, she realises that this is an abusive relationship and she's suffered her last blow. One day, she turns her back on running for good.

But today, good folks, is not the day. Today, setbacks and disappointments have given way to victory. And the love affair continues.

My visit to the chiropractor last week left me feeling carefully optimistic. After popping my knee back into place, he told me to rest for four days and then, he reassured me, I would be able to run as usual. If it sounds too good to be true, it's because it was. Four days later, I tried running and managed a measly 3 kilometres before the pain got so bad I had to stop. The gamut of emotions I went through may have been vast but I can assure you that happiness was not one of them.

I wallowed in misery for a couple of hours. Then I tried thinking rationally. This wasn't my first time at the injury rodeo. I had done this before and recovered and gone on to run ultras. But despite this rational thinking, the fact was that my knee hurt and I could not run. I was bitter and anxious that I would lose the benefits of all the hard work I had put in the previous months.

The day after, my determination, weak as it was after so many false starts and hiccups, got a second wind. Maybe I could not run far, but I could run. A little bit at a time. Just like I had done so many times before. Run 2 minutes, walk 1,5 minute. Lather, rinse, repeat. Tedious, uninspired, not even guaranteed to yield results. And my only hope.

So, this morning I took my bike up to Vitberget. Started my rehab for the third time since I got injured. As the autumn leaves gave up the fight against gravity all around me and fell to the ground, as the sun warmed the earth, I skipped between roots and stones, light on my feet, light in my heart. It is going to be a long journey back, but if each step is as magnificent as the ones I took this morning, maybe it doesn't matter.

Soul for sale, CHEAP

Anyone with contacts down in the fiery pits of hell that can tell me if the Devil would be interested in purchasing my soul in exchange for a pair of working knees?

Two months of runner's knee. Two months of trying to make a comeback and thinking I have succeeded, only to fly too close to the sun and fall down face first onto square one again with my wings in tatters. It's getting tiresome, this cloud of despair hanging over my head waiting to release a thunderstorm on me.

Trying to think about all that is positive helps. For example, last time I had runner's knee I couldn't even walk, yet this time I've been logging 8-10km almost every day. I can run a little bit, even if I have to take walking breaks. It doesn't hurt after I've gone for a run, although the knee can get a bit stiff.