THE EVE OF 10 DAYS OFF

I'm writing this post on the eve of what will be 10 days off work for me. Yes I have a few extra days off after Easter/ Anzac Day and then another weekend and it'll be May when I return. In that time I'll also run the Greenbelt 10kms.

I'm not quite sure what, but I want to achieve something over this 10 days. There is inspiration and an itching to make a change bubbling away at a deeper level but it hasnt come to the surface. Its hard to put into words. I think its driven by the break in routine and the subsequent "doing different". Maybe this could trigger the change I feel coming on.

One of the things foremost in mind lately is getting my stupid back / lower body injury under control again. Whilst I struggle to run long distances now, I'd like to think that this situation is only temporary. So as this is my number one goal over the coming weeks / months, here is a snapshot of my 3 pronged plan of attack.

1. Reduce my body weight to 62 kgs (which will give me a BMI of 20.5). Its not rocket science figuring out that running with extra weight places extra stress on your joints, muscles etc. When those joints, muscles are not working properly to start with, the extra weight just makes the problem worse. I have cold, hard evidence of this from how I was pulling up after some of my long runs. Walking like a cripple that can barely stand or move is NOT how one should function. I've discussed this with my physio and she wholeheartedly agrees that in my case, with my injury, less weight is better.

2. Significantly reduce my sugar intake and moderate my alcohol intake. The added benefit of this is that it helps me to achieve the first point. But its not for that reason alone. Sugar is an inflamatory and consuming it regularly in moderate to large quantities will not allow my body to do its own healing of my painful areas. I still remember vividly how great I felt when I was suagr free for several weeks last year. The first few days were tough but once the cravings passed I was managing my injury well and felt quite invincible. As for the alcohol, although my body does process and eliminate it quickly and efficiently, it is a toxin and the less of it there is in my system, the better off I am.  I'm not going tee-total but there is certainly scope to cut back.

3. Check back with my physio for more / updated rehab. I have an appointment in the week after the race and I'll be quite firm about wanting to "fix this" and not just fluff around with exercises that are showing no obvious benefits or change. Having said that I know that I have to take care of points 1 and 2.

So maybe I've just defined the change I want to make and backed it up with a bloody good reason why. I guess on that note I'll go and sleep on it and when I wake up tomorrow the journey will begin.

Happy Easter to all of my readers. I hope to blog a fair bit over this break.

XX M