Running recap since late 2015

In terms of marathons, there has not been a lot going on since 2015. Or rather there has been a lot of trying but not a whole lot of success.

In Autumn 2016 I trained for the Dublin Marathon with a goal of running under 3:30. Training went really well until about five weeks out when I got sick with an ear infection. Rest didn't work and neither did two courses of antibiotics the last of which finished I finished two days before marathon day. I got to mile 10 and ended up dropping out at that point. My very first marathon DNF! My relaxed attitude to dropping out was probably helped by knowing that I would be starting to train for the Boston Marathon 2017 mere weeks later in early December. That
would surely go more smoothly  right?

December passed easily enough with training feeling good. I had started to build my mileage nicely by Christmas.
On the first of January, I decided to test my fitness and run a 10k. So far so predictable.
The race itself passed off uneventfully. I ran it in 46 minutes while chatting comfortably for most of the race. I had wanted to work but not kill myself and was really happy with how well I felt crossing the line. On the cooldown, everything changed.
Suddenly, I started to feel pain in the sole of my right foot, just in front of the heel. It wasn't too bad though so I put it out of my mind.
The following morning the foot felt a bit tender but not too bad, so I stupidly decided that it would be fine to go and run eight miles with the club on grass. I managed two miles before I had to walk back to the car. That was the last time I ran for four weeks.

My plantar fascia was in a mess. Weeks of contrast baths, electric shock treatment, massage, stretching, gliding on the cross trainer, and strength training later I was allowed to run one mile. It was now February and the Boston Marathon was in early April.
I built up my mileage slowly, but never managed more than three to four days of running per week without the foot flaring up. Most of my speed work was done on the cross trainer, partially to spare the foot and partially out of boredom. My long runs happened on the Curragh planes in four or six-mile loops so that I could stay on the grass.

Sleepy now...to be continued tomorrow if i have the energy

Everyday things i'm discovering I need for sanity

Spotify
To play songs in my car that I love but have forgotten about. Also to play new songs similar to them but just slightly different. This is equal parts a need for music, and distaste for anxiety-making news.

Exercise
My drug of choice is running. I feel like my brain without running is made of something like Velcro and grasps onto and gathers all around it, attaching to the useful and useless all the same and sending my thoughts spinning round and round. After a run, my brain feels like it's coated in Teflon. All those ideas and worries are still there, they haven't gone away, but it's like my non-stick brain won't let them attach themselves and worm their way in.
If injured or too cracked to run, walking for a long time with a good podcast will work.

Terrible coffee creamer
I have to confess that a tablespoon of, bad for you, non-dairy, non-food probably, french vanilla coffee creamer (probably not french vanilla, let's be fair) in my bog standard work coffee makes me very content.

A prolonged pause

Are you there Blog? It's me, Lisa. I have just read back through my last few posts from 2015 and it really does feel a lifetime ago since I wrote here, and at the same time only just out of reach - much like my fitness and mental health!

I have decided to get back to writing this little log as I miss the act of writing for its' own sake, and I'm far too disorganised to start an actual journal. I want to come here to document my journey back to wellness. In many ways, this has already begun; the return to health, to job satisfaction, and to personal fulfillment. One baby step at a time. Not asking for much am I?

The last few years have certainly not been all bad, on the contrary, there has been so much to be grateful for. So very much of everything that my poor old battered brain went into overload like the robot on Lost in Space (the old one) and forgot how to chill the eff out.

Things to be grateful for:

• I am in good physical health, a bit anaemic, but who isn't?
• I have two kids in college doing things they enjoy.
• My partner is funny, kind, gentle, loyal and loving. Also handsome. 
• I have good friends, close-by who are busy but supportive. 
• The above-mentioned college education is not bankrupting me as yet.
• I have no major consumer debt. 
• My job is ok.
• I'm not that out of shape. 

This is a lot! I am so very lucky....but of course, I would like to be able to upgrade this slightly, just not at the expense of losing any of the above. How about all of the above but not anaemic and in good running shape? It's a deal!