It's over four months since I had my tendon repair and calcaneal osteotomy and I now have a normal looking foot, sort of. I'm now used to looking at it and not being surprised by the straight inner line. I'm back in my running shoes and actually using them!
One of the things that I found most distressing about MS is it took away my leisure activity. I could no longer run events and get those coveted t-shirts or medals. So I decided to take back the power. My fight back against MS has been amazing and I'm at a fantastic point now. I've been given an amazing opportunity and I'm grabbing it and running, literally.
One week before this year's New York marathon a friend who organises the Achilles (disabled athletes) New Zealand team for the marathon was talking to my other half and he mentioned I'd filled out my application for Achilles membership but not sent it off. She told him to tell me to send it off and I could be part of the team for 2015! Done!
It was 53 weeks until the 2015 event so I have lots of time to do it properly. I needed a training program to get me from recovering from foot surgery up to finishing a marathon comfortably. I found an app for my iPhone that fitted the bill perfectly. - 5k-runmeter. I purchased the four in-app training programmes- 5k, 10k, half marathon and marathon. By following one on after the other it exactly fits into my training schedule. I'm now at week 5 of the 5k program and I'm finding it excellent. It runs pretty much in the background. You can play your own music - I listen to Spotify. When it's time to change from a walk to a run and vice versa a very correct Englishman tells me to "run" or "walk". It records the distance, calories etc just like other apps but having the coach as well is a bonus. It pairs with MyFitnessPal so you can check out calories in vs calories out. It also pairs perfectly with my
Polar HR7 heart rate monitor so I can check out how hard I'm working. It's simply a band that pairs up with your smartphone via Bluetooth.
I went to my first Achilles training session on Sunday and it was Fun! We did fartlek, starting out at marathon pace and working up to 5k pace
I had an excellent guide who kept pace with me and didn't put any pressure on me. I was thrilled at how good I felt at the end. Then I lost the ability to talk properly as the MS fought back but a cup of coffee and a sit down and everything went back to normal. I have a bright yellowy Achilles t-shirt like the one my guide is wearing now so I'm one of the gang! Now if I could only run fast enough to catch those blind guys! Wow they can move! I'm really looking forward to the next session in two weeks.
I also have two step up events to train for - a 10k on February 22 in the
Cigna Round the Bays and the half marathon at the
Wellington Marathon on July 5th. I'm sure I'll manage to fit in a few more like Arthur's Half at the Legend.
I'm so excited and I just can't hide it!
