Walkers' thread (those training for a moonwalk or those just wanting to get a bit fitter... sign in here)

[EllbellTheBluestocking]

OK... following on from another thread, I thought I'd start this for those of us who are not really that into exercise but who are struggling to get a bit fitter.

I am working towards doing the Edinburgh moonwalk in June (and would prefer it if no-one mentioned just exactly how blardy far it's going to be just yet [panic emoticon]), and am struggling to find the time and the inclination to train.

Anyone else in a similar position? Hippipotami? Quint? Don't leave me walking all on my own...

Will come back and post again when I've got off my bum and done some exercise!

Oh Ellbell, you'd look faintly ridiculous in my xxl t-shirt and my hammock-sized bra
But yes, it would be fab training!! I am in awe of those doing the full moon, I really am!

Physio today. My heel is a little less painful, but that could be because of all the ibprofen I have been taking. But I still shuffle like an 80-year old. Heck, an 80 year old would walk better.

Will see what the physio says this morning.

Oh just caught up with this ...

So sorry to hear about your injury Hipp. Bugger indeed after all your efforts!! But you are doing the right thing as it's definitely not worth risking long-term damage.

All the work you have put in has NOT been wasted though. When you are eventually fit enough to return to training, it won't be like starting from scratch again: in addition to the fact that you will have all the "structural/logistical" stuff in place such as routes, times, training shoes, pedometers etc etc, your muscles will have retained some residual fitness. Plus you will have the confidence that you have walked x far in x minutes so you know that you will be able to do it again!! ... So be proud that you have done so well!! Hope you have a good physio today too.

Ellbell - your suggestion about taking Hipp's place reminded me about a funny story concerning my dh, who in a fit of madness one year decided to enter a half-marathon. As the day approached and he hadn't done any training at all, he was resigned to walking the course at slow speed. Then it transpired that he had to go abroad on business on the day of the event and he gave his place away to someone we knew who was desperate to get in training for a full marathon. On return from his business trip, dh was proud to receive a certificate proclaiming "his" very respectable half-marathon time which he achieved without even setting foot on the start-line .....

Well, the physio was nothing more than a paperwork exercise. Hundreds of questions and a nice diagram were answered/filled in.

He then said that with these types of injuries, most people take arond 6 weeks to heal, but some people heal quicker. When he said 'some people' he have me a face.

He wants me to go back tomorrow with my walking trainers to find out what is causing the injury. But the doctor had already said (and I agree) that this is a classic case of overweight woman taking on too much unsuitable exercise in too short a space of time.

So will see what tomorrow brings. But being realistic, even if I have to rest it for only two weeks, that only leaves two weeks to get myself from walking 6 miles to 13 miles. A tall order, especially for me.

I have not yet told my friends that I am possible out of the walk. I just can't bring myself to tell them.

Oh poor you Hipp. Sorry the news is not more positive. I'm sure your friends will understand - you have put in sterling efforts - and no-one can help being injured. Hope your ankle feels better and take it steady .... x

You poor thing, Hippi. I hope you get better advice tomorrow. I really disagree (though, God knows, I'm no expert) with the physio about your doing unsuitable exercise. Walking is the best exercise there is (IMVHO) with a very low risk of injury generally. And surely there is a chicken-and-egg thing going on there with being overweight? Do you wait to get thin before you start to exercise? (NB I am very far from thin!)

Your friends will understand about the walk. You are injured (and patently gutted about it). It's sad, but there's nothing you can do.

Take care of yourself and try not to feel bad.

((((hugs))))

Hug much appreciated, don't like them often, but I feel I 'know' you well enough

To be fair to the physio, the 'unsuitable' thing about the exercise was the fact that I was walking on concrete (roads/paths) He said that humans were not designed to walk long term on such a hard surface and that it would be much kinder on walkers and runners if they went off-road (woods and the like)

I do agree with him, last week we did a 6 mile walk mainly along towpaths and through woods, and I did not suffer anywhere near as much as I did on Tuesday when the walk was exclusively on tarmac.

He did say I would be better off doing something like swimming. I did not dare tell him I gave up my twice weekly swimming sessions to start moonwalking.

Oh, and at first he did not know what the moonwalk was, and thought I had some Michael Jackson fetish...

Will see what they have to say tomorrow...

Good luck tomorrow Hippi - hope you get better news

[Btw just wanted to apologise for relating 'dh taking someone's marathon place story' further down thread - VERY tactless in circs now I read this again tonight - I'm so sorry - I could blame my head cold but really I'm just a twunt ]

Would it be too soul-destroying to go back to swimming while your ankle is healing? At least then you wouldn't lose too much residual fitness ...

Counting - please don't worry. I found your tale of dh's certificate for a very respectable half marathon time without setting foot over the starting line very funny.
It just made me realise that many people have been where I am, and whilst it is disappointing, it is not the end of the world by any stretch of the imagination.

I am still very worried about telling my friends. Not looking forward to that one.

Will wait to see what the physio says tomorrow.

Thanks Hippi! That's v. good of you in circs ...

I'm sure yr friends will be disappointed FOR your sake rather than anything else ... it could be any one of them that's injured after all ..

Good luck tomorrow ...

Awww.... . I'm really glad I've got to 'know' you on here, Hippi. And this time next year we'll be back here comparing distances/times, you'll see.

Your friends will be fine with it. There is nothing you can do about it. Will be thinking of you tomorrow. Come and let us know how you get on.

I just feel it is sooo typical - I am the fat and unfit one of the group, and surprise surprise it is me who can't cut it and gets injured....
And in injury in part caused by being fat....

grrrr

Okay, back from the physio.

He had a look at my trainers and pronounced them 'okay'
He had a look at how I walk barefoot and pronounced that 'not okay'
Apparently I have very inflexible ankles and calves, my walking gait is unnatural and stiff.
My right foot is worse than my left. (funnily, I had a knee operation on my right knee and badly tore the ligaments in my right ankle, both when I was a teen)

So, he has given me stretching exercises to do. 20 a day for 7 days. Am to go and see him again next Friday.

Strictly no walking for a week.
After that he will re-assess.

He thinks it is doubtful I will be able to do the Moonwalk. He stated that after a lengthy walk (5 miles and over) I WILL re-tear the tendons, although the stretching may help reduce the severity of the tearing.

If this is not cleared up in 2 weeks he is going to refer me to the podiatry department of the local hospital for splinting in order to lengthen my tendons and loossen my tight feet.

So, what is the verdict - to attempt to moonwalk or call it a day??

Dunno about medical aspects, but if I was in your position, I'd still say "call it a day" I'm afraid - a torn tendon doesn't sound much fun ...

As Ellbell says, you have next year to think of !!!.

.. you could perhaps aim to start training again when the dc go back to school in September .. and maybe swim in the meantime??? Does that sound feasible?

Also, you will eliminate all the stress that comes with uncertainty if you take a firm decision now ...

Bit easier to be a bit more positive when you have a plan )

well, I always find anyway ...

would you get really de-motivated if it turned out you were fit enough and you didn't do it??

The reason I ask is that the main goal here (apart from raising money for breast cancer of course) is to get fit yourself ... so probably more sensible to think of long term goal ...

Sorry it wasn't better news, Hippi, but at least you may have a partial explanation in the knee op you had years ago. (My dh had what I guess was a similar thing for a torn ACL and his knee has never been the same. But oddly he gets pain in his left leg, despite the injury having been to his right, and we reckon it's because he subconsciously 'protects' his bad knee.)

I think I'd still call it a day. There is no point whatsoever in doing permanent damage to your leg and foot by persevering now. And you may still not be well enough to do it in the end (or the PF might flare up again during the walk and you might end up being stretchered off, which would be and as well as [ouch]!).

Counting's plan to start walking again in September seems like a good one to me. I'm so sorry, though. I know how hard you'd worked at this and how much it meant to you.

Hippi don't read this bit
I had a good day today - 9.5 miles in 2 hours 15 mins. I'd hoped to do 13 miles today - halfway there! - but dh had to go to work at 11.30 a.m. and I didn't get up early enough to squeeze the 13 miles in as I'd hoped. Next week maybe.

Hope everyone else is OK.

Have called it a day. It is still aching very much if I walk so much as for 10 minutes, so I am deluding myself if I believe I can still do the moonwalk in less than 4 weeks time.

Am going to let this heal up, take any insoles/splints the physio and subsequently podiatrist once I get referred recommends, and start walking the dog gently once I can.

Spoke to my best friend today and she said she will still be my training buddy, but instead of powerwalking the streets we will walk in the woods with the dog, and in September we will both start swimming regularly again with a view to enter a swimathon.

Feel happier now!

Ellbell, great walk, am in awe of you. Keep it up!!

Hi all! Back from holiday so back online and a chance to catch up.

Hippi So sorry to hear all the problems you've had. It sounds very painful and also very upsetting that you've done so much preparation and are now injured. However I think you really have to back out. You can't risk doing yourself permanent damage can you?

Ellbell well done on that walk/time.
How did it feel?

How's everyone else doing?

You've done the right thing Hippi. Sad, but sensible. The swimathon is a good idea (See... I could never do that - I can swim (a bit), but I just seem to have a natural tendency to sink! Heavy bones or something!)

Keep in touch, eh?

X-posted, Posey. Welcome back! Did you have a good holiday?

The walk felt good. I could have gone on and done more without a problem (not sure about another 17 miles, but I could have done a half-marathon easily, I think). I am knackered now, though, having spent a crappy afternoon shopping with the dds trying to find shoes to go with the gorgeous dresses I go them in the Monsoon sale for a christening we're going to soon. They are still shoe-less (though I bought a dress!) and we're all knackered!

Don't you worry Ellbell, I will be here cheering on your every step
Can't get rid of me that easily!

Ooh loads of crossed posts, sorry. Will just go back and eread and repost. Back in a bit

My dress: what do you think?

oOOH, love it

I guess you feel a bit of a sense of relief now Hippi having made the decision? Its the uncertainty I think, but it really does sound as if there's no way you could do it.
Keep posting though, its a walkers thread not just a moonwalk one

Ellbell, that sounds to have gone really well. ast year when I was training for the fullmoon I know I felt good walking up to about 15 miles then it got harder, peaking at difficulty between 18 and 22 miles. Then it was a case of nearly there... The last mile and a bit was the killer

Am out tomorrow, hoping to do somewhere between 8 and 10 miles depending on time.

Oh yes, and we had a great holiday. Some time spent at my parents and a long weekend at centerparcs which was fab. Dd and I did tree treking which was a kind of obstacle course suspended 6 metres above ground between trees. Amazing!