What a crazy week it's been! I'm not really sure where to begin so I'll just start at the beginning - but before I do, if you haven't visited my Facebook page yet, follow the link in the top right corner of this page :-)
Monday April 22nd - a breakthrough
Today I had an appointment with my new podiatrist hoping to solve my foot-tingling-shin-aching dilemma. I was anticipating having to get a new set of orthotics and possibly a lengthy recovery from my current pain. The good news though is that the podiatrist recommended ditching the orthotics and instead changing my shoes. Guess who gets to go shopping??!?
I received a phone call this afternoon from the lovely Helen at CARE Australia, to let me know that the local weekly paper had picked up the media release that she had prepared, and wanted to take a photo of me for this weeks paper. EEEEK! Scary but exciting!
Tuesday April 23rd - Personal Training, Media interviews and Dry needling
Today was nuts! It started normally enough with my personal training session, however it was immediately followed by an interview and my photo being taken by Albury Wodonga News Weekly. I'm not a huge fan of having my photo taken - especially at 8am in the morning straight after a PT session - but it's all for a fantastic cause!
I arrived back at work just before 9 and had missed another call from Helen to say WIN TV wanted to interview me for this evenings' news. EEEEEEEEEEKKKKK!!! We arranged for the interview to be conducted back at the Fitpeople studio during my lunch break so that they could get some footage of me on my bike. Just before heading into town for the WIN TV interview, Helen contacted me again to let me know that STAR FM wanted to interview me for a pre-recorded news article to be broadcast on Friday. EEEEEEEEKK!! We arranged for me to go to the STAR FM studio straight after the WIN TV interview.
I raced into town in my break for my interviews not really knowing what to expect. Both interviews took less than 5-10 minutes each but they felt like they went on forever! I was sooo nervous. I should have been wearing my heart rate monitor because I am pretty sure my heart was beating at the same rate as a solid 5km run!! Despite all of my nervousness and anxiety, it was a fantastic opportunity to spread the word about my challenge and the fantastic work that CARE Australia does.
After work I had a follow up appointment with my osteopath. I was scheduled for my first dry needling (acupuncture) treatment on my calves / shins. After some soft tissue work he used around 40 needles all over my calves to help relieve the tension and tightness. It was an odd sensation but not painful and I resembled some type of robotic porcupine! Between the acupuncture and strapping the podiatrist used on my feet yesterday, I had a HUGE reduction in pain of my calves/shins. I am starting to hope that my recovery won't be too long after all.
My osteo was really generous and spent over an hour with me instead of the usual 30 mins, however he did advise that I should not do any physical activity tonight, so unfortunately I had to miss my Wind Trainer class at Powerlab. I did however get home in time to see myself on the news!!!
Wednesday April 24th - Shoe Shopping :-D
As I am not allowed to run until I get new shoes I raced into town after work today to get fitted for a new pair of running shoes. It was a pretty easy decision for comfort and fit - as long as I didn't look at my feet. I think sports shoe fitting should be done blind folded - it really would make the whole process a lot easier :) You just can't chose them based on colour or style - it really comes down to the best fit for your foot and any functional issues you might have.
While out shopping I grabbed a copy of the local weekly paper. I quickly scanned through to see if I could see my article and couldn't see it anywhere. That was of course until I turned to the back cover and found a half page article and photo of myself! Thanks Trevor! I've posted a picture of the article below :-)
Thursday April 25th - ANZAC Day, 3km Run + 15.1km Wind Trainer
Today was my first run in over a week, my first run in my new shoes and my first run without my orthotics since I first got them as a teenager. I was a little anxious, not knowing how much pain I was still in, whether the change in shoes would fix my foot tingling problems and whether running without orthotics may set off new problems I hadn't had before.
How excited was I when not only did my feet not tingle, but I was able to run pain free for the first time I can remember and was able to maintain a pace that I haven't been able to in a very long time! Excited - and hoping it's not a 'fluke' - but quietly confident I am onto a winner!!! I think I am in LOVE with my podiatrist and osteo!! What an awesome outcome!
This afternoon while dinner was cooking I jumped on the trainer for about half an hour and completed 15.1km with a series of sprints.
Friday April 26th - 14.4km Wind Trainer
Today was a fairly quiet day in comparison with the rest of the week. We took the day off work to have some family time before school starts again next week. We forgot to listen to the radio so didn't get to hear the news article today - bummer! Before we went to see a movie together I used the Wind Trainer to complete another 14.4km.
Tonight I checked my fundraising website and I can't believe it, but I have raised $295 already!!! How exciting!!! I had many words of encouragement for my upcoming ride on Sunday and it is dawning on me that I have great support for my challenge and that I am REALLY doing this ! It's REAL!
Saturday April 27th - Yoga
Not wanting to do much today before my big ride tomorrow - I tried my first yoga class. It is so much harder than I thought it would be, but it was great ! I also found out I had a few more body parts than I had heard of - don't ask me to repeat them as I'm not sure I will get it right and I may offend - I am sure the instructor said something about an Asana ??? :-)
I did a bit of last minute shopping for tomorrow (second drink bottle cage and some muesli bars etc for the ride) and picked up my friend Pete from the airport. He has flown from Sydney to ride with me tomorrow - I can't thank him enough! We got home so he could assemble his bike...... 1.5 hours - and a few extra parts left over - later ..... his bike is together and we can pack the car for tomorrow. It will be an early start as Euroa is 2hrs from home and the ride starts at 8am. The weather bureau has issued a Severe Weather Warning for much of Victoria for tonight and tomorrow ........ not sure what the result will be so we decide we are going regardless.
Sunday April 28th - Ride the Ranges - 86.3km
What a day! It started at 5am - there is so much I want to write about today that I think it deserves it's own post. It was a fantastic day (albeit LONG) - and I can't wait to do it again!
Monday April 22nd - a breakthrough
Today I had an appointment with my new podiatrist hoping to solve my foot-tingling-shin-aching dilemma. I was anticipating having to get a new set of orthotics and possibly a lengthy recovery from my current pain. The good news though is that the podiatrist recommended ditching the orthotics and instead changing my shoes. Guess who gets to go shopping??!?
I received a phone call this afternoon from the lovely Helen at CARE Australia, to let me know that the local weekly paper had picked up the media release that she had prepared, and wanted to take a photo of me for this weeks paper. EEEEK! Scary but exciting!
Tuesday April 23rd - Personal Training, Media interviews and Dry needling
Today was nuts! It started normally enough with my personal training session, however it was immediately followed by an interview and my photo being taken by Albury Wodonga News Weekly. I'm not a huge fan of having my photo taken - especially at 8am in the morning straight after a PT session - but it's all for a fantastic cause!
I arrived back at work just before 9 and had missed another call from Helen to say WIN TV wanted to interview me for this evenings' news. EEEEEEEEEEKKKKK!!! We arranged for the interview to be conducted back at the Fitpeople studio during my lunch break so that they could get some footage of me on my bike. Just before heading into town for the WIN TV interview, Helen contacted me again to let me know that STAR FM wanted to interview me for a pre-recorded news article to be broadcast on Friday. EEEEEEEEKK!! We arranged for me to go to the STAR FM studio straight after the WIN TV interview.
I raced into town in my break for my interviews not really knowing what to expect. Both interviews took less than 5-10 minutes each but they felt like they went on forever! I was sooo nervous. I should have been wearing my heart rate monitor because I am pretty sure my heart was beating at the same rate as a solid 5km run!! Despite all of my nervousness and anxiety, it was a fantastic opportunity to spread the word about my challenge and the fantastic work that CARE Australia does.
After work I had a follow up appointment with my osteopath. I was scheduled for my first dry needling (acupuncture) treatment on my calves / shins. After some soft tissue work he used around 40 needles all over my calves to help relieve the tension and tightness. It was an odd sensation but not painful and I resembled some type of robotic porcupine! Between the acupuncture and strapping the podiatrist used on my feet yesterday, I had a HUGE reduction in pain of my calves/shins. I am starting to hope that my recovery won't be too long after all.
My osteo was really generous and spent over an hour with me instead of the usual 30 mins, however he did advise that I should not do any physical activity tonight, so unfortunately I had to miss my Wind Trainer class at Powerlab. I did however get home in time to see myself on the news!!!
Wednesday April 24th - Shoe Shopping :-D
As I am not allowed to run until I get new shoes I raced into town after work today to get fitted for a new pair of running shoes. It was a pretty easy decision for comfort and fit - as long as I didn't look at my feet. I think sports shoe fitting should be done blind folded - it really would make the whole process a lot easier :) You just can't chose them based on colour or style - it really comes down to the best fit for your foot and any functional issues you might have.
While out shopping I grabbed a copy of the local weekly paper. I quickly scanned through to see if I could see my article and couldn't see it anywhere. That was of course until I turned to the back cover and found a half page article and photo of myself! Thanks Trevor! I've posted a picture of the article below :-)
Thursday April 25th - ANZAC Day, 3km Run + 15.1km Wind Trainer
Today was my first run in over a week, my first run in my new shoes and my first run without my orthotics since I first got them as a teenager. I was a little anxious, not knowing how much pain I was still in, whether the change in shoes would fix my foot tingling problems and whether running without orthotics may set off new problems I hadn't had before.
How excited was I when not only did my feet not tingle, but I was able to run pain free for the first time I can remember and was able to maintain a pace that I haven't been able to in a very long time! Excited - and hoping it's not a 'fluke' - but quietly confident I am onto a winner!!! I think I am in LOVE with my podiatrist and osteo!! What an awesome outcome!
This afternoon while dinner was cooking I jumped on the trainer for about half an hour and completed 15.1km with a series of sprints.
Friday April 26th - 14.4km Wind Trainer
Today was a fairly quiet day in comparison with the rest of the week. We took the day off work to have some family time before school starts again next week. We forgot to listen to the radio so didn't get to hear the news article today - bummer! Before we went to see a movie together I used the Wind Trainer to complete another 14.4km.
Tonight I checked my fundraising website and I can't believe it, but I have raised $295 already!!! How exciting!!! I had many words of encouragement for my upcoming ride on Sunday and it is dawning on me that I have great support for my challenge and that I am REALLY doing this ! It's REAL!
Saturday April 27th - Yoga
Not wanting to do much today before my big ride tomorrow - I tried my first yoga class. It is so much harder than I thought it would be, but it was great ! I also found out I had a few more body parts than I had heard of - don't ask me to repeat them as I'm not sure I will get it right and I may offend - I am sure the instructor said something about an Asana ??? :-)
I did a bit of last minute shopping for tomorrow (second drink bottle cage and some muesli bars etc for the ride) and picked up my friend Pete from the airport. He has flown from Sydney to ride with me tomorrow - I can't thank him enough! We got home so he could assemble his bike...... 1.5 hours - and a few extra parts left over - later ..... his bike is together and we can pack the car for tomorrow. It will be an early start as Euroa is 2hrs from home and the ride starts at 8am. The weather bureau has issued a Severe Weather Warning for much of Victoria for tonight and tomorrow ........ not sure what the result will be so we decide we are going regardless.
Sunday April 28th - Ride the Ranges - 86.3km
What a day! It started at 5am - there is so much I want to write about today that I think it deserves it's own post. It was a fantastic day (albeit LONG) - and I can't wait to do it again!