The Walker With Heart

The clocks went back in the UK this weekend... And a "meme" started hitting Facebook, asking people to think about how they used their extra hour and think about doing something good with it. I slept through my extra hour... But I had a good excuse, I was awake until about 10 minutes before it happened.  This weekend was a meeting of the European Congenital Heart Groups' Working Group (that is a mouthful - we're the ECHG!).  This is the merry band of people, all born with heart conditions, who are trying to work through a long list of things before the next big meeting in Switzerland next year. So why was I up so late, I'd love to say it was because I'd convinced them all to go to a pub and we'd had a lock in.  However, it was simply because I had probably the easiest journey, and thus had the least tiredness to face down.  So meeting notes of the first 3 hours were written, drafts were made ready for the next morning and in the side window of the lapt...

One year, hopefully 2014, I'm going to sit and write how all of my training for a marathon has gone swimmingly, how the miles have gone flying and how my body has held up brilliantly... However, not right now... I had a cracking week in the Lakes back at the start of the month, 70 miles of walking and running to get me back in the groove... Then a weird cold thing took a week out, then a rogue biker almost took me out - I was jogging on the pavement, they were cycling... Apparently they had right of way, and that way went through my right hip... So 10 days of gingerly bending and flexing it, building up the walking as a compensation and it seems to be working. A couple of gym sessions to test the joints out and it all seems to be fine... Which leaves me two weeks from a trail marathon with bugger all in my legs apart from a reasonable 10km... As people can see I ended up doing a modified Galloway of 900m run, 100m walk - until I warmed up and blasted the last 2km in...

Some people might not like this blog, I'm going to threaten one of the most sacred cows in my community - the primacy of the medical profession.  I'm often considered disrespectful to the doctors and nurses, as according to two people in the last year (neither of them in the medical professions) I owe them my life. I owe them my respect, and they get that, but its not, not ever unconditional.  Why? I can almost hear some of the gnashing of teeth;-)  Now when I do presentations on communicating with doctors and nurses I use transactional analysis, and other techniques, to try and give people a framework that they can use to get the best out of their appointments. However, this is my blog and I can be slightly freer with my explanations, and indeed colourful language... Where to start... I'm constantly told that I'm part of the team of people looking after my health, my medical needs, the management of my various health term conditions... Some go as far as say...

But damn close... Last week was "Training Week: Coniston" - a week in the Lake District with friends, and the hills... A group walk up the Old Man, and the pretty much whatever I needed to make myself feel ready for my end of year special - the Rivington Montane Trail 26... The plan was to do a couple of long walks, one flatish and one with hills in... and a short run and a long run... Which gave me a day to do Coniston (after the short run) and a day off to pester one of my mates for a lift somewhere... A walk to Ambleside and back took care of the flat long walk - just under 20 miles, with good food and excellent shops in the middle.  A 10k up and over Tarn Hows, just to get my eye into off roading around the Lakes - and boy do I not like tree routes!  Not fast, but fun:-) The weather then became more conducive to running, e.g. dank, with a hint of rain... A run around Consiton Water beckoned, the only problems being slight navigational hiccups - resulting in a...