Testing times

Two weeks ago, I had my 4th shock wave treatment for this bloody heel spur and plantar fascia-not-quite-itis.  Lars the Osteopath gave me the thumbs up to do some test runs last week so, with his guidance firmly in mind, I tested. 

Three jog-walks, all 30 minutes in length.  The first one was 2 minutes jogging/2 minutes walking, which I did on a football pitch for some extra softness underfoot.  The second one was 4 minutes jogging/1 minute walking on the road.  And the third was 2x15 minutes with 2 minutes of walking, also on the road.  All of which had the Lars stamp of approval.  And they all felt fine.  The first one was ached slightly but there was no discomfort at all with the second session, and both of those felt fine afterwards.  However, although the third session felt absolutely fine during the jog/walk (and actually felt the best of the three sessions), by that evening the discomfort had increased to 3 out of 10 on my personal pain scale.  And when I got out of bed the next morning, it initially was 4 out of 10 which is the highest that it had been since I started the shock wave treatments.

I was gutted.  Even though the discomfort quickly decreased to 2.5 and then to 1, I feared that it wasn't a good sign.  I spent most of Monday morning at work in Shetland (where I am this week) firing off shrieking panicky texts to Adam, Ben, and Lars.  Adam and Ben both said the same thing:  don't panic, it could just be your heel getting used to being used, see what Lars says.  And what did Lars say?  It's clearly not better, these things can take a long while to clear up, be patient, and come back for a 5th and probably 6th shock wave.  Gutted again.

On the slightly positive side, Lars did say that it's okay to keep doing jog/walks as long as they are at a level that doesn't aggravate my heel.  So, with Ben's guidance, I did 30 minutes of 2 minutes jog/2 minutes walk yesterday in torrential rain and 20mph wind.  (Ben didn't suggest the rain and wind, by the way - that was a bonus extra.)  My heel ached a bit (only 1 out of 10) but was fine afterwards and is okay today, and for a brief time, I felt like a hardy Shetland runner again.

I am so close to putting all of this to one side - no more running, no more jogging, no more walking, no more cross-training - and just letting this bloody heel get on with healing in the absence of any impact whatsoever but have been told (with varying degrees of politeness) by Adam, Ben, and Lars that this is possibly just a bit of an over-reaction.  Good thing that they can't see my IT'S NOT FAIR AND I HATE BEING PATIENT face as I'm writing this then.

You get what you pay for

Now that I'm firmly into the semi-retired stage of my life, my need to make the 50 mile round-trip from home to Inverness (where my office is located) has drastically reduced.  This has meant that if I wanted to use the gym on days when I wasn't scheduled to work, I had make extra trips into town.  This wasn't as much of a problem when I was running - all of my cardio was outside, and I just used the gym for strength and conditioning when I was in town for work - but during my recovery from this heel injury, this added at least an extra 150 miles (and corresponding petrol costs) to my weekly travels.  So I finally made the change that I had been thinking about for a while:  I cancelled my membership at my posh Inverness gym and signed up for the Highland Council scheme that, for half the price of my posh gym, lets me use any of the Council gyms.  Two of these are within 20 minutes of my house, which is much more practical for a rehabbing runner.

Now, I am someone who likes my luxuries (hence the posh gym), so I was apprehensive about what to expect from the less state-of-the-art facilities provided by a cash-strapped Council.  I've been using the Council gyms for several weeks now, and I needn't have worried.  Here is how it all stacks up:

• If I want state-of-the-art equipment, the Inverness branch of the scheme has just had an extensive upgrade.

• The equipment at the two other branches that I've used is a bit more...well used, shall we say.  A lot of it looks like the equipment that my posh gym got rid of a couple of years ago.  But it all works and does what I need it to do.  

• My only unhappiness is the quality of the videos of outdoor scenes on the cross-training equipment.  At the posh gym, we had videos of trails along beaches, in the mountains, and through the forests in exotic locations.  At the Council gyms, the videos are of paved paths crowded with people who walk into you; paved paths used by dog walkers (at one point, I counted 20 dogs running free - and a couple of dogs having a romantic interlude - and the person doing the filming had to stop several times when passing dogs jumped up on them); and a paved path along side a busy A-road.  Just a bit down market for my tastes.  

• I have had more people say hello to me, strike up a conversation with me, and respond to my own social overtures in the three weeks at the Council gyms than I have in the 10 years that I spent at the posh gym.  It's a much more relaxed setting.

• The changing rooms are all a bit dire and I can't imagine ever using them; in fact, I haven't seen anyone else using them either.  However, there is a positive side to a lonely changing room:  no more being huffed at by ladies-who-lunch because I've taken 'their' locker, and no more ladies-who-lunch walking in on me in my shower cubicle because 'I always use this one' and then waiting outside the cubicle until I finish, even though THE OTHER 9 SHOWERS ARE FREE.  (Yes, that really happened.  And she didn't even apologise.)

So, for a vastly reduced fee, I get access to numerous gyms that are much more convenient to my house; equipment that, while not top of the line, still allows me to do my cross-training with no problems; a friendly and relaxing atmosphere; and no battles over lockers and showers.  I can certainly put up with the uninspiring outdoorsy videos for all of that.  And who knows?  Perhaps navigating those crowds of people and animals will do wonders for my patience.