Bri gave me a set of wake up exercises to do first thing in the morning, which helped get me in gear for a strong start with David, who took me through a warm up program he's built for me. Today's forward and lateral lunges felt much more stable and controlled than any time in the last 5 weeks, and the warm ups left me feeling ready to have a go at over speeding.
Result? In my last run, I reached 6.5 mph for 20 seconds, a big increase from Wednesday. As you'll see from the video, I still catch my toes on both feet at top speed because I can't dorsi flex fast enough. Its not painful, but clearly I could not reach this speed without the harness. However, I can now clear my toes at up to around 5 mph; I seem to have fixed a "circumvention" problem (my left foot used to come round in a circle and catch the back of my right leg); and my knees are coming through well helped by an much stronger arm pump. And so the baseline has risen again. I was really pleased with that.
Genny helped maintain the momentum, beginning with some great exercises to get right into the remaining weak muscles in my right shin and then a return to some hip exercises I found impossible five weeks ago, but managed well today. And then, to top it all, I ran the length of the gym, which I reckon is over 75 metres!! That completes one more of my goals!! Its captured on PW's camera - you might get to see it next week.
Genny says that its typical to see most gains in the last week. That's really got me looking forward to next week!
I leave the house on Sunday and will stay in a hotel for the last few nights. So its farewell to the stroll to the beach and the rooftop view of the ocean. I'll make the most of it tomorrow!
Dear dad
ReplyDeleteHope when you get back you will be able to play tag with us.
Love Max, Amy and Mumxxx
Paul - great to see that week by week things are improving/you continue to raise the bar. I know I've said it before but going back over your week/seeing the video clips really brings home how hard you are working - I'm not surprised you're knackered by Friday. The needles in the head look a bit extreme - I think I prefer you without! Maybe I should have kept quiet about Wigan last week as Chelski are pretty dire at the moment - if Torres put half the amount of energy and determination that you put into things he might actually start looking like a footballer again. I think you could definitely give him a pep talk on motivation/not mopping about the place feeling sorry for yourself. I think you're right about not extending your stay although I can see that it's all pretty emotional on top of all the physical demands you've been put through but you have a wonderful family to go back to and a huge network of support on your incredible journey back to fitness. Remember we're not just waiting for you at the end we are with you every step of the way so keep going (not that I need to tell you that)! Tony
ReplyDeleteThat run just gets better and better. Hopefully you can bring back the Dorsi flex exercises and keep the improvement going. Huge "steps" you have made. We'll get you some steel toe capped Nike's and off you go!! Enjoy the last weekend in the house. Cheers
ReplyDeleteHEY!
ReplyDeleteGreat running!
I'm so impressed!
Your hip flexors (especially the R one) are probably preventing the dorsi flexion. If you have the Cooley book with you try p96-7 thigh stretch (stomach meridian) & p176-7 hip flexor stretch (sexual meridian). They should help.
Fabulous progress Paul!!!
Viv