One of the main questions writers and authors are asked is: “Where do you get your ideas from?”.

The hope is that there will be some sort of magical answer. “All you have to do is a series of ten push-ups before you go to sleep at night, and whammo, the ideas just flow!”.

Maybe this isn’t such a silly thing to say. Have you ever considered the role of exercise in sucking those ideas from the sludge in your brain?

I came across a post by Jim about Running and Writing
And suddenly, I was taken back to my running days. With a pang, I realised that since I had stopped running - because of a troublesome knee - my ideas for stories had returned to the sludge in my brain.

Now you’d think that any sort of exercise would help with creativity. Increasing blood flow, releasing endorphines - isnt that enough to get the fingers pounding on the keyboard?

Not from where I stand. When I had to give up running, of course I went back to cycling. I just can’t be a sloth anymore - that was in my former life. But cycling doesn’t seem to have the same effect on my creativity as running did.

My theory for this is that your heart rate during a running session is fairly high - about eighty-five percent of your max. But in cycling, unless you’re really pushing it, your heart rate barely gets above seventy percent of your max.

Since reading Jim’s post, I feel on the verge of a big decision. Having just done a huge ride at a major event in Melbourne called “Around the Bay in A Day” where I rode 220kms in one day, my cycling career has fizzled out. Shock, horror, this isn’t me! What’s going on? Am I really going to fall into the slothful state that I detest?

Somehow I don’t think so. I actually got on my bike this morning for the first time in three weeks, and felt good.

But it’s not enough. I want the ideas! So maybe I’ll try the running again, but at a slower pace, and maybe less often. Just enough to get those stubborn ideas out of the sludge. I need those ideas, and I need them now!

Goal setting is very useful for lots of things because it keeps us focused. I’ve been doing well with my writing goals this last couple of weeks because I don’t get hung up on not always achieving them. When other things turn up, we sometimes have to make changes.

That goes for my sporting side-line too. I’ve been trying to look after my knee so that I can keep running. I took it slowly - which was so hard for me - and did all my stretching and muscle building exercises. But after a lot of soul-searching, I realise that running is probably not for me.

Why? Because my knee starts hurting after only a short period of time of very slow jogging on the treadmill.

So I’ve reviewed my goals and set my sights back on cycling. Funny how opportunities crop up. I met a fellow cyclist on one of my regular rides who has sparked my enthusiasm for a cycling event I hadn’t really considered before, because I wasn’t sure that tandems were allowed to take part. But it seems as though tandems can join in, so the training is on. I’ve got till May to get my fitness up for a 50 km team time trial in York. I’ve never done one before, so it will be very interesting, to say the least.

So don’t worry about resetting goals. That’s part of the plan.

In my very short athletic career, I’ve never experienced a sporting injury. I’ve heard about them - well-known cricketers, footballers and other athletes with injuries that keep them out of action for months. But nothing has ever happend to me.

Except for now.

I’ve got a complicated knee injury that has resulted from the way I’m built, the muscles I’m using that I shouldn’t be, and ones I’m not using that I should be. The result? My knee gets very sore when I’m running.

I’m doing the exercises my physio suggests and trying to take it slowly to remedy the problem. But nothing has improved in the last three weeks or so. All I can do is a bit of walking and jogging in short sessions, and I’m discovering my knee can only take very short intervals of slow - and I mean slow - jogging. Now going slow is not me!

So reality has set in. What do I want? Yes, I love running, and I’d love to do marathons. But no, I don’t want to spend months of special exercises and slow recovery to get back to where I was, only perhaps to get injured again. More importantly, I don’t want to compromise my health for an activity I don’t have to do. It isn’t a career; it’s just for fun. I have to remember that my mobility is so important to me. I don’t want to be prevented from getting out and enjoying myself because I have a bad knee. And I’m a guide dog user. If my knee packs it in, that would be the end of that.

So I’m sitting at the edge of a cliff, wondering whether to jump off into the unknown, or retreat to safety. Is it worth it to push it, or should I stick with what I can do without injury and pain, ie cycling?

So there’s no 8km marathon this weekend. Watch this space for more.

Time to update on my running training.

I’ve made the decision to lower my sights and aim for 5, 8 and 10 km marathons instead of the 21 km marathon. Reason? No, I’m not whimping out, I just think I should look after my ageing body a bit more. Last thing I want is double knee and hip replacements!

So the next marathon is on December 10, and is 8 kms. My training is improving out of sight. My ‘medium’ speed is now what used to be my ‘fast’ speed. I’m running 1 km efforts at a consistently fast pace, and my hill training is getting better and better. I even passed someone - a man, too - running up a hill last time!

It will be interesting to see how I go in the 8 km event, as I have no idea how to run it. I’m sure my coach will talk me through it…she can talk while she runs, whereas I just heavy breathe! 

‘Focus on the now,’ my running coach tells me, as she senses my rising panic during our one kilometre efforts.

And she is right, every time. To get through tough training, it is essential not to think about how much further you have to run, how many more laps you have to do. I know this so well, but I need a gentle reminder. And when I do focus on just running, and not on how far I’ve run and whether I’ll get to the finish line, I run so much better.

My coach has started me on these shocking one kilometre efforts. My first attempt had me feeling sick the whole way through the run. We only did two efforts, with some recovery in between, but two was enough. But the big surprise was that I ran so much faster than I ever thought I could.

The second time we did these efforts - now up to three efforts - I was more ready. I focused on my stride, keeping the spring off my toes and just thinking about the bit of road I was running on at the time, not the hill ahead, or the fact that I had three efforts to do, not two. Yes, I did need a little reminder…it is hard to keep the mind focused when your brreathing becomes mor laboured, you feel sick, and your legs are starting to feel heavy during the last effort. But I know, from past experience that this technique is vital for survival.

And the good news? I did the three efforts in exactly the same time and matched the fastest time I achieved in these efforts the week before. Boy, was I proud of myself! And this time, I only felt a bit sick during the last one.

Well, I survived my second 5km marathon race, but the stress levels were definitely up.

In this race, there were 800 people running, all setting off at once. Talk about feeling claustrophobic on the start line! My sighted guide and I only got a clear path after about 2kms, so it was pretty frustrating. The overall difficulty with these sorts of races or fun runs, as they’re called, is that the organisers can’t close the roads, so we have to run on narrow paths, do lots of twists and turns, cross railway tracks etc. I think we got to run on one straight stretch of road for about half a km, then got shunted onto a narrow path lined with poles. It was hard enough for someone who could see to navigate that course, let alone someone like me without sight. I had someone out front warning me of speed humps and changes in the terrain, as well as my guide. I think I tripped over two speed humps, and walloped one witches hat.

Now what I’ve learned from this is that I have a major fear factor to overcome. Running blind is much harder than I thought. And it’s not surprising, considering the unexpected changes in terrain, and the risk of falling down kerbs and tripping over things. But the good news is that I did a faster time, despite the number of times we had to slow down. So I guess I’m getting fitter.

My coach tells me the next race has to be longer. NO idea how I’ll run something longer than 5kms, but oh well, it’s all fun.

Well, I did it! I survived my first 5 km marathon race. And boy, was it a hard course to run on, for a blind person anyway. I’d thought it was going to be an easy out-and -back course, but it wasn’t. The path twisted and turned, with lots of sharp right hand turns that challenged me. There was even a kerb we had to step down, which meant slowing right down so I didn’t twist an ankle. I know I lost time on the kerb and the sharp turns, as it is impossible to judge a turn when you can’t see, so the best thing is to slow down. I also lost time on the start, as we let the others get away a bit.

The whole experience was great for me. I learned how to race with others around me, how to pace myself, and how much it hurts! I got a bit stressed–which I need to work on–and lost my head a bit at the end. By that, I mean my mental toughness went out the window. I was feeling sick by the end and instead of being able to push through it, I focused on it, let it dominate.

But now I have a benchmark for other races. My time was 27 minutes and 40 seconds.

Out training today, I started concentrating on another aspect of running that I need to master–breathing. My coach, Shirl, gave me some useful hints about controlling my breathing, which in turn controlled my head! It was amazing. She pushed me hard and I really enjoyed it. I realise how important running outside as opposed to running on the treadmill is. For the three weeks before the marathon, I didn’t have an opportunity to run outside, and this showed. For one thing, my stride was too short, and for another, it is much harder to run outside.

So the next 5 km race is on September 24. I can’t wait!