Needing some stability

Picture: What my spine should look like...not all squashed and crushing nerves.

I did my trip to the physio yesterday (with clean undies on!). The news was not good. Basically I have been lacking in what they call 'core stability', which is the area around your abs and sides that holds all your body in place, especially your back. In short when I have been on my long runs my back starts to arch because the core stability is weak. The arching has then squashed the disc things together, thus causing inflamation around the nerves...which in turn is quite genuinely a pain in the arse! Not just there, but lower back and legs too. The cure is doing lots of work on building it up. This could mean pilates classes which looks like the most boring and slow exercise. I just can't see myself doing it but then I might have to don my leoard and head band and get down to the gym. The other is to use an exercise ball and do lots of balance work. I opted for this as its slightly more fun and does seems to bring a bit of relief fairly quickly.
This all means that the marathon is now slipping away and months of training will be lost to the wind. Now that I look at running web sites and guides, I can see there is a lot out there about this core stability thing, but I have never really paid much attention to it as the market is flooded with as many useless tips as there are good ones. It makes sense to do it, but for me its all a bit late in the day. Learn from my error if you plan to do any serious running.

That's Going to Hurt

The back has not improved, other than it's shifted into my leg and now I have various levels of pain and pins 'n' needles in it. The most painful bit is I have been forced to go and see a physio. Her name is Judith and for £45 I get to drop my trousers and she does a fairly invasive search for what's wrong. Mmm! I'd better take my mums advice as a kid and ensure I have clean undies on. 'If you were to get knocked down by a car and you had dirty underpants on, what would they say' was her motivational talk for our personal hygiene. I can see the paramedics doing all the checks...pulse..(fine)....breathing (fine).....grubby undies (filthy...call for back up and protective clothing)
My aim now is to walk, never mind run. My leg weighs a good few pounds more than my other (or it feels like it does). My application for a blue parking permit is already in the post, as is my bid for a place in the 2012 Para olympics.

Farewell to the Dons

'They think it's all over, well it is now' is the footballing phrase to sum up Andrew's career prospects with Aberdeen FC. Sadly it came to an end for now on Monday. The coach had to let 4 or 5 of them go, and Andrew was one of them. He rightly said he is just a bit slower in pace than the others. At that level of footy, being the best in school is not enough, because so are all the others. You need extra fitness and he has never really had to work on that. He's taken it well and I am hoping it will inspire him to have a crack at the fitness thing.

There was a slight sense of relief that it has ended. Whilst its a big disappointment too, the traveling was hard for us all. We had another trip up to Aberdeen to play Hearts. It was a much better day out and Andrew scored...one to tell his grandchildren! Most of the team are Glaswegians, and the coach journey was lightened up with a DVD player. They showed 'Chewin the Fat' and Soccer FM' on the way there, but on the return one of the parents offered some from his own pirate collection. I'm not sure what it was called but the first one opened with a scene of blood and guts. It was an 18 so not exactly appropriate for under 11's. Then we had the offer of the new Mummy film. I am not even sure it's out at the cinema yet. I will miss that aspect of it.

So today it was back to regular community footy with the Dunbar Colts. Hearts last week....Haddington today. There could not have been a greater contrast, with Andrew's team winning 12-2 on a water logged field, the ref using a whistle he got out of a cracker and a total blind spot to anything his own team did wrong. Come on Dunbar!

Back Trouble

My marathon training has taken a severe knock back. I've done my back in! I woke up with it feeling a bit sore a week ago, and its gone downhill ever since. In the end I couldn't sleep or stand or lie down. Agony! People with back trouble say 'it's like having a cold screw driver stuck into your back', or 'the bite of a snake and the venom surging through your body'. How would they know that? They'd be dead, but I sympathise with what they are trying to say. Why stop there? It's like having an 18 stone woman jumping up and down on your arse wearing a pair of stilletto's (Tory MP and probably numerous Anglican bishops) or It's like having a StingRay stick it's pointy thing in you (Steve Irwin). I have discovered that there are 2 things that bring it relief. Swimming and cycling but I struggle getting up stairs with both. Back ache is one of those things people use to bunk off work. How does the doc prove you don't have it? It's so over used it's taken away the genuine sympathy sufferers of it deserve. With 2 weeks to go until the marathon I can see the expressions of doubt on people's faces, thinking 'lightweight'. But I am told this 'muscle spasm' could go as quick as it came, so hopefully I can still give it a go. If not, then it's a weekend in Inverness supporting Emma and eating pies and indulging in all the other luxuries I've held back on throughout training.

Looks like rain dear!

Photos: Stuart gyroscoping and zorbing. Our water feature and the mud

Last weekend I made my return to camping after a 2 year break. We were away with the church youth group to a big event called Spree. It happened to collide with the worst weather we have had all summer and there was heavy rain, constantly for the whole weekend. Our tents were already for us on arrival and I did wonder if they had picked the wrong field for a campsite when I noticed reed beds all over it. Our luxury 3 man tent was dry enough in the sleeping chamber, but the foyer had a water feature running through it. Still, it survived the strong winds, unlike others in our swamp who were evacuated to the sports hall. Namby pamby's, don't they know that this is what camping is like in Scotland?

The event was really good. packed to the rafters with activities. The organisers were brave enough to not cancel anything, which just meant getting wet all day and night if you wanted to do them. Stuart was with us and had the choice of going to the under 8's cabin to do craft and stuff like that, or join the teenagers doing paintballing, rock climbing, bouncing on the inflatables, zorbing, gyroscoping, archery, power kiting, go karting, swimming, Wii, mountain biking and kayaking. A tough choice to make for a 7 year old but somehow the Under 8's programme had little appeal to him. So he did most of those things, including zorbing which had the longest queue, but 10 out of 10 for novelty value. Zorbing is climbing inside a huge inflatable ball and running around a giant paddling pool. It is fun, but very tiring. I can imagine Stuart had great difficulty explaining to his teacher exactly how he had spent his weekend. I am expecting a phone call from social services concerned that Stuart's imagination is getting overworked. All in all a good weekend and we bumped into a few old friends from various other camps, including Rich Townend who used to come to Criccieth so lots of reminiscence going on there. Despite the mud and suffering (Emma packed wellies 2 sizes too small) it was a welcome return to camping!

Man the lifeboats

Photo: The fireworks at the harbour

We all turned out to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the lifeboat in Dunbar. In fact loads of people did and it was one of those nights where the complete social range of people living in Dunbar end up together. The fireworks are always a big pull, so is the beer tent. Despite a few brawls over a bottle of Bucky, things went well.

Day Trip to Aberdeen

Photo: Not the Son of Rambo but of me taking on Celtic's defence


The football season has kicked off. Andrew is still trialling with Aberdeen FC and had his first taste of what signing with them is going to involve. They had a home game against Celtic. 'Home' is Aberdeen, but they have a team based in Hamilton which is who Andrew trains with, so they put a bus on to get them all (and parents) up there. So off we set at 7.30am to make the MacDonald's pick up in Edinburgh at 8.30am. Time for an Egg & Sausage McMuffin before the 3 and half hour trip. On the bus, the coach does a motivational talk and one all about diet and eating the right stuff before a game. With the grease still on my lips from my Egg McMuffin, we could not hide our guilt. It was a long journey but I managed to switch off, read the paper and ignore the foul mouthed kids behind me. Within 15 minutes of arrival the game started and it was quite a sight to see 4 Aberdeen vs Celtic games going on at once. All the age ranges play so its a big event with a good crowd. Sadly Aberdeen were outclassed by a very tidy Celtic team. They lost 3-1 and 5-0, which included a penalty and an own goal in the results. Never mind, Andrew of course played well! He's a bit hesitant and nervous but he did play as good as the rest. With the games over it was back to the Aberdeen FC Academy lounge for a few sarnies and a cup of tea. Then back on the bus for 3 and a half hours of hell. Fortunately I had my mini dvd player so i got to watch Son of Rambo. I had to put subtitles on though because the noise of the kids was too loud.
So there we have it, as top flight as football can get in Scotland for a 10 year old. No glamour, just football in the park and huge commitment which is wearing. Watch this space to see what happens next...lots of mmm's, maybe's, well's, err's and possibly's to work out.