Stop…Hammy Time!

Well today was meant to be a repeat of the enjoyable stadium tour of last week.  However, after having the cold during the week and a tight hamstring on Tuesday I wasn’t best placed for such a run this morning.  To be honest though, I felt pretty good when I got up, the cold has all but gone and the hamstring didn’t feel too bad.

The first extremely crucial decision was actually made before I set off: tights (yes, running tights people) or shorts.  It was supposedly 9 degrees outside so it was time to phase in the wearing of shorts.  Might have seen the back of the tights until next year now.  After the severe procrastination involved in that decision and a fair bit of stretching I set off at a leisurely pace in order to get myself, and particularly the left hamstring, warmed up.

The first couple of miles were obsolutely fine but it started to get ever so slightly tight after around 3 miles going into Uddinsgton.  Of course at this point you’re having to think what to do regarding the run itself, how far to go.  I decided to see how it went for the next couple of miles and turned left again over the motorway and onward to Mount Vernon.  As the run went on, however, I could feel it getting progressively tighter and elected to stop just after Mount Vernon train station.  Of course, just as I came round the corner onto London Road where I was going to stop, a woman jogger appeared on the opposite side of the road, running in parallel with me.  ’Must not let her beat the pain’ the voice was telling me, ‘must keep going’!  Don’t be silly, after around 100 yards I stopped and made a call on the Batphone (well, phoned my Dad) in order to get picked up.  Slight change in destination from Ibrox, but at least I had arranged to get picked up if there was a problem.

Although I was disappointed, I think I made a good decision.  No point in risking additional injuries due to my body compensating for the hamstring.  Also no point in continuing until a ‘ping’ noise ends the full training programme either!

I suppose I can be more positive than on Tuesday where I could barely run three miles and there were shooting pains, as opposed to the basic tightness experienced today.  I also completed the distance to Mount Vernon train station in roughly the same time as last week, both being 55 minutes, and managed to put another 7 miles in the tank.

Need to wait and see how it feels over the next few days, although I’m confident that it won’t be that long until I’m out again.

World Kidney Day 2010

Today is World Kidney Day 2010.

World Kidney Day (WKD) is a global health awareness campaign focusing on the importance of our kidneys and reducing the frequency and impact of kidney disease and its associated health problems worldwide.  The campaign is celebrated every year on the second Thursday of March in more than 100 countries on 6 continents.

This year’s main message is ‘Keep the Pressure Down’.  High Blood Pressure is an important risk factor in chronic kidney disease patients and needs to be carefully monitored.  When people suffer from high blood pressure it puts more stress on blood vessels throughout the body, including the kidneys.  When this happens kidneys cannot filter wastes from the blood properly.

Achieving the recommended blood pressure goals can reduce the risk of needing dialysis or experiencing a heart attack or stroke.

Check out www.worldkidneyday.org to find out more.

In training news, today’s run didn’t happen.  My sore throat has turned into a bit of a chesty cough which isn’t ideal for running.  There’s no point in setting myself back further by going out today so I’ll keep taking the cough bottle (which is basically tar) and see how it goes.  Disappointed but need to be sensible.

First Three-way Kidney Transplants Carried Out in Britain

Before I comment directly on the interesting news story I was informed about yesterday, I’ll give a quick update of my run today.

Had a bit of a sore throat over the last couple of days and it was still there this morning but I decided to go out and at least do something.  Unfortunately, however, I had to shorten my run from 9 miles to just over 2.5.  This was due to the sneaky tight hamstring making an appearance again, fairly annoying to say the least.  I suppose I could look on the positive side and say that I only had just over a mile to run back to the house, a much less humiliating situation than stopping, getting the bus pass out and waiting for the 263 bus (which is a joke in itself due its somewhat erratic timetable).  Anyway, I’m glad I went out and did something, it’s helped get some tension out my muscles from the long run at the weekend.  Not running until Thursday now which is nice, need to remember to stretch every 5 minutes right enough!

Right, here’s the main story I wanted to inform you of, Britain’s first three-way kidney transplants.  It’s something that I’d never really thought of but when you actually sit down consider it, it’s a fantastic idea.  It basically involves 3 sets of loved ones who all want to give their relative a kidney but can’t as they’re not a match.  But by placing the three couples in a pool, the three people in need of the new kidneys can receive a live donation from someone else.

Have a read on either the BBC News or Telegraph websites to see what I’m talking about, it’s really interesting, particularly that in the US they are doing this with pools of 12 already!