Sunday 15 June 2008

Penultimate run, panic attacks and other musings

Route: 5m, undulating, road and trail
Weather: perfect running weather (16C, still, dry)

Today I had the pleasure of accompanying several children at my school to a chess tournament in Leeds. The plan was to cycle in this morning and back this afternoon resulting in a nice 26m round trip cycle. This didn't quite work out!

Had a really bad night's sleep last night. I had fallen asleep early on after feling a bit unwell - tight wheezy chest, indigestion, bit of a headache etc. I woke up at 10pm and had trouble getting back to sleep. I then lay in bed thinking about Friday's journey up to Glasgow and feeling generally panicky. It then dawned on me that what I was experiencing was not the beginning of a cold but the symptoms of anxiety! I have never ever suffered from anxiety or panic related things before, but that was definitely what I was experiencing last night. Not nice.

I did eventually fall asleep only to be woken at 7 by the alarm clock to get up and cycle to Leeds. I shot our of bed, still half asleep and raced around trying to sort my journey. I got it into my head that the tournament started at 8:45 and not 9:45, so decided I couldn;t possibly make it on the bike and instead got Briony to drive me in. I then had over an hour to kill in a very quiet suburb of Leeds early on a Sunday morning! It wasn't too bad as I found a nice cafe and partook in a bacon roll and a smoothie :) This also seemed to do the trick of calming me down!

I spent a really cool day with the children playing brilliant chess which also took my mind off things.

Finally got out for some exercise this evening. Ran a 5m route through the woods. No 'taper niggles' at all and feeling a whole lot better about it all!

What a load of rambling nonsense!

The other thing that's keeping me going this week are the posts on Patti's Site. Such a cool lady and very, very funny. Check it out!

So now my week's regime of early nights begins in earnest. What this means is that I go to bed early, lie in bed for hours and eventually fall asleep later than I ordinarilly would have! It's all mind games!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

A message from my Mum:

Having just read your latest blog far from panic attacks I think you just want to slow down a bit as whilst I applaud what you are doing and the reasons behind it, as one of your creators I think you are completely overdoing it. Please take it easy you may be my son but you are still half mortal remember!!!

M

x

Paul said...

Chill! As long as you are horizontal you are resting you are in the right place - the adrenaline and all your training will see you to the finish line. Good luck!

Paul

Patti said...

You know what is a great cure for anxiety? Bourbon! Okay, not a good idea for now, but a close second is a nice, very long run. So, come this weekend you will be the mellowest guy in town for a long time.

I've never attempted a feat like the run you are facing, but I think the feelings you are having are to be expected. Between feeling gross from tapering and waiting for the race, it's hard not to panic. Hang in there. You'll be great.

Anonymous said...

hi dad.your the best runner
ever.I love you.Hope your safe.
some times i panic that your not
comeing back but you always do.
Izzy!!!!