The Ban

I feel frustrated! Just when training has been going well I have been forbidden to run - the doctor said for at least 2-3 weeks, I have agreed to rest for a week and then see how I feel.

I struggled around the Dry Hill 10 on Sunday - my calves were agonisingly tight for the first 3.5 miles until Mr W persuaded me to stop and give them a good stretch. This helped things and with much cajoling from Mr W (reminiscent of our early running days around Wimbledon Common) I finally made it round the course in a respectable time of just over 1h 40min. I even managed a sprint finish! But I didn't exactly enjoy it and was exhausted afterwards.

The problem is that I haven't been taking my thyroxine tablets for the last month in preparation for having a scan this week to review the progress of my thyroid cancer treatment. I knew a side-effect of not taking the tablets is tiredness but I thought I could beat that by keeping up the exercise. Unfortunately nobody told me that another side-effect is stiff muscles and that running in that situation is a definite no-no - the doctor nearly had a cardiac when I mentioned the 10-mile race! So I am being good and not running this week, whilst trying not to panic about missed training schedules, but am hoping to be able to get running again as soon after my scan as possible.

I promise not to let all you kind people who've sponsored me so far down though and will be on that start line on 11 October whatever! On a positive note, fundraising is going well - thanks to your help I have reached my initial target of £500 for Cancer Research and so have decided to increase it to £750. If you want to help me achieve this, here's a reminder of the link: http://www.runningsponsorme.org/zoecakes
Their work really matters.