Ahhh Joey!!!

Quick update:

Thursday & Friday (in the AM) ran 4 miles and felt pretty decent during both runs.

Friday (later in the AM) through till Sunday evening was on the lash in Liverpool on the brother's stag. Ridiculous times were had, with the height of exercise being part of a scrum that drove an English stag from one end of Concert Square to the other.

Monday and today ran 4 miles. Yesterday felt like I had a red hot poker stuck down my windpipe during the run, but felt pretty close to normal by today.

Coste, I was trying to get all reflective and deep with the new pic, but since the message is perseverance, I'll leave you with this one instead.

Back in action

Long time no see.

Today marked the first day I was allowed to do a complete run without having to take 'walking breaks'. I have been working off the Sardella progressive walk/run plan for the past 2 months or so and have made sufficient progress that I'm now upto a half hour complete run every other day. Not exactly anything to write home about but progress none the less.
Have already signed up for the adidas race series this summer and also the Dublin marathon. The marathon is more out of hope than expectation, but its nice to have the goal to aim for.
There are a couple of road races in the immediate few weeks that are tempting to take part in. Mightn't sound like the smartest plan in the world, and being honest, its not. But I'm also keen to find a balance between doing what's right and what's fun. The first is a 10k & half-marathon in the hometown of Dundalk on May 5th. Definitely considering the 10k as a fun run to show support, and then on the 18th there is an 8k here in Dublin to raise money for Unicef.
As for the CML, things are progressing well. The blood counts have improved nicely since beginning the treatment 2 months ago, and side effects have been negligible/non-existant. Having another bone-marrow biopsy on the 11th, which will give a better indication of how things are going.
Of more immediate importance is the fact that flights for the brother's stag weekend have been cancelled, leaving plans in tatters, and also getting my new tattoo on Thursday. Fun times.

revamped and ready to go. wee man back in action (sort of) and back on track. stay tuned.

Dreams are answers to questions we don't know how to ask....

It's been a while since I updated this thing. In the meantime a lot has happened, but unfortunately none of it is positive with regards to running. Because it's late and I'm tired, I've taken the liberty of just copying and pasting an email I've just sent:

As most of you know this past October my first attempt at a marathon failed miserably due to a leg injury. Subsequent scans/tests/MRI's etc showed some things that shouldn't be expected in a supposedly healthy 28 year old male. 2 weeks ago I had some blood work done which revealed an abnormal white cell count which resulted in me undergoing a bone marrow biopsy this past Monday. This test revealed that I am currently suffering from chronic myeloid leukaemia (which you can read more about here). While this sounds dramatic (and obviously is a serious condition), I've been very lucky in that the condition has been diagnosed extremely early and with drug treatment I can expect to live a long and healthy life. Unfortunately the diagnosis of CML doesn't explain the leg pain, so as of yet I still cannot run, but you can expect to receive in the next few months a solicitation for donations as I have a new charity to run for! Unless something changes in the meantime, I can expect to maintain my normal day to day routine without any major repercussions. In the meantime, I am heading to Glasgow first thing tomorrow morning for the weekend (as I said, life goes on!) so if it takes me a while to get in touch with everyone please forgive me. The purpose of this email is to keep you informed of what is happening, not to look for sympathy. As I said, life goes on, if you want to email/call etc please do, but I hope the reason why is to let me know how you are doing, not to express condolences.Truly wishing each and everyone the very best.

Hoping to get back running soon, in the meantime, much love

wee man/yank/sprout/Eamonn

Whoop de doo VO2

Did a VO2max test on the bike today for shits and giggles and was pretty pleased with the results. Had a peak VO2 of 5.13L/min or 75ml/min/kg. Peak HR was 199. Overall was pretty pleased as the numbers are about the same as when I was 19 and in pretty good shape.
The bad news is that the physio told me that I need to take a week off to see if the leg will respond to the treatment, as she thinks that the lack of improvement following treatment is due to me overdoing it in the gym. So we'll give it a go. Its not like I'm training for anything in particular now that XC is passing me by.
Get the results of the blood tests in the morning too, so hopefully getting somewhere, however slowly

Not promising

So after about 10 days running the leg started giving me pain again, so I've stopped running again and am back cross training. Had the blood tests done today which I'll get the results of next Thursday, and see the haemotologist Feb 9th to try to get to the bottom of this.

Last summer Tarpy referred me to a blog run by a doctor in New Zealand as he had written a number of articles regarding the negative effects of fosamax. I emailed him a week or so ago describing my symptoms etc. The feedback wasn't exactly encouraging:

http://blog.garymoller.com/2010/01/young-marathon-runner-with-unusual-leg.html

Oi its freezing!

The weather here in Ireland lately has been absolutely baltic. My nuts have gone into hibernation. Feels as cold as it ever got in PVD, but with the moisture in the air its hard to ever get warm. Plus since we never usually get a snow/ice build up, the gov't doesn't have the facilities to grit/salt the roads/foot paths and now everywhere is a sheet of ice. Managed to make it home without spilling onto the concrete. Score one for this guy.

Quick running update:
Rounded out '09 with a 20 min jog around the football fields at home feeling good. New Years Eve saw me get belligerent, therefore didn't run in 2010/'10 (are we going 20-10/'010/twothousand(and?)ten?) until the 2nd. The run on the 2nd, added an extra lap onto the fields at home for a 24 min outing, before repeating the next day a little slower. Off on the 4th. Yesterday and today ran for a half hour finishing off with weights on the latter and core on the former. Leg has felt decent, not spectacular, but no problems. Been working on my stride and keeping my hips lower to the ground with the pelvis tucked in to keep in line with the shoulders. Feels ok running like this but its mentally pretty taxing, and the gluts/hamstrings get knackered pretty quick since they're not used to doing this due to my previous crappy stride. Found it very difficult to maintain the form today as I was out in a sleet/snow storm without gloves/hat. Pretty miserable stuff. Ok, thats just a running update, nothing quick about it. Sorry.