Got some new running shoes today!!

As well as doing a really good run this morning (despite the snow and ice!) I also purchased some new running shoes....my good old faithfuls the 'Asic Kayano'....I started wearing this model just over 8 years ago and as long as they make them I will not change. They have been the best running shoe out there (for me) and I am looking forward to wearing these new ones in: although I don't think they will be here until the new year now (I bought them online as they were a lot cheaper!!) but due to the Christmas holidays I don't think they will get delivered for a good few days, possibly a week?...but its something to look forward to!

Well here I am again; back blogging...recording the highs and lows of my running - I am sorry for being away for so long!

It took me quite some time to get over my foot injury from earlier in the year but I am pleased to report that I have now been running solidly for the past 7 months and I am really enjoying it. It has been hard work building back my fitness levels (and I am still quite away from where I want to be) but I am getting there, slowly but surely. My aim after Christmas is to take my training to the next level and really focus myself for the marathon in April.

I have had a good running weekend; on Saturday I did a good 4 mile run around Willen Lake, which at times was rather scary due to the ice but thankfully I managed to stay on my feet and then yesterday I met up with the CYM (http://www.climbyourmountain.org/) running club, which is an informal group based here in Milton Keynes (and a charity that I hope to work more with next year). There were only four of us running yesterday (I think the cold weather may have put a few people off) but we had a great run and the views from high up in Campbell Park were stunning (blue skies, sunshine and snow)....

This coming week I am not at work so I hope to be able to get in a few extra runs (in between final Christmas preparations!).

Happy running everyone :-)

Running again - hurrah!

After a break of just over 2 weeks from running due to an ankle/foot injury; this morning saw me venture out again and start back on my running journey. It was great to get out and be in the open air. I have tried to maintain some of my fitness by cross training over the past two weeks, using both the cross trainer and exercise bike but there is no substitution for running (well there isn’t for me anyway!) and today it felt really good pounding the pavements of Milton Keynes again.

It is clear that I have lost some of my running fitness but I was pleased with the 5 miles that I did this morning and I am looking forward to building it up again over the coming weeks in the hope that I can still partake in the Flora London Marathon on the 26th April. It will mean that I will have a shorter taper period than is ideal but I am happy with this compromise if it will see me safely to the start line on the 26th. I am also going to have to live with ‘just finishing’ and not getting carried away with aiming for a specific finishing time.....

Anyway, I am running again – today, this is all that matters!

Update on my cross training

As I haven’t been able to run for just over 2 weeks now I have turned to cross training on the cross trainer! The idea being that this is the only way for me to maintain my fitness levels without running. The pressure on my ankle/foot is a lot less on the cross trainer as the trainer itself bears a lot of the weight and therefore there isn’t as much pressure on my damaged ligaments.

It has been OK, although a little boring doing long endurance sessions. It also ‘obviously’ uses different muscles to running but hopefully it will allow me to return to running (almost where I left off) next week some time.....I really miss ‘just running’.

In terms of training this weekend; I didn’t manage quite as much as I had hoped to but I did manage a good 90 minutes on Saturday morning on the cross trainer followed by 30 minutes on the bike and then another 60 minutes on the cross trainer (3 hours in total). I had planned to do another session on Sunday of around 2 hours but unfortunately I didn’t feel so well in the afternoon, so I dosed myself up and had a very early night instead.

My only concern is that I still feel some pain when I ‘jog to catch the bus’ during the week or as I did on Saturday afternoon, jogged down the aisle at Tesco’s to get some bread whilst my daughter was waiting in the queue....even with simple things like this it still hurts (not excruciating pain but noticeable) which makes me concerned that 26.2 miles will just be too far....I am however staying in a positive frame of mind and hopeful that this week I will see a vast improvement....the good thing is that I feel a lot better ‘health wise’ this morning and my sore throat and aching limbs have gone this morning, so the early night seems to have done me some good. Although I am still popping the Echinacea...as I don’t want something else to have to deal with!

Its a thumbs up from the physio!

Well thankfully it is good news. Although I have damaged 2 ligaments, a muscle and a nerve the physio thinks that with treatment that I will be back running by the middle of next week and that the London marathon is still on....hurrah!

All I have to do now is to start some cross training; he suggested that I either use the cross trainer or the bike and do what I would be doing running wise on one of these (or a combination of both) so that I can keep my fitness levels up. Apparently, although there will still be some pain using these it won't be damaging like the full weight bearing of running! So thankfully I have both a seated bike and a cross trainer at home, so tomorrow morning (early!) I will be up and getting myself back into training. I have also got to do an ice treatment twice a day and do some strength exercises.....and then go back to she the physio on Thursday for my next lot of treatment.

It is such a relief to know that the marathon is still a possibility - wonderful!

I have got a physio appointment this afternoon...

After speaking to someone on the FLM helpline yesterday they have confirmed that I could defer my entry to next year; all I have to do is sort this out before the 25th April. So yesterday I booked up a physio appointment at a local sports injury clinic to see if I can get to the bottom of what I have done and whether I can expect a speedy recovery. I am still very much hoping that I can run in the marathon but at least I now know that if I can't then I can defer my place and guarantee getting a place again next year.

My main concern at the moment is my fitness levels and trying to maintain this whilst not running. I am also a little worried that I won't have put in the required number of long runs before the race. I had planned to run 16/17 miles last weekend and 18/19 this coming weekend and I have registered for a 20 mile training race for the weekend after that (5th April) and then I was possibly going to do one more long run of 20+ miles before starting my tapering...but at the moment I can't see anyway that I can do next weeks long run and then will I be fit enough to get through the others, if indeed my injury will allow this??

A really good Half Marathon race at Silverstone on the 15^th March followed by disaster!!

On the 15^th March I competed in the Flora London Silverstone Half Marathon and what a great event this was. The organisers did a great job and it was a fantastic race. For me, it was especially good as I put in a strong performance and got a new PB of 1:52:30 (and all this still feeling like I could have gone faster, wonderful!). I finished the race and felt on top of the world; however later in the day my left ankle/foot started to ache and initially I assumed it was just the after effects of my exertion during the race (after all my legs ached a little too!). However come Monday morning I wasn't able to walk without significant pain and it was clear that it was something more serious. Anyway, I decided that the best course of action was to take a few days rest from running to see if it would go of its own accord (hoping of course that it was just a minor strain or something similar). So after 3 days of no running at all I ventured out for a short run last Thursday morning but unfortunately I could only manage 1 mile and a very slow mile at that before my foot was throbbing too much and I had to stop...so I decided to not run at all for the rest of the week and over the weekend to see if I could get back on track this week. In the mean time I have been wearing a support and treating it with both ice treatment and heat treatment trying to speed up recovery. This morning was the next test, so I headed out early this morning with it all strapped up hoping that I would get at least a good 30 minute run under my belt and that the injury wouldn't be a problem.....however after just 4 minutes I was in a lot of pain and in my heart I knew that I was not going to be able to do the full 30 minutes that I had set out to do. I carried on and did 2 miles, but I had to stop at this point because of the pain and I feel that by actually running on it (even though it seemed to be getting better) has now inflamed it again! I am feeling very anxious as I know that this could mean the end of my London Marathon challenge and this is something that I have been working hard towards and of course looking forward to. Also, if I don't run I will feel very bad about letting everyone down that has pledged money for my chosen charity. I feel this morning as if I am in a quandary, not sure if I should give it a few more days or another week or so and see if it is OK; or whether this is really leaving it too close to the marathon deadline, without the required amount of training and then it would be silly to run anyway...or maybe I should just accept what has happened and now try to defer my entry to next year (not sure when the cut off for this is?).....oh what a disaster...I think the best course of action is to speak to the FLM organisers today to see what my options are and take it from there..........I am feeling very disappointed :-(

Another early run!

This morning I did another early morning run. Unfortunately when I am working in London and commuting this is the only way to get a run in for the day; as I am too tired (and it is really too late) when I get home. So at 4:30am the alarm clock went off and I reluctantly got out of bed, put on my running kit and headed downstairs to the treadmill. All of which I did in a ‘sleepy trance’! Anyway the result is that once I set off and got into my rhythm I did a good, solid run; nothing outstanding, just a steady and controlled 60 minutes. Although it is tough getting up at this early hour, I am always really pleased with myself once I have completed the run; it does set me up for the day and I do start the day feeling a lot more energised – the down side of course is that by about 3pm I am starting to flag a little more than usual!

This week hasn’t really gone according to plan, so I was thankful to manage today’s run. Tomorrow I am hoping (assuming that I am not working tomorrow – I am still waiting to hear!) that if I don’t have to venture into London that I can get an ‘easy’ run in sometime late morning. Last week before my half marathon I didn’t run on the Friday or Saturday prior to the race, but as I didn’t do my scheduled run yesterday I think that I will venture out tomorrow but just make it an ‘easy’ and ‘slow’ run. Then I will take Saturday as a rest day prior to the Silverstone Half Marathon on Sunday.