Snow Excuse

Things have steadily improved with my training. Since my last update, I successfully completed a seventeen-mile run (albeit with a few stops along the way - taking nearly a month out injured meant I wasn't quite as fit as I could have been) and I'm happy to say that my feet seem to be fine and that I have (so far) not had a recurrence of that annoying foot injury.

No sooner had I got back into the swing of things with the training, then factors beyond my control threatened to derail everything. On Friday it snowed heavily, and even though it had stopped by Friday evening, it meant that the long run that I had planned for the weekend would be out of the question.

Perhaps I could have seen the snow as a blessing in disguise and used it as an opportunity to get some much-needed rest and relaxation, curling up in the foetal position in the warmth of my home, but no, not me. The glutton for punishment that I am, on Saturday I decided to go outside and run in the snow, in the biting cold. I was never going to exceed ten miles in that sort of weather, with that amount of snow on the ground, but I felt that any running was better than no running at all.

So, defying all common sense, and a number of comments such as "you must be bloody mad", "you'll slip over in that", and "don't say I didn't warn you", I put on my trainers and ran around my local park, where the snow was more than a couple of inches thick. There, I learned one important lesson: running through snow is not as easy as it looks. Sylvester Stallone made it appear perfectly simple when training in Rocky IV. For me, I felt more like Jack Nicholson at the end of The Shining.

I managed six-and-a-half miles. It was an exhausting six-and-a-half miles, but in the snow, I was working much harder than I usually do. I had to raise my knees up higher, I had to move my ankles a bit more and it gave my body and joints a much-needed workout that I wouldn't get from the usual surfaces on which I run. I also had to be more cautious about slipping or tripping. As it was, I never once slipped. The snow that had just fallen acted as a nice shock absorber and I think my body felt all the better for that run, physically exhausting as it was.

Having "only" accomplished six-and-a-half miles on Saturday, I went out again for another run this morning. Over Saturday night and this morning, more snow had fallen. However, this snow had covered most of the pavements so I was able to run along the pavements without worrying about slipping on ice as there was a fair covering of snow. I again managed six-and-a-half miles, bringing my weekend total to thirteen miles, which is fairly close to what I would have liked to achieved in a single session, but two lots of six-and-a-half miles in the snow is good enough for me.

Hopefully the snow will have cleared up by next weekend so I can get some more "proper" running done. On the other hand, if there is freak weather in April when the Marathon comes, and it snows heavily the day before, then at least I will be adequately prepared to run in those conditions should that situation arise! Mind you, the organisers would probably just cancel the event...

Painful running, my foot!

I haven't updated in a while. How remiss of me.

There has not been much to talk about except that tomorrow will be 100 days until the big day (the London Marathon, not my wedding. Honestly, who'd want to marry me?)
In the meantime, I have gradually been increasing the distance on my long runs at the weekend and trying desperately to avoid getting myself injured. Again.

There was a setback in December when the big toe on my right foot began to hurt through all of the running. It happened during a 15-mile run but I did the sensible thing by resting my foot when I got home, elevating it, putting ice on it. Then all would be well, and I would go out for another run the following weekend. It would begin smoothly, only for the toe to start hurting and the pain to kick in after about two miles into the run. I would rest it again for another week, and run again the following week, with a nice pleasant start, only for the toe to start playing up again after only two miles. I just kept getting a pain in the foot each time I ran, despite resting for a week.

I realised the problem must be more serious than I thought, so I sought advice from my doctor and I  then (reluctantly) rested the foot for two weeks. That was the hardest thing ever, going two weeks without doing any running whatsoever. I felt so guilty for not exercising, emotionally beating myself up for my enforced laziness and feeling jealous of all my other friends who were running out in the freezing cold, while there I was, in my warm lounge, watching the telly with my foot up.

So, two weeks later, I was ready to run again. After a short three-mile run on a treadmill on Christmas Day, my feet did not feel any ill effects. After a four-mile run the very next day, there were again no adverse effects. Later that week, I did six miles, and the following weekend this went up to twelve miles, again, with no resultant pain. A bit of aching in the feet, but no actual pain. So after taking some time out through injury, I'm starting to get back on track. I'm a little bit worried that I've missed out on some vital training, but the worst thing to do would be to rush back into my training and try to make up for lost time - that'll only lead to injury again and I'd be right back to where I started from.

I guess it seems I'm not as fit as I used to be. Actually, let me correct myself. I am as fit as I used to be, in terms of my health and stamina. However, my body just doesn't seem to be able to stand up to this sort of punishment and my feet aching after every run is probably my body trying to tell me something. It's perhaps no wonder, really. Each run I do, my feet (even in well-cushioned shoes) are pounding down on the pavement thousands of times. It's about equal to the force of 20,000 atomic bombs being dropped. OK, it's not quite that strong, but seriously, there is a lot of pressure being put on these feet of mine, all the more so, given that this will be the third consecutive year in which I'm running the marathon. I may be running for a disabled children's charity, but if I'm not careful, it'll be me needing the wheelchair.