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.