26th January 2012 - If the shoe fits…
‘A bad workman blames his tools,’ or so the saying goes. To prove this adage to be accurate I decided to blame my trainers. Seriously, the injury tally was fast becoming beyond a joke and I had to blame something! Luckily for me the lovely John from JW Sports in Bognor Regis offered me a crocodile test. Turns out the crux of the message got somewhat confused in translation (that’s what happens when my Saturday co-presenter takes phone messages – it’s her age, bless her). What was actually on offer was a Gait test. I was a little disappointed as I quite fancied getting up close and personal with Mr Snappy. Still, it worked out for the best as John gave me some much-needed advice; advice I had never previously considered. I mean, don’t trainers just need to fit? Evidently not. There is a proper science behind it all, and while I can’t say I understood the fine details, I am indebted to John. Thanks to him I now have the fanciest trainers in all the land and when I run it is like my feet are cushioned by clouds and that I am pounding air rather than tarmac. Amazing!
I am up to 14 miles a week over 3 runs, which is pretty poor, but these shin splints aren’t improving a great deal. So, to build my endurance without impact I have taken to cycling for a couple of hours at a time, once or twice a week. This has led to me having a bit of an epiphany …. I HATE HILLS!
Brighton should be fun then!!
12th January 2012 - The story so far....
Last summer Sloane – one of the super Charity fundraisers from St Barnabus House Hospice – approached me and asked if I would join her at the 2012 Brighton Marathon. Never being one to turn down a challenge I agreed to run the marathon and thought nothing more of it. I mean, come on now; a marathon (that’s 26.3 miles to the uninitiated) can’t be that hard, can it?!
THEN TRAINING STARTED! I am such a fool. 26.3 miles doesn’t seem that far (when you are in a car, maybe), but to actually train for it is a whole different ball game.
My Marathon training started back in November. The lovely Richard, fitness manager at Inspire Leisure, offered to advise and help me, and I bit his super fit hand off. So, with little running experience under my belt, I began. It was (please note the use of past tense here!) going really well. By week two I had worked up to a nice little 8mile run and was feeling rather proud of myself. And then the blooming injuries began…
First it was my Achilles on my right side, than my IT bands, then the shin splints on my left leg – who knew that my legs would turn out to be so rubbish?! Luckily help was at hand in the form of Paul White, a Personal Trainer specialising in injury rehabilitation and all round good egg. Thanks to his amazing wizardry I was only of the game for 3 weeks. Although in that time I did embraced deep water running. Meant to be the next best thing to actually running, it is really good fun. That said, it certainly tests your stamina, and I am fairly surely other people in the pool just thought that I couldn’t swim for toffee.
So, that pretty much brings you up to speed. Due to injuries I am running a very sorry 3 miles, 3/4 times a week – All by myself! Must join a running club. Must get new shoes (running shoes, not those fancy sling backs that I saw last week!).
