Up and running

Yesterday was a big day for me as I finally took the plunge and went for a run. My goodness it felt good. Despite taking it slow, a bit of a struggle once I got the wind in my sails, but I heeded good advice not to let rip just yet in case my calf muscle followed suit. I pootled up hills being overtaken by weekend joggers, I held my fire on the flat and kept my pace slow and even.

The result? I went for 40 minutes and 4 miles pain free. I would have dearly loved to go on for further and longer, but I decided to stop while the going was good rather than risk aggravating my calf any further.

I am not sure what the key to this minor success was but I credit it to a much more through warm up routine than usual and keeping myself slow. These are two things that are so frequently overlooked once you become even slightly proficient as a runner. I know that I am guilty of pushing off on a run from cold and absolutely caning it up hill and down dale (well in so much as you have hills and dales in North London).

For over a year I got away with my bad habits, but training for the marathon tripped me up with my first injury. But perhaps I should be grateful as I have learned some useful lessons that I hope will stand me in good stead as I go forward in my running career:

1. Always warm up properly. Taking 10 minutes or so to get the blood flowing to your muscles could be the difference between injuring yourself and enjoying a great run.

2. If you feel a serious twinge STOP. Don't run through the pain or you might find yourself not running at all.

3. Keep it slow to build it up. If you want to increase miles then do it slowly, don't like I did, leap from being a 6-7 mile runner to a 14-mile run in the space of two weeks. You might cope OK, but as I found to my cost you probably won't have built up the strength to withstand the extra milage.

My husband would probably add a number 4, which is don't enter marathons, but I am withholding judgement on that one for the next few months.

I hope that my own painful experience might help keep another novice runner on the road. As ever with any sage advice I claim to be my own, thanks must go to the wonderful Mark at Up and Running in Watford, my running guru whether he likes it or not!

Patience is a virtue when it comes to calf strains

I know I have a been a bit quiet of late, but given that this is a blog about running I haven't had much to say as my calf strain has kept me off the roads for the last week. I have been diligently training on the bike, rower and in the pool as well as doing lots of strength work, but I am starting to feel a bit nervous at the lack of miles under my belt with the marathon looming ever larger.

I am getting royally sick of being told to be patient, but today I think that perhaps I am going to be rewarded for staying off my calf like a good girl. It is the first day when I really can say that I can walk without pain. I managed to run up the stairs at home like I used to and when I did my Pilates session my calf didn't even squeak when I stretched it out.

I am not sure it is quite time to don the trainers and get out into the park yet, but I am quietly confident that I can get back to training next week. I am just hoping that it will give me enough time to get marathon fit before the 22 April. The countdown on my fundraising page scarily points out that there are only 88 days to go, which means that with two taper weeks before the race I have just 10 weeks to take myself from a 14 mile runner to a 26.2 mile marathoner.

I have decided that my best bet is to give up any hope of achieving any decent time and just go for a steady amble round. If I can reach my goal of running every step I will be thrilled, if not I will just get round as best I can. It is a bit disappointing, but the key thing is to repair my injury and fix what caused it so I can live to run, rather than hobble, another day.

I am cheered by the number of friends how have said they are going to come along on the day and support me. I think knowing those friendly faces are in the crowd will help to push me through those miles whether running, walking or dragging myself along.

I hope the next time I post in this blog I will be able to report back on my first post-calf strain run. It might be a slow walk, jog affair, but you have no idea how much I am looking forward to it. I have another session with my physio on Friday and I am praying she gives me the all clear to start running again.

Ouch - injury strikes

So there I was out for my long run on Sunday when I felt the beginnings of a twinge in my lower left calf muscle. On I trot following my usual principle of running through the pain. It's fine for a while and then, just under a hour in, I tackle a short incline. By the time I reached the top my calf was really sore, but I was miles from home with not a bus stop in sight.

I hobbled on for a bit and then realised that if I kept running I could risk seriously injuring my leg - not what you need three months out from a marathon. I reluctantly pulled up and limped to the next bus stop. Just under 6 miles into what was meant to a 13 mile run and I was done. I have never stopped like this, but I thought it was better to lose out on a training run or two and make it to the big day, than solider on only to find I couldn't make it through the marathon.

The cause of my injury? Well that is simple. The moment I entered the marathon I was overwhelmed by all the advice and training plans there are out there. You will be told to do everything from sprints, to hill runs, interval training to threshold runs. There is enough jargon surrounding marathon training to rival an episode of House.

In my mind I know what suits me. I am not built for speed. I can plod along at a decent pace for hour upon hour, reaching that trance like state that can carry you through a long run with ease. Ask me to sprint and I am reaching for the sick bowl, screaming in pain and generally not enjoying myself. However, I have read and been told by so many 'experts' that I must incorporate speed training into my marathon schedule that I felt compelled to do so.

Big mistake. I suspect sprinting up a particularly evil hill 10 times in a row was to blame for my injured calf. Either way it is undoubtedly due to over training. I should have stuck to my common sense guns which told me that to train for a long run, what I needed to do was lots of long runs - doesn't matter if they are slow. I just need to train my body to keep putting one foot in front of the other for a long time.

I looked at programmes that prescribed this method and felt that they would suit me best, but was swayed when the latest advice scathingly called this approach old fashioned. Instead I went for new fangled, and pushed my body beyond it's limits. I am now paying the price.

For the rest of my training I am sticking to a new plan set out by a man I really respect as he is the one who showed me the joy of running in the first place, by teaching me the simple principle of running slow to run fast. It works at every level, or at least it works for me. So thanks Mark from Up and Running.