Running v's training

Running is the time when I am most at peace. When I am over that first half hour of warming up and getting into my stride. When my breathing is even and steady, my legs are pumping steadily and my mind has relaxed into that trance like state brought on by a good run.

I can take in my surroundings. The trees bare of their leaves, dark branches slicing the white grey winter sky. The pavement dusted with a glittering sprinkle of frost, blades of grass frozen to attention around crackled icy puddles. I can peek into windows watching life going by, I can glance into shop windows and wonder idly if I would suit the sequin party dress displayed with pride in one of the boutiques I regularly pass.

When the weather is good I can run across the fields. Cows grazing and dog walkers nodding a cheerful hello. I can dodge the ruts and navigate woodland paths, glimpsing secret dens build deep within the canopy by some enterprising little boys. Picking my way over wonky tree trunk bridges thrown up over trickling brooks and squeezing through stiles that bar my path.

If there are problems in my life they seem to melt away and answers flow without the usual everyday distractions clogging up my thought processes. These are some of the reasons why I love to run.

But since entering the marathon I have stopped running for the pure joy of it and instead begun to 'train'. Rather than setting off with a vague route and time in mind, but never mind if I don't make it or decide to be distracted off by some mysterious foot path, now I have a schedule printed in black and white on the back of my office door. I have a wall calendar that I fill out diligently with miles run and training sessions completed.

I not only run, but I work out, train with my PT, practise Pilates and spend hours doing stretching, foam rolling, flexibility and strength work on my own. I still feel slightly pressured that I am not doing enough (thought the upside is that my body is about as good as you can expect after having four kids, one a set of rather enormous twins).

I dreamed of entering a marathon, but now I am scared that it is ruining my running. Not only has it left me with a injury that makes me nervous to forge ahead, it has also taken away the spontaneity and pleasure of running, turning it almost into a chore.

While I am still looking forward to my marathon, I must admit that I am also looking forward to being able to go back to being a simple runner, not a marathon runner.

Running free?

I have been amazed by the number of friends who tell me that they want to take up running. It is a veritable craze at the moment. I of all people understand the attraction. It is a flexible form of exercise that gets you fit out in the fresh air, but one thing about running that I have found to be rather a false promise is that it is free.

Running, in my experience, can be a very expensive pursuit. For starters you must have the right shoes. Be they trainers or barefoot they will cost you, in fact the more minimalist the shoe often the higher the price. Even a basic pair of running shoes costs around £50, but you can easily find the price tag rising to over £100, particularly if you have any special requirements.

Oh and that is always assuming you stick with just one pair of shoes. If you run off-road then a pair of trail shoes is a good investment, so that's another £50-60 gone just on your feet. Though silly me, I had forgotten socks. It is no good just pulling on a manky pair of tennis socks, you need special anti-blister, cushioned supportive socks for around a tenner a pair.

You can even buy special laces for your shoes that mean you will never have to stop and tie them again. The only hitch is that these cost around £10 too. So just cladding out your feet can easily see you shelling out over £200.

Next there is the kit. Admittedly when I first started running I just went in shorts and a T-shirt. But as you start to run more often and in varying conditions your running wardrobe expands exponentially. I now have a wide array of clothes from long tights, capris, shorts, vests, jackets, a fleece, T-shirts with sleeves both long and short, gloves, hats and hair bands plus a high-viz vest for night runs.

Even though I am a bargain shopper when it comes to running kit, I blush to think how much that little lot cost, but I would guess that we are once again in the £200-300 region, and I am probably being pretty conservative in that estimate.

Next up is the more esoteric kit. The special water belts for long runs, GPS watch to track your pace and milage, gels, supplements and sports drinks so you can reach peak potential. Another £150 gone here and rising as I experiment with all those potions to make me run faster and longer ahead of the marathon.

What can really rack up the cost is injury though. So far physio sessions for my strained calf have cost me and my insurance company over £200 and if I had opted for the orthotics the clinic was understandably keen to push on me I could easily have doubled that. Not to mention Biofreeze gel, calf sleeve and foam roller all purchased to help ease the pain. Or the generosity of my chiropractor friend who donated her expert services in return for a bottle of red wine.

Then there are all the race entries. At £15-25 for a 10K race this is quite manageable, but once you get into longer more prestigious races the costs rise up and up. I was idly browsing a brochure that promised you entry to the New York Marathon at a mere £2,500 per person.

Of course this is without all the peripheral training you need to enhance your running. A jog around the park is all very well, but to get the best from running you need to do strength and core training. At the very least this requires buying equipment, but really you need a gym membership and ideally a personal trainer and a few Pilates sessions thrown in for good measure.

I am lucky I can cadge equipment from the other half who runs Gorilla Sports, my trainer is very generous with his time in support of a good cause, ditto my Pilates teacher. But if I were to tot up all their services I would be looking at hundreds and hundreds of pounds.

So is running free? Don't make me laugh, it's one of the most expensive sports I've ever indulged it. But from the highs of a sunny cross country run to the body it has honed from the fat lump I started out as, from the incredible experiences and people it has introduced me to, to the unbeatable exhilaration of crossing a race finish line, so far it's been worth every penny.

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.

Running withdrawal

Calf is still stubbornly sore and much as I am literally gagging to get running I know I have to rest it in order to repair it for the big day. But I am hating it. Normally I am eager to train and go to the gym, but at the moment I am as reluctant as the next person as I do hate cycling and swimming with a passion.

I am a very one track person and while I always cross train in order to keep up my fitness, the bulk of my training is always running because this is what I love, not what I have to do. I jump at the chance to go for a run, but I am finding it way harder to motivate myself to cycle, row or swim.

This morning I was walking the boys to school and I was so envious when I saw a man running up the hill. I was in my trainers and I just wanted to tag along after him. I had to almost physically restrain myself from taking off, but that dull ache in my calf reminded me that I have to be patient and hold back.

It's just that what has always got me through was a determination to keep going no matter what. I have never pulled up during a run before and indeed never had to endure an injury before, so I have no time for mollycoddling my body back to health.

I am actually shocked by how depressing I am finding not running. I am moody and miserable without my fix of fresh air, sweat and effort. It is clear to me how dependent I have become on my sport and how hard it is to cope without the benefits it brings to me. Roll on a healthy calf is all I can say.

Tangled up in pink

So the ongoing saga of my calf strain continues. I visited my GP yesterday and by some weird coincidence saw a locum doctor whose children were are mad keen marathon runners. Ignoring the fact that she was already running about 10 minutes late she told me a long story about how her son nearly died doing last year's London Marathon. Gulp. Still he considers a 'slow' marathon to be 2hrs 45mins, so I don't think we are in quite the same league.

To cut a long story short she suggested that I visit Pure Sports Medicine in Threadneedle Street, which is how I found myself togged up in running kit on the Northern Line heading deep into the City. It is a supremely professional set up, though that is only to be expected given the prices they charge.

I was prodded and poked and told that I had effectively been hopping rather than running as one leg could give Daley Thompson a run for his money, while the other would not look out of place on the most slobbish couch potato. Apparently my poor old right leg has been doing all the work, while the left looked on and laughed, which is why my calf gave up the ghost once I started to tax it.

I was given a massage, acupuncture and then my calf was strapped up in some very fetching bright pink tape. I was also given some exercises to do and sent away much poorer but encouraged that I would be able to run the marathon without too much of a problem. Phew. Now I just need to continue being patient, not taxing my calf and wearing heels to take the pressure off the muscle.

Still no running though and I am beginning to get very twitchy without my regular does of endorphins delivered by a few hours out on the road. I am planning to gym it again and do some cross training and help to build up that lazy left leg, so hoping that will put right the chemical imbalance in my brain.

Fingers crossed by this time next week I will be up and running again. I am back on Monday for a check up and more advice on how to get myself buns of steel to help hold up my legs on the marathon, so watch this space.

The generosity of friends

Since I started running I have had plenty of people share the idea with me that all runners are mad. Why would we put ourselves through the pain and suffering of a run when we could be tucked up on the sofa? Well anyone who runs knows the answer. Running doesn't make us mad, it is what keeps us sane! Or at least as close to that state as possible.

But the other positive side effect of running for me is discovering the incredible support and generosity of fellow runners and friends. Not only have I raised over £900 since entering the marathon just a couple of weeks ago thanks to donations from friends and family both close and virtual, I have also been overwhelmed by the help I have been offered from so many and varied wonderful people.

One friend has set me up with 10 sessions of Pilates at Pilates Nation in order to keep prevent my poor old body from freezing up in protest at all the training I am expecting it to do. I had my first session with the incredibly lovely Rachel there yesterday and I can see that a good stretching out is just what my muscles need.

Then there is my personal trainer, Andrea, who has promised to help me get into tip top shape for the marathon, which, given my lazy week due to injury, is a godsend. At least now I can be sure that my upper body is in with a fighting chance of keeping up with my legs.

Or the lovely Elise, The Patient Chiropractor, who has given me invaluable advice and treatment for my calf strain. I can't wait till she can join me out running again and see all her good work put into action.

These are the big ticket items though. I have been equally touched by the hours of advice that expert runners including Mark who I have mentioned before, as well as some seasoned marathon runners at my gym, have given this novice runner to help me beat that 26.2 miles into submission.

I was also touched when two volunteers at the North London Hospice shoved wrinkled £5 notes into the collecting tins I had come in to pick up as soon as they heard I was running the marathon for their charity.

The kindness of strangers and friends in the face of human endeavour surely enough to make it worthwhile. It has certainly made my marathon experience so far an incredibly uplifting one, and I hope this will help to carry me around the course - bad leg or no. Worst comes to worst I shall walk the whole way, as there is no way I will let all these wonderful people down.