My left foot

It's been over a fortnight since my last post, the longest lull since I started blogging last year. It's due not to laziness (though that does account for a lot of other things in my life), but my lack of desire to discuss running whilst injured. Yep, I'm injured and then some. Shin splints were the problem initially but issues with my left foot manifested during a 'casual' 6 mile run. Before I knew it, running felt painful and lethargic, suggesting I was having real problems in my lower legs.

The cruel irony is that this flared up very soon after I launched my second fundraiser, advertising a trilogy of races beginning with the kilomathon on 14th March. In the last 10 days, I've done very little running. I gave RICE a try but even after six days a 5 mile run proved too testing. This was despite buying new running shoes (and socks!) and attempting a slower pace. With the first race looming, drastic action was needed. I somewhat randomly came across a local strength trainer, Patrick, and after a pleasant phone conversation arranged to see him on Tuesday. After a thorough 90 minute debrief, which including him stretching me out some, he was very confident in where my problem was: my leg muscles, particularly the calves, are far too tight, accounting for both my foot and shin problems. He demonstrated with real panache the difference a bit of stretching can do. By getting me to squat before and after, he was able to convince me that some sustained therapy might be prudent.

I am due to see him again on Friday. In the meantime, I am off running and all training is in the pool and on the rowing machine (which is growing on me despite its ruthlessness). In the meantime, I'm regularly performing some stretch exercises he taught me. We hope I'll be running again within a week and that my plans for 14 March, and especially Paris on 11 April, are still on track.

Patrick's sessions will no doubt prove useful, but also expensive, at £35 a pop. I am happy to invest some serious money as I feel he can and will make a difference. I hope it's enough to see me through Paris, as that is the only real goal for now. I can address underlying issues thereafter, no doubt aided by my sessions with Patrick.

So for now, patience is key. I may well have to resign Paris, but that will just mean delaying the marathon by a few weeks. Given how far I've come so far, and how long the experience will stay with me, it'll be worth the wait. I don't just want to finish the marathon; I want to run it and run it well, without stopping or walking. For reasons that will become abundantly clear in a few months time, I will only be attempting one marathon this year and not two, as I originally planned. So time is still on my side. But I am itching to get back on the roads. Heal, muscles!