1 week to go...

It's my last week of training before I run the London Marathon. I plan to do very little this week. On Wednesday I will be at the Expo with my friend Ralph, to pick up our race numbers and see how much free stuff we can blag. I also have a leg massage booked for Wednesday evening.

Last week I did a lot of walking and had a great midweek swim while my daughter had her swimming lesson, followed by my return to Pilates after 2 weeks (I felt so stiff so it was great to have a stretch). The cross-training I've done these past few weeks is definitely helping keep the injuries away.

I ran with my son Tuesday evening, a very slow first mile (run-walking) followed by me chasing him home after he decided to run back "at his own pace". My son needs to learn about pacing (or run with someone faster/not me).

Thursday was a mish-mash of fast short runs on my own to and from and around club, and 2 miles very slow run-walking with a new starter.

On Sunday it was my last "long run" before the marathon (I like how I no longer view 8 miles as a long run...). I decided to run in the afternoon while my daughter was at a birthday party in Letchworth, and I hit the Greenway for some off-road running. I took a bottle of Lucozade Sport with me again to make sure I can stomach it, and I was fine throughout the run, which is great news! Unfortunately my shins and calves felt tight and sore after only a couple of miles; I'm hoping the massage on Wednesday will help ease this tightness, and I will do a lot of stretching daily too.

After the 8 miles/birthday party, I joined some club friends up in Langford to film a promotional video for an event we are organising. So that was a 2 mile walk (up a hill) to the location and another 1.7 miles of running around.

Febathon

Just joking, there is no such thing as Febathon. I'd have failed it by now anyway since I did no exercise on Feb 1st. I had planned to do a 14 mile long run, but I was hungover in the morning after a 40th birthday party on the Saturday evening, and I was scuppered in the afternoon because some friends came round with wine and taunted me until I gave in.

On Monday I decided to complete the 14 miler out of sheer stubbornness. I dropped my daughter at school and then planned a route in my head. Initially I thought I would run two laps of the Standalone 10K route, with a loop of Mill Lane/Malthouse Lane added on to make the distance 14 miles. However, after stopping to make a phone call (I suddenly wondered if I'd booked myself onto my regular circuit training class and had to check) I decided I would do a loop around Astwick, then perhaps run to Arlesey, cut through Fairfield Park, and then perhaps run around Letchworth.

As I ran around Astwick I wondered whether I really wanted to run all the way to Letchworth, thinking about possible injury or school emergencies. I had almost decided to do three figure-of-eight loops around Astwick and Stotfold Mill when I bumped into my friend Becca, who is training for Brighton Marathon. I tagged onto her heels and we ran around Astwick again for 4 miles. After that, I just decided to run laps of Astwick with the odd Mill loop added on, until I'd done 14 miles. It was tough after Becca went home (I'd run 7 miles at that point), my legs felt really stiff, and the temptation to call it a day after 12 and 13 miles was strong. But I did it! A great mental and physical workout.

I resolved to book a leg massage when I got home, and I'm off to see my friend Jane tomorrow evening, should be relaxing/painful.

Tonight I ran with my son around Stotfold, just 2 miles, like we did last week. He did a lot better, and would've been much quicker than last week if it weren't so icy on the last stretch. Still, it's a nice habit we've fallen into, and I love running and chatting with him.

Hello knee pain, hello leg massages

The past few weeks I've noticed my right knee is starting to hurt in the same way it did last time I trained for a marathon, but only when I run at a slow pace (usually on a run-walk with beginners run club). On long runs I'm aware my knee is uncomfortable and aching, but it seems manageable and just typical of running a long way (like the aching hips and calves I'm also getting). Initial mild panic I was about to fail at this marathon training lark has now dissipated slightly, and I have identified four "action points".

1) Restart the daily leg physio exercises (side-lying leg raises, clams, prone leg raises, bum clenches, squats, single knee folds)

2) Add some calf, hamstring, hip, and (more) core strength exercises to my daily home workout

3) Ice/heat my knee daily and use my foam roller regularly (but not straight after running)

4) Stop running slowly!

The No Slow Running will obviously affect me helping at beginners run club, I might have to only take the group that runs without a walk break, but remaining uninjured is most important. Maybe I'll have to start cycling alongside the runners.

Tonight I booked to see my friend who is a qualified sports massage therapist; she gave my legs a good massage, slightly painful on the IT bands and thighs, but she reassured me that I'm not too broken, just some tightness in my calves and thighs that I can work on with the foam roller and by sports massage (every 4 weeks). We also talked about my training plan, hydration during the day and on long runs, eating while running, and Vaseline. (It's good stuff.)