First Time Marathon

Hey Folks,

Yup, another one bites the dust!

After my 7 mile jog last Sunday my achilles decided to give me serious grief, grrrrrrrrrr.

A complete rest from any kind of running since and I'm still not ready to run. However, due to work commitments there won't be time to run until Wednesday anyway, which will give another couple of days rest for essential achilles repairs.

I read up on this from http://www.runnersmedicalresource.com/injuries05.html and it said...

Description: Pain in one of the muscles at the back of the lower leg (calf) or in the tendon that attaches the calf to the heel (Achilles tendon). Discomfort is often worse when running uphill, because uphill running can excessively stretch the calf – particularly if you aren't used to hill training. Overuse and poor flexibility are the most likely causes.

So, take note. If, like me, you attempt a warm up session trying to run up a 1 in 15 hill at the start of your 7 mile jog, and not being particularly clever at pre-jog stretching, then be careful and take care of your natural running tools or suffer for at least a week after!

In an attempt to keep my fitness levels up, and as recommended from the above link, I have now reintroduced myself to my local swimming pool in the meantime.

It's all good though, we never expected this to be easy

Take care,

John

Here is a really handy website which allows you to map out your run in your local area and for the distance you want to run.

It also lists different routes that other runners have already created

http://www.mapmyrun.com/

Alan here!

I rested the sore ankle for 10 days, during which time I started to feel very 'fat' again!

On Wednesday I tried 5K on the treadmill. Delighted that my heart rate and breathing were under control I just hoped the achillies would hold out. After 15 minutes I felt the slightest of twinges and stopped. Filled the rest of the session with some cross training and weights.

In an attempt to resolve the issue a visit to Run4It in Edinburgh was called for. I was greatly impressed by their expertise and professionalism. They watched me running in my shoes on their treadmill and diagnosed a pronounced pronation in my right foot! (I don't know what it means either!) Anyway, after trying a few pairs of specialist shoes on the treadmill I came home with a shiny new pair of New Balance Stability shoes.

Will they work? Well, I'm going to find out in an hour or so, so watch this space!!

A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has donated to our CHAS appeal so far. It certainly focuses our training effort knowing how supportive you have all been.

Cheers,
Alan

Hi There

So far this week I've managed to stick to the timetable and completed 5 miles. Another 2 where scheduled for last night, however after sticking to the schedule for the last couple of weeks I'm feeling knackered and have decided to recoupe over the next few days and start again on sunday with our 6 mile run.

There is a huge amount of advice out there for first time runners and marathon goers and a very common theme is how to prevent burn out!

A couple of tips have picked up:
-Maintain staying power: getting enough sleep and taking rest periods between training sessions are really important for sustaining energy levels and consistent progression

-Keeping motivated: set goals along each stage of training, whether it be simply building up to running 10 mins straight at first. The buzz of achieving each will push you on to do more

-Food: the advice is to eat something within an hour of finishing training to help repfill energy stores and help repair damaged muscle cells

Sheena

Well, today was the start of our 16 week sub 4 hrs 30 mins training plan set by Runner's World UK - http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/news/article.asp?UAN=2776

With Alan still in recovery from his achillies injury, Sheena and I kicked off the official training plan with a two mile jog on the treadmill. One slight snag, I had a support bandage on my knee! A 20 year old war wound has reared its ugly head and a trip to the doctor is on the cards.

We are lucky to have the support from our Occupational Health department who have come up with one or two hints to help keep this dodgy knee active for the duration. So, one very large and tight support bandage, one frozen bag of peas, a doctor's appointment and a chat with Gordon Mathie on the cards for this week for knee workouts should all help get things back on track again.

One quote that keeps going round in my head at the moment is - 'my mind is writing cheques my body can't cash!'

It's all part of the challenge!

As word spreads of our challenge, the donation total has quite nicely begun to rise, so thanks very much so far to all those who have donated

Please don't let the larger donations put you off, even if you can manage £1, that's £1 closer to our target and every penny counts