Bye Bye Marathon

For this year anyway the marathon training is over for me.

I have very mixed feelings about this.  Not least because I am having to pull out because of the pain in my foot (caused by the wrong trainers).

Upside - I have much more time on my hands.  Downside is that I never pull out of things before I have completed.  And, I really wanted to take part in the first Brighton marathon.

However, worst than any of this is the pain I still have in my left heel.  Days that I spend in front of the computer are good for it (obviously it is resting) but as soon as I walk anywhere it hurts again.  I'm sick of wearing trainers all the time and I'm sick of limping.  I'm also sick of moaning about it all.

Anyway, I am trying to keep my fitness levels (and my pecker) up through gym work and swimming but boy do I miss running.

So much so that I went out with my daughter on Wednesday morning.  We only jogged around the park - 3 miles - I went slowly she ran much faster than me (well she is a quarter of my age) but I realised how quickly fitness levels drop.

Again - upside I ran with my daughter (a huge treat).  Downside - all that training and running in rain, sleet and snow is now amounting to not very much.

Ah me.

But, I'll be back.

More training woes

Just to keep everyone updated on the marathon training.

The bruised heel has now been seen to.  It's probably fat pad syndrome caused by the wrong trainers. The new ones that cost me over £100 in November.   For my thoughts on being sold the wrong trainers see my earlier blog from September.  But suffice to say I have been extremely upset by yet another set of bad advice from - wait for it - The London Marathon Store.  The first time I had a fitting there they were great.  Last time - obviously not so good.  Here's advice from me - always trust your own judgement and don't always listen to advice from 'professionals'.  It is not a good idea to go on long runs with a shoe that is 1 1/2 sizes too big on one foot as it will cause bruising by repeatedly pounding on the wrong part of the shoe.  To their credit they did replace the shoes but this will not help my training or the injury.

Despite this, on Saturday my foot was feeling a little better.  It was a lovely sunny crisp day so I decided to go out for a little jog - I was hoping it would improve my otherwise shitty mood and didn't plan to go far.  There was a light dusting of snow - all very pretty - and I tested out the likelihood of me slipping on it.  As you know I don't run in the snow so i jogged slowly.  So far so good.  

I hit Priory Park and the next thing I knew my feet went from under me and I fell backwards hitting my head quite badly on the concrete.  I had hit sheet ice (black ice under the sprinkling of snow - impossible to see).  I can still hear the noise of head hitting playground.  I didn't knock myself out but I did knock myself stupid as, once my head cleared I picked myself up and continued to run.  

I managed another mile and then realised that my head hurt and realised that it probably wasn't a good idea to be running with a banged head.

I didn't lose consciousness and I wasn't sick but I did have a bit of a headache for the rest of the day and into the next.

And on Sunday I woke up aching all over.  I got whiplash and my arm and back hurt.  However, it's a miracle that I didn't do myself more damage and I thank my mum's woolly hat for cushioning my head on the concrete.  

So, I'm just back from the osteopath (again).  Banned from training for a week because of the (now confirmed) mild concussion.  Banned from running till my foot gets better.  And looking forward even more than ever to the milder weather and spring.

Not sure about running the marathon though....