Not quite Worthing but challenging nevertheless

After a bit of introspection, common sense prevailed and rather than killing myself running 20flat miles in Worthing I decided to run 15 hilly miles on my home turf - ie. around Reigate (what with all the little ailments plaguing me at the moment - trapped nerve, problem shoulder and achy ankle)
It was pretty tough going but i maintained a 12.30 min/mile -ish overall. At around 12/13 miles it got really tough but once past it, it was ok-ish. I take some courage from that - I'm sure it'll be alright on the day.

It's now 3 weeks to the marathon - I shall be tailing back and concentrate in minimising the injuries so I shall be ready for the big day.

slightly nervous....

Tomorrow is the Worthing 20m run. I'm unlikely to run the whole way as my longest run so far has been 13.2m and with all the injury trouble upping the mileage by 35% might not be the brightest of ideas. So I shall definitely run 15 miles (the race are 4 x 5 mile laps) and see how I go.... so only prep I can do is carboloading and sleep - shouldn't be too difficult :-)

Health update

not goood - trapped nerve between 5/6th discs in neck, no strenght in my right arm - can't even make a cup of tea :-(
Not much I can do - sitting at a desk is worse than running so I shall persist - so rest assured I shall be running the marathon.

Not quite there yet

Soooo,
after another weeks rest and some advice from the Physio I headed out to a flat(ish) running course on soft ground - so I headed to Brockham Rugby Club and run around the fields 12 times!!!!
I went with Claire who kindly offered to run my snail pace and help me keep going. THANK YOU - no way would I have stuck to the 12 laps it took to run a meagre 10 miles.
My ankle is playing up and still killing me this evening - almost 2 decades of Basketball have left their mark and when it comes to the longer distances I can feel it again. Also my neck/shoulder clearly didn't like the long run either but its more a twinge than the full blown pain from before so I remain hopeful.
I have by now given up on any ideas of hitting a time that I might have secretly harboured - with the illness, sickness and injury and the thus reduced training it'll be a "make it round" kind of affair. But I will run it - no matter how slowly - so please keep sponsoring me!!

Slowly does it

I'm off the painkillers, although still on anti-inflamatories and did my first 6.5km run again on Sat morning. it felt quite good and the only niggle was my shoulder.
Saw Physio today and got great advice. Might have to drop out of Cranleigh and instead focus on running on a flat, non-tarmac surface for a bit until the neck is 95% as otherwise I might run the risk of not being able to run the marathon at all. So gentle off-road running, hopefully 20m run in Cranleigh, tackle the neck with ice and stretches and then hopefully be fighting fit for London in 5 weeks

Still injured

It's hit me bad I'm afraid. The sport masseur is doing wonders but I'm still suffering from constant pain in my arm. Will try gentle running in Germany this weekend - at least there won't be any hills - cross fingers as I'm planning to do the Cranleigh 15 the week after....

Injury strikes again

Having managed to get our for a 5 mile run on Fri morning (a very slow and painful experience), my neck and shoulder now decided to pack up. Despite a cocktail of drugs, the pain is excruciating and that puts a stop to any training at the moment :-( I'm sooo disappointed as I know that I need to get more miles on the road but as the germans say "da ist der Wurm drin"....
So, Monday I shall book myself to see the GP, followed by an Osteopath as well as a Sportsmasseur - I shall attack this on ALL fronts and with a bit of luck I shall be back up and running (literally) in no time at all.

Milestone 2 - The Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon

"The race is a testing, single-lap course through some of Kent's finest countryside"

Fully agree with the finest country side - especially on a warmish and sunny spring day. Testing it was indeed - I climbed 210m during the race!! Having been ill (tummy bug & then a cold)  for 3 weeks prior to the race and never having raced more than 11 miles - I approached the race with some trepidation.

As I got into it (at about 3 miles) I really started to enjoy myself. At the half way mark I was definitely beaming and at mile 7 I started overtaking people slowly but steadily. However, the very tough bit came between mile 11 and 12 - it must have been a mini wall - muscles seized up, feeling sick and wanting to give up. I managed to keep at it and when I reached the final half mile I was sprinting to the finish line! Felt really great for having done it although there are a few niggly bits I need to try and address - the wall, the sickness feeling and get my muscles a little bit more resilient. But no worries - I have 6 weeks to get myself ready....