Your Body's Revenge!

Been a long time contributing to this Blogg, which is abysmal on my part! :-(  I will say work has been a shambles and i'm incredibly busy but surely i can squeeze in a few lines more often? As it is im writing this post whilst on a bus? .... So no excuses! :-/

I follow some "great" runners on Twitter but it has saddened me to notice that many people have started their spring marathon training and then have picked up a big injury or are running with a niggle. A lot of complaints listed i have experienced too and know from a little running knowledge i have, know that these runners will be back pounding the streets soon but its the decision within ourselves to first admit our body is protesting at the amount of overload we've put it through and then sensibly take our foot of the gas to allow our body time to recover! Pah!! easier said than done right? (woah look at me? Like i've never listened to my own advice) Dont deny the obvious 'age' is an issue. The young whippets will be out and back running soomer than the veterans!

Just like you too many times ive said 'Oh i'll be alright, No i wont need to see a physio' and just carried on with my training. Not surprising the problem has got worse, more frequent and its not too long after any tricks in healing the injury, denying or disguising pain #fail to work and your worst nightmare actually becomes reality that running is just not possible. This is the point that runners dont want to happen and now you must watch all your hard work getting you to this current fitness level, will now  disappear before you can even think to get back running again!

All i can suggest here is get help you need quickly! If you're not sure get professional advice either a doctor or a physio i know physio's charge  a variety of fee's which to be honest... I think puts people of going to them in the first place!! and probably contibutes to the problem? It took me 20 months  battling against achilles tendonitis before i actually coughed up the money to see a physio. One! Treatment and several exercises later concentrating on "pelvic alignment" my problem was solved! So just why did i suffer for so long then??.... Oh yes that's right, i kept denying and telling myself 'Oh, i'll be alright'... Clearly not.

You can even listen to advice from other fellow runners from "reliable" message boards or even twitter! R.I.C.E would the common suggestion here, emphasizing on REST? But remember you arent alone with your injury. Thousands of others have been through what you've been through and i bet most of which have pulled through and are running again, with the memory of a painful period all in the past.

Were all running in a huge running boom and in a decade with help and advice ( to 'some' degree) available on the net, podcasts, you tube, social media web sites? Count yourself lucky really as imagine your current injury... Happening for example in the 70's or 80's? You really would be knackered! But now in 2012 with a whole heap of treatments available, all we need to do is stop, think and be sensible when pain does strike. Why nkt go swimming? Use a X-trainer or just drastically reduce your intensity. We run to keep fit or experience the "the running high" so if we look after ourselves that little bit more, long live our running lifestyle.

Amen

How are my Newtons.... ?

So three months on.... Just how have I got on using these Newton trainers? If you want my honest answer and current status, rather badly actually.

I can see the logic and advantage of running mid/forefoot, which is exactly what it says on the box of this marketing. They do not hide away from the fact the changes needed to make in your own running style to make these trainers work for you, with the enclosed ten-point leaflet!

OK I was prepared to try this. It's just as you may have seen in my other blog articles, I'm getting a bit long in the tooth now and probably the saying you can't teach an old dog-new tricks is a real lesson to be learnt?

I train regularly running to my latest music playlist and trying various routes and trying interval training etc. I can comfortably now manage to run or at least get around various 10K and Half Marathon events and have taken part in the Flora and Virgin London Marathons. My next aim is still too improve on my current times and now eagerly await the 2012 London Marathon Ballot result, which will mean slowly increasing my mileage between now and then assuming I can find a way into this marathon.

As you know increasing mileage can increase the chances of injury anyway but using these Newton's now with this in mind for me is going to be a huge risk to take to run in next years London Marathon which is now seven months away. Since June, I have worn these trainers (drum roll) two or three times PER month and afterwards suffered such shocking calf pain that it actually has stopped me running. I really have tried to stretch out my calf muscles, use a foam roller very regularly, and have a sports massage monthly and even cheated before runs applying some sort of deep heat rub to warm up my calf muscles allowing them to be more forgiving.  Still the pain experienced after a run makes me walk with a hobble and the pain is too the extent that I cannot stand on my tiptoes let alone walk on my toes. The calf failure is that severe.

I ran a Dartford half marathon in July and I felt... OK(ish), allowed myself time to recover and started my training again for a 10 mile race in Stevenage in September. This race obviously being shorter than a half marathon I had high hopes for this race. A) To perform well for our team to win its category. B) To race and beat a friend. I prepared for this event as per normal and was actually quite confident too as in myself I felt well. (Even Achilles tendonitis has been behaving). Alas on the day it was a complete disaster! After four miles, I knew something was wrong. One lap down and 5 miles to go I knew my race was over as I ran with a hobble and my mind switched to willing the mile markers away. The Garmin beeped every mile reminding me I was well off my usual pace.

Needless to say, my team contribution on the day was rather shocking and I am sure our team captain and manager will reflect back and think twice now for selecting me for the team. They do not need to say anything to me, as I know myself I am disappointed with this effort and my mate beat me with ease. I finished in 1hr 9 minutes where as a ten-mile course in February 2011 (Sidcup 10) I had finished 1hr 4 or 5 minutes. I keep getting told you can't always run as fast as your last race or get PB after PB but I've kept on running all year I felt well and the only difference was just in wearing these trainers (through the pain(. I came home cursing these trainers! And contemplated burning them. I took pictures of them to shove them onto eBay as they still look new! The mileage I have run in them is actually still quite low. I looked at Sweatshop's website to resort back to my old faithful Asics 1160's before they bring out the 1170's at full price.

I had thought trying Newton's in June would be ample time for me to get used too and hopefully run a marathon in them next April. Three months later, I'm sorry I have to admit but I have absolutely no chance of running the full 26.2miles and I'm going to jump ship now and revert back to my usual running style and reliable Asics. I don't think I will sell the Newton's them but keep them for maybe 4k sprints I have at Bluewater's Saturday 4K meet ups because at the moment that's about as far as i could comfortably run?

Am i getting too old for this Malarkey?

My body clock is ticking and I am now edging closer to the big Four O! Good health permitting what would this new decade bring me running wise? I cannot emphasize how I am sooo looking forward to being classed as an official "veteran" runner! In fact not just running into my forty’s but to continue running strongly until it’s officially not possible for me to put one leg in front of the other. This determination in my ‘mind’ appears now to come at a price as my body is not as strong as the determination in my head. The best example of this mind Vs the body is when you’re planning for a marathon and you know things will get hard and you may even admit to hitting “the wall!” Do you tell yourself prior to this race, I’m going to push through this and keep on going? [Laughing out loud] Really now because I’ve tried this two or three times now and found out the hard way when the body says NO it means it! Know matter how determined the mind is the muscles in your body have put down their tools and are on strike! They’re not going to help you one bit, your race is now over!

I have found myself in a moment of quietness reflecting back what now find annoyingly painful or utter agony, twenty years ago or so, I would have brushed that aside running/playing through the pain. I could operate normally the next working after four hours of sleep. I could go out on an all day/night drinking session, smashing my liver to bits and perform normal activities the next day... And... Remember how I got home.

From this point things started to go downhill, getting worse but in such a subtle way just not enough for me to notice, slam on the brakes and make drastic alterations to lifestyle. I never gave a second thought of how I was already abusing my body and didn’t make any future sensible plans. I thought I was immortal and felt I was! Therefore, with this lifestyle I could continue it , no problem... Hmmmm

So, what’s gone wrong? What were the warnings my body was sending me that I blatantly chose to ignore? I started to need more sleep, get tired more quickly. Drinking the same amount on a night out with friends resulted in 2/3 days to recover and I admit at times locked in the bathroom… in pain! I missed out on much looked forward to weekend time, only for my working week to start again far too soon a classic sign of wearing down one’s body. What about my body mechanics? Well the biggest clue is finding myself constantly heading to the chemist to by paracetomol then nurofen, Ice sprays, ice packs and support bandages. When they didn’t work, I started heading to the doctors for advice who prescribed me very strong anti-inflammatory medication to which I still have availableon a handy repeat prescription, which I re order a lot more times than I should be. To be honest if I am, I tend to use them more just prior to races, you know to paper over the cracks after months and months I’ve spent training for a race I don’t want to pull out from. So to get me through the race day I find it easy to apply loads of ice and take my anti-inflammatory medication [Who's hitting the warning buzzer for me which says you really don’t want to do that!!] I know, I know *not* a sensible thing to do.

The next stage of my ageism is being called to come and play and kneeling down on the floor for a long time playing with my children. I’ve actually noticed I actually groan out loud more and more now just to stand back up from this playtime, maybe even using nearby furniture as leverage. (seriously, is this normal?) How about waking up in the mornings all stiff and sore hobbling around the landing looking down at the stairs thinking I’m about to descend mount Everest taking one step at a time. Research suggest this is a classic case of Achilles Tendonitis for the love of god, I’ve suffered from ITB, DOMS general aches and pains but good grief Achilles Tendonitis is my number one for suffering in pain. If anyone out there says such and such is a more painful injury? then for the love of god... I don’t want to suffer from it! Achilles Tendonitis *HURTS* (like a b*tch)!! and I’ve been getting this grief well over a year now which looks like it’s going to play a big and unwanted part of my life from now on. Rest it I hear people say, (I have, a little) stretch out your calf muscles, have Physio treatment I do! I do! Alas grief, grief and more grief.

Being totally honest If I could wind the clock back I really would. (Suppose we could all say that in aspects of our lives and rewrite our history) but for running my mind loves the feeling of pounding the streets, the feeling of doing something to help my health, fighting the evil of everyday stress but to help me wind down and de-stress. The is Me or my own personal time. Something I train hard for so I can achieve my own personal bests and get satisfaction doing so. I even enjoy listening to downloaded and created music playlists to which running along to my favourite tunes I’m having a party whilst I run! Answer the question just how fast can I run? Alas though all this comes at a costlyt price as clearly the slow realisation that my body is aging and I in fact am not immortal as I once thought. No I won’t be living forever as the alarm bells and warning signs are registering that my body is showing signs of wear and tear, weakness and you know what had better that looking after myself, quickly! The fact I’m writing this page on my Blogg I’m probably currently feeling a low point of weakness and pain which did prompt me into thinking recently “Am I too old to run?” Should I be slowing down?. Both my Achilles hurt, my calf muscles hurt, running up the same hill my heart rate is higher than it has been in the past, I’m puffing and blowing even harder now. Chaffing tender areas as the mornings are getting now darker and colder as the frost will now start to bite my fingers and nose. Soon i'll be yanking off wet clothes, tugging away, stretching and ruining my clothing, spending longer in the shower just in an attempt to warm up.

Slap me round the face what am I moaning for? Ive seen runners in their forty's, fifty's, sixty's and seventy's toe the line with me against those young whippets in their twentys. How have most of them done! Flippin well actually beating some and showing their body is stonger fitter, faster state! Really now well thats what I want! Pehaps I should shush up. Show my central governor who really is boss. Zip up my man suit and carry on doing something that I and many others adore!

I can only suggest you purchase some ear plugs. As when I return from my runs seaching for.the coldest ice pack and I look like i'm about to start moaning you can quickly insert ear plugs and ignore me!!

Cheers...

Newton Trainers - First Test...

I finally made the plunge into buying these trainers and as I did, it came with a warning from the assistant.

•      Make sure my first run is short
•      Strengthen your calf muscles
•      Stretch your calf muscles to ensure they are soft and flexible

Hmm good advice? Well for the last six months, one gym machine I have been using is doing weighted calf raises anyway. I have suffered from Achilles tendonitis so a foam roller and daily stretching I do, do quite often (ok maybe should even do more). Keeping my first run short... Hmm how short are we talking?

As it happened, I chose a morning run to my nearest tube station at the O2. My early morning runs before work consist of an easy one mile jog as a warm up, stretch a bit more while I adjust my ruck sack before I then start my Garmin and phone app to run varying routes but roughly the distance is 7.5 miles.

Now was the time to compare my morning jog with other runs in my Asics 1160's. Within the first 100 metres if anyone who was, watching me must have wondered why I was grinning like a Cheshire cat! My god the forward push really does launch you forward as I found on the flat roads I needed to raise my knees higher so my leg rotates downwards and I landed on my mid/front part of my foot to gain the forward push. Although I was concentrating in doing this, I'm sure I could grasp this naturally in my future runs. My first mile marker so some 20 seconds quicker before soon I turned and headed up my first hill. The front foot motion I powered up this hill with such little effort. I got to the top and still managed to run off the top of the hill and glancing at my heart rate is was the lowest I've ever seen running up this hill. I then must have raised my heart rate as I started to get excited about these trainers now. That was until the downward section as running down it on my front foot I had no confidence in doing so just yet. Therefore, I ended up running down leaning backwards on my heels (as usual). So something to practice another day

After four miles, I did start to feel a dull ache in my calf muscles and as I ran on the ache got worse and worse. As I approached seven miles, I resorted to walking as it felt like I had a golf ball wedged into my muscles. Even as I entered the tube and stopped my watches the time was noticeably quicker than my previous runs and I didn't feel like I had put in the extra effort to justify the time.

I was absolutely beaming as I got on the tube and continued my journey into work. When I got off the other end and tried to run the final hundred metres into work... Hmm I just couldn't. I showered changed and slapped on my Bio-freeze and compression tights. As the day went on my walk blatantly turned into a hobble, by the following day I seriously could not walk properly as my calf muscles had gone on strike. Trying to stand on tip toes, No chance! Which proves using 8.5 miles as a "short"

first run in my Newton's appears to be way too far. Five days later and I'm still suffering with pains in my calf muscles. These 8.5 miles is still well short of my usual half/full marathons and if this were a race, I could have been looking at a DNF (No Joke!) This now means alternating my trainers and working on my calf muscles until I can run a full distance in my Newton's pain free. I have a 10K race in October so hopefully by then I can use my Newton's in race trim and see how I get on. Now I must strengthen my calf muscles but keep them supple at the same time so you may hear me swearing in the gym whilst I use their foam roller. You may be reading this and think is this pain or change in running style necessary? Not to mention the expense in paying for these dearer trainers. My opinion is that this pain won't last forever......(hoping)

London 2012 Ticket allocation.

Way back in the 80's my dad used to spend most of his weekends plonked in his favourite armchair postponing any DIY plans watching Dickie Davies Saturday afternoon's presenting World of Sport. With me playing with my matchbox/corgi cars on the living room floor. looking up from time to time Sport would be the first thing I would see. It wasn't long before I then started to annoy my dad in mid viewing asking questions in an attempt to understand the sport for me then to turn round to my dad asking if I could a) start playing football. B) Start running c) become a wrestler like Big Daddy you just know my dad crossed off option C straight away ignoring me!

This is probably where my fanatical passion of sports first started as (some of you may know) Football, Athletics and F1 are my biggest passions. I can remember seeing the black and gold JPS lotus cars roaring around Formula 1 tracks, Tottenham Hotspurs winning the UEFA Cup. The best team (Brazil) not winning the 1982 world cup finals? As for the 1984 LA Olympics, Lord Coe, Tessa Sanderson, Daly Thompson's gold medals even Carl Lewis on fire for the USA.

So as a huge fan of sport and its history of great people associated in the record books you honestly must imagine how excited! I was hearing the Great Britain actually wanted to host an Olympic games. An Olympic Games in my back yard? GREAT! I get slightly annoyed hearing my dad tell me about the World cup in 1966 and how fans felt before, during and after with a nation of euphoria that I am jealous and I want an event of that scale to see for myself. Now clearly down to FIFA's recent and well publicised (ahem blatant) corruption we don't' appear to be having a world cup for quite some time or even ever within my lifetime! So the next best thing on such a scale is to witness an Olympic games. I can take my children to such a great and historical event to which they can witness and tell their children, a tale I can tell my grandchildren and as I believe, I will live forever, even to my great grandchildren. I cheered like mad for Lord Coe to win his Olympic medal in 1984 and if he brings a successful Olympic Games to London, I will change his "Lord" status to "GOD"

Now as you can probably see I am pro Olympic Games (well ..... my gripe comes later!) but what really, really does get my back up is the people that are anti Olympic Games. Now I'm not saying you 'must' support and agree with the games particularly if you are not a fan of the sport, it's not compulsory that you do. Likewise I'm not a huge fan of golf or cricket, my knowledge goes a s far as Ian Botham and Nick Faldo (as you can see, limited!) but I do not sit and moan, moan, moan about this non stop at home/work criticising the Ryder Cup or the Ashes. Moaning is not going to make this event go away! It maybe a hard few weeks for these non, supporting fans to try and ignore this event in the media and with people discussing it vocally but like it or not the fact is that the Olympic games IS coming to the UK and will be a huge occasion. For some this is a once in a lifetime event and like it or not, it will be a part of our history for many years to come. London will be on the Olympic calendar with a list of athletes names of records and achievements and hopefully London will have a glowing reputation of holding a successful Olympic Games. Yes it will cost a lot of money to build venues and organise a schedule and assuming you're a hard working citizen some of your taxes obviously we be placed in funding this event but surely this will have created jobs for people and be a start of a good infrastructure improving the surrounding areas. Created (safe) playing and training areas for our future generation of children. The ticket returns and souvenir sales "should" even things back out when the games are on? I haven't a crystal ball like many to confirm that this will even happen but this is the theory!...for every country that do host the Olympic Games and surely in this day and age you realise... money talks?

Now this write up is about my experience with the Olympic Games. To some you may end up gloating and laughing to which I can see why. With Great Britain winning the 2012 games bid and me regularly driving through the Blackwall tunnel on match days to Tottenham (queue jokes) I have seen the Olympic site take shape and impressive it is too. I have followed all instructions by the Olympic committee to get tickets you must register on the website to which I did a year ago. I have received all email notifications within this time and made calendar reminders in my phone as to when I could view the Olympic event schedule and when I could apply for tickets. I worked out when my daughter would break up for the summer holidays and planned my holidays I could take off from work. As a family, we spent ages planning what sports we would like to see, on what day and how much we were willing to spend for these events. Like many others, basically we tried to edge our bets in an attempt to get  to see "something" Now between us our applications came to just over £1,000. Quite a frightening amount to cough up if we were to get everything we applied for? Well our events covered Gymnastics, Tennis and athletics. At various times (morning/evening) accommodating children who pay for tickets depending on how old they are.

Now this is when I'm beginning to show my disapproval. As the deadline for applying for tickets approached, (remember people have had a month to apply for their tickets). Out of nowhere there was a frigging extension granted to people applying for tickets past the well publicised cut off time of 23:59!!... one question WHY?

Then while the powers that be behind the scenes allocated tickets we all sat logging onto our online banking hoping to see a mystery withdrawal to which we would then have to try and workout what we applied for and what Olympic tickets we may have just bought? Well low and behold the payment deadline past and between my family we got nothing! I felt rather naive because edging our bets we could not get anything? Not a cheap morning session with the gymnastics/athletics. Not an early round of the tennis. Athletic session in the evening.... Nothing! I couldn't believe it. Of course the media started telling stories of successful applications and obviously some people around be would be lucky but it appears the trend of successful applicants were the ones who could afford to spend the most. A man applied for £36,000 work of thickets and obtained £8,000? ... £8,000 what could they possibly be for then? How about the applications from people after the scheduled deadline! I hope to god these people weren't successful because that’s blatant queue-jumping if you ask me! a right pi$$ take!

With a huge cry of uproar around the nation. Ticket allocation was somehow still defended by the committee. To calm us all down, a second chance for us losers was to be made available at the end of June on a first come first served basis, so all was not lost as we were told some large amount of tickets was still left remaining? I did think that a little strange but waited for the list to be printed of current availability. Now this is for me wanting in the region of six tickets for the above sports to mix and match on any day. Well when i saw the list my first reaction was of complete ungratefulness as i thought i cannot be asked. There was loads of tickets left for lets be honest amateur football with er, wrestling canoeing and i couldn’t believe the Olympic committee said there were loads of tickets left? Slight trickery here because of course not all football stadiums are full for matches but you can not seriously say tickets are available for events/sports that most of the nation are not too interested in. That’s being honest not a dig! Depressed i still logged on at 6:00 Friday 24^th June in a last attempt to see anything i fancy. Nope all tickets had gone and the website still ran as slow as websites did back in the day when i had a Windows 95 computer with a 33.3kb  modem! Now if you're too young to even know what i'm on about here? This was a very slow internet connection that after typing in a web address we all waited for the web page to load. We could go away and make a cup of tea, come back to our computer and the web page still would not have loaded. To which we were charged by the minute to use!! People today with fibre optic cable that load web pages instantly woah! what a luxury! And after i experienced this 1995 web site speed again,  I soon logged the off with my hands thrown into the air saying “I give up!

To date there are still sports that have not been sold out. Nope i cant be asked to pay to see Football, Volleyball or wrestling but i am told a general sale will take place at the end of the year and a very, very last ditch effort will take place next year when the ticket exchange scheme goes live. Hmmm not many people will bombard the website that day either will they? 

I therefore predict already in July 2011 that there will be more stress, grief and tears when we use the exchange scheme.

I know there are thousands who have experienced the above and feel a bit bitter (naturally) I therefore say to the lucky, lucky people going to the Olympics, congratulations! (seriously i do) Enjoy the occasion. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and I (still) envy you!

Newton Trainers... Are you for or against?

Newton

Are you aware of this brand of trainers that (like many others) also claim to be all singing and dancing into improving your running style, gait and speed? The marketing behind these trainers attempt to encourage runners to land with each foot strike on their mid/front foot thus enabling a more "forward" motion and propulsion. The trainers are not finished here either. With now your foot landing in a different position and allegedly in a quicker motion, the change in pattern in the way your foot comes into contact with the road, should now mean there is less impact. Less impact now means less body strain, less injuries and I suppose your body lasting a little longer before the fatigue then starts to take over in any race you may be participating in. Newton trainers have different versions to those runners who naturally run on their front foot and those willing to convert into running on their front foot which has heel protection until you learn not to run on your heels altogether

Now you can sit reading that I'm falling for this companies marketing trick (Hmmm maybe so) but the more I think about this but the more I think about it this is a great aid for those who don't "naturally" land on their mid/front foot, E.G ME!! When you look at Elite athletes, you will notice they run with a quick leg turn over and every strike is in fact on their front foot. These people have been trained to run like this so although (I am told) 

Newton's are allowed to be used in professional events although you do not see many (if at all any) Elite runners, running in Newton trainers. So if they don't use these trainers why should we?

As I have said, elite runners have the time and the coaches to aid them to running correctly and quickly without the aid of these shoes. To us plodders, standard or club runners how can we possibly benefit?

I have not been able to afford an all out gait analysis assessment but from the way I walk in normal shoes (and wear them out), I appear to land quite heavily on my heels. I have been to various running shops and run on a treadmill and seen using there camera that even running I land heavily on my heels and then slightly, ever so slightly overpronate. Due to this level of pronation and my love for half marathon marathon's I've always been advised to by a slight supportive shoe to take into account the later stages of my races when my overpronation will be emphasised. I have never been able to buy a typical neutral shoe, In fact I have tried Adidas and Asics brands but always seem to have stuck by and using Asics 1140's, 50's & 60's.

More experienced/ professional runners/trainers may say spending money on a proper analysis is wiser than buying these Newton trainers, so you have more of an understanding on how you run, making only the slight changes that you may need to improve. For me attending a proper analysis centre is miles away and to be honest I can't be asked to attend. Which brings me back to the question, how can a classic heel striker can suddenly throw themselves forward in an attempt to running front foot.

I'm getting older now and been running the way I have for years (rightly or wrongly) the sudden change in running style could cause me more injuries than I already receive. I'm sure I must bore people close to me about my running injuries so why would I be interested in changing my running footwear which my threat of injury would increase? Well... For me I won't lie but I still have the ambition and drive to run quicker than my last race at that distance. I actually get annoyed with myself when I feel my race time has not achieved what I felt my training justified! (Even though realistically is not possible every time!) I have thought about running in these trainers for well over a year and am prepared to spend out on these trainers and at least give them a "try"

instead of sitting indoors wondering "If" they may improve my running?

I have looked and posted on various message boards wanting other runner's opinions on Newton trainers and to be honest there appears to be a lot more runners against these shoes than for them!

I have now bought a pair of Newton Sir Issac's trainers and while I have a break within my race period, I will give them a go. They come with a 10-point rule to make the transfer from normal trainers to these one's simpler starting from scratch I suppose running shorter distances to begin with and build up again giving your calf muscles and Achilles tendons time to adjust to the change. My plan is to use them on my shorter runs or if anything start using them on an incline of a treadmill. If I don't, like them I'll soon let you know but I am giving them the benefit of a doubt and "TRYING" them. They are nearly double the price of what I could buy a pair of last years versions of Asics but believe that could they last longer?

Any opinions or experiences please share. I'm still all ears.

Injuries....

I'm not a spring chicken anymore and bordering on officially entering races in the "veteran" category, I'm finding this period of my running not so simple and straightforward. If I have, one regret from my running is not continuing this from my school days. I left school, got a job within London and most lunchtimes and Friday evenings spent a lot of time and money trying to destroy my own liver. Once I got this period of my life over and done with, returning to my running I spent god knows how many months trying to recondition my ageing weakening body into running how it used too. Although my mind is full of youthful running memories and my mind says go go go! My body itself is still playing catch up and is not so keen.

If you're of similar age to me, you may start to find you get injured or pick up an annoying niggle at the time you're performing at your best and on top of your game? Alternatively, injuries occur just as you increase mileage for the build up of a race you really want to run your best in. Why does your body feel it'll have a laugh at your expense and let you down like this? I've rubbed you when you're sore, fed you healthy food! All I ask in return is you run your best when I say, alas you now feel like going on strike so I find it hard to run? How painful, depressing can this feel? Boarding heart breaking! Non-runners in your family will never understand but to fellow runners who know this can send you spiralling into depression

I applied for the old Virgin London Marathon for many years before one May found out I received my fifth rejection and the following year I would be running in the London Marathon that I have dreamed so long for running in. This has meant I have been regularly running for the last four years or so. Within this time, I have had the usual sore muscles, DOMS, chafing, sore nipples, fatigue, wall hitting, stinging eyes from sweat, etc etc but within this time can say I have only ever had two proper injuries. The first being Runners Knee from a tight IT band in the very early stages of running. Although painful, I found this really easy to cure. Although I still ended up on a recovery bed of a Physio for advice. Simply reducing inflammation of the knee and stretching out of my thigh muscle solved this injury fairly quickly. Occasionally a knee will flare up and I confidently know what I need to do to cure it.

The second injury, My Lord Achilles Tendonitis, oh what pain. Now I first noticed my Achilles hurting prior to the 2010 London marathon.

Thought nothing of it as after an hour of waking first thing in the morning the pain would go. Naively I carried on running without nipping this problem in the bud. I participated in the Bluewater 10K race in June and come the Monday morning both Achilles just seized right up and this was the start of an on going pain! That was over a year ago now and to date I still suffer. Perhaps if I stopped running and performed more of those stair exercises this injury would have healed by now? However, with various races including the 2011 London Marathon I haven't ever completely stopped running. It appears I have tight calf muscles, which in turn are pulling up on my Achilles, which now means they are fragile and prone to giving me grief! Not to mention my age, you know this is a classic injury of other runners my age too.

What am I doing about it? Well I have been to two physio's and spent ages looking on the net for advice and watched untold YouTube videos of curing Achilles Tendonitis. To which I have come up with the following routine. No! I am not stopping my running but after every run I'm applying a cold spray and maybe biofreeze after a shower. I also apply two ice packs to my tendons in the evening whilst watching TV. As I head upstairs to bed, before I get to the top I stop and perform the lowering and raising of my calf muscles so they don't cause me grief when I wake up in the morning. Lastly, I treat myself to a Sports Clinic massage above Sweatshop at Bluewater once a month! Not ideal but I'm still able to continue doing something I feel so passionately about. Any other suggestions that you can come up with, I'm all ears!