Preparing for the Final Push

The past week has been a bit of a pause in running - only two runs, totalling 7 miles.  This is primarily because we have been on holiday in North Wales, and have done 3 substantial walks, ranging from 2.5 to 4.25 hours, and from 370 to 500 metres of ascent.  Walks of that length are good for endurance training, and the hills are good for leg strength.  I've done some strength work as well, and had my first run out of doors since the second calf strain.  Sponsorship has taken a great leap forward with a couple of very generous donations as well as a few smaller ones, so the total now stands at an amazing £2,227.50.

As part of my holiday reading, I have been looking at two books about running, each of which claims that modern lifestyles make runners prone to injury, and that it can be virtually eliminated by changing the way we train.  Most of us spend many hours each day sitting - and this leads to weakness in certain muscles, excessive tightness in others, and the resulting change in our gait is responsible for the most common injuries. Modern shoes - including modern running shoes - leave our feet and legs much weaker than they would be if we walked around barefoot.

Happily, neither of these books are recommending that we stop sitting down and start spending the whole day on our (bare) feet to correct these problems.  Instead, they each offer a programme of exercises which will enable us to run with better form, and make injury a thing of the past.  You will understand that this is very appealing to me.  Strength training has been part of my routine all along, but it has been generic strength work, focussing on the big muscles of the arms, legs and trunk.  These programmes focus on the smaller stabiliser muscles. Having tried a few of the exercises out, I can confirm that they reach parts which were not previously being reached!

So, this evening I'm going to work out how I can use my two strength training sessions in the remaining weeks to the best advantage, and also how to add a 5 or 10 minute strength session into the other days in the week.  My running programme is going to continue as I'd planned, with the adaptations I've already decided on to avoid over-stressing my calf, i.e. more walking and swapping one run for crosstraining for at least the next couple of weeks.  I'm also going to have my first foray this week into the world of sports massage.  I rather suspect that it involves more of the deep tissue massage to which the physio subjected me.... but it is said to be very effective, so I am going to give it a go.

Seven weeks from now, I will have completed the London Marathon.  It's time to start fine-tuning - my kit, my hydration, my nutrition during long runs - as well as launching the final push to build endurance for the big day.  At the end of the day, I have to do this.  But having said that, the encouragement of others helps a lot too.  Thank you.