So my last blog about running was on the 9th May when I was trying not to be grumpy about the injury to my calf muscle. I missed the appointment with the Osteopath and had to re-book for yesterday. I didn’t run at all from 3rd May to the 17th May. I was just a little scared of getting back on the road again. I spent Thursday- Saturday in London for work last week and when I got back Saturday evening I was actually looking forward to getting out. I was nervous about my calf though. It was still a little tight and the osteopath had said he wanted to see me again before advising on when I could run again. Yeah ok so I am rubbish at doing as I am told. So here’s what we’ve done since the 17th, all on the flat along the canal as per osteopath instructions and all using intervals of 90 seconds running and 30 seconds walking.

17th May – 30 minutes, 2.2 miles

It actually felt good to be out and the running felt doable

18th May – 30 minutes, 2.22 miles

Felt a bit sluggish but got stronger towards the end. Enjoyed it once it was over!

20th May – 30 minutes, 2.3 miles

We spent the day at the RSPB reserve at Bempton Cliffs so had done a lot of walking during the day and then went for a run afterwards. I thought we would be quite slow because of that and because the first two runs made my lungs feel like they were on fire. There was another running interval around 20 minutes that felt really hard but we managed a really strong positive finish. Happy with that!

21st May  – 30 minutes, 2.28 miles

I saw the Osteopath in the morning. He examined my leg again and said it felt much better. After a bit of treatment he advised that running was fine but to take it easy and not to push myself on speed or distance for roughly 6 weeks. So, I am allowed to run but the strengthening exercises he has shown me are going to be key to avoiding repetition of the injury. (More on them another time). So, running it was then – after work feeling tired and generally a bit grumpy. From the first beep of the watch every little bit of me was screaming ‘Nooooo…. just no’. My legs felt heavy and my lungs were burning. I was huffing and puffing after the first 90 seconds of running. Somehow, and I am really not quite sure how, I made it through 8 of the 15 repetitions; we turned round. Usually I quite like heading back along the canal – it means at least half is done but this time it just didn’t seem possible to run back to pretty much where we started. Mind over matter… another running interval done… 10 intervals done and that stupid little nagging voice would not shut up: “I’m not a runner, I can’t do this, this is stupid, I’m NOT a runner’. And walk… 11 out of 15 runs done, breathe. No really breathe. I pretty much dragged myself through the next 2 runs with Kath’s constant and brilliant encouragement (I hope we never get to the point where she finds the runs so hard she doesn’t have enough left to talk me through the tough moments!). What I was doing can’t really be described as running, it was more plodding, plodding very slowly. Then the worst was over and when the watch beeped after run 14 I felt strangely competitive so I kept going and we ran the last 4 minutes. Hated it. Properly hated it. Just like old times. But it did feel good to have done it