Yesterday was a rest day. The legs and ankle felt fine after Sundays run/walk and I went to Pilastes in the evening for a good stretch out and some strenuous core work, much enjoyed, as usual.

Today I don't feel very well, stomach troubles, so its another rest day. Hope I will be better for a run in the morning. Phyzzio tomorrow evening again.



Sue - I am not running in my Frees at the moment. I am using them for all walking but whenever I run in them, my knees hurt so I have gone back to the normal shoes for now. Funny you should say about your calves because the fizz said mine were also very tight, he said its no wonder I was getting injuries in them. Could be the running style although it feels so comfortable. I don't really know what to do about it, I haven't had anywhere near so much back pain since I've been doing the Chirunning and don't really want to go back to heel striking for that reason.

I've been doing the stretches as prescribed by Phil the Phizz and although they made the knee hurt initially, it seems to have settled down again now mostly.
Encouraged by this I went for my long walk/run yesterday morning. I kept to under 5 miles for the running part again, having plenty of long walking breaks of 10 minutes at a time.
It was a very blustery day, but not the gale force winds that stopped me going out yesterday and I enjoyed my time out on my own.
Pretty uneventful, thankfully.
Stretched afterwards in all the right places and the knees felt ok for the rest of the day.

10 miles - 4.5 running and 5.5 walking
Average HR 128
Peak HR 165 (naughty - this is supposed to be base training)
approx 2.hours 20 minutes (forgot to stop watch at the end)

I have rested yesterday, today and hope to have a small run tomorrow.
I say a different physiotherapist on Wednesday who says he thinks I have strained the ligament that goes from the side of my knee, through the knee and joins at the back of the knee (cruciate, I think) which will take a little time to heal, though it is better now than it was a few weeks ago. That is why it hurts when I lean forward on the knee and he thinks that the pain in the other knee is caused by compensating for the injured one. So, I've some stretches to do and I have to go back and see him next week when he will give me a plan to strengthen the surrounding muscles and get things back to normal.
He also said my calves are extreemly tight and gave them a very painful massage, scar tissue has built up in them from past injuries so he suggested regular massage for them.
I hope this plan of action will start to get me on the road to recovery and back to regular, uneventful running in the future :0)

A very breezy and chilly day, though bright and sunny again. My knees had been fine yesterday (rest day) so I decided to go for a run today and make the most of the good weather.
It was an uneventful run, enoyable but slow as I am trying to stick to 70% of my max heart rate - up to 148bpm - (base training) for most of my runs. The knees not giving me any trouble for the first 3.5 miles then a little niggley after that. Not a bad one.

4 miles( walked first 1/4 mile to warm up)
Average HR 132 - peak HR 152
48.16 minutes
Average pace 12.08

After careful consideration of the advice given to me lately, I decided to go for a run today but make it run/walk and limit myself to no more than 3 miles running. I had a lovely couple of hours in the chilly sunshine, walking for 1 mile then running for half a mile alternately. I feel its the only way to increase mileage at the moment until all my various injuries are healed and strong again and I actually found it very enjoyable, but felt slow even though I walked some of it as quickly as I could. (When I worked out the pace it wasn't as bad as I had thought)
The ankle was fine so was the calf but the knees were a little painful at times. I will go to a different fizzio this week and see if another approach to mending them can be found. They are fine when walking. They felt better once the run was over and had been well stretched.

9 miles total (6 miles walk/3 miles run)
Average pace 14.88
Average HR 120
2 hours 14 minutes

Another short run yesterday. The weather was terrible, gale force winds and rain but I didn't mind once I was out there running.
I had a false start as I donned the Nike Frees (haven't worn them for the last couple of runs which have been pain free) and immediately the knee pain was back so I turned back home after a quarter of a mile and changed into the Reeboks and set off again, this time with no pain. Strange.
The calf did protest today though, I kept it to walk/run and stretched a couple of times as I am scared of tearing it again. Its probably a bit sore as its healed tight, I've booked a massage for Tuesday.
As for OSN's suggestion of keeping my runs to 5 miles until December, I am giving this some consideration as it makes sense to get everything strong again before I increase my mileage, though I am a little concerned because I should be putting in some long runs soon. But I think its probably a good idea.

3.75 miles
Avereage HR 140

Another run today followed by a walk. I stretched and excercised for the knee muscles after both and it didn't feel as bad today.
I did increase the length of the run but only a teensy bit.
Calf and ankle felt ok.

3.75 miles run
11.28 m/m

3 miles walk

Yesterday I did a proper run again. I had been out for a couple of short (2 mile) runs at the end of last week which were ok so I decided to go a bit further and see how the several injuries are settleing.
Also, I wore my Reeboks (stability) shoes again to see if that would make any difference to the knee pain. I have only had this trouble since wearing the Nike Frees but at the same time I have been doing hill running with the club so I can't really say either one has caused it. I love running in the Frees but I will wear the other shoes for a few runs and see if the pain settles with that. I can only run on flat, even surfaces at the moment because of the sprained ankle so hopefully it will all come together soon.
The knee was fine whilst running today.
The calf is a little sore after the run and today, so lots of stretching for that.
The ankle was protesting a bit after about 3 miles but was ok after stopping.
It was so good to be running again, first time properly for 4 weeks. What joy! Now I have to curb my enthusiasm and build up slowly again.

3.5 miles
Average HR 142

I forgot to say what the physio said about the ankle. Well, it seems I have tears to 3 ligaments around the outside of the ankle and strained one on the inside of it. In other words, a bad sprain. It was swollen for 3 days after the injury and went a yellow colour but I am sure the prompt treatment by the St. John's man meant that the recovery started sooner than it normally would have. It is still sore to touch and I can't turn the foot to the outside easily and its now a week after the injury happened.
On a good note, the physio reckons it will heal well and not take too long provided that I do the stretching and strengthening excercises regularly.
I hope this will be the case as I seem to have entered the Draycote Water 35 mile challenge on 18th February next year. (There is a marathon option so I could always stop there).
I need a challenge to aim for and I thought that would be a good one. Not too hilly, 4.75 mile laps so no need to carry anything, other forum nutters present. Sounds ideal. Bring it on!

Yesterday I cycled for 40 minutes and walked 3 miles.
This morning the ankle is a bit sore but no swelling any more.

I will go out for another walk shortly.


The Pilates is going well, I love the class and although some of the excercises are hard to do, I leave the class feeling chilled and full of satisfaction. The next day my core muscles feel they have been worked. When I saw my physio he commented on my posture being better and thought that I look taller, so that's a good testament to its success.

HaHa OSN - is that the Carlsberg 6 pack or the Pilates type? Actually this evening I have been getting along fine with both.

Sue - You will love Beachy Head. Its a hard, beautiful course and the forum presence makes it a fun weekend.

I've been cycling and walking today. Not too much of either, 50 minutes on the bike an 2 miles on foot and now the ankle and calf are a little sore but that's to be expected.

Its been a beautifull day here, sunny and windless, although very chilly. Winter is arriving very slowly, most of the trees still have their green leaves and the grass still needs cutting weekly. The flowers, butterflies and dragon flies haven't realised that summer is over yet. But the nights are getting cold, -2 last night and when I walked the dogs at 5pm today I could see my breath.
I look forward to being able to run again. I love running when the weather is colder because my heart rate is easier to control and I don't get so breathless. Its worth the effort of dressing up a bit to be able to trot along at a bit of a brisker pace.

I am looking after the ankle, doing the stretches and tomorrow I can start standing on one foot with my eyes shut - always a good laugh for the spectators.

I hope the weather is good again, maybe I'll get out on the bike again.