Day 40 - Only 48 Days Left Until the London Marathon

Hi,

I am incredibly grateful that today is a recovery day. After this past weekend, I am physically beat up, mentally exhausted and now a little afraid to run outdoors at night. Ice and ibuprofen are my two best friends today. Both ankles are sore, right foot feels fractured (an exaggeration but the same general feeling), my right leg is swollen from the fall, knees ache and my back hurts (also probably from the fall).

There are still 48 days until the marathon. Before this past weekend, that number was encouraging. It meant I had plenty of time to meet all of my training goals. Now it seems like a lot of opportunity between now and then to get hurt. Meeting my goal time is important but more important is just being healthy enough to finish the race.

To reduce some of the stress on my body and work towards overall fitness, I am going to join a gym with the intent of getting a personal trainer for a few days each week. I’m going to substitute a few of the road miles with high intensity lifting and circuit routine. So, it should ideally replace 1 hour (two half hour sessions)  of running each week or 7 miles. I’ll still get the benefit of cardio but give my legs some extra rest.

Doing this will give me an extra level of confidence and as a side benefit may help me to lose some weight. 5-10lbs would be great.

As another side note, as the number of miles each week has gone up so has my appetite. I am constantly hungry. It is like my body is trying to prep for hibernation. Not helping with the weight issue.

That is it for now.

~RunFlickRun~

Day 17 - Only 71 Days Left Until the London Marathon

Hi Everyone,

When I woke up this morning, I was surprisingly a tight. I was expecting to be a bit more loose. Nothing bad just enough to be a reminder of my commitment to increasing the stretching I'm doing.

Kristen suggested checking into yoga poses for runners. I found a set of 10 yoga poses design for runners. I've always know how much flexibility I lack...realising just how much further I have to go.

The poses: 

• The Wall Dog - feels great
• Hamstring Stretch - not sure this actually has a name but the stance and the angles of your feet stretches the hamstring more than any other hamstring stretch I've done
• Wide Leg Standing Forward Bend - really works all over
• Wide Leg Standing Forward Bend with Twist - I'm not actually able to pull this one off
• Lunge - basic lunge frozen in motion
• Front Thigh Stretch - it is in a sitting position, looks simple enough but I'm not really flexible enough to do this properly
• Bound Angle Pose - should just call it sitting indian style...
• Diamond Pose with Toes Tucked Under - ouch
• Diamond Pose with Cow-Face Pose Arms - not happening, my hands didn't even get close - towel needed
• Full Body Relaxation with Conscious Breathing - I'm pretty sure they mean sleeping

I'm going to finish with the 10th pose, as of now.

~RunFlickRun~