First of all, I did my "long run" session on the bike in the gym again at the weekend, on Saturday as we were due to drive to Exeter on Sunday to return son no. 2 and a friend to Uni. I hooked up my Harry Potter movie again, but the screen on the bike wasn't working properly so I had to watch it on my phone screen. Not ideal but it still helped the time pass. I did 50 minutes, after which I was so sore I could hardly get off the bike, but nevertheless I transferred to what they call a "recumbent" bike, which has a proper seat not a saddle, and you pedal away from you rather than up and down so it's more comfy and works the legs slightly differently, and completed an additional 25 minutes on that. And still didn't get to the end of the film (they've just escaped from Luna's dad's house…). So in total I did 75 minutes and covered 16.9 miles. You can go so much further on a bike!
On Sunday I didn't in fact go to Exeter as there was no room in the car for me as well as two hulking teenage boys and all their luggage - God knows what on earth was in all the bags - so hubby set off with them and I had a quiet day in, cleaning the boy's bedroom and catching up with Christmas Downton Abbey and some knitting.
Monday, after a quick bike in the gym and some Body Balance (first time since before Christmas; I seem to have developed some extra rolls of fat which meant I was slightly less bendy than usual) I had my first proper session with my friendly physio. Lots and lots of firm kneading of the calf, wiggling of the ankle and pressing into the sole of the foot - some extremely painful, some slightly less so - and she said I could start to run again, but with care, and proper impact absorbing footwear. So yesterday I took myself off the The Sweatshop in Woking, where they are all extremely knowledgeable and helpful. They had me stand on a glass plate which lit up all the bits of my foot that touched the glass in lurid green, measured the straightness of my ankles and shins, watched me run on a treadmill and watched for any bend in the ankles while running, heat moulded some insoles specially to the exact contours of my feet and brought me about 8 pairs of shoes to try on. About an hour, and quite a lot of money, later (and I thought running was supposed to be "one of the cheapest forms of exercise you can do. All you need is a T-shirt, some shorts, some shoes and the road…" Yeah right, but the shoes can cost an arm and a leg) I left the shop with these bad boys:
(I would have preferred the pink ones but apparently when it comes to running shoes you have to go with what feels best not the colour you like.)
Anyway, got them home and, seizing a window of opportunity between biblical deluges, took them out for a spin. No more than half an hour, my friendly physio said, and at least half should be walking. Five minutes walking, five minutes running x3 then. It's amazing what 3 weeks off can do - I was out of puff after less than 20 minutes and felt like I had regressed almost to the beginning. Ho hum. But the shoes felt very comfy, although by tea time my heel felt quite sore again. Day off today to rest, try a slightly longer run again tomorrow.
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