99 days to go...

There are now only 99 days until the marathon!

I am feeling a little more hopeful than in recent weeks. It’s true that my momentum and confidence has been dented, but it has just made me more determined than ever to get in shape for race day.

I went to my first session with the osteopath yesterday – Michelle McWilliam at The South Westminster Osteopathic Clinic (82 Vincent Sq, London, SW1P 2PF if anyone is interested). I picked an osteopath instead of a physio because the problems I have had are all to do with my knee, and osteopaths are experts at joints/tendons etc. Michelle’s practice (that of her colleague Claire Webster) was recommended on the Serpentine club’s website and someone had left a review saying that she had helped her with a knee problem.

She was really nice and gave me some excellent advice. She asked me lots of questions about my training programme, looked at my trainers to see how they had worn down (and, therefore, what my running style is) and put me through some simple exercises to test my flexibility (which she described as “rubbish”). For example, she asked me to squat without taking my heels off the floor – you should be able to get so that your thighs are parallel to the floor, but I could only get half way! She also lifted my leg to test my hamstrings – I think I got to about 30° off the table when you should be able to get to something like 50-60°!

It seems that the basic problem is that the muscles and tendons in my leg are far too tight and are pulling my knee out of shape. It’s also likely that the new Asics trainers are correcting my gait much more than the Nikes, which is putting more pressure on my knee than it can handle and is why I am getting the pain.

She told me off for not stretching enough and gave me the following exercises to do every day!

1. Hamstrings – lie down, put a skipping rope around your foot and, keeping knee straight, use it to pull your leg up until you feel resistance in your hamstring. Hold for 10-15 seconds, repeat x2 on both sides.

2. Quads – lie on right side. Bring right knee up square with your body. Pull left foot back up to behind. Keep back straight. Hold for 10-15 seconds, repeat x2 on both sides.

3. Calfs – pushing against a wall, stretch calf until resistance is felt – bend knee slightly for extra stretch. Hold for 10-15 seconds, repeat x2 on both sides.

On running days, I have to do her stretches in the morning, then again when I warm up. Before warming up I should jog for 5 or 10 minutes to get my body and muscles warm, then stretch, then do my run. Interestingly, she also advised that I don’t stretch the moment I finish running but go and have a shower first and do her stretches after that when my muscles are cooling down.

She also said that because my calfs are so tight, I should massage my Achilles tendon every evening for 1-2 minutes before bed, which will help prevent a serious injury which could have me in plaster!

She said that I shouldn’t use knee supports – your knee starts to rely on them. I have been using one for some time, so am going to try and go without this weekend and see how it feels. She also advised that I do less distance and more speed/hill work (which is good because my training programme is about to switch to that anyway). I am allowed to go to more spinning classes (so long as I am careful not to add too much resistance) and swimming is ok so long as I avoid breast stroke!

It was a very informative session and I have booked to see her again the week after next. I will probably continue to see her right up until race day. The initial fee was £44 and follow up sessions are £30 each. If I see her every two weeks until the marathon, that will be 6 or 7 sessions – which may seem quite a lot of money, but 1) is cheaper than knee surgery and 2) insignificant to the amount of money I spent on cocktails in ‘Akbar’ last night.

In other news, I have finalised my training programme! I am following the 16 week plan set out in Sam Murphy’s book Marathon: from start to finish with a few adjustments here and there to suit my training style. It's too tricky to publish it here, but the basic principle is to do a mixture of speed/hill work in the week and a long run at the weekend. It needs to be a little flexible, as I will follow Michelle’s advice about when I am ready to take on very long runs again (if she says no, she means it) but I think it is achievable. My fitness has suffered these last few weeks, but I have a lot of training in the bank and think it will come back when I get some miles on my legs. Am also planning to do more general fitness – spinning class this Tuesday (dreading it) and bought some swimming goggles today (from Lilywhites – London’s shittest but cheapest sports shop) for an imminent trip to Cally Pool.

Finally, I should just say that I have just this week broken the £1000 mark in my fundraising! A massive thank you to everyone who has sponsored me – you have been brilliant! It’s great not to have to worry so much about the cash – and it’s all in aid of such a good cause. I have a few people to chase up over the coming weeks to take me to my target of £1500. If you haven’t sponsored me yet, the link is on your right!

So that’s where things stand at the moment. It’s a new year and a new phase of my training. You can expect to see more posts and more hard work as we get closer to April.

There are times when I feel a little overwhelmed at what I’ve taken on, but I know that when I’m running down The Mall in April, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.