Not all that glitters is gold

This morning marked the first day of my marathon training plan, and I woke up injured. I kid you not. My calves were absolute murder and my knees were achey too. I had planned to pop the The Derby Runner to buy new shoes today, and wondered if my old ones were in part responsible for all the calf pain I've been experiencing lately, but more than that I was wondering (as I often do) am I dreaming too big in wanting to run the marathon? Have I overestimated my own ability? After all, I started running in February this year, and didn't get past 5km until the end of May when I had my hypermobility identified, and was fitted with orthotics and stability shoes which made all the shin splints and plantar faciitis settle down. I thought that running the Race For Life 10k race in July was ambitious, applying to do the Great South Run even more so, so what does that make my wanting to run the London Marathon?! Deluded?! Yet I ran both of those races and did fairly well each time, so who's to say I can't run London next April?

I really didn't want to faff about with my training plan on day 1, that wouldn't help my mind set at all, so I limped into body combat as planned whilst dosed up on NSAIDs and paracetamol. I took the low impact options where possible which I hate doing; it makes me feel like a old woman, and goes at odds to my competitive nature. But I did manage to see the whole class through and felt better for doing so. The next stop was The Derby Runner for new shoes. I took in my old shoes as asked if they thought they were ready to be replaced yet. After a few seconds of twisting and bending them I was informed that they were completely wrecked after many miles of running, and I may as well be running barefoot for all the support they were giving me. I'm guessing that's why my legs have been getting increasingly painful!

Apparently they shouldn't be able to do this...

Oooh so pretty and new!

So, mystery solved. My shoes were wrecked. The annoying thing is that now I'm itching to go out for a run to try out my new ones, but should probably allow the inflammation in my legs to settle a bit first. Another thing that came out of today was that I am finally beginning to identify myself as a runner. When Carolyn at the Derby Runner commented on how many miles I was putting into my shoes, and how many shoes I will get through during marathon training, I felt like a proper, serious runner. I suppose that before I felt like someone who does a fair bit of training and sometimes goes out for a run, but now I'm the real thing. I think I bore my friends and family senseless because I go on about running, or running-related things like fundraising an awful lot. I have my set day every week where I do my long runs, and I'm so lucky that my husband is so supportive and happy for me to go out and leave him with the children for a few hours a time. This week I'll be starting to work with TT who will be improving my running style and efficiency. Now all I need to do is believe in myself and things will really start looking up.