Operation GNR begins

6 weeks of training down, 9 more to go. I only managed one run over the bank holiday weekend, but it was a lovely 5 miler along the Suffolk coast - if only I could run along sunny beach promenades more often, I'm sure this training programme would hurt nearly as much.
True, Lowestoft is obviously not a big running town. I didn't see a single other runner in the whole of my 5 miles, although I did see plenty of other activity along the prom, prom, prom -namely, multiple motorised chairs carrying the local overweights - people of Lowestoft, put down thy fish and chips and walk.

I'm now heading into my first big week - lots of mileage (well over 30 miles in total) and, officially, my longest distance so far - 14 miles. Given that the furthest I've ever run is a half-marathon, this is 0.9 miles of new territory for me. Literally and figuratively, as I'll be in Harrogate this weekend so have to plot myself a 14 mile route in a relatively unfamiliar (and potentially very hilly) location.

I'm also adjusting my focus and not thinking so much about running a marathon at the moment. Until September 20, my runs and my training are all part of my preparation for the Great North Run and running a fast half marathon time there. Once that's out of the way, I can concentrate more on the last leg of the programme and the ultimate target of 26.2 miles round the 5 boros

I'm a little bit concerned about stepping up my mileage this week, mainly because I'm worried my knees won't hold out but, at the moment, my main injury concern is my left shoulder. It's not a new injury, I've been nursing it for a few weeks, but a bit embarrassed to talk about it, given the circumstances of how I hurt myself.

I've now decided it's my duty to alert readers to this potential threat. It's one of those things - you start training for a marathon and you dread getting an injury to a foot, a knee, a hip or any leg muscle. You avoid germs so as not to get swine flu that will set back your training programme. What no-one ever warns you about is pulling your shoulder muscle while removing a sports bra. The same shoulder - 3 times. Agony! It's a fantastic sports bra while I'm wearing it, but it's an absolute nightmare to remove - it's like removing a support stocking. All this has meant me getting stuck inside it more times than I care to mention, which is alright if Beloved is around to get me out of it, but if he's not, then my left shoulder pops out.

Given how paranoid I am about hurting myself and not being able to run the marathon (it's an expensive trip, otherwise!), this is probably the best I can hope for injury-wise. In the meantime, the hunt for a new style of sports bra begins before I do myself some serious damage.

LON