The importance of lower extremities and nerve endings

The breaking in period for my new running shoes may need to be extended, as I don't think they are getting a fair test. A long running niggle in my left big toe has literally come to a head this week. I have paronychia, a nasty nail infection that has left me with a large big red throbbing toe and a lovely abscess under the nail. (I'll spare you photographic evidence). I'm therefore assuming that the intense throbbing pain while I run can be attributed solely to the infection and not my shiny white new shoes!

While Beloved questioned the wisdom of running with a 'double' toe this morning, the ache in my foot was nothing compared to the ache in my head on this morning's run. I had a very well behaved Friday evening, with just one beer, and healthy high carb meal. On top of that I had a nice long uninterrupted sleep. And yet still I woke up with a pounding headache.

I don't get a lot of headaches - which might explain why I naively took to the streets without taking a painkiller first. If there is anything more uncomfortable than running with a headache, I've yet to experience it. It's even worse than running with blisters.

Basically I did 4 miles with a large jelly inside my brain. This jelly was full of outward-facing needles that, with every step, bounced painfully in a different direction inside my head. I have never felt so miserable over so short a distance. Although admittedly it did distract me from the searing pain in my toe. So not all bad.

I'm now following a course of antibiotics to try and get rid of the infection before it really has an impact on my training plan. It seems hard to believe a little yellow tablet is going to get rid of the giant yellow moon under my toenail but I live in hope. I've stocked up on the headache tablets and have learned a hard lesson.

Back out tomorrow hopefully for 8 miles but will keep to circuit route just in case the toe needs to bail out early. In the meantime, I'm pinning all my hopes on science producing a very fast recovery from toe rot!

LON

New trainers, second attempt

Now the owner of some, hopefully blister free, Brooks trainers. I am feeling optimistic about these - they feel right. New running shoes are a bit like a relationship really, you sometimes just have to go with your instinct. And avoid the colour pink.

I'm told they have a memory for your feet and where you need cushioning. I'll admit to being sceptical about inanimate objects having a memory - apparently, my mattress has a memory too. I think it remembers how to make my back hurt in the middle of the night. Hopefully the new shoes will not be so cruel, and I'm going to head straight out to give them a whirl!

Kudos to Sweatshop for having a 30 day satisfaction guaranteed policy - it's comforting to know that if the shoes don't remember to buy me flowers or compliment me on my hair in the next 30 days, I can take them back and try again.

But I'd prefer not to, so here goes...

LON

Overcommitted

Training is such a massive time commitment. I can't quite believe how much organisation and planning it requires to fit it in around a job and a personal life.

Obviously I am not a serious runner, otherwise I would run to work, and every lunch hour, and home every evening as well as put my entire social life on hold . Halfheartedness suits me just fine. I need to work (and at the moment, also need to spend time looking for new jobs too) and I also need to spend time with family and friends.

I don't really have the facilities at work to run to the office or run at lunchtime - not unless I was prepared to sit redfaced and sweaty for the rest of the day. Somehow I don't think this will add to my credibility at meetings. But I do like to run on the way home, at least part of the way, depending on the distance I want to run.

Unfortunately I'm experiencing serious motivational problems at the moment. Is it possible to become scared of the dark? It took me about 10 minutes to get my tights on this morning - first, I was going out for a run, then I changed my mind, then I decided to run anyway, then I changed my mind again. By the time I had finally dragged my lycra-ed self to the front door, the light was beginning to show and the problem had therefore solved itself. Is it only me that is put off by running in the dark?

In winter, running in the dark is unavoidable, but it doesn't make it any more motivating. Every run is a chore, and when that run is interval training, then it becomes a herculean task (cf previous posts for hatred of interval training). When you're overloaded at work while spending your evenings filling in job applications, it's very easy to make excuses for why you shouldn't go for that run and doing something equally constructive instead.

I know it's definitely related to the dark, because I do not have any similar issues at the weekend and will happily hit the streets for a run of any length on Saturday or Sunday during the day. Is there such a thing as a runner's nightlight?

I'm happy to take advice or motivational strategies on how to get out there in the dark. Perhaps I need to find that running buddy sooner than later?

But before I find the running buddy, I've got to take the new trainers back to the shop. Two blisters and an ankle welt later, I don't think Adidas have kept the Salvation to quite the same spec after all. Thankfully Sweatshop have a 30 day guarantee policy, so I'm heading off to try out some alternatives instead.

App-wise though, Endomondo and I are developing a beautiful friendship. I am really enjoying the audio coach facility, particularly when she tells me I've run a particularly fast mile. I even did a little fistpump this morning after my second mile. How pathetic am I?

LON

Do my new shoes make me look like a new runner?

My new trainers are still only a week old and, despite the best efforts of several days of heavy rain and deep puddles, still pristine white. I am now starting to become a bit self conscious that lots of the other runners I pass think I'm just newly resolved to running. I keep wanting to stick a note on my front saying 'I have run a marathon, you know - I'm just breaking these babies in'

It's a much more competitive area here for running than my last home. Previously I was the local lone female runner, regarded by local residents as totally cuckoo for a) attempting any sort of physical exercise and b) leaving the house without an escort. Here it's runner central, with lots of very pro types running around morning, noon and night - literally. The apparent high calibre of fellow runners is definitely encouraging me to push myself a bit more - I don't want to be the local slowcoach.

There's also a nice split between male and female runners too, although the majority of the female runners run in small groups - safety in numbers.
I'm considering trying to find myself a running buddy on this basis - if there are lots of fellow runners around, surely one of them is going spare who runs at a similar pace? This might help drag me out more willingly in these dark evenings - I'm easily put off going out for a run when it's cold and dark, so a buddy would make me feel guilty about not going out. Unless they were equally put off, in which case it's the high road to run-avoidance.

There's a few local females who are clearly way too fast for me, but surely somewhere out there is a partner for me? I've tried looking on fetcheveryone.com, but this seems to be heavily weighted towards male runners who would all undoubtedly find me very slow (and might wear little tight shorts, in which case I would be unable to take them seriously). How else do fellow runners find running buddies, if your buddies don't run?

New routes, and how to map them

Two very exciting things happened to me in 2010 - I moved house and I bought an iphone. Not on the same day, of course - a girl can only stand so much excitement, after all.

Both of these events will have an impact on my training plan for this year. I'm looking forward to preparing for the marathon with a host of new routes but I am also experimenting with different apps that track or log my runs

I've always used Nike+ to track my runs, with a heart monitor to track my fitness on longer runs. I don't bother with a heart monitor on shorter runs - I'm sure this is probably a training no-no but it's too much palaver to get all the kit on when you just want to head out of the house quickly before or after work. The Nike+ is not wholly accurate and you do need to keep checking that it is calibrated to your stride so it calculates your mileage, but overall for the price I think it is the best tool out there for monitoring your mileage and progress.

So when I bought the iphone I downloaded the Nike+ app to try it out. Its main advantage is that you don't need to wear a watch, so when it's cold and you've got long sleeves on, plus a pair of gloves, it's one less thing around your wrist. The downside is that with your phone in a back pocket or an armband, you can't see your progress. So it's only really suitable for routes you know really well and can track the mileage in your head. Another downside for me is that it shouts a report on your run at you as you finish. Admittedly this might only be a negative for me because the first time I used it I finished my run at the local bakery, and therefore had to stand in the queue while the shouty Nike lady recited my time, distance and average speed to the rest of the shop on a busy Saturday morning. We live and learn.

The last three runs have been using Endomondo. This is a GPS tracker, which has the benefit of being linked to your computer so you can see your run mapped without having to upload any data. It's a bit Big Brother but helpful not to have to upload something every time you come home. It also has an American woman who shouts at you - I have it set for her to tell me every time I complete a mile, and how fast I did it. I find this incredibly useful, especially as I am now trying to map out some new routes. It means I don't have to sit at the computer and map them out before I leave the house, which is what I have always done. More time saved. Less excuse not  to run. It also rates your splits with either a tortoise or a hare logo, which I find quite amusing. I suspect I will not find this funny for long, particuarly if it keeps using the tortoise more than the hare, but at the moment it's quite a nice touch.

I'm now considering downloading the Nike+ GPS app, which seems to combine both in one.

There is however one major downside to all of these fantastically clever apps - the fact you have to lug your iphone out with you. I do not listen to music when I run, but I do like to carry a phone for emergencies (ie it starts peeing it down so hard you can't see out of your glasses and you have to phone for a lift home). Unfortunately the Iphone is huge - I have an armband for it but this is cumbersome and deeply unsafe, as the phone keeps sneaking out of the top of the case. For the moment, my winter running kit has enough pockets to stow it away, but as the weather warms up and my layers thin out, I'm going to have to come up with another solution. All suggestions welcome!

LON

Charity fundraising - will it hit the wall?

As a regular runner, I'm now at that point in the year where I get asked, 'so, you running the London marathon then?'

Relieved to be able to say 'no' (the thought of a heavy training schedule in these dark nights and mornings is offputting, and the utmost respect to those who are doing it and training now), I then have to explain the ballot system and the fallback options for those who don't make it through the ballot - charity places

As an 'unlucky' entrant to the ballot, I was sent a huge glossy magazine after the results were announced, advertising a host of charities who would only be too happy for me to run for them. However, the vast majority of these charities want a deposit in advance and a minimum sponsorship target averaging £2200 to run the Virgin London marathon on their behalf.

I've never taken a charity place in any race - I've only run in races that I was able to gain entry to by paying an entrance fee or by ballot - but I have raised money for charity by running. Last year I ran both the Great North Run and the Royal Parks half marathon for Parkinsons Society, as my dad has been recently diagnosed with this condition and it therefore has a personal significance for me. My family, friends and colleagues were extremely generous yet I managed to raise just over £700 - a long way short of £2200.

A couple of friends did not sponsor me because they had recently sponsored someone else to do another activity for charity, therefore blowing their sponsorship budget for the year. This leads me to ponder whether this monopoly of charity places for the feature race in the UK running calendar is really sustainable in this financial climate?

I know charities are in a difficult position with regard to funding - I work for a charity myself and am well aware of the financial challenges they face. But part of the reason they face this is because the people who do support them are also experiencing additional pressure on their personal finances. Money is tight, VAT is increased and the cost of living is rising while many people's jobs are under threat, so an obvious expenditure to cut is charity donations.

Charity race places must be a lucrative option for charities - why else would so many of them purchase so many slots to offer out?  A charity Platinum+ package for this year's Great North Run, a fabulous event that generates massive crowds and great publicity, costs £19850 plus the charity must purchase 320 places at £46 a pop. So they must expect to significantly more for that outlay, and the GNR's total fundraising total runs to millions.

In 2007, 78% of all runners in the London Marathon raised money for charity. They won't all have taken a charity place - some, like me, will have raised money for a charity of their choice after winning a ballot place.
What concerns me is who is around to sponsor them?

I sponsored four people last year, two for Race for Life, one for a sponsored walk and another for growing a moustache during November! I also sponsored myself ie gave some money to Parkinsons Society to round up the total I raised.

But people are now overstretched financially. Every penny counts. If you work in an office where a couple of colleagues are running London, you may feel under pressure to sponsor them both or aleternatively sponsor neither of them. Team entries are particularly common and these must place huge pressure on colleagues or friends in common. Perhaps they do it every year? Is this still an achievement? Are people still inspired to sponsor you for a race if they know you bang out that distance twice a week? Take the example of Race for Life, where women walk or run 5k to raise money for cancer research. This is a fundraising phenomenon that is already taxing a lot of people's financial goodwill - either because they have been asked so many times to sponsor so many colleagues or friends or for the expense of entering alone. If people are starting to experience donation fatigue, will charities fill all their places? Will they be forced to drop their minimum sponsorship? Or will they just forfeit the places they have purchased and don't use, preventing someone who might raise £500 (still a healthy profit on the entrance fee) from running the London Marathon and promoting the charity in the process.

And I wonder just how many runners are forced to make up a shortfall in the promised £2200 themselves at the end of the fundraising period?

I know some of my colleagues on the lower end of the wage scale were pressed to give me £5 as a donation and I am very grateful for their financial sacrifice. I'm just glad I don't have to go round now with a begging bowl desperately trying to raise £2k again so soon after. I'm running the Berlin marathon later this year and, if asked, will suggest people donate to Parkinsons Society if they want to sponsor me. But the thought of taking on such a financial commitment in addition to the pressure of training is daunting, and potentially unsustainable in the current climate.

Nylon runs Berlin

I haven't posted for a while, ostensibly because this was intended as a marathon training blog and 2010 was a marathon free year. But 2011 brings a new marathon challenge - Berlin.

I'm told it's pancake-flat and PB potential, but I'm mainly excited about running round one of my favourite cities knowing that there will be a great beer (and possibly an even greater bratwurst) waiting at the end for me. The running environment is a real motivation for me - running in dull scenery is not nearly as stimulating as having something to look at. The thrill of finishing at the Brandenburg Gate awaits - and I'm very excited.

So I will be posting again for the rest of the training campaign, with the last weekend of September seeming a long way off for now.

In the meantime, I'm setting myself some training targets. I've got a lottery place in the Manhattan half marathon in March, so hope to be running NY again even if it is not the marathon itself. Stay tuned for progress reports, running musings and food craving updates