Counting my blessings

That has to be the slowest I've run, or more correctly limped, a mile and a bit in over a year. It was reminiscent of when I started my mile each day with both a groin strain and plantar fasciitis.

My left knee is extremely tender, especially going up any kind of hill as I'm finding it hard and painful to bend it.

I think the planned fifteen miles for tomorrow is extremely unlikely. It could even be the minimum mile.

It is quite a challenge to not get despondent, when it feels like I have taken several hundred steps backwards.

But I still felt lucky to be out there hobbling round my mile this morning anyway. After all there were two people out on the ice yesterday in wheelchairs being pushed round the rink, something I've never seen before.

Now maybe I could have got round my mile just as a quickly in a wheelchair this morning, but at least I didn't have to. I was still moving, powered by my own legs.

I can only count my blesssings. Each day I run is a new one.

Wrong-footed shoes

I stretched my run to just over 2 miles this morning, the first time I've done that since I had plantar fasciitis and ditched my running insoles. It felt really good.

Admittedly I was a bit later this morning as I had to attend my monthly business networking group, which is always fun but does mean leaving home a lot earlier than usual.

As I was running on my own this morning and going a bit further I tried to concentrate on feeling the ground beneath my feet, which I can do a lot easier with worn down running shoes and no insoles. It made me think of the parallel with helping people to fully experience each moment of their lives through coaching rather than numbing themselves from the present moment.

Every bit of life, the highs and lows add value if we allow ourselves to raise our awareness. They all teach us lessons about how we live our lives and what is really important to us.

On the topic of worn down shoes, a guy called David Smyntek, who is a runner and physical therapist specialising in acute rehabilitation, decided to conduct an experiment to see if he really should replace his expensive running shoes every 300 to 500 miles, as the running shoe industry was telling him. So when his shoes wore down on one side he swapped shoes and continued to run 5 miles a day wearing his worn down shoes on the wrong feet. He experienced no problems whatever.

Makes you think, doesn't it.

By the way I've now run over 100 miles since the beginning of the year.

The natural born runner

Are all GPS devices inaccurate?

We're running exactly the same circular route every day at the moment, sometimes one way and sometimes the other. Why then does my Garmin Forerunner 101 vary in the distance it says we're covering by about 5%?

It's not that important, but when you're trying to encourage someone who is trying to get into running and you know they have run a bit faster today but your GPS device says it's slower, it's not that helpful.

On the running in old trainers without insoles front, my plantar fasciitis is definitely getting better. I have to concentrate to identify any remaining soreness. I tell you it's working!

Today's quote from "Born To Run" is "a Natural Born Runner - someone who ran for sheer joy, like an artist in the grip of inspiration".

Now that's something to aspire to.

Day 49 - seven weeks done!

My goal to run at least 1 mile each day for the month of January 2010 has now expanded well into February with 7 weeks completed.

It feels quite inspiring to think that I have run a mile every day of the new decade so far.

How long can I sustain this?

What will I learn from it?

I have already (almost) run through a cold, a groin strain and the dreaded plantar fasciitis (I think). Right heel is still a little sore but significantly improved. Interestingly, I threw my orthotics (customised inner soles for those non runners among you) away and am using an old pair of trainers with no inner soles at all.

Have been totally inspired by "Born To Run" by Christopher McDougall, an absolutely amazing book.

Not going much beyond a mile at all at the moment because of the injuries, but hoping to stretch it out a little further soon.