Can running heal?

My knee felt slightly better this morning but certainly not up to fifteen miles, so I decided to plump for two.

I have two running goals at the moment. The first is to continue running at least a mile each day up until, and beyond, the half marathon.

My second goal is to pace the half marathon two weeks today and finish it comfortably in just under two hours and twenty minutes.

I started this morning's run limping again, although it felt slightly easier than yesterday. I ran my first mile in 12 minutes and 46 seconds, which I also thought was a slight improvement.

But here's why I'm now really excited. I clocked the end of mile two at 22:02, which meant that I ran my second mile at 9:16 pace.

This begs the question, can running a mile each day, very very gently when it's called for, actually help healing?

It's certainly lifted my spirits, and I believe that thoughts determine reality, so watch this space for my personal experience of it.

The overall question is probably best answered by someone with far more medical knowledge than I have.

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.

Surviving or thriving?

A gentle mile this morning again, after four miles with a group of intermediate runners last night.

I seem to have run almost thirty-four miles so far this week, with one more day to go. I don't remember when I last put in that sort of weekly mileage, and it certainly wasn't when I was doing my mile each day.

I took a tumble on the ice rink at my fourteen-year-old daughter's birthday ice skating party this afternoon, so I'm limping around with a rather sore, stiff left knee this evening.

I should be fine to hobble my mile tomorrow morning. I just hope I'm OK to do my planned fifteen miles on Sunday morning.

My challenge for this weekend, in addition to completing the fifteen miles with a bruised knee, is how to enjoy a fifteen mile solo run on roads, whilst keeping an eye on my mileage and pacing.

My last two long solo road runs have been down at the surviving end of the scale rather than up at the thriving end.

Now what could I add into the mix to inject some fun, adventure and connection?

I will leave the enquiry out there...

Support and encouragement

I did quite a long run with my Harrier friends last night so it was quite a gentle mile this morning.

Actually I say it was a long run with my Harrier friends, but in reality it was half with my friends and the rest on my own.

I went back to see if some stragglers were doing OK and needed someone with a head torch for a particularly dark part of the route. But I couldn't find them anywhere.

So I had to give up and was then too far back to catch the rest of my pack.

When I got back to base all were back and accounted for, so it was fine in the end.

I think that the lesson for me is to always make sure that the slowest runners, and the slowest in any walk of life, are fully supported and encouraged.

Their future participation and enjoyment is dependent on that support and encouragement.

Awareness & responsibility

Another speedy mile this morning (back in the dark again), followed by a double dose of business networking. It's nice to meet so many great people all looking for new contacts, friends, ideas and business.

I'm shortly off to do a discovery session for a new client, which I always find exciting because the biggest discovery is often for the client, about themselves.

As my new-found friend David Hemery says, the key attributes that separate champions from the rest of us are awareness and responsibility.