My Charity Run Challenge

On August 30 2022 I started my charity challenge run. 1000 miles in 12 months, what could go wrong?

Now I have plantar fasciitis – achy feet. It turns out when you run 100 miles in 8 months, you wear down your trainer soles a lot quicker than with walking, and then they do not protect your feet from the concrete.

The first month I ran a mile a day and my longest run was 9 miles. I went from struggling to run a mile to having so much stamina that I didn’t get tired until I had run 7 miles. My heart beat more efficiently, so I had to run further and faster to get the same health benefits, as my heart rate did not increase as much. My calves became more muscular so my leggings became tight and I had no problems with my weight, dropping a dress size.

I had bought the best pair of trail run trainers (off-road) and road running trainers that I could. I ran so much that I needed a new set of clothes for it while the others were waiting to be washed. I started out doing it properly – mixing in resistance training to keep my muscles strong and incorporating rest days for my muscles. I built up the mileage gradually.

By March I got lazy and my mileage dropped. Then in April, after a month of not doing anything, I was walking to work when I got achy shins, and then they ached for two weeks while I rested. After that, I went to see the coronation, eventually getting to see it on a screen in Hyde Park. We walked for over 12 miles trying to get past Buckingham Palace cordons to our hotel on the other side, in Westminster. Eventually I asked a policeman, who said that you couldn’t get past the palace on foot either in front or behind it, you could only get past it on the Tube.

I tried one run when I got back and that was fine, but my feet ached after it. My feet were sore after netball, and then, one day, I had to turn back after a mile. Then I couldn’t stand for hours in a museum without the aches and a new very mild stabbing pain. It had become chronic. I took ibuprofen, which then aggravated my IBS, but no pain no gain.

Why did I take on the challenge? Because I had to focus on a project after suffering an ectopic pregnancy in June 2022. Whilst the physical aspect of it was over fairly quickly, the psychological aspect took longer to heal from. All my brain knew was that I was pregnant and then I wasn’t, so it processed it as if a baby had died, rather than a bunch of cells disintegrating.

There was no support for the psychological impact from the NHS – you only get that after three miscarriages. This makes no sense, as I would probably be more prepared should it happen again. I had no idea what was happening with me and how it would progress, and NHS staff had no time to tell me either, one nurse did not know. For me, knowledge is power, and The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust gave me that, the power to understand what on earth was happening to me, and why.

So what have I learnt from my running challenge so far?

• Check the soles of your trainers and replace them when they wear down.
• Use a fitness tracker watch to easily track your miles/kilometres and heart rate.
• Get gait analysis if possible to work out whether your running style means you need a particular type of support in your trainers. Some running shops do this. You can also work out whether your foot rolls on impact by checking the soles of your trainers.
• Mix in resistance work (weights).
• Include rest days.
• Try and include most of your running on mud, grass or gravel. This has less impact on your muscles and bones than concrete or tarmac and means you will be less likely to get an injury.
• Ensure you have enough running outfits, and have cold and warm weather ones.
• Use a foam/plastic roller on your calves after your run. This helped me avoid injury.
• If you get an injury, rest until it is healed. You can keep your stamina up by doing non-impact exercise such as cycling or swimming.
• It is amazing for your mental and physical health.
• Build up the mileage slowly, it is ok to start small.
• See your GP if you experience any injuries or aches that do not resolve with rest.

I have experienced a better quality of life from doing more exercise.

Listen to your body and once the stamina kicks in you’ll enjoy it more.

Until then, enjoy the feeling after you run, the relaxation, contentment and sleeping better.

Selfishness

Last night…

I was woken this morning by the sound of the toilet flushing, then a door banging. Just as I settled back to sleep the neighbour started up with his pneumatic drill of a water pump, hosing down his car and then presumably the drive for about half an hour. Even when both are clean he continues, enjoying the sense of power and the manly whirring noise as he revs it. Like a big boys’ version of a trial bike and he has a motorbike as well. Then mum rubbed it in about how she watched my friend and I waiting for a bus when she could see one waiting up the road. We waited for 15 minutes before we walked to the bus stop down the road and waited another half an hour until one finally came and this was with two services. It was 20 minutes late, no explanation given.

Apparently a bus driver actually said this on a forum! http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=80803098

We could make a real difference just by thinking of others more. Of course I am prone to selfishness too, it’s all too easy to be thoughtless and self-absorbed. But when I put myself in the other person’s shoes I find myself changing my behaviour for the better, becoming more thoughtful and sensitive.  I think the opposite of selfishness is generosity such as sharing, taking our focus off the “I”. Last night a guy gave my friend and I free drinks from his bucket for example. I’m a believer in the “pay it forward” movement – it’s the little things in life that make a big difference. Sometimes though, a grand gesture is much appreciated – I was so grateful to my boyfriend yesterday when he picked up ear plugs on his shopping trip and drove them round, I enjoyed a night out without whistling ears, and my friend selflessly sat with me every time I had sore feet at the rave. Judging is selfish. When we measure up others we compare them to ourselves. But we’re all unique, we all have individual stories and often, the person making assumptions knows little or nothing about that person. So next time you find yourself thinking you know a book by its cover think again. First impressions count for a lot but they are not everything. People have so many sides to their character that they can often surprise us.