Sunday

Yesterday's run was good, and I was pleased, but today was a struggle. I suppose I can't be too surprised as I did have both wine and vodka last night, and I think that, combined with the shake drink I had for breakfast, combined to make today's little run (6.6 miles) more of a challenge than I expected. Still, I managed it in 55 minutes, giving me a speed of 7.21 miles an hour (or 8 minutes 19 seconds to cover a mile). So I won't complain too much.

It has made me decide to cut out alcohol from now until Grunty Fen though. I went through quite a long period of not drinking at all, and I can take it or leave it most of the time, so it shouldn't be too much of a hardship. Rich has said he's not going to, though, but since he'll be drinking cider, I won't be jealous.

My knee problem is getting a bit worse though. My left knee aches quite badly sometimes when I run for a longer distance, and it started to hurt quite early on in the run today; I guess it hadn't quite recovered from yesterday's run. I'm pretty sure it's my trainers combined with the fact I run on pavement. Apparently I have a neutral gait, and was recommended a pair of Nike Pegasus shoes. Of course, this was from the Niketown in London, so I guess they weren't going to suggest a pair of Brooks! I got on great with the Pegasus shoe until I ran longer distances and my knee pain started. I figured I'd worn the cushioning out, and bought another pair of the same shoe, which, to be fair, did stop the pain a little. This was a month or so before going on holiday, and just before we left, the pain started up again, pretty much as bad as before. So I then bought a pair of Nike Air something-or-others. Those stopped the pain in my knee wonderfully, but I guess they were too small, or the wrong shape, or just not designed for real running (despite what they said in the shop) as I then started to get blisters on my toes and my toenails really started to go a bit gruesome.

So I'm back wearing the Pegasus, which aren't doing in my toes, and spraying Deep Heat now and again, and counting down the days until Saturday, when I'm off to Advance Performance to get my running checked again, and buy a new pair of trainers. I'd rather not have to, but I don't want to damage my joints!

Today also really flagged up the difference between running and walking. The run was in the morning, and later on in the afternoon we took the dogs for a longer walk. We covered 7.5 miles, both off and on road, and it took us three hours (although the dogs do dawdle given the chance). It still burnt off 526 calories though, and the dogs enjoyed it, but goodness, you burn them off so much quicker running.