Re-Run

You may remember a few months ago I was all keyed up to start running. Not because I was being pursued by a bear, or the Kelly Gang were after driving me out of town, but because I was having 'the urge' to run.

And that I got as far as purchasing a ShockAbsorber A+ 36F bolster holster and assorted lycra wear and a couple of pairs of rather cute white socks with 'minimal seams to prevent chafing'. And that I'd had a couple of preliminary dashes between the trees in the park, stopping to pick assorted foliage for the chickens along the way. I'd even joined an on-line running group for tips and advice.

Then, just as I was about to get running in earnest, well, the 'run for sixty seconds, walk for three minutes' malarkey, I did a heavy digging session at the allotment and then came home and topped it off with trying to wrestle a particularly stubborn rose bush from the front garden and I tore my Achilles tendon.

Well, it has taken all that time for my tendon to mend itself. I was warned it might take up to six months to repair so I count myself lucky I am mended sooner. I've been pain free for three weeks now and my mind has turned back to learning to run. I bought a book called 'Running Made Easy' (by Susie Whalley and Lisa Jackson from Zest magazine) which is fab - inspirational, practical, entertaining and it's even got a section in which to record progress. I thought, now I need to sort myself out some proper shoes and not a cheapo pair from the bargain shoe shop. I don't want to enflame my Achilles tendon now that it has been rendered an official 'weak spot' in my physique. (How ironic to have one's Achilles tendon as one's Achilles heel!)

So yesterday I researched the interwebbly to find a place that would fit me properly for running shoes. And I found a sports shop that is about a 45 minute walk away from Much Malarkey Manor that had a gait-analysis machine. I thought, I'll drive over at the weekend and get some running shoes sorted. And then I thought, NO! The sun is shining, it's only a 45 minute walk there and a 45 minute walk back. And the book says that you should have running shoes fitted in the afternoon when your feet are at their biggest. GO NOW! CARPE DIEM! SEIZE THE FISH!!

And so I did. I cut across the park, ignoring my instinct to turn left and thereby ending up where I started, and managed to find my way to the main road with the help of some directions from Heather. (Past the first ice cream stand, down to the lake, past the boat house, not as far as the second ice-cream stand, turn left, follow the path, listen for the road traffic getting louder, you'll be fine), and I arrived at the sports shop puffing because a lot of the journey had followed a bit of an uphill.

The assistant in the sports shop was very helpful. I explained my whole situation to him - funny urge to run, allotment digging, Achilles tendon, pain, walking like an old granny, going to be a granny, heat expanded feet, walked 45 minutes at a brisk pace to get here, please don't expect me to spend £100 on running shoes as I don't have that kind of money to spend etc - and to give him his due he didn't flinch once.

'Right,' he said, 'here's a pair of running shoes. Hop on the gait analysis machine and we'll see what you need.'

The gait analysis machine turned out to be a running machine attached to a video camera. Great, I thought, he's going to video me running. But up I hopped, glad it wasn't a Saturday when the shop would no doubt have been full of lithe young running bods who would probably find an overweight, middle-aged red-faced-from-walking woman highly entertaining.

'I'm starting the machine,' said the assistant.
The machine started. I started jogging. The assistant turned up the machine, which ran faster and I ran faster to keep up with it. Visions of Bridget Jones shooting off the end of a running machine flashed through my head.
'A bit faster?' said the assistant.
'Nooooooooo!!!' I said. 'Have...puff, puff, puff...reached....puff, puffpuffpuff....limit....sweat, puff, pouufff!!!!'
'Right,' said the assistant. 'I'll go and start the camera.'

Blimey! I thought the camera, like me, was already running. But no. Joggity run I went (and remember this is on top of my brisk 45 minute yomp.)

Eventually, the assistant returned, slowed down the machine slightly less quickly than I would have liked, and I just about managed to prevent myself being ricocheted off the back and ending up in a slithery puddle on the floor.

We examined my running gait.
'You've got a mainly neutral strike,' said the assistant. 'But with a slight pronation which is more pronounced in your right ankle than your left. Also, you tend to turn out your toes on your right foot. See?'
'Uh-huh,' I said, more transfixed with how fat my calves were looking from the back in running shoes and perhaps I should wear stilettoes instead, to give the appearance of a longer leg.

'I'll get a couple of pairs for you to try on. Ones that will support your arches and prevent later problems with hips and back,' said the assistant. What?? Problems with hips and back? My hips and back are fine.

Anyway, the assistant returned with two pairs of running shoes ideal for my gait. I tried on both pairs. The first pair fitted well and I did some experimental running around the shop (with the emphasis on mental). The second pair felt less bouncy, sort of flat and less supportive.

'I like the first pair,' I said. Well, mostly I liked the first pair. There was one problem. They were silver and green. And whilst I am very keen on silver, I don't and have never worn green. I don't mind looking at green, indeed my kitchen is painted green, but I have a thing about wearing green.

I looked at the assistant. I thought, can I be really girly and ask what other colours they come in? The look in the assistant's eye suggested not; that I should take his advice and buy these shoes because they were the best for my feet. Besides, he'd been very nice and encouraging and had even given me a book about running.

I bought the green running shoes.

And here they are. With my mostly-neutral-slightly-pronating ankles.

Running - here we come!!