Doctor, Doctor...

I’ve been working at Women’s Running for two months now, and something strange seems to have happened to me. It appears I’ve contracted a rather serious case of over-enthusiasm. You see, the problem with working on a magazine that inspires women to run is that you start to feel inspired to run ALL the time. So, whereas before starting my new job I hadn’t participated in a race for almost a year, suddenly I’m signing up to everything. My local cross-country 10K? Why not? An evening 10K a week later on the hottest day of the year? Bring it on. And it was this over-enthusiasm that got me into my next challenge. It seems that, come autumn, I will be running three half marathons… in three weeks. The behaviour of a recreational runner? I think not.

No pain, no gain?

Bearing in mind I haven’t had to consistently cover these types of distances since my marathon training in 2009, I figured I’d better pull my running shoes on and clock up some miles. Cue 6am interval-training sessions and 10-mile runs home from work in the evening, the first of which saw me nearly keel over somewhere between Tooting Bec Common and Streatham High Street. Who knew training hurt so much? So, I decided it would be a good idea to sign up for something other than a race. Clearly in need of an MOT, I got in touch with Bupa for a Run Check, to make sure the training I was doing would get me to the (first) start line and not straight to my GP’s surgery with a strain/sprain/other horrific running injury.

The check up

On arriving at the Bupa Centre in London, I filled out a form about my running history and goals, and was then introduced to physiotherapist Alex Floyd, who would be carrying out my Run Check. First things first – a run on the treadmill, so Alex could assess my gait. So far, so good – everything looked fine, with my trainers offering the right amount of stability for my level of pronation (a great outcome because, frankly, the thought of having to fork out for new trainers brought me out in a cold sweat). Next up, a series of stability exercises, including balancing on one leg and single-leg squats. Easy, right? Er… no. Apparently I have no sense of balance. It turns out that, for me, being told to stand on one leg is about as difficult as being asked to explain the equation E=mc2. Surely even five-year-olds can balance on one leg? How humiliating. Sadly, my MOT was about to head even further downhill. A series of strength exercises revealed I had weak glutes (I’m still convinced this is physio speak for ‘fat bum’), and the stretching section of the Run Check uncovered I have very tight hip flexors, quads and calf muscles (that’ll be because I find stretching after running boring. Oops).

Saving grace

But before I could start sobbing into my trainers, Alex gave me hope – hope and a fantastic programme of personalised stretches and strengthening exercises to help improve my stability and flexibility. All of which will complement my specific training programme and get me to the start line of the first of my three half marathons – the Bupa Great North Run – in one strong, stable and flexible piece. Now all I have to do is stick to it. Which will hopefully be easier than standing on one leg…