I don’t have a leg to stand on

I am carrying two injuries at the moment. The first is a ligament injury in my left knee, brought on by playing football, and the only cure is to run regularly and often, which seems to alleviate the pain.

The other is shin splints in my right leg which is a pretty painful muscle condition and the only cure is complete rest.

My legs are in a Catch 22 situation.

The obvious solution would be to go out for a long distance hop, leaving my right leg tucked up in bed, but the practicalities have proved too challenging to overcome. Instead I am letting them take turns at being the injured party.

When I first set out, my left knee feels like it has a knife inside it and is going to collapse but after about three miles or so the pain wears off. I enjoy the next half mile or so and then the shin splints on my right leg become more intrusive. It feels like I am wearing a shinpad inside my leg.

The curious outcome of this is that I lurch to the left for the first three miles, then run normally for half a mile, and then start lurching to the right. Before my weight loss I would have put this down to movement of the onboard ballast, but that is no longer an excuse.

But the good news is that after ten miles or so I get terrible back ache and I forget all about my legs.

The mental marathon

Without doubt long distances are run mainly in the mind.

Your lungs are balloons the day after the party, your legs have long turned to lead, and your heart sounds like an alarm clock in a biscuit tin, but if your mind tells you to continue, you will.

Only when the mind gives up, is it all over.

I really can’t describe the dedication and sacrifice that go into running a marathon, mainly because I haven’t completed one yet, but I do know that nearly 30,000 people conquer the mental demons to complete the 26 mile challenge every year in London alone.

Only now do I really appreciate their achievements.

But even these heroics are put into perspective by the accomplishments of the late Jane Tomlinson who completed many sporting milestones including at least two marathons, several triathlons, and a 4,200 mile gruelling bike ride across America in a seven year period after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

And she raised nearly £2million for charity in the process.

To achieve this while literally dying is astounding. Her mental strength and indomitable spirit are truly humbling.