Earlier today Paula Radcliffe won her first official 10-mile race at the BUPA Great South Run. Not only that, but she broke the British record and only missed out on a world record by 21 seconds, in 51 minutes 11 seconds.

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Runs this week: 3 (all at easy pace) Total miles run: 10.81 Swimming: 2 sessions

This week was my first week back after a week off after the Ashford 10K, and it was tough going. I don’t think it was so much the lay off from running that caused the problems, but the massively increased intake of beer and bad food!

It doesn’t feel like I’ve run at all, but I did manage to fit 3 runs in, including an early morning 2 and a half miler. My long run today wasn’t exactly long, at only 5 miles, but it was tough going – especially as it was raining for the whole time.

Still, it feels good to now be back in the swing of things, particularly as this time last year I’d just had my stress fracture. This winter therefore will be my first winter running. This hit home today as the clocks went back last night, so this afternoon it was practically pitch black by about 4.30pm.

I think I may buy a headlamp to go running with. Even though most of the roads I run are lit by streetlamps it seems that more and more of them are left turned off – I guess to save the council money! There’s nothing worse than running and not knowing where the ground is!

I’ve also been running this week in my support ASICS. My orthotics in my NB’s were just hurting too much. I’m due to see a new podiatrist next weekend which I’m really looking forward to. I want to stop worrying about whether or not I’m doing more damage to my legs every time I run.

OK, I’ve kept meaning to start posting again, but it just hasn’t worked out!

I’ve been so busy either at work, or running or swimming, that this site has taken a bit of a back seat. That will hopefully change now as I make every effort to start blogging again.

So, what’s happened since my last post way back in July?

Firstly, I’ve take part in two more 10K races. The first of which was the Great Forest 10K in Bedgebury Forest in Kent. The second was last week at Ashford – the Givaudan Ashford 10K.

I’ve also had a bit of a health scare. The day after the Great Forest run I experienced a strange reaction after using some rub on ibuprofen muscle rub on my legs. I couldn’t breathe very well, and kept feeling really dizzy. In the end it was that bad I called out an ambulance. After they calmed me down we came to the conclusion it was some kind of panic attack after a mild reaction to the ibuprofen. However, they did an ECG and the results weren’t normal. One of the readings showed either an enlarged section of the heart due to disease, or due to it basically being larger than normal due to exercise. The week after I visited a private consultant. I’ll explain fully on the site what happened shortly. Suffice to say it was a pretty scary couple of weeks!

Anyway, I’m OK now and if anything it was good to have all the tests carried out, as I now know I’m fighting fit!

My orthotics have been giving me problems recently, and I’ve been switching between my structured ASICS with no orthotics and my neutral NB’s with the orthotics in. The ASICS either mean my legs don’t feel great, or the NB’s mean I get a massive blister on my left foot.

I’ve decided to go and see a new podiatrist in a couple of weeks at a running shop based at the Julie Rose Stadium in Ashford. I’m kind of thinking that it makes a great deal of sense to see a podiatrist with a good experience of treating runners.

So, a lot has been happening – but I’m sure a whole lot more will happen too!

I’ve started training again today after a week’s break. The next race is the Crowborough 10K at the end of November.