2 nurofen and a cup of coffee

It's amazing what you can achieve on 2 nurofen and a cup of coffee.

Some of my best friends will know that this concoction has pretty much been my solution to many of life's problems since the early days at Univeristy when every morning started with a hangover.

Feel like shit? 2 nurofen and a cup of coffee. Got an exam to sit? 2 nurofen and a cup of coffee. Got an early lecture to make? 2 nurofen and a cup of coffee.

In fact I actually remember getting through a funeral of a great

old relative on 2 nurofen and a cup of coffee. Hmmm...

Fortunately over the years I managed to work out that sometimes a good nights sleep, lots of water, not getting drunk every night and a good breakfast is slightly better for the soul that relying on pain killers and caffeine to get through the day.

And so to marathon training, which -as faithful followers of last year's adventures will know- I discovered you just can't do on a crap diet. Caffeine alone will only get you so far (mile 2, to be precise).

And now that Christmas is over, I've finally shaken off that annoying flu bug and I had my little January winter-sun break to Morocco, I no longer have any decent excuses or reasons not to get off my lazy arse and start training again for the London Marathon on 25th April...

Slight problem though... I've buggered my ankle. My left ankle to be precise.

Not sure how i did this, but i think it has something to do with running for the bus in crap (but really rather beautiful) shoes. Probably Ted Baker shoes, to be precise. And I think it's fair to say that Ted Baker shoes were not built for running in. Ted Baker shoes are the kind of shoes that look great but let your feet freeze in winter and get too hot in the summer and are certainly not made for running after buses in.

But my Ted Baker shoes look fab, and that's the important thing. See:

Oh no, wait, hang on, wrong pair...

That's better.

Anyway, I digress. It's January and time to get back into running. So my first attempt at proper training was on monday evening, which had to be cut short thanks to the pain shooting up my left leg from the ankle. Not a great start. I limped home feeling rather fat and more than a little pathetic.

At this point I decided to take the very good advice of my friend who's a personal trainer and told me to raise it when possible, rest it as much as possible, cover it in an ice pack if it's swollen and generally don't run on it until it's healed.

So being completely impatient person that I am, I translated this as "rest it for 5 days and then attempt a 12mile run on saturday". Clever eh? Bravo.

Now someone told me last year when I was first training for the marathon that the one thing all runners dread is completely dying (or 'hitting the wall' as it's known) miles from home, or spraining an ankle or pulling a muscle and having to limp miles home

And considering that this could happen half way during a 15 or even 20 mile run... well, that's a long limp / walk home, isn't it?.

Apparently there are a couple of ways of avoiding this, and they are:

a) always carry reserve energy gells on you to drink if you 'hit the wall'

b) plan your running routes so you're never more than 2 mile short cut from home

and c) take 2 nurofen with you on every run in your back pocket, in case of muscular or joint pain.

See where I'm going with this? Nurofen saving the day again.

So today I did exactly that. I did my stretches, drank loads of fluids, ate loads of oats for breakfast, charged up my iPod... and popped 2 nurofen into my back pocket.

And then I did what I often do when I need a kick-start of energy to get me going on the first 2miles... I glugged a shot of coffee and set off.

Unfortunately I got to about mile 3 when i decided to leap (heroically) over a muddy puddle and landed on my left ankle. OUCH. Or, as Homer would say, 'Doh,".

A couple of minutes of pretending i couldn't feel the pain, I had to stop and admit that sometimes I'm a bit of a puddle-leaping fool.

Fortunately though I had those 2 nurofen in my back pocket, not to mention an energy gell. Together they made an interesting mix.

But -amazingly- they dulled the pain down a sufficient amount that I was able to finish my planned run (despite the odd twinge), and do it in a good time too.

12.8miles in 1hr 40 (roughly), averaging just under 9mins per mile and using up a total of 1,600 calories (Garmin fore runner watches are wonderful things, v clever).

Hoorah for Nurofen, that's what I say. Unfortunately as I'm writing this I can feel them wearing off, which is unfortunate. And with it comes a slight throbbing feeling (and not in a good way).

Suspect i might be on the phone to my personal trainer friend again later, who will no doubt tell me to ice it, raise it, rest it and don't run, which I'll interpret as "let's go clubbing and dance to Lady Gaga, yaaaaay".

Which I'm sure will be fine, as long as I take my nurofen with me.