Mild self-torture

...in which I experience the joys of a foam roller.

In a fit of enthusiasm for this whole running thing I have bought one of these things:

This is called a "foam roller" (other brands are available). They are supposed to facilitate "self myofascial release". You put your weight on them at various points and sort of roll along them, as the name implies. There's an article about how to use one here: A runner's guide to foam rollers.

So, you think, (or at least I thought) "it's just foam, it'll be fine". And then I tried to copy some of the suggestions in that article.

Calf...well, not too bad. Bit painful on the arms if you do it for too long because they're supporting most of the weight of your upper body, but no pain, no gain I guess. Same for the Tibialis Anterior (try saying that after a few beers). Front of the thigh, not too bad...and then the Gluteus (the bottom of the buttocks, if you're not sure).

Imagine being kicked by a donkey. No, harder than that. An Arcturan Mega-donkey (thank you, Douglas Adams). A really angry Arcturan Mega-donkey. Now imagine that the pain from the kick is somehow constant rather than a sharp spike followed by relief. 

Got it? Right. That's a bit like what it feels like to attempt to put your weight on one of your buttocks with one of these things underneath you. Really, I have no idea who invented this idea but it must have been someone that really hates people that exercise. Apparently they're a good way of easing out aches and pains in muscles, although I suspect that actually you just feel better after you get off it because it hurts so much when you're on it.

I'm still within my target range at Slimming World, but we're cutting down a little this week (since we might be living on the credit card if a contract doesn't turn up soon, and I've put a couple of pounds on over the last 2 weeks) so I may well lose more weight. 

I'm up to running around 20 - 30 miles a week (two 5 - 7.5 mile runs in the week and one 10 - 12 mile run on a Sunday, along with 2 - 3 visits to the gym a week), so the preparation for April's marathon is going pretty well at least.