Week or so in surgical foot appliances has now given way to just running socks and physio. The eccentric heel drops do seem a good alternative to just waiting to get well. Thinking of the excrutiating stuff last week, the pain now is ... more localised and even friendly, by comparison. The running goes on regardless, so I'd be a fool to cry.

Left foot secured by Ultimate Performance achilles support with heel cup, right foot in a Cheetah ankle gripper. It's a nice Sunday afternoon, so the extended run beckons once more. The downside is the back end of a cold I picked up last week. Feeling more beast of burden than sprightly gazelle, must say.  North London parks and Hampstead Heath should be entertaining if crowded, I'll feed back. Could do with a run in open country by the sea, for the sense of freedom. Early June perhaps.

Talking of entertaining, today I'll re-try the podcast approach to passing the running time. See if Melvyn Bragg and Jazz Library do it for me again. Lately it's been more ye olde concert broadcasts of Classical, Stokowski and the gang ... and ... Satisfy Me by Ian van Dahl. Shameless.

Eccentric heel drops and appliances on the feet - a three month go at zapping the tendonitis, which hurts. Yet running feels fine. Unlike the weather - winter gives it one more shot in London.

Oh no, not you again? Tendonitis, the Achilles heel of the middle-aged jogger. Running training tip #5 - deal with injury by resting but it's not the end of the world. Hit me hard last week, after it had seemed the legs were back to normal, and by Wednesday I was thinking maybe the race was over for this year. Yet the running itself was going very well, better in fact, once past the first mile. Sadly I could not walk in the mornings. I have a high pain threshold, so was concerned that by running through it, I might be doing permanent damage. But you're never alone, and there is a billion dollar industry out there (well maybe) aimed at fixing the tendons of unwise joggers. See above, now in place along with the matching heel cup for my 'healthy' side, and more gadgets to come for hardcore use. It feels good for walking, and this aft I'll see if it's possible to run on it. Mucho stretching and bending, but I do that anyway.

Analysing it, this condition stems from normal daily life in London, not running as such. My ankles are thin, and I give them hell, plus I am just a tad too heavy for the serious distances re. knee and ankle - so I need light day-shoes that work for me, or I'm in trouble. Since my 30s, I've experienced pain from any shoe with too much weight or height, from DMs to ski boots. My regular boring comfortable Clarks lace-ups for the working day have been slightly too heavy, my blue suede boots slightly too flat and high on the ankle. I threw them all away yesterday in favour of a slightly dodgy pair of featherlight Clarks black slipons (can't be a style icon forever), and the relief was immediate, honestly. Thinking back again, my thousands of unruly coast clambering miles were done in wholly insubstantial Teva open sandals, and not a single day lost to injury.

Do runners always wind up talking about gear, pain and getting older? I'll try to talk about running later. Mostly I've been in Sunny Hill Park since we last spoke. It's a great place for lots of circuits - smallish with two or three hills for reps if needed, plus a toilet option, and a Kosher/Middle-Eastern restaurant if it comes to that. The park nestles snugly, deep in the potentially toxic armpit of the M1, A41 and A1 but the high ground lets you breathe deep and  see beyond London to the illusion of open country. It also gives you sunsets over Wembley Stadium. So when the urge is to paint it black, take your pain to Sunny Hill, and watch if fade.

Training running tip #4 (controversial). Drop the caffeine. Two weeks in, it's you doing the run, not the gallon of coffee you slurped this morning. Yes you'll befuddle in the mornings, but your heart will likely thank you. Starbucks with brown sugar is tempting, but it's also nice not to be giving them three quid to feel edgy.

Bank Holiday cheers after a long river walk with the next generation (mine's a water with lemon). Legs holding out.

A couple of film crews were out. Reminding us that this and one blue light used to be enough ID for a police car.

Musical accompaniment came from this lady at Southwark, playing the saw in beguiling fashion. Then, you get towards Deptford and there are no people, the billion tourists disappear and so do the signs for the notional Thames path. It's just you and the big council housing blocks.  

Yest. was multiple circuits running Richmond Park - sun and evening air, hundreds of deer. So happy not to be cold any more. Next two weeks weight management. 

Last week was odd. The running injuries are fading again, which is good.  Then I saw Uncle Joe marching London's streets, and wondered why people still have sympathy for the devil. 

But it was sunny, even in Sloane Square tube, and for sport and art, it was good to attend the launch of the 2012 Legacy Trust with Jonathan Edwards et. al., down at the RSA. Money for youth projects, with the emphasis on participation not spectating. Though this comes out of the world's biggest spectator event, the Olympics. So we'll see.  

Later to Cardiff Bay, for a reception at the excellent World of Boats with a lot of lovely people. This was a well-wishing event for Charlene Ayres and Sally Kettle, who are rowing around GB starting June 1st. Makes my leg challenge seem very modest indeed, but it's been easy to get caught up in the inspiration of The Coastgirls. The true spirit of 2012. 

Last night a late 15, this morning a 20, tomorrow a 40. Bank holiday weekend was made for running.

Looks as though I'll be racing away from The Stones on 13th July, as they are playing Hyde Park that day.