First, a new fitness programme which concentrates on balance, flexibility and core strength – the essential make-up of a long distance runner. Wes Tubb, a personal trainer from Virgin Active gyms (www.virginactive.co.uk), who specialises in rehabilitation, puts me through my paces.  First instrument of torture is the foam roller. It acts almost like a giant rolling pin on the limbs, easing out lumps of knots in the muscles. It's supposed to hurt – and it does – but my tight hamstrings and shoulders feel slightly better for it afterwards.  Then, my least favourite: lunges. These are designed to improve my ankle stability, so we do circular and side to side variations on each leg. The big guns come out next: weights for a 'kneeling cable row and push', in the action of a cross-country skier from the waist up.  Lastly we move on to core strengthening exercises. Wes thinks crunches are a waste of time and actually compound bad posture, so we start up some pilates-style moves and concentrate on diaphragmatic breathing to help build up the abdominal muscles.  It will take a few tries to get my head around some of the weight pulley contraptions (I am patently no gym machine expert here), but all in all, it is a positive session and, if any of these exercises helps prevent running injuries in the future, I will happily keep up with them.  Next up is a visit to a Bupa podiatrist tomorrow, to have a proper look at my feet and running gait, and see where I might have been going wrong in the first place. . .  - For free training programmes and health advice see www.bupa.co.uk/running  - The Bupa Great South Run will take place on October 24 in Portsmouth
Catalina Stogdon, The Sunday Telegraph Life supplement's deputy editor, turns    to the experts as she aims to get her running rehabilitation under way.