A fortnight of improvement

My initial problem - my seized-up calf muscles - seems to be pretty much solved.  Rest, ice, stretching and massage seem to have got them moving again.  They're still not 100%, but I can move fast enough (i.e. not very fast) to continue marathon training.  Although I've had to pull out of running Standalone because it would be useless to our team to try and get round at my current pace.

But now my right leg complains in other ways.  My knee aches a lot, although it seems to be in a different place every day.  It makes so little sense that I'm wondering if it's psychological.

The biggest success was when I managed to complete an 18-mile training run with Tash last weekend.  It's a good job she suggested it, really, since both of us would have struggled to get ourselves motivated individually.  My knee was hurting so much after 3 miles that I would have turned round and gone home, but that would have left Tash on unfamiliar country lanes south of Hitchin, so instead we just slowed down further.  That seemed to do the trick.  In fact, after 17 miles my body felt better than it had at the start (must be those endorphins they keep talking about - probably just blocking the pain!).  

I've also noticed that the extra training has got me eating like a pig again.  Ah well, food is good.

I'm getting to the stage where I'm looking forward to the end of marathon training.  Coming back from training runs and limping around the house is losing its appeal.  I would have complained to my coach about this yesterday, but she was cooking dinner and struggling with her own new injury at the time, so it would have been a bit insensitive, really.  On the plus side, our latest theory that only one of us is ever training properly at any time must mean that I'll be on top form until her ankle gets better!

This had better not be one of those 'commentator's curse' moments, because I'm just off out for a run...

Grunty Fen Half Marathon

Since last week I've done no training. So:

- I've been in a bad mood
- I'm wondering how many weeks of marathon training I've lost
- My leg didn't seem to be getting any better

On the other hand:

- I've had to do far less washing.

I went to Sharon for a massage on Thursday, and she did a pretty good job of attacking all the built-up rubbish in my calf. And found a few other spots to apply pain to, too - she's good like that. But all the fresh mini-bruising meant a couple more days of rest were advisable.

So, since we'd entered already and Lindsay's training is going well, we turned up for the Grunty Fen Half Marathon and found it held on a lovely warm sunny morning. I had no idea whether I'd be able to run at all, so the first test was jogging from the car to the race HQ: it took 30 seconds and resulted in no pain, so that was a good start.

On looking at the course map, I found that this was a two-lap course, with the first lap only 5 miles. So I realised I could start, and never be much more than 2 miles from home if things went wrong.

The start: I set off with Lindsay, Martyn and Rachel near the back of the field, and jogged slowly on. It was unusual enough to start at the back, so I wasn't used to having to move in procession for the first 5 minutes. And listen to the entire recording of the theme to Chariots of Fire (is anyone else bored of hearing that at races?)

2.5 miles: Still no pain. And at this point it's easier to go on than go back, so I'm definitely going to complete 5 miles in some manner.

5 miles: I'm back. In one piece. Well, I may as well carry on.

Half way: a marshal / timekeeper was shouting out times, and I'd got there in just under 47 minutes.

8 miles: My subconscious mind must have told my legs that this was the most awkward point on the route, that if I had to stop now I was about at the furthest point away from the HQ. So my legs decided to ache a little. My conscious mind took over and told my legs to shut up.

9 miles: I started seeing people I knew - Alan Jones, Paul Kelly and Mike Mello. I had a few cheery words with them before pressing on.

10 miles: Now my legs really were starting to get tired. But only tired, nothing worse. Occasionally I'd have a few steps where I'd lose my running style, and work my muscles in the wrong way, but I could get on top of that without too much trouble.

The end: Wow. I made it. That was a lot more than I was expecting. Adrian Sherwood and Richard Thackeray were already there, and I got there in about 1:31, so the second half was nicely quicker than the first. A bit of stretching and I could walk with only a slight limp.

So hopefully things will be OK from now on.

Oh yes, the race. Well organised, and I was especially impressed with everything being online, from entering through its own system (no paying an extra £1.50 through Runners World) and paying with PayPal, to the emailed information, and picking up your race number on the day - something Standalone should aspire to. Lots of marshals and water stations and sponges (and the marshal at 10 miles was especially noisy and cheerful, and probably used up more energy than I did!). The only potential problem is the course itself. It was fine this year, since there was only a slight breeze and the sun was shining. But I have done this before when it's been blowing a gale, and out on the fens there really is nowhere to hide. Still, it's flat as a pancake, so could be a potential PB course, if that suits your style.

Swineshead 10

After doing no training since my injury, I thought I'd give the Swineshead 10 a go.  Only on Tuesday night I was talking to James about trying to get a PB at this event, so my mood had taken a significant turn for the worse since I started limping.  So, having ruled that possibility out, I was one of the few people not at all concerned that flooding had caused a diversion in the route, and this wouldn't be a 10 mile race after all (it was about ten and a quarter, in the end), since it meant there was never any pressure to get a good time.

So with a PB off the cards, the next thing I thought it would be useful to do was trying running round at marathon pace, if only to work out what that felt like.  I hate to make it public - especially now it looks impossible - but I am/was aiming for 2:50 at New York, mainly because it's a nice round number rather than any analysis of what I should be capable of.  But that means 6:30 for each mile, which sounds a bit scary.  Coincidentally, that turned out to be the pace Pete (Statto) Scrowther was aiming for, too, so I ran most of the race only a few metres away from him.  By the way, if you ever need anyone to pace you, try and use Statto - he runs very evenly, so you wouldn't go far wrong following him.  It would be interesting to know if the same would be true if his GPS system suddenly packed up, though...

I ran a bit gingerly on my injured leg, and it was OK for about 3 miles, but started to ache after that.  I discovered that it was most comfortable going uphill, and most painful on the way down - I couldn't stretch my leg far enough!  But I found a way of running that didn't aggravate it too much (although it's probably caused other aches as a result), and got round without too much trouble.  6:30 pace wasn't too bad - I could still talk normally (or at least, my ego had to give that impression) - although I'm not sure I can imagine keeping it up for another 16 miles.  I like to believe I helped Statto get round the course in his (notional) PB time, although when he put on a proper sprint finish for the last straight there was no way I was able to keep up with him.

The original plan was to do the 10 miles, then carry on running to make it up to a marathon training distance, perhaps running back to Lindsay to see how she was getting on.  But once I got to the finish line the only sensible option was to stop.  Lindsay had come up with a different plan - she went out early in the morning and had already done 10 miles before even getting to Swineshead!

The event was really enjoyable.  Good scenery on the country lanes (lots of church towers and spires!), and the race HQ had a cake stall, impressively nice food on the barbecue and good live singers - it was just a shame that it rained before the race to dampen everything down.

In the 5 mile version of the race, James Atkins came first and Ollie came second.  Very impressive!

But there is something worth complaining about.  This was the Run of the Month for September, therefore an event designed to bring the whole club together at the same event, and I could count the NHRR members using my fingers.  What's going on?

It's a small race - if I wasn't injured, I would have come in the top 3 of either the 5 or 10 mile race (so that makes it even more annoying that I couldn't).  Perhaps the Welwyn 10 being on the same day attracted fast people over there?

Next stop - at least, this was the plan - the Grunty Fen half marathon, at the same pace.  But probably no training this week.

Ouch

What's the best thing to do when, 3 miles into an 8 mile training run, you get a pain in your calf muscle? OK, trick question, I know, since the correct answer could be anything between 'completely ignore it' through 'stretch it a bit and see how you go' to 'stop immediately and go home'. You can only really tell with experience and hindsight. Experience: well, luckily enough, I don't get injured all that often. Perhaps that's because I never train all that much! It does mean that in most of my experience, those niggles in your legs don't mean much. Hindsight: perhaps I should have abandoned the run instead of what I did, which was carry on (carefully). It hurts now.

So I've hit my first problem with marathon training (or second, if you count constantly being in unfamiliar places when needing to do long runs). If I stop training on it for a few days, maybe it will have recovered in time for the Swineshead 10 on Sunday. I was looking forward to that.

And I've been thinking recently it's about time I started seeing Sharon for massages again. This'll remind me, I suppose...