The results

So how did my decisions for the Flitwick 10k work out?  I won't bother to review the race because it was much the same as last year.  Although one thing that did annoy me was the entry form making a big fuss about making sure that you put a 'large' stamp on your SAE or your race entry pack wouldn't get to you... and when it arrived it was two sheets of A4 paper saying where the race was, when it started, and that we had to pick up our numbers and chips on the day.  They could have EMAILED that little information out, for goodness' sake.

Running it at all: well, I got round, which was the whole point.  I didn't have to walk, which was a pleasant surprise.  It took about 41 minutes, which even tells me that it might be worth attempting to do the midweek league races (thank goodness).

Race strategy: I simply didn't dare go fast.  But my 'jog' was fairly steady, at about 42-minute pace.  Just like at Sandy, my knee felt a little stiff after only a minute or two, but nothing worrying.  But this time it stayed that way - mostly.  A couple of times I had to change direction suddenly, and it didn't like that.  And in general a little pain just below my knee kept coming and going.

After a while I found I was speeding up a bit and overtaking people, but I always felt that if I tried to consciously push on and go faster I'd get myself into trouble.  Thankfully I was catching enough people to keep things interesting.  Right at the end John Franklin beat me in a sprint finish.  Well, only he was in the sprint finish, which explains why I came off second best!

Contact lenses: the question I asked myself when wondering whether to put my contact lenses in was 'well, how likely is it that my glasses will steam up or my face will get too sweaty to wear them?'.  What I should have asked was 'how much water am I likely to spill over my glasses when trying to take a drink from the water station?'  Since the answer would have been 'enough to embarrass even a four-year-old' perhaps I should have taken the other option on this one.

Listening to the iPod: well, I ran with it, but didn't actually use it.  I thought I'd wait until all the runners spread out, but actually that didn't happen until much later than normal (it's busier in the 41-42 minute part of the race than 36-37 minutes).  Normally it'd be single file by 2 or 3k, but this time it was more like 5k.  By which time I was more interested in enjoying the view (I didn't realise you could see Sharpenhoe Clappers from the route - well, the visibility was really poor last year).

Choice of clothing: I was running faster and for less time than I expected, so I probably could have done without the extra layer.  Oh well.  It hid the MP3 player.

So my injury has improved.  But it's not fixed.  The resting, stretching, massaging approach may be working (but since it's not possible to do a controlled test in these circumstances, we can't be certain that rest alone wouldn't have had the same result).  But it's probably worth seeing if a physio has any other ideas...

Preparing to fail

So how's my knee?  I suppose the short answer is I don't know.  I haven't really tested it out properly.  The most running I've done in the last few weeks was a mile jog from Hitchin railway station back home (after picking Lindsay up so she could take the car to the club while I sulked at home).  I could move OK, but my knee felt like it could give way at any moment.

So I suppose I've been avoiding the club a little.  There's not much I can do there, and although it's nice to see everyone, it's a bit depressing to see everyone enjoying themselves when I can't join in.  I can understand why people drop out of circulation when something like this happens.

So, it's the Flitwick 10k in a few hours, and of course I'm not confident.  If I hadn't entered a month or two ago I certainly wouldn't be attempting it today - but since it's a Run of the Month I'd still turn up to spectate and see how many Squirrels we can gather at the same place at the same time.  But I've paid, so I'll damn well get round the course.  Even if I have to walk.  I've been the trail cyclist at Standalone in the past, so if this event is anything like that I'm still in no danger of coming last.  But am I in danger of Lindsay beating me?  Well, that's a different worry.

But some worries go away.  I went to a gym session yesterday lunchtime called Boot Camp, which I normally avoid the day before a race.  I had a really fun time at a party last night and didn't care about eating curry, drinking beer or not getting much sleep.  I'll probably wear a T-shirt under my vest, which I wouldn't normally do in this weather.  I might not bother to put contact lenses in.  I might even take my iPod and listen to The Now Show.

I'm watching the start of the Chinese Grand Prix and they're all talking about race strategy (even though they're plodding around behind a safety car - Formula 1 is a bit of a joke this season).  I can only think of two strategies for myself: 1) jog along, try not to aggravate anything, see how long I last, or 2) go as fast as I can on the assumption that it's the amount of time I spend running that causes the problem, and so when I eventually have to jog/walk I'm further round the course.  I'm a bit too risk-averse for option 2.

But hopefully it'll be nice to just be out.

Nothing conclusive

Lindsay and I are in Switzerland for the weekend, so I had to get to the airport early on Friday evening, so I had the afternoon off work, so I had some free time to go and see Sharon to see if she could find anything wrong with my knee.  It wasn't the obvious 'ah yes, I can see the lump' diagnosis I was hoping for.

It might be an IT band thing.  There was a lot of tightness either side of the knee.  So perhaps that's going to be the answer.  But for now, some rest, some stretching (in a notoriously difficult area to stretch)... and some finger-crossing.

Well, I'm not running this weekend, anyway.  I'm enjoying the contrast of 14-degree temperature to sit in the garden in the sun... and in the snow.  Strange country.

The joy of gym

Thank goodness I can still go to the gym (actually, thank goodness I can still walk normally and climb the stairs at work and go shopping and do everything apart from running, but this post is only about the gym so let's ignore all that other stuff).

I miss running quite quickly when I can't do it, so something as simple as going to the circuit training classes at the gym are almost becoming a lifeline.  It's an addict thing.  Got to get the endorphine buzz from somewhere.

I even noticed the beginnings of arm muscles in myself the other day.  Now that would be a first.

Sandy 3 - 29 March 2009

After my sage advice to the Three Counties guy at Milton Keynes (don't set off too fast), I received some useful advice of my own today from Neil Ward:  If it hurts, stop.

 

We'd been talking about how we were doing, and my dodgy knee was mentioned.  This would be its first test for a couple of weeks.  So on a lovely sunnny morning, just after the clocks had gone forward, it was quite warm at the start of the Sandy 10.  I decided I would start fairly slowly (although now I think about it, that's the best way to aim for a PB on this course anyway), and see how I went.

 

I didn't feel anything at all in my knee.  For about 90 seconds.  And then it felt a bit stiff.  OK, that's not pain, so I'll carry on.  After a mile we got to the sharp uphill (see Statto's blog - well, where else? - for the elevation profile) and I was quite happy to jog up that.  Actually, as it happened, I was catching Statto up, so I obviously wasn't taking it as easy as I expected, but I felt fine.  In fact, I noticed, my knee wasn't hurting at all.  Hurrah!

 

At the top of the hill I met Sibbo and Shirley, doing excellent supporting work, and at two and a half miles were Astrid and Steve, out on a bike ride from Hitchin.  Lucky they chose to come to Sandy.  It was almost as if they knew we would be there.

 

I could see the 3 mile marker when my knee made itself known again.  This time it was a sharp pain, and not one to ignore.  I stopped.  I walked.  I waited.  Then I jogged a bit.  And it still hurt.  I crossed 3 miles in not much more than 19 minutes, so I hadn't lost much time, but my race was over.  A few more steps and I decided it would be a bit silly to carry on.

 

So for the first time ever, I dropped out of a race.  I took my vest off (don't worry, I had a T-shirt underneath) to prevent any rival clubs seeing a stricken NHRR member, and tried to persuade all the rest of the NHRR members that I was going to be fine (they all asked as they ran past - what a nice club we are!).

 

And I went back to have a proper chat with the McKeowns, and wandered back with Pete and Mrs C, and found that if I jogged slowly, and restricted the movement in my knee, I could actually move OK.  And I wasn't being overtaken all that much by runners in the 70-75 minute range.  Damn, I thought.  I could have carried on, and perhaps Lindsay wouldn't have beaten me.  And I could have had one of those nice blue long-sleeved tops.  (Actually, I'm sure if I asked nicely I would probably have been allowed one, but that wouldn't be right, would it?)

 

But no.  Resting didn't fix my problem, so on to step 2.  Let's see if Sharon can fix it.

An odd injury

I'm injured again and I don't know why.

The MK half marathon went OK.  I went for a jog the following day, and my right knee started to ache.  But after a few minutes the ache went away again.  I was so busy enjoying my run (because, due to a combination of too little daylight and too much work, this was the first time I'd been able to run after work and not need to stay under street lights) that I didn't think about it again.

The next day I ran at the club, and completed the speedwork session without any trouble.  But it was jogging back to the club that my knee started to hurt again.  And a few days later, on doing some circuits at the gym, it seemed that my knee hurt more when I was going slowly on it than when I was going fast.

So I don't know what's going on.  But I've been trying the approach that's worked best for me in the past: leave it alone and it'll sort itself out.  So I've done nothing for the last week... and hopefully I'll be able to get round Sandy on Sunday.

Milton Keynes Half - 8 March

Milton Keynes Half - 8 March

Another fairly local race that I've never done before.  It seemed an odd mix of seeming to be a big and small race, possibly because it wasn't organised by a running club.

The first thing we noticed - beyond the long queue of cars to reach the venue - was that there were no yellow signs guiding us there.  But that didn't matter because we'd received detailed step-by-step instructions in the post.

The HQ was at the Open University campus, although everyone was crammed into a small reception area, so it was a good job the weather was good.  There was a baggage area - but it was just the upstairs area of the HQ, and nothing was labelled, or attended.  I heard afterwards that some people claimed their bags were stolen, which I suppose wouldn't have been difficult.

There were lots of arrows painted on the floor pointing the right direction - but there was a significant absence of marshalls at some vital points, which could have led to trouble (in fact, judging by some of the comments on the Runners World forum, some people did go wrong).  Someone not far in front of me nearly missed a turn in the last mile until I shouted at him (not very competitive, I know, but my conscience wouldn't let me get away with anything else).

It was a good course for spectating, too, since we kept running near the HQ.  There were even spectator maps designed for the supporters.

Overall, I enjoyed the race.  It probably deserves its reputation of being a fast course, but the strong winds made that difficult this time.  In particular, I remember seeing the 10 mile mark and preparing to look at my watch for a split time, and then not seeming to get any closer to it.  The moment I got to the lamp post with the 10 mile sign on it, a huge gust of wind came along and I felt like I was going backwards!  Statto reckons that the wind would have made about a minute's worth of difference, and who am I to argue with him?

Speaking of which...  In the last mile I could see that I wasn't going to reach my 1:20 target and so gave up a bit.  I crossed the finish line, not unhappy with 1:21.  I only had enough time to stop and catch my breath when a cheery voice behind me said 'Hello, Gary!'  I'd forgotten all about Statto.  He hadn't eased off at all in the last mile - far from it - and finished only half a minute behind me.  That could have been nasty.  Forgetting he was there showed a shameful lack of respect, which I suppose I'm making amends for by mentioning it now, and I really will try not to let him finish anywhere near me in future!

And strangely, before the race (and this was all Martyn's fault) I got interviewed by someone from Three Counties Radio, who was running his first half marathon.  Thankfully it wasn't live, and it probably won't be broadcast because I didn't make much sense.  But I did give him the simplest, but best, piece of advice I know: don't set off too fast.  Of course, you only ever realise that's good advice after you don't take it.