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What I’ve Learned Whilst Injured

Monday 28th October 2013

This is the first thing I’ve posted on this site for 2 months. The reason for this is that there’s been nothing to write about. At the end of August I felt pain in my foot towards the end of a session. Since then I’ve taken time off to allow my foot to heal. Whilst I haven’t been doing much running I’ve certainly had plenty of time to think about it. Here are some of my thoughts:

1. I need to stretch more.

Shortly after I first had pain in my foot I went to the physio for advice. It’s fair to say that he was shocked by the stiffness in my calves and my lack of flexibility in general. In the past it has caused me other problems, most notably in my knee and my plantar fascia, and stretching has always been something I’ve done when I get pain or discomfort. I need to think about prevention rather than cure;  hopefully, incorporating proper pre- and post run stretching into my daily routine will prevent serious injuries.

2. You can’t beat running.

You really can’t. I’ve joined the gym recently. It is great for keeping my aerobic fitness up whilst I can’t run and I also like having access to more equipment and space than I have at  home for doing strength and conditioning exercises. But it’s not the same. It’s enough to keep me from going insane but not enough to give me the feeling of total relaxation and calm that running gives me.

3. It’s not just about competition.

I’m often asked why I run. Most people, thinking back to being forced to run against their will as a child, or to punitive weight loss regimes as an adult, would view it as a chore to run and can’t understand why I would do it voluntarily every day. My usual response is that I enjoy competition and that I derive huge satisfaction from the feeling of self-improvement. But I think there’s more to it than this.

Firstly, running can calm me down in a way that I never really appreciated before. I often get home from work feeling anxious and tense and then just go and run it out of my system. As I just mentioned, other forms of exercise just don’t seem to have the same effect. Perhaps I need to readjust my thinking to convince myself that it is not the simple act of running that is satisfying but the feeling of getting my heart rate up, the feeling of being in good physical condition. In other words, feelings that I can get from acts other than running. Maybe this ‘running is everything’ attitude is what gives me my competitive instinct and to lose it would be to lose my desire to improve. I’m probably over thinking this.

Secondly, running is a big part of my social life. Or rather, running is my social life. It’s how I see my friends. Yes, I know I can do normal things with my friends like go to the pub, and I do, but running friendships are based on other things: the sense of working together to achieve your goals, the sense of camaraderie of being part of a training group, being part of a club. I know lots of good people through running and I want to be able to run with them again.

4. Don’t rush the recovery

Just when I thought I was fully healed a couple of weeks ago the pain returned. I think this tells me that I need to build up my training even more slowly than I first thought.

5. I’d do it all again.

There are some things I will change when I’m back to full training again, such as the stretching and the strength work, as well as running on the road as little as possible, but I’m not going to be making any changes to the running I do. It works for me and gets me in good shape. When I got injured I was in the best shape I’ve ever been in and had the injury struck a couple of weeks later I’d also be writing here about the huge chunks I’d taken off my 10k and half marathon times. It works for me. I just need to take slightly better care of myself.

Now with any luck, the next post to appear here will be about my triumphant return to fitness and to competition, and not another introspective injury update.

Fingers crossed.

Training – Week Beginning 3 December

Sunday 9th December 2012

Three unplanned rest days due to some pain in my left plantar fascia. I should have listened to my body and the conditions before running on an icy track on tired legs. Managed two very easy runs at the weekend. Fingers crossed.

Monday: 10 easy (10)

Tuesday: 10×200 off 200 jog (50-60s), all in 31/32, 2000-1600-1200-800 off 400 jog at target 10k pace: 6:32,5:14,3:54,2:34. Sore legs and icy track. (13)

Wednesday: Rest. Foot pain.

Thursday: Rest. Foot pain.

Friday: Rest. Foot pain.

Saturday: 3 miles very easy (3)

Sunday: 8 easy (8)

Week total: 34 miles

2012 total: 3239 miles

Hitler’s Running Injury

Friday 2nd November 2012

I don’t normally like these Hitler parodies but this one made me chuckle!

My Right Knee

Monday 2nd May 2011

Of all the things that a runner can do to prepare himself for the start of track season, I would suggest that falling over in the road and smashing one’s knee does not represent the ideal preparation. Correct me if I’m wrong.

I went for my long run on Friday morning; unusual I know but my club mate Jack was up for it and the royal wedding was on, meaning a day off work. The other reason was that I had entered a track race today (Monday) and wanted to be fresh for it.

We had barely been going a minute when I ran across a road at pace, caught a bit of gravel and slipped, with my right knee taking most of the force of my fall. I wanted to become more familiar with the streets of Birmingham by trying out some new routes. This wasn’t what I meant. I left several layers of skin behind and my elbows, hands and knees are still pretty grazed. We carried on with the run, an excellent blast round the countryside and some cycle routes at a decent pace, but the next day my knee really started hurting. I think it’s just a bit of bruising and muscle tissue damage, but I will try and get to a physio this week and get their verdict. In the mean time I’m taking a full week off running, and icing my knee to calm the inflammation, with the hope that I should be OK for my next scheduled race on Saturday. I had a very similar injury last year and I delayed my recovery by rushing back; I’m trying to be a bit more sensible this time round.

Fingers crossed.