Posted on

Day 80–So Easy It Was Hard

For one reason or another it was the last possible minute before I got out for the club run, the usual four and a bit so miles as a solo warm up run pretty quickly as I struggled to make it to the club on time.

Once there and it was a shock to the system as the next two miles were well outside nine minutes. This was almost painfully slow, the body wanting to break into a quick walk. Thankfully there were a couple of guys who wanted to push the pace a bit, but even then it took another few miles before we began to tickle eight minutes; only one, substantially downhill, mile did we break eight minutes.

Quite the reason behind this outbreak of slow miles I don’t know. Perhaps everyone was really tired, maybe they were resting ahead of the Ashby 20  on Sunday, a race they really shouldn’t race if they want to race well in April. Whatever the reason we were dawdling along, and the further we went the harder it become.

I  need to put things into perspective and it shows how far I’ve come in the last nine months or so. Eight minute miles were quite an effort back last June on all easy paced runs, it says something when they now feel like an awkward shuffle. I cannot speak for nine minute miles as I don’t think I’ve ever run that slowly unless it was either a. massively uphill or b. I was massively injured (Apologies to anyone for whom nine minutes is race pace….)

By the time we’d got back to club, chatted a bit and I’d ran back home, seventeen miles were covered at dead on eight minutes per mile. Good time on feet, to coin a phrase, and hopefully legs will be the better for it ahead of Sunday’s key run, where I’ll aim to run 24 miles at significantly quicker pace.

Posted on

Day 51–A Little DIY

I spent much of yesterday evening working on the right upper leg: massage; stretching; prodding; massaging; stretching…. Come the end of the evening the hamstring felt a little looser but the inner thigh near the knee was really sore to touch.  In desperation I applied a liberal dose of Arnica Cream to try and reduce any inflammation.

The morning brought no unwelcome surprises – little discomfort during the kids’ walking to school. I did a little more massage and stretching and decided I would risk a run – albeit a little less mileage than I’d originally planned. I decided too to keep it as flat as possible, so it was the Wyndham Park out and back route – with a twist.

I was very nervous about the first few steps, unsure of how the right leg would react. Thankfully there was no discomfort in the right hamstring and whilst the inner thigh near the knee was sore, it was well within the margins of pain threshold.

I kept the pace slow and steady – helped by the outbound leg featuring a strong wind. Having tackled Dysart Park I took a brief excursion to B&Q to buy a small item for our new washing machine – a large 12kg affair bought to accommodate my never ending accumulation of running clothing. It felt a little odd shopping in full winter spec running gear (It was nearly 9C but the wind chill made it feel closer to freezing) but needs must and thankfully the item needed fitted snugly in my tights’ pocket.

The return leg was a little quicker because I had a tail wind, but the right thigh being sore slowed me a touch – the knee starting to ache a little too. I made it home in one piece but not sure how the leg is going to fare in the coming days and weeks. I’m hopeful that if I ease back on the quick stuff for a bit things will heal itself without the need for a lengthy spell off, but I guess we’ll just have to see.