Haha…well, what can I say? The weekly updates didn’t last long. A couple of reasons for this. First, it’s just not me. Simple really. I don’t like to get tied down with stats and figures and I find it quite boring to be totally honest. I run because I enjoy it and getting caught up with mileage etc takes away the simple pleasure and experience of running for me. Secondly, I think I started it just because other runners did. I will admit that looking back over the training and seeing what I had achieved did feed the ego a bit but I don’t really like this trait so I won’t continue. Last, but by no means least is that this blog is about my running experiences. Posting my weekly mileage isn’t an experience; it’s just facts and figures. So no more weekly updates.
So what have I been doing through December and most of January?
Towards the end of November and the beginning of December I managed to irritate the peroneal muscle and nerve in my right lower leg but instead of resting I stubbornly continued training as normal until I came to a standstill during a routine training run. The pain was too much and was affecting my gait, meaning that I was putting extra pressure on other parts of my body. This happened on a Thursday.
Saturday 3rd December 2011 Might Contain Nuts Ultra Brecon 40 – Winter Edition – One day series Round 2
After receiving a very gentle massage that hurt like hell on Thursday, I didn’t do much on the Friday. Usually I like to go out for a short run (around 40 mins) at a pace that is faster then my expected race pace the day before a race. I just find it a helpful way of flushing the legs out, then “top up” glucose stores and allowing race pace to feel relatively slow. I did contemplate pulling out but it was a good opportunity to meet up with some friends and enjoy the Welsh Mountains
It’s been too long to write a thorough race report, so here are the highlights…
Beautiful 40ish mile course meandering and winding around and through the Brecon’s, taking in beautiful countryside, canal paths, open moorland and farmland. Dan went out pretty fast and I tagged along for the ride enjoying some good old chat. Piers Stockwell (winner Round 1) flies past at some point and nails the next section. Me and Dan get lost in a field! We get back on track and eventually catch Piers. We hit some open moorland come bog and are hit by some very strong head wind. I start to pull away from Dan and Piers at this point, but Dan catches back up when we hit some firetrack. I then start to pull away again through forest track and marshy wet trail and that was the last I saw of any other runner. I really enjoyed the route but was happy when the finishing line came into view because of the numbing pain in my right leg the whole way round. Dan, unfortuatly pulled out (he had been ill all week) but my good friend Barry Murray had a really strong finish to come home in 2nd.
Pretty much since then my training followed a pattern of run for 2-3 days, no running for 2 days due to soreness and so on and so on………………………...
Luckily in January I was up in the Lakes on holiday and I managed to receive a pretty awesome deep tissue muscle massage from my good friend Adam. I took 3 days off running and within a couple of weeks the issue had completely gone so I slowly built up some base again. Things felt like they were back on track until I felt a twinge in the inside lower half of my left leg which I believe may be posterior shin splints. I’m hoping it’s simple a case of overuse due to the injury I had in my right leg throughout December. I’m seeing Adam again very shortly and maybe with a bit more massage I’ll be back on track within a couple of weeks.
At the moment I’m putting a race schedule together so I may have a post soon with some details. Until then, happy running.
No comments:
Post a Comment