Pages

Sunday 21 February 2010

Three Dirty Letters

It's been a slightly miserable weekend after what was a very tiring week. An easy 5 miles on Friday left me feeling a bit human again following a tough week of training as well as work. I was almost recovered enough for the Yorkshire Champs XC at Wakefield so M & I made the trip over to support club mates. I'd promised to turnout for the ladies team and the pace would do me no harm even on wooden legs.
After a couple of miles warm up I was feeling reasonable if not entirely fresh and quite up for the 6k lung burning chase around the muddy but sunny parkland. My right foot had other ideas. The course kicked off with a fast and furious 400m before a steepish climb to a muddy ridge with a fair stretch of camber sliding to the right. I was still adjusting to my spikes, having raced so little XC this winter and my right foot then had a sulk. The little blighter tweaked big style as I skipped then half hopped along the mudslide before the sharp left and straight descent to drop back down and rejoin the start for loop 2.

After a bit of foot pointing and scrunching of my face M got the picture that I was not good. On my way around loop 2 I picked up the pace again but then hit the same mud slope; the foot tweak was very sharp this time and caused further hopping and cursing. I lost 5 places then hopped to a halt. Not good. Runningbear DNF! I hoped I'd never have to write those dirty letters. I hung my head in shame and disappointment as I trudged back to the tent, right foot in tow.

It's a strange feeling not finishing a race. A feeling I hope I won't have to repeat. Needless to say, after waking up to more snow this morning, the wobbling plans for a long one wobbled and lost balance altogether. A brief test on flat road confirmed that said right foot might cope with even ground. I stuck to a safe treadmill run today; 18 miles shorter than planned with a steady 6 miles but better be safe than sorry, right?

7 comments:

Antony Bradford said...

Do Not Fear.

Hopefully it isn't too bad.

kate said...

don't be so hard on yourself! sounds like a very sensible decision. keep your eye on the 'big one'. have a choco softie (or two) and put your feet up. hope it's nothing too serious :)

Mark H said...

Have a few easy days if needed.
The fitness is already there and there's still a long long time to go till the marathon.

Even without all this bad weather it's almost impossible to stick 100% to a PLAN right through until marathon day.

Would deffo try and avoid the off road stuff tho' ... too risky in my book.But that's just my opinion , others might think different.

Julie said...

Hi Sarah,
I am sorry to hear about your foot injury/issues;( I think you made the right decision and agree with Kate about not being so hard on yourself. Keep you chin up and go get um the next time!! Keep smiling and I hope that you have a great week!!

ultra collie said...

too right. nothing really lost for longer term gains rb..

Hayfella said...

You did the right thing. It's not worth risking your feet; they last forever. A DNF only until the next time. Look after yourself.

Runningbear said...

Thanks for all those supportive comments, I feel a bit less of a wuss for dropping out and have felt the benefit as the pain has subsided with each day..I managed a full session last night though I'll avoid the off road stuff a bit longer. Onward and upward and all that. RB

Post a Comment