So, here it is. If I type it quick it might not seem so bad. I've only gone and sort of injured myself. I know. What the flippin' 'eck have I gone and done (I hear you virtually exclaim).
I've been dreaming about this week off for ages. A week full of blissful gentle running. A week of sleeping in, eating long breakfasts, slowly recovering from my 20 miler with gentle joggy ambles along countryside paths, clocking my marathon mileage under blue skies in bright, shining daylight. The 20 on Sunday was a great run; an indication of some good prep despite the awful winter and the short training phase this allowed. The race feedback had set me up nicely, hungry for these final 4 weeks of mileage before the taper. I'd planned just easy running, no 'sessions' at least until this weekend. I was so good I even missed a run on Monday as we travelled back 'up north'.
I've been dreaming about this week off for ages. A week full of blissful gentle running. A week of sleeping in, eating long breakfasts, slowly recovering from my 20 miler with gentle joggy ambles along countryside paths, clocking my marathon mileage under blue skies in bright, shining daylight. The 20 on Sunday was a great run; an indication of some good prep despite the awful winter and the short training phase this allowed. The race feedback had set me up nicely, hungry for these final 4 weeks of mileage before the taper. I'd planned just easy running, no 'sessions' at least until this weekend. I was so good I even missed a run on Monday as we travelled back 'up north'.
It's not a big one, but enough of a problem to halt any running action. I haven't run for 3 whole days. I've iced and stretched and generally done everything possible. Yesterday was a tester; a jog around the track whilst M did his reps. I managed to squeeze out 4 miles with a slight tug of discomfort. I'm now hopeful that I've avoided the worst but will have to carefully build back some miles with less and less time remaining. I'm so frustrated I could kick myself in the head, if I didn't think I'd risk another tear (probably in my right hamstring).
So, if this blog serves as anything it illustrates WHAT NOT TO DO when training for marathons. I'm the only one to blame. I'm rubbish at stretching and despite walking about with wooden legs all day Monday I still chose to avoid any time looking after these poor legs from which I demand so much. And I'm not getting any younger, evidenced by my first grey hair which I found on Thursday. Nice.
But things could be worse...
- I've still got 6 weeks left to do some running;
- I've now properly had a break to recover from the 20M race;
- I've had lots of time for other stuff (admittedly slobbing, watching films and moping about with a frowny face);
- I've not actually broken my leg and had a bit more time for blipping;
- I managed a little run yesterday.
Posts
10 comments:
Fingers crossed for you Sarah.I'll be gutted for you if you have to miss out.
Wrap yourself in cotton wool until the big day and ease off on the fast stuff.
You've got the miles in and got the fitness so you should be ok.
If it's any consolation , I got injured 6 weeks out from the marathon and missed nearly 2 weeks of running , but come the day I still got a pb.
Best of luck and very well done for last week.
Thanks MH :] Your wise words mean a lot.
I'm gonna do my best to stay out of any more trouble before the big day, will bloody get to the start line even if it kills me! (though hope not).
I'm encouraged by your words though. I also managed an 8 miler this morning so feeling better each day. Yay.
Oh no. Don't stretch Sarah while it hurt's. Mix hot and cold shower on that area a minute at a time for 10 mins.
I've never spend time stretching. Everyone's different I know but some over do it as if they're a gymnast and there is no need for it. Just a gentle warm and and a few easy squat's do the trick. Ian F.
block out the negatives and spin your situation into a positive if you can as im sure a bit of downtime will do you a heap of good physically
funnily enough i was saying exactly the same to mrs uc re age,body and stretching. are we doomed now??
Thanks Ian. Am stretching now the hurting has stopped. Though it would be a serious overstatement to compare myself to a gymnast so no worries there. Now feeling much better after lots of icing then very gentle stretching and lots rest. THanks :}
Hi UC, I'm back on the bright side and following your advice. This break has I'm sure done my body a load of good. These old bones can't hack what they used to do either... doomed we are :]
Sorry to hear that RB.
Frustratingly, you can't do much about bad luck and even hard triers get affected by it.
At least your feet are happy for the rest.
NOOOO!Seriously bad luck rb. Thankfully, it sounds like you've rescued the situation. At the risk of sounding like a complete t*at, I've been experimenting with stretching my right leg thoroughly after every session and ignoring my left. The result? Not a blind bit of difference to post-exercise achyness. If anything the right leg marginally worse. Just thought I'd contribute to the confusion! Enjoy the cake.
I'm happy that you're feeling better now Sarah. I feel you have done quite enough already for the marathon and doing great too with you recent 20 miler so chilling out on short easy run's from the back end of this month if you can?
Try to not to worry and think about your recent racing success to keep you good spirits. This might be just what you need to feel mentally fresh come the day after your intensity. Ian F:-)
reading this post, then the comments, then your replies has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster! i'll leave the proper runners to give you the advice. hope that things are still mending and that you're back to training :)
...i have a matching set of 3 grey hairs on both temples. i'll be going for the silver fox look.
Thanks Kate, I'm a drama queen I know.. terrified am gonna do summat daft and miss this marathon. Have no returned to near normal service and legs feel better for the rest.
Is it true that if you pluck two more come back??
Post a Comment