Lull before the Storm

Not a great deal to report this time, the calf strain picked up at the Lea Valley Marathon has healed after a weeks rest (well just under to be precise) and last weeks mileage totalled 46 & a bit, carrying a 4.5kg pack for a couple of the runs, with no problems.

Tiredness is the only problem at the moment, due to my wife’s long working hours and the early starts, but life goes on.

The running shoes for next year have arrived, a meaty pair of New Balance M1100MDS trainers in MDS colours which are a size & half bigger than normal, to allow the foot to swell due to the heat. They look like a canal boat when on and training is going to prove fun, so a couple of thick pairs of socks will be needed to fill them out. Weight training will be needed due to the weight so not suitable for quick 5km races.

Sponsorship for GOSHCC has started to come in and is now about £550, so more pressure will be placed on people to get the money in.

That’s about all this time, it’s been quiet, but hopefully things will pick up and there will be more to report after next months Steppingly Challenge in Bedford, which is a marathon organised by the LDWA, on the 9th November.

Safe Running
Rich

My First DNF - Don't Ask

What a disaster this turned into, and what long term damage has it done.

The race itself was a very flat run from St Margaret’s in Hertfordshire, along the Lea Valley into London, finishing near the site of the new Olympic stadium (apparently). Apparently, because I never got there. A nice course with little in the way of climbs (only on small bridges across the river) but with a section on loose gravel and trails that twisted and turned with great regularity. It was these turns that caused the problem.

I was charging along well inside PB pace, in fact a good 20 mins inside PB pace and feeling full of running at 11 miles in 1hr 18 min and not feeling tired, which after the previous 3 weeks I was expecting, however it was the footing that led to my downfall (almost literally), as I ran through the trails that formed a switch-back onto the route I felt a pull on the outside of my right calf, that started to ache almost straight away and gradually got worse as I progressed. The next 5 miles took me 45 minutes and by the time I got to 19 miles I could only run a few strides before hobbling a few more. This was the lowest point I thought until the stomach decided to join in and I started being sick (lasted for another day – but enough info on that). I had to think long term and decided that this was to be my first DNF of my career since 2001. I had to reason with myself that to continue could result in a tear that would seriously jeopardise the MDS and that was more inportant that this.

I knew I could have finished and having done the Shotley race 3 weeks ago knew the distance wasn’t a problem. Perhaps I went off too quick and was over confident, but i felt good for the first section and felt I could really benefit on this run from the training and work I had done in the past few months. Now all I can do is take this week off and try to resume training as soon as I feel able to, I will have to reduce the output when I return, but hopefully, as I have 5 months left I will be back soon enough not to have lost much of the training fitness I have done. A bit of water running this week will help and gym work will continue as before.
Only time will tell.