Gatliff Marathon - None Starter

This was an event I was looking forward to, and had made arrangements with John Greenbank, another 2009 MdS runner I had been in contact with via the Best of Morocco web-site, to meet up and run together and have a chat. However the race was a non-starter for me due to an injury sustained in my left knee.

A week ago I was out on a good long Sunday morning run, however the weather had turned against me and was making life difficult. Now most weather conditions I am happy to run in. Not particularly keen on strong wind, but everything else is fine. On this Sunday it was a combination of strong winds, snow and sleet, and it was the sleet coming in on a horizontal plane that was causing the problem. I had my beanie hat almost covering my eyes and a buff pulled up to the top of my nose, so only had a slit to see out of and, as can be guessed, I missed the edge of a kerb and twisted my knee.

Stupid I know, but it was the only way I could see comfortably. I had hoped that a lot of rest would see me right and although it did feel better towards the end of the week there was no way I would last for 31 miles in the mud etc, so decided on the Saturday afternoon not to run. Sent my apologies to John, who, politely, cursed me as I had persuaded him to run in the race too (he’ll thank me for it in the long run?!?), and planned to run a 5 miler on Sunday instead.

That proved too much again, as after 2 miles the knee started to buckle and it was a steady walk home rather than carrying on – right decision not to do the marathon, but hopefully if the knee has improved then next Sunday I will try to find another race to do and still keep training as well.