Training gets underway... then stops.

My post-Carlisle training for the marathon in April started after a week's recovery, with 28 weeks to go to London. I joined strava for the extra accountability, and my initial two weeks started with me not actually training for the marathon, of course, given it was 28 weeks away, but just starting to build up a good base again, with a couple of 20-ish mile weeks. The first week went pretty well, and the second week started the same. Again, a mix of speed sessions and recovery runs. Some new types of sessions for me, too, to get my head around. Some more successfully than others! But regardless, it was going well. This training will be mental, as well as physical, so the tougher sessions are just as vital - and also, as weird as it sounds, I had some really great mental training last week by running with Dave who was visiting from America, and has asked if we could go for an early morning run together while he was here. I'd offered city centre sights, or coastal sunrise, and he opted for the latter (yay flat!) - and I checked he was happy to run at my pace (which was set at my 'steady' pace zone, 11 mins/mile, for 5 miles). It was going to be a big challenge for me to focus on my training goal, and not make any adjustments to what I felt my running partner might want to do - and not have any anxiety about my speed relative to what he usually runs at, etc. But actually, on the day, it was brilliant - Dave was a fantastic person to run with, the chat was comfortable and easy (until the effort in the latter miles meant my side of the conversation was a wee bit quieter, haha) and I stuck perfectly to my pace zones throughout. I considered it a complete victory of a training run, and really thought my training was going smoothly.

Admittedly, that's not strictly true, as every single run since Carlisle had included a bit of discomfort in my left foot (specifically my heel on the sole of my left foot) for the first mile before easing off, and after the run there was a wee bit of knee pain (right only) that didn't last too long either - presumably as some sort of compensatory change to my gait due to my left foot hurting. I approached people I trust for advice, instead of the wider community, and started stretching my calves a bit more diligently, but the discomfort continued. Not bad, but there. I'd first noticed it during the half marathon, so now we were 3 weeks in. I was taking care, watching what I was doing, and looking out for any changes.


looking like a runner! pic credit:
A McKay, Edinburgh Sweatshop

My second week of training had 5 runs in the plan, the 4th being parkrun. As it was the same day as the Jedburgh ultra, which I fancied doing a bit of spectating at, I decided to stay much closer to home for this parkrun, and went along to the Portobello one for the first time. I was met with a friendly welcome, on a pretty grotty weather day - it was windy, raining, and all round dismal. But it's 'only' 5km, haha. My plan was not to run this one aiming for a PB or anything, just take it as it comes. The course was described to me as a wee bit 'bumpy', but I asked the event director to explain the route, and she pointed at a small incline and said "that's the steepest hill", so I felt reassured! It's a 3 lap course, so I decided to feel out the first lap, and see how I felt to push from there - and that's exactly what I did. :-) It was a wee bit congested to start, until everyone spread out a bit, and yeah, quite an undulating course, without being hilly. A nice one, I'll do it again. :-) My mile splits worked out as 10:31 / 10:28 / 10:11 then a wee bit to finish, with my official time being 32:34 - I was really happy with that, especially as I wasn't pushing hard and didn't go out for a fast time. Hopefully another time, with a different focus for the run, I could do really well there. So that's me done 93 parkruns now!! 93! Mad.

Anyway, the foot and knee niggles had returned during and after this run, but I didn't have time for stretching, as I had to rush home, get a quick shower, then get down the road to Jedburgh. Once there, and caught up with lovely people, Noanie as one of the race directors had me doing a wee bit of helping out, keeping me busy. :-) After that, I stuck to my plan of doing a bit of spectating, and really enjoyed the chance to catch up with some people I don't get to see very often. Lots of chat!!

The race was won in some style by Lee Kemp, who broke the course record, as did Lorna MacMillan for the ladies. Great performances followed, by loads of my friends and acquaintances in the amazing ultra community I'm proud to be part of - and I ended up hanging around the finish area for over 4 hours, with a small break away to go get a cuppa and bacon roll, lol. It was brilliant to see so many people doing so well, and awesome to get the hugs and banter, as usual!

Standing around in near enough one place for so long, however, I'd started to notice my foot pain increasing, and my calves tightening. I tried to move a bit more, when I could, but regardless, on the drive home I was cursing not doing any stretching earlier. At home, I half-heartedly stretched, but decided a full night of sleep was a better plan. In the morning, my foot hurt, though it eased off a wee bit as I moved around the flat - so my planned long run of 10 miles was still on the cards. I set off at around 11am, but a mile in I noticed that the foot discomfort wasn't easing off as it usually did, and my calves were feeling tight too. I stopped to stretch a few minutes later, and after a wee bit, started running again, but almost immediately my knee buckled, and I came to a stop. Off went the Garmin, I walked home, and I made an appointment with an osteopath.

Chatting to the fella writing my training plan, we agreed to me taking the full week off running this week - and then seeing what the osteo said, to take it from there. So, Tuesday morning saw me lying on a bench, having all manner of things done to my legs, haha. My heel pain, as I'd suspected, wasn't plantar fasciitis, even though 'Dr Google' would have me believe it to be, and it thankfully wasn't a stress fracture either. It's all down to my having a slightly misaligned pelvis, and thus one leg slightly longer than the other, which creates an imbalance with foot strike when I run, etc... It was a very promising appointment, and she was incredibly upbeat and positive - I left with some exercises and stretches to focus on (not the ones I'd been doing beforehand), and a follow-up appointment for a week later.

So that's where I am now, coming to the end of a week of total rest - with 25 weeks to go until the marathon, and my second appointment with the osteopath a few days away. I'm thrilled to be doing this now, rather than having ran through it, or diagnosed it incorrectly though google or 'asking runners on facebook' with their myriad of well-meaning advice, and risking my training - as it is, this is the perfect time to sort out my niggles before my training starts to increase. Plenty of time to get myself sorted. :-) The foot pain has been easing off as the week goes on, and I'm feeling really positive about fixing this, with professional help, and the benefit of time on my side. x