Hello!  How is everyone?  I’m so so happy it’s hump day, that glorious feeling of being half way through the week is amazing.  I hope everyone’s weeks are going well?

Well, like I said in my last blog post, I accidentally ran nearly 13km on Sunday.  Which would be fine and all, if I hadn’t been told by the physio to take it easy.  Apparently 13km pretty much right outta the box isn’t exactly what he’d had in mind … it’s a weird thing but I’ve been in a lot of pain these last couple of days, and just to add insult to injury (literally) the old stress fracture in my right foot has decided to play up too, together with a seriously overtight groin and calf, also on the right.  Obviously, all of these are linked together because the tight groin’s caused the tight calf which has caused pressure on my bone so it’s screaming out in protest, and probably fair enough too but still.  Rude.

Obviously, therefore, it was time to run again today right?!  I should say that this has been getting much better since Sunday – Monday was agony, Tuesday was okay, today I woke up and was like “Actually, you know what, I think I can do this!”.  So I set off to Battersea Park with the intention of doing a 5km run BUT broken up with body weight exercises so that I’d never run more than 1km at a time and the pressure would be off my feet.  See?  Sensible right?  I can totally do sensible.  It was such a glorious morning as well, the first time this year that I’ve been able to head to Battersea without any kind of coat on (I leave home at 06:20 so it’s chillier than it is later in the day).  I started off with a warm-up lap round the track, lots and lots of stretches, and ten pistol squats on each side before heading off into the park itself.  I’ll be honest – the first km was painful, but as soon as I stopped to do some lunges (my set was broken up with these, air-squats, step-ups, pistol squats and stair sprints) it eased and after that every km was easier.  I could, however, hear my foot dragging more than the right (no doubt because I’m doing my usual toe-striking on the right but coming down much further back on my foot on the left), so I knew my gait wasn’t quite right.  Nonetheless I finished the set and made it back to the track to do some core and stretch feeling very pleased with myself … until I cooled down a bit and everything, once more, seized up.  Am I the only one who didn’t see this coming**?

I hobbled off to the physio for my afternoon appointment and, frankly, got a right bollocking, mostly because of the pain on the right.  As he pointed out, it’s no good rushing this and either preventing recovery on the left or causing a reactive injury on my right side.  I know this.  My head tells me every day not to run and to keep stretching, foam rolling and otherwise releasing my back, to take it slowly to get back into running / impact exercises and generally to look after it.  My heart is telling me that that’s fine if it’s an injury with a defined end date – but at the moment I’m in a cycle of doing what the physio tells me, seeing an improvement, but not being able to do anything run/impact wise without it feeling like I’m back at the beginning again (I’m not, because I can walk which is a distinct improvement on Easter Monday – but that’s not how it feels).  I’m finding it 100% soul-destroying to be trapped inside my own body … and not knowing when it’s going to be better, even though I feel like I’m taking far better care of this injury than I have of any other in the past.  I feel like the love and care I’ve lavished on my body recently should be reciprocated!

Anyway, enough moaning – so in an effort to be proactive I’ve phoned my local Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner and booked in a course of acupuncture.  I’ve also resolved to be unbelievably good at foam-rolling and stretching my back, glutes and legs and I WILL beat this stupid nerve.  I’m bigger than it is, surely I should be able to win any fight with it!?!?  I’ve also got some other ideas for some exercises to do this week so I’ll let you know how they go.

xx

**I totally saw this coming.  However I am an optimist and a fool 🙂