Breaking it down

With just over a fortnight remaining before my first planned race, injury continues to paralyse my efforts. I've now had three sessions with therapist Patrick Cane, who continues to emphasise the importance of stretches, teaching me new tricks along the way. I almost look forward to our weekly sessions, despite the inevitable discomfort of his deep muscle massage. Sports therapists are the real world analogues of Jack Bauer; getting paid to inflict pain. In an almost masochistic way, I quite like the idea of my dodgy muscles being broken down so that they can rebuild in the right way. It's definitely worth putting up with if the long term result is easier, pain free running.

Speaking of which, I did venture out on an 8 mile run on Thursday. I'd not ran for over a week so was wary of my fitness levels, even though I had kept up CV training through swimming and the cross trainer. The result was adequate enough; 62 minutes suggesting I was still on form. The shin splints were minor extras, but the foot pains stole the show again. The pain surfaced at mile three, peaked at five and then stabilised. How on Earth I'm meant to run twice this in a fortnight is a daunting prospect. Still, with continued therapy and lots of stretching and therapeutic remedies (think Radox baths and hot water bottles), I'm hoping the pain will get no worse and maybe even disperse over the crucial weeks ahead.

Paris remains on, but with tempered expectations; I am mentally prepared for the very real possibility that the marathon will be delayed. The kilomathon will be an honest measure of if I am on course in two weeks. Until then, I am having to compromise on mileage, striking a balance between not overdoing it but running enough to condition myself for the full race. My training has taken a severe hit, but is not quite dead in the water.

A welcome relief from this strain was a return to the Countdown studios as a contestant; see the next post for a review (no spoilers).