Setbacks

Yesterday signalled the return to my long run, a 'casual' 14 miler at steady pace to maintain fitness levels before pushing it up to 18 miles next time round. Within minutes, I realised the run would be anything but casual. A stiffness in my shins suggesting I was either fatigued or was suffering from tight muscles. It imposed an excruciating level of discomfort in what would otherwise have been a relaxed opening few miles. By the end of the 5th mile I was forced to stop; I can't recall the last time this happened. I've kept up an impressive record of completing every distance I've set out to cover. However, it now seemed I'd have to settle for a shortened excursion.

After some desperate stretches and loosening my running shoes, I set off again. Breathing was a breeze but the pain continued to dominate. A frustrating experience which suggested I had 9 miles in me at best. I stopped again after mile 6 and found myself walking for a while before I resumed a 3 mile steady jog home. It was during this period, with Eminem blasting through my headphones, that my legs seemed to embrace a new lease of life. Within the next mile, I was feeling fresh enough to up the pace and contemplate the 14 mile run after all. By the time I'd finished mile 8, my face was plastered with a cheeky grin. An astonishing twenty minute turnaround; an emphatic demonstration of the beauty of triumph over adversity. The final five miles presented a new challenge but one I was expecting: the shin splints are back and here to hound me for a while. It'll be back to RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation), but for now my concerns were drowned out by screams of joy at finishing the run in 1h 58. Six minutes above my last 14 mile effort in December, but this race was very much about endurance not speed.

By the end, I was grateful to have gone through the early suffering. There is no doubt in my mind that, however well prepared I may be, I will hit the wall in my first marathon. I anticipate the last few miles being a battle of will, which could well break me. It will be in these moments that I draw on past experience for inspiration. To know that you've overcome the suffering before is a huge weapon. That's what this run gifted to me. Never has suffering been such a pleasure.

I remain concerned about injury; it seems I'm always contending with something. Shin splints have been dealt with before but are a major hassle. More worrying is my right ankle, which seems to flare up in the latter parts of my long runs. They are setbacks, to be sure. But I'm still going for now, at a level that gives me confidence in launching my next project. Stay tuned.