This consists of cycling on my turbo trainer, weight training and the odd cross training session at the local municipal gym. I will look to build this up to 15hrs a week and then maintain at that for a while. In fact I’ve written off taking part in any ultra events until mid 2013. There are a few reasons for this.
Firstly, all training aside I have to get through the final year of my distance learning hons degree and then straight after that attempt to become a chartered building surveyor. The board I’m aiming for is April 2013. There is a high fail rate but I feel it’s important to continue with the studies straight after my exams in September. There are a lot of people who get to the end of their degree and then ‘take a year off studies’. Problem is many of them never get back into it. Even if I fail next April, I hope the experience serves me well. It’s not as if I’m a novice anyway so I’m confident of getting through first or second go.
Secondly, the injuries; first things first, I have reached a conclusion with regards my posterior impingement. Just to recap, this is borne from a football injury and has caused a small bone growth to occur at the bottom rear of my left tibia which in turns causes the soft tissue between my foot and leg to become swollen when I run. Aside from the subsequent constant pain there is also the fact that it prevents me from fell running. The motion of the foot when traversing uneven ground exacerbates the problem and when attempting to run fast downhill the bone, on occasion strikes the heel bone, when the foot is hyper extended downwards. Clearly, this is an uncompromising situation to find myself in and is the reason I have been pursuing a remedy for almost the past 2 years.
My initial assessment was dealt with by a man with no class. He was abrupt and cold and told me that he would not operate and that I should terminate any running ambitions I had. This prompted me to seek a second opinion. I’ve recently had it. The end result was the same however the surgeon I met at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary explained the issue to me in a kind and sympathetic way. He said that the bone growth was so small that there was not enough clinical evidence to justify its removal. He carried out a few tests to prove his point and as I haven’t been running lately I have no swelling at the joint and therefore little pain to aid my argument. I told him that the problem would resurface as soon as I commenced intensive running training – the swelling and pain, not the bone on bone stuff as I’m obviously not fell running anymore. He did his best with his reply telling me to build up gradually but I knew the case was lost, that he was offering me a generic response which basically said ‘tough cookie old son’. So that’s it then, the NHS can’t help. Any ambitions I had of returning to fell running and mountain marathons are dead in the water. At least I now know this and can give up any false hope of returning to the environment I love to run in. That might sound melodramatic but I also know that things could be mush worse, at least I can still do some form of running.
And this brings me to the reason I haven’t been running since the WHW. I didn’t know it at the time but I had and have an ITB strain. I also had a thigh strain. Both are to my right leg and both commenced weeks before I even ran the WHW! In fact around the 4hr mark of my challenge that day I began to experience pain from the injuries. As odd as this may sound this is around the same time I began to settle into my stride and enjoy the day. Maybe the pain killers did the trick? That was until about Lundavra when the body just gave up. Truth be told, my buddy Rob was going through a few problems which probably diverted my attention for a while and besides, a bit of pain at the end of the challenge was of no significance to me, at the time.
A few days later I took myself out for a 4 miler and realised within a mile that I had a major problem as the knee just completely seized up. Since then I’ve been laid off from running whilst simultaneously pestering my GP to help me get the ITB sorted. I’ve been given a shoe insert from the NHS podiatrist for my right side due to the right leg being shorter than the left by 1cm. Basically what’s happened is that the ITB was being overpronated so often that it suffered from wear and tare. I’ve also been given a few exercises to do by the NHS physio. Turns out I’ve been doing so much strength work on the legs that I’ve overlooked the smaller, hidden muscle groups which simply fatigue out of kilter with the rest of my legs.
The ITB still causes me some problems but I have a gut feeling that it is on the mend now. All I have to do is build back up slowly. This is nicely timed with my first blog in almost 3 months and also with my first longish run in that same period.
My friend Allie Wilson contacted me recently and asked if I’d like to run one of the routes at Mabie Forest this morning. Allie is running the WHW this year and I can’t wait to lend her my support. It’ll be her longest run to date but I know for certain that she’ll have a great day out.
Our route today was almost 14 miles and understandably a big test for me; bearing in mind that I’ve done virtually no running lately. First of all, how would my left foot joint hold up and secondly, how would the right knee get on? I hadn’t planned on doing this type of run or distance for another 2 months but I couldn’t pass up the chance to meet up with Allie who now lives in Edinburgh and comes home infrequently.
The last time we done this we were both fairly comfortable which is what we try to aim for and completed the run in 1hr 52mins. I have done the run by myself in 1hr 38mins but it’s always different when you train alongside others. I wondered how we would get on today.
It didn’t look to be a problem at any point for Allie today. I wish the same could be said for me as I was blowing hard, for most of the run. We finished in 1hr 54mins and my average heart rate was 155. I was surprised by this because the last time I did this route in roughly the same time (in the dark) I did it with less effort, 10bpm to be precise. That said the reason I was surprised was because I was confident that my HR would be much higher, not just a little bit.
As for the injuries; well I’ve had no pain from the left foot joint for ages, so long that I had forgot what it was like. I’m in no doubt now though as it is back and with a vengeance. I’m pinning my hopes on this being what I put up with prior to doing the WHW. By doing so I know that I can continue to train, I just need to get used to the pain again. As for the right knee, well it held up the whole way, no stiffness. The ITB just above the knee joint and surrounding quad are a bit sore now but alls I’ll do is get the ultrasound onto it and I know that by tomorrow it’ll be ok again.
So I suppose that’s it then, I’m coming back. Only I keep coming back to my ambitions and how these will be affected by my constant state of pain. There comes a point in everyone’s life when you come to the realisation that to achieve your goals you have to sacrifice something. It is safe to assume that you do so because you love doing what you set out to achieve. In reality I’m in limbo. I’m still reflecting on the fact that my fell running days are over before they really got going. I also have to get the degree squared away. So I’ve set myself a few new goals.
It is hoped that by the time I get round to focussing on an ultra again I will be ready, mentally. In the mean time I’m going to focus on building a good base and get a bit of all round fitness back. One of the advantages of weight training is that I’m now being signed up to be an extra in the TV series, Spartacus. If only! Na, but I am recapturing some of the old body shape that I had in the latter years of my Army career. On the downside, I’ve put an extra half stone on. This ain’t going to serve my running ambitions any good so I’m going to start trimming the weight back down and aim for much higher reps. My cycling is quite good at the moment but the problem with this is that it had led me into a false sense of security. I had almost got myself into believing that running today wouldn’t be a problem. The fact is there is simply no substitute for actually just getting out there and doing more running.
So to recap, I’m going to build up to 15hrs of training a week which will consist of running, cycling, and weight training – all of which will hopefully be at a fairly low heart rate threshold. I’ll stick with this, mixing things up here and there until next April from when it is hoped I’ll be ready to start looking around for a tasty ultra challenge. In the mean time I can’t wait to be part of the hustle and bustle of supporting Allie at the WHW in June.
Perhaps throw some hillwalking into the mix as well? I thing walking up steep hills is pretty good training for running up hills.
ReplyDeleteIn Ireland we don't have an NHS. We do have a (bloated and inefficient)public health service but most people supplement this with private insurance. The point of this is that people in your situation (an injury that does not comprimise your day-to-day quality of life - when seen as a non-runner)would always go down the private route. It would just be a waste of public money (as viewed from the NHS perspective). As such, an NHS consultant telling you to 'hang up your boots' shouldn't be the end of the affair.
ReplyDeleteBack when I started on distance running I ran myself into a chronic knee injury through bad biomechanics and over training. I couldn't walk with the damage I had caused. I was told that I was 'not designed' to run marathons and should leave it at 10 mile races. I have since completed 9 marathons and 1 ultra. I still get injured but I know how much it costs to have it fixed (mainly private physio) and will pay this price so I can enjoy my passtime.
Don't get me wrong - I'm broke like everyone else but without an expert like the NHS I just won't take no for an answer.
Best of luck.