Day: 96
Distance: 20.28km/12.60 miles
Distance: 20.28km/12.60 miles
Time: 1:47:19 secs
Calories: 1,552
It's sunny, it's Friday and it's pay day. The Holy Trinity, you might think. Alas, not today.
And to think it started so well. I got up at 4:30am, as planned, with the intention of doing my last long run. I thought it would be difficult getting up at this time, but as soon as the alarm went off I sprang into action. I was looking forward to this run. I was following the same route as the one I ran two weeks ago and I wanted to beat the time that I'd recorded first time round. All was going really well for the first 10 miles.
I had done South London, run through the East end, up into North London and had passed through the West End but while running down the Mall I started to feel some pain in my left knee. I carried on running, but the pain only increased as I ran down Whitehall and past the Houses of Parliament. The pain was unbearable by the time I got to the little park next to Parliament and for the first time in my training I had to stop and walk. I'm pretty stubborn and very determined to do well in the marathon, but I know when enough's enough.
I must have cut a particularly forlorn figure as I walked through the park and over Lambeth Bridge. I tried a little light running a couple of times, but both times the pain (which wasn't apparent when walking) came straight back.
What should have been my triumphant final long run ended in utter defeat aboard the number 12 bus heading home. I felt like crying. All that time, effort and energy I'd committed. More than 13 weeks of training. The money that people had donated. It all looked like it would amount to nothing. How was that fair?
I had thought that this blog post would end in the previous paragraph, but I'm pleased and very, very relieved to say that there is a silver lining to this story. After putting out a self-pitying status update on Facebook I was overwhelmed by the sympathy and physio suggestions I received from a good number of friends. Finally, a useful role for social media.
My mate Jim - who you may remember from earlier blog posts - recommended a place on Chancery Lane called Central Health as he had been there recently when he injured his knee while training for a half marathon. Luckily, I was able to get a lunchtime appointment on Friday and having been to them now I'm also very happy to recommend them to anyone living or working in London who's in need of a physio. I went in at midday feeling pretty despondent and came out at 1pm feeling much more positive.
After putting me through my paces with various tasks such as walking, squatting, hopping, running on a treadmill and a number of stretches the physio told me that I hadn't damaged my knee. I could have kissed her.
It turns out that the Ilotibial band in my left leg is tighter than the one in my right and this was putting added strain on that knee, so all the stretches I've been told to do are to loosen up the muscles in my left leg.
The physio also taped up my left knee to try and correct the position of the knee cap. The upshot of all this is that I need to rest for a couple of days (which is fine as the planned boozy weekend didn't allow for much running anyway) and do the new stretches three times a day and then I should be fine to do some light running on Sunday or Monday. We'll see how it goes, but that news certainly helped to brighten a day which had looked a lot bleaker just an hour before.
It's sunny, it's Friday and it's pay day. The Holy Trinity, you might think. Alas, not today.
And to think it started so well. I got up at 4:30am, as planned, with the intention of doing my last long run. I thought it would be difficult getting up at this time, but as soon as the alarm went off I sprang into action. I was looking forward to this run. I was following the same route as the one I ran two weeks ago and I wanted to beat the time that I'd recorded first time round. All was going really well for the first 10 miles.
I had done South London, run through the East end, up into North London and had passed through the West End but while running down the Mall I started to feel some pain in my left knee. I carried on running, but the pain only increased as I ran down Whitehall and past the Houses of Parliament. The pain was unbearable by the time I got to the little park next to Parliament and for the first time in my training I had to stop and walk. I'm pretty stubborn and very determined to do well in the marathon, but I know when enough's enough.
I must have cut a particularly forlorn figure as I walked through the park and over Lambeth Bridge. I tried a little light running a couple of times, but both times the pain (which wasn't apparent when walking) came straight back.
What should have been my triumphant final long run ended in utter defeat aboard the number 12 bus heading home. I felt like crying. All that time, effort and energy I'd committed. More than 13 weeks of training. The money that people had donated. It all looked like it would amount to nothing. How was that fair?
I had thought that this blog post would end in the previous paragraph, but I'm pleased and very, very relieved to say that there is a silver lining to this story. After putting out a self-pitying status update on Facebook I was overwhelmed by the sympathy and physio suggestions I received from a good number of friends. Finally, a useful role for social media.
My mate Jim - who you may remember from earlier blog posts - recommended a place on Chancery Lane called Central Health as he had been there recently when he injured his knee while training for a half marathon. Luckily, I was able to get a lunchtime appointment on Friday and having been to them now I'm also very happy to recommend them to anyone living or working in London who's in need of a physio. I went in at midday feeling pretty despondent and came out at 1pm feeling much more positive.
After putting me through my paces with various tasks such as walking, squatting, hopping, running on a treadmill and a number of stretches the physio told me that I hadn't damaged my knee. I could have kissed her.
It turns out that the Ilotibial band in my left leg is tighter than the one in my right and this was putting added strain on that knee, so all the stretches I've been told to do are to loosen up the muscles in my left leg.
| The Ilotibial band. Nope, I'd never heard of it either. |
The physio also taped up my left knee to try and correct the position of the knee cap. The upshot of all this is that I need to rest for a couple of days (which is fine as the planned boozy weekend didn't allow for much running anyway) and do the new stretches three times a day and then I should be fine to do some light running on Sunday or Monday. We'll see how it goes, but that news certainly helped to brighten a day which had looked a lot bleaker just an hour before.
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