Tuesday 2 August 2011

The joy of running again...

Well it’s a new month and hopefully for me a turning point for me regarding my running.

July was not a very good running month for me in fact I had 3 weeks were I did not run at all. It was all about finding out what my injury was and if I could train with it.

After a few appointments the general consensus is that I have a sports Hernia (Gilmore’s Groin). This needs to be formally diagnosed yet but I am waiting for a CT or MRI scan.

Once I had an idea what my injury was I did some research into the possibility of running with the injury until I could start a formal treatment program which potentially will be surgery.

I found out that it is possible to run with a hernia but the advice is to invest in some compression shorts (Warm Pants).

I decided to start running though without them so I could assess the level of pain without any aids. I did a couple of 10k’s and boy did the first 2-3 miles hurt on each run then it seemed to settle down. It still hurt but the pain was a more manageable level.

My warm pants dutifully arrived, I tried them on and was a little disappointed as first impressions seemed to be that although they were thicker than standard lycra shorts I could not feel or see how the compression was going to work in the lower abdominal  area.

Still not loosing faith I grabbed the dog and we went for a run, and to my surprise I did not feel the level of pain that I had been experiencing, there was still pain there but it was like having a dull ache (a bit like a used leg muscle ache after 50miles of running). For me this was the result I wanted as now it opened the door back up for me to resume my training.

I finished July with a flourish and managed a reasonable 52 miles in the final week.

While I had been inactive I had decided to look at what my major race plans would be for next year. I find that if I don’t plan ahead then I quickly loose focus and my training becomes very aimless.

I kept getting drawn to the JOGLE, but kept dismissing it as the financial outlay is huge when you have a family to consider.
Then Anna dropped a bombshell she suddenly said one evening that she had signed me up and I was in the JOGLE 2012 race, it felt like all my birthdays and Christmases had come at once. I think I am going to owe her for this one for years to come….

I am under no illusions I have a huge task ahead of me to get the right training in to give myself the best possible chance to finish this race. I am going to have to learn to go slow on all my long runs and also I need to put some solid training weekends in where I am running 60 miles a day for 2 or 3 days.

Its exciting times and I am very much looking forward to the next few months, although this hernia is a slight thorn in the side…

I have even managed to secure a sponsor to provide me with clothing for the JOGLE attempt.

This Saturday is my birthday so I intend to put a long training run in, if my warm pants can take it

More soon…..

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