First post of the year.

Well the first 2 weeks of the new year has passed by in a whirlwind.... Could do with holiday...!!!!!

My running has been very mixed for the last 2 weeks as it has for the last 6 weeks due to my pesky Achilles injury.

My runs started as always on new years day (it is a tradition now that I have to get out before midday and run at least 6 miles). We were invited to a buffet lunch at Anna's sister, so I decided to run there and have a shower and change at her house.

The new years day run is always about getting out there and making a statement about my intentions to run for the year. It is never likely to be a record breaking run so I don't take my watch and I don't really know the distance I have run. This year I started with a headache and due to running 26 miles in the last 2 days of 2010 my ankle started to ache within a couple of miles of the run. However as I continued to run my headache disappeared but my ankle was still aching which gave me some concern as my thoughts were in 21 days was my first Ultra of the year.
I finished the run of around 10 miles give or take half a mile, I then realised that in all the times I had visited Anna's sister I did not realise that she did not have a shower and my legs were fairly muddy, but hey ho its not the first time I had to make do with a strip wash. The lunch tasted all the better for the run I had just completed.

Over the last 2 weeks I have completed several runs every one of them has finished regardless of the distance with my ankle aching. So you can understand my concern about how I am going to complete 2 45miles days next week.

However this Tuesday I read an article posted on a running forum I use by another fellow Ultra runner, he had written about Achilles injuries. Without going into the full details the gist of it was that you don't stop running with a minor Achilles injury. If you do rest it then scar tissue can build up and this can hinder or potentially worse be a career stopping injury. Anyway the article went on to explain some strengthening exercises.
I have been doing these all this week, it made no difference for my Thursday runs I still had the dull ache.

However I have just come back from a 12 mile run this evening and I can honestly say that I have had no tweaks or aches for the whole run.. I have also been shovelling Ibuprofen down my throat like sweets, but I have not had any for over 24 hours, so with out tempting fate maybe I have turned a corner...

I have a longish run to do on Tuesday so that will be the telling run......

Having said all that regardless of how it goes I will be attending the race as the ache does not stop me running its just a hindrance although it might prove difficult for day 2....

More on Tuesday........