Baby Steps

After tentatively putting my toe back into the water, figuratively speaking, this week has been all about finding my feet again, trying to get into something of a working rhythm.

Damage done to the right side of the soles when
I was hobbling along at the start of the injury. I had to chuck them out.

It started very gently with a couple of very short runs over the weekend, the shortest block in the neighbourhood, not even 2 miles. I most likely would have kept that going but on Tuesday I went for a lunchtime run with some work colleagues and I knew it would be a bit longer. It started out very slowly, which suited me perfectly fine, but somehow the pace kept decreasing and before I knew it we ran the last bit at sub-8 pace, which I didn't think I'd be able to do. However, what really pleased me was the fact that there was no reaction from the hip, so all was good.

Since then I have been slightly increasing the mileage, but with a couple of off days, usually when it would have been awkward to fit in a run into a very busy work schedule, bit a good thing anyway in my present state.

The biggest limiting factor right now is actually not the hip but the loss of fitness over the last few weeks. I did a fair amount of cycling (the commute adds up to almost 100 miles a week if I cycle every day) but that's simply not the same and I require some much more specific training to keep the legs going.

Of course it all was dead slow at the start, barely faster than 10-minute miles, but that has improved considerably already. Saturday was the run where I really noticed the difference. Up to then I had felt awkward and somewhat uncoordinated but the the muscle memory seems to have kicked in again and it felt much more natural.

I still need to be careful, I can feel the hip again now (Sunday). It doesn't hurt, and it's quite different to how it felt a few weeks ago, but it's a warning sign nevertheless.

When I go injured initially, I could not really stand on my right leg, I was completely unstable. I did notice that when trying to put on my socks and trousers while standing up. After a while things improved a bit and I managed as long as I had something to lean against in case of emergency. A few weeks later still I was fine balancing, as long as I managed to steady myself just before shifting the weight onto my right leg. By now that has cleared up, my balance is back to normal and my right leg can take the weight and be completely stable, no m
atter what. That's how I can tell that the injury is just about to clear up.

The last time I had a very similar injury, in 2015, it followed a very similar pattern. And weirdly enough, my first "race" back was a 39 mile ultra, which wasn't the most fun I've ever had in a race, especially over the last third, but I got it done and then I knew I would be fine. This time, my first scheduled race is again a 39 mile ultra, and while I'm a bit apprehensive about it, and I know full well that it's going to be hard work and not all fun and games, I'm nevertheless looking forward to it.

24 Feb

1.75 miles, 16:18, 9:18 pace, HR 140

26 Feb

3.95 miles, 34:53, 8:49 pace, HR 153

28 Feb

4.07 miles, 38:26, 9:26 pace, HR 144

1 Mar

4.05 miles, 37:15, 9:11 pace, HR 143

2 Mar

5.16 miles, 43:41, 8:27 pace, HR 148

3 Mar

3.6 miles, 31:06, 8:36 pace, HR 146

   treadmill