So the fall-out has fallen out and the dust has settled. The
sun has set and the clichés have clichéd on my London Marathon 2015 bid.
After 14+ weeks of solid training, during which I actually
started to convince myself I was going to run really well, I suddenly suffered
a knee injury.
On the Saturday I ran a PB at Park Run Harcourt Hill and it hurt a small amount, on Sunday I attempted Eynsham Duathlon and it hurt a large amount. That afternoon it seized up and for two days I could barely walk on it.
I had some physio, I Rested, Iced, Compressed and Elevated but two
days before the event I was still unable to run more than 500metres without
pain.
The good news is that I have deferred my place to next year
so need for the ballot.
At first it was hard to pinpoint exactly what caused the
injury. Liz Soames, the excellent therapist I saw, has given me some exercises
to do to provide extra stability and strength in the key areas as she
pinpointed a weakness in those areas and I know that I ‘run crooked’ by
dropping my right shoulder as I run (particularly when tired - see the picture to the right).
Those will help a lot and should help increase my speed –
particularly over longer distances. But I think that the cause of the injury
was far more elementary than that and identifies more stupidity on my
part.
I had two pairs of trainers on the go (same make and model);
one new and one older. Without really taking notice I had used the older pair
for all of my long runs and a good portion of the medium runs to work. The
newer pair had been used for speed work.
When I sat down and worked it out, the older pair is now
probably almost 18 months old. If I estimate an average of 20 miles per week in
that time, those trainers had seen me through almost 1,500 miles.
When I examined the soles I could see that the instep side
of the forefoot and heel were very badly worn which must have put considerable
extra pressure on my knee.
What a basic mistake to make.
Still. No point crying about it. There are still events this
year including Blenheim, Boscombe and Oxford triathlons and I have an entry for
Abingdon Marathon in October.
And, while I didn’t make the final destination of my
training, I have really enjoyed the journey. I am fitter than ever before, I have
rekindled old friendships and made new connections. I have loved blogging and
reading other’s blogs and two people have messaged me to say they had been
inspired to start running and are really enjoying it.
