THE GOOD BUCK

Just a quick update on the plantar problem.

I’ve been doing the stretches, and I’ve started properly warming up before runs (which I should have been doing from day one) and I think it’s very manageable. My heels are sore and it’s less than ideal, but it’s nothing like the day that made me consult Doctor Google. That day I got up, no warm up, and blasted out 14 miles at 7.29 m/m (mara pace +10%). The rest of the day I could barely walk. Every time I sat down it took me minutes of shuffling to get my feet to stop hurting enough to be able to walk properly. I was scared that was how it was going to be after every run, which probably wouldn’t have been sustainable. It definitely wouldn’t have been sustainable if the pain got worse as the condition of my plantar deteriorated. Those were my thoughts and fears.

I did a long (18 miles), quite nippy, run the other day and my feet were sore, but not terrible. Then I tried to go fast. The plan said 5 miles running, (which I did at 7.37) then 5 miles at half marathon pace. My half pace is only my target mara pace (6.50) at the mo, so I pushed a bit harder. I wanted 6.30, averaged 6.40. Meh. The point is, I was going hard. My feet were OK the next day, once I’d got over the ‘getting out of bed and stretching’ bit.

I’ve been training for 9 months, 5 and 6 days a week, coming from 2 months of zero running and nearly killing myself to get here (which, to be fair, is how I like to train), I’m 10 weeks off my target marathon and I’ve landed a pretty major injury.

For a week or so I’d been moaning to Wendy about sore heels. I thought it might be the new slogging trainers I bought, they are made to be everyday trainers so very durable. The first run in them felt like running in boots. Stiff boots. Possibly boots with wooden insoles. (They don’t feel so bad now.) Then I switched back to the Advanced Marathoning training plan, which takes no prisoners. I did a 15 mile run at “marathon pace +10%” which is 7.30m/m for me. I went to work and every time I got out of my truck it was taking me a few minutes of limping around, shuffling little steps, until my feet started working again. That is definitely not right. I had a look and Doctor Google said it’s clear cut Plantar Fasciitis. It some sort of nerve or tendon or something that runs along the sole of the foot. It gets inflamed and can be pretty damned uncomfortable. The treatments are all about rest and stretching. The first one I read said it can take from 2 months to a year but it should clear up completely. Obviously that’s no good for me.

I gave it 3 days rest and had a catastrophic failure of mojo. I was ready for throwing in the towel. Not just on my sub 3 challenge, but running altogether. It was weird. I just felt utterly beaten down and sad. Happily that passed.

I’m having a bit of a crisis with my running. I did that 1.26 half marathon a few weeks ago and thought everything was totally on track. They say if you can run a 1.25 half then you are good for a sub 3 hour marathon.

But…

Garmin, (my satnav watch) were having tracking issues. The pace was all over the place, one extreme example it had me running at 17 m/m then 6m/m a few seconds later. It was during that patch I ran the 1.26. I thought the distance and time would be right, even if the live pace tracking was a joke.

I’ve had a bit of a trauma this week.

I’m in my final cycle of training. 13 weeks today I’m going for my sub 3 attempt. Do or die. I’ve been in training for 8 months. It will have been 10 months of my life dedicated to this one goal. Everything is playing second fiddle to this. I’m getting up at stupid o’clock to do runs before 11+ hour shifts, finish work, shower, food, bed. I had to get up at 05.00 on my day off to get a run before the worst of the heat in our heatwave recently. As I said I’m in the final bit. The plan is tailored to my race, I’ve just got to follow it through to the end, which is the marathon.

Then on Friday, out of the blue, I got an email from my marathon saying they’ve decided to move it to April.

I did my long awaited test half marathon on Sunday. I larded up and rested for two days beforehand to give myself the best possible shot at it.

It was windier than I would have liked, and by an ironic bit of bad timing, Garmin (my gps sports watch) are having issues. The first time I’ve noticed any problem in 11 years of running and it’s on an important test run. Typical. The problem seems to be the live pace indicator. One second it’s telling you you are running too slow, then next too fast. Not ideal when you are trying to pace at your limit for 13 miles.

Anyway, I’ve checked everything in every way I can think of, and although the live pace is all over the place, the distance is exactly accurate, and even when glitching my watch can tell the time, so the overall time for my half should be right. My last half was 1.29:19 (and that was a huge PB) I ran this one in 1.26:44!