Friends and Family :-)

Maybe I was being very naive, but I'd honestly thought that once I'd worked out my 6 months' notice period and changed from being a GP partner to a locum, I'd have "more time". Time....you know....that precious commodity nobody has enough of, used for sleeping, cleaning, gardening, doing chores....and just generally relaxing.

As it turns out, I hadn't factored in important things such as how much my family and friends mean to me. I've always thought that I lived rather a selfish lifestyle, but actually I've realised that I'd probably do almost anything for a friend in need. This has meant that I've spent an awful lot of time in my car over the past few weeks, visiting friends near and far to support them when required (yes....running, eating and drinking with them, but mainly just being there and listening if that was what was wanted). I've also realised that although to my mind, my parents are still young, fit and active.....time does pass by and every minute I spend with them is precious.

38/40 and still hill racing!

DRC at Tinto Hill Race

Yes, I still love my work and my running, but recently I have been trying to fit everything in and so at times, I've been exhausted. Take last weekend for example.....I met a friend south of the Lake District to pass on a trophy for someone else who was unable to do so themselves and to swop some kit (I love the fact that we runners can call on each other to borrow random items such as a vest, a jacket, a scalpel or an anti venom pump). Then I drove up north to meet up with some friends for possibly the last time before "2 becomes 3" .....and we squeezed in a hill race, which several of my clubmates were also at (how my friend ran so well at 38 weeks pregnant is beyond me!).

A slight "sufferfest" at the 10K

Is it ever warm on Newcastle Town Moor?

After dinner I jumped in my car and drove down to see my parents as I didn't know when we'd next fit in a catchup. After breakfast the next day, and before meeting a good friend (who's had a tough time recently) for lunch, I squeezed in a 10k as I knew that would make me get out and run, even if I didn't really feel motivated to do so.

I drove for a couple of hours to get home, and then felt guilty that the out of hours service was understaffed so went in to work for a couple of hours. That evening I was so tired that I physically ached, but life's for living........I can't imagine being without my family and friends, and know they will be there for me if ever I need them, so what's a few hours of driving between us? 

Injury Management

Sometimes injuries stop you running completely, sometimes they "should" stop you running, but sometimes they can be "managed" and the skill is knowing which of these possibilities is right for you/your injury at that time.

I initially developed a problem with my right leg back in the springtime. Initially I ignored it (what runner doesn't?) but when it started to hurt everytime I ran, with a tender hard lump developing on the shin on each occasion, I decided it was time to rest it. However, this didn't really seem to alter it either but before returning to racing I decided that a trip to the physio was in order. An ultrasound didn't show any periosteal reaction so we figured it wasn't a developing stress fracture or reaction, and there didn't seem to be any evidence of tissue herniating through the fascia....so although I was none the wiser about what was causing it, I returned to running (albeit it would hurt on occasion....).

A windy checkpoint "on the Peak"

Roll on over 6 months and I still have the same problem - my shin can hurt depending on how I land (the part of my foot, the speed I'm going, whether up or down, the terrain etc), and the lump increase/decreases in size but it has got no worse. However, whether due to subconsciously trying to protect this leg...or the very odd running style I developed at the end of the 100K in China (the girls said that I looked so knackered that I was running on a complete lopsided tilt)....I suddenly developed tendonitis of my left ankle. Unfortunately I've had tendonitis before so I knew what the pain, the slightly reddened swelling and the crepitus meant....time to listen to my body and let it heal as best it could.

Part of the "event" map

My ankle seemed to be in favour of softer surfaces and so luckily the weekend's plans involved some more gentle off-road running in the Peak District. Three friends had combined their 40ths to host a "120th Birthday Event" which saw us split up into teams and find checkpoints in the hills round Glossup. We had to take pictures of the whole team at "base" checkpoints, and of 1 of a pair of runners we sent out to further checkpoints. We had a 3 hour time limit...which turned out to be almost the exact weather window of the day, as it turned very cold, windy and wet just as we headed back for warming pasta, tea and cake - a fun way of socialising whilst still getting out and doing a bit of running, but not aggravating my niggles!

With Jacquie pre-Hexham

Hexham 10K

Another gentle week then saw me testing my ankle out on road with a friend over 10K in Hexham. It was a new event and so we had no clue as to what the course would be like...as it turned out, it was mainly an out and back along a pretty country road, with a short run over a bridge and across a field to the finish, taking the distance slightly over 10K. My ankle didn't feel too bad (though the rest of me didn't feel too good....amazing how quickly you can feel that you've lost some of your fitness).

Running round the side of CatBells

A cheeky trophy at Hexham

I took it easy again, but then midweek realised that although my shin was still causing me hassle, the ankle no longer hurt and so I entered and ran the Derwentwater 10 at the weekend. I've done this race on several occasions in the past which puts me under pressure (I know, just from myself) to run it well. The course was changed last year to change from the old 9.8mile route to a 10.1mile one so it's rare for people to match their old times, but the fact that the weather was much better this year meant that my lower level of fitness and mojo almost equalled out so I was a mere 3s down on last year's time.

That's the ankle sorted then....and as for the shin...it's gone on for so long that I really must think about getting some proper imaging of it to ensure that I'm doing no harm by still running on it. Fingers crossed....