Week 14 - Transferral of Pain

It was Wednesday before I hit the streets again after my sixteen mile Sunday run. My 'race pace' had left me slightly stiffer than usual but otherwise I felt fairly good... or so I thought. Come Wednesday I set for the usual 5 miles but it seemed like someone had attached a concrete breezeblock to the underside of each of my trainers. The first 3 miles were some of the toughest yet which was frustrating because at this stage of the game they should be easy. Thankfully the weight in my legs just seemed to melt away after 3 and a half miles and I finished up ok.

I planned an easy 8 miles for Friday evening and that's what I got, it was the usual riverside route with Wes but we started off with a lap round the park which made it feel a bit fresher. With just over two weeks to go I figured the less eventful the remaining runs the better. So I just had one more run to do - a 10 mile race around Twickenham on the Sunday.

With a much more leisurely start time of 10am I rocked up to The Cabbage Patch pub at 09.30 and spent the final minutes ahead of the start in a seriously long queue for the loo - another good preparation measure for New York. With time to spare I lined up with about 1500 others and waited for the gun. The atmosphere was very friendly and there were groups of runners from various clubs in and around London all chatting away. The route meandered around Twickenham and then followed the Thames down to Kingston before turning back and hugging the other side of the river back to the start. Once again I started off fast but was genuinely surprised when my first mile came in at just under 8 and a half minutes... way too fast. I slowed up and let hundreds of runners pass me by.

As I settled back to a much more manageable 09.30 pace I was enjoying the run and was thinking about how I really want to keep up the regular running after New York. And then something pretty unusual began, I felt a niggle in my right knee. Employing the Non Marathon Runners Guide technique of 'but it doesn't matter' I carried on but it wouldn't go away. And then it got worse. And it got more painful. I began to worry, enough to slow to a walk. In Kingston I felt like I was bringing up the rear and The Cabbage Patch 10 was no different, especially when I slowed down, but as I limped along hundreds more people passed me by. Many of them shouted words of encouragement to get me going again. I tried a couple of times to break back into a jog but this was a pain like I hadn't felt before and a 10 mile Twickenham race was not the event to jeopardise my plans for New York.

To cut a rather long and boring story short I spent the remaining 3.5 miles walking (interspersed with a few short trots) and managed to lurch over the finish line in a blur of snot and tears. Nice. It was frustration and worry more than anything else. I queued to see the physio but it was really long and I was getting cold so I opted for a KFC, a Yorkie Bar and a shower when I got home. I rested up for the remainder of the day and stretched and massaged my legs with The Stick.

The Cabbage Patch Finish Line

It's Monday today and I'm still in quite a bit of discomfort. It's the outside of my right knee (not an previously troublesome area - but then again I've had a new pain nearly every week) and it bloomin' hurts when I extend it and bend it. I'm pretty sure it's a mild (fingers crossed) case of runners knee - similar to the niggle in my left knee I experienced back in Week 3. I'm confident that if I rest it (i'm not going to try running again until the end of Week 15), ice it, talk to it and play it some Jack Johnson it will respond favourably and make a full recovery. I haven't really thought about the alternatives. There were some worried looking faces when I hobbled into the office but hey - a little drama is always entertaining right?!?