The Olympic Dream Is Over
Nah, who am I kidding?
But it’s true that my marathon dream might be over, for this year at least. Less than 2 months to go and my right quadricep (the bit at the front of the thigh) (which for days I admittedly thought was my hamstring – I’m no doctor!), just isn’t getting any better.
I could of course blame my Garmin which decided to conk out on me a few weeks back during a long run. My goal that day was to do a steady 17 miles, but due to the sat nav function on my Garmin stopping at inopportune moments, it transpired when I got home that I had in fact run TWENTY miles, which kind of explained just why I was feeling so sore.
When you have never run 20 miles before, it is very difficult to establish how you are supposed to feel afterwards. Clearly, there would be a level of tiredness, but how extreme that level is supposed to be is just not defined. I was shattered – after a half attempt at an ice bath, loads and loads of cooling down exercises, I spent the evening with my legs elevated, barely compos mentis.
Not only until a few days had passed did I realise that part of my body was taking longer to recover from that run – my right leg. To say it hurt though would have been too strong a comment, the term I used was “weak”. It just did not feel right.
So to be on the safe side, my marathon planning went from plan A to a sort of plan B. Yes, it was gutting to admit that I would be unlikely to now achieve a sub 4 hour marathon, but at least I was still, well in the running, so to speak. My marathon chart went from a load of ticks to a lot of gut wrenching crosses.
But after 10 days rest, of wearing trainers to work, flat shoes throughout the day, and not doing anything overly energetic, I tried a test run on Thursday night.
I started out very slow, put some classical music on the mp3, listened to what my body was telling me. And it was telling me to stop. Yes, I was frustrated and angry. In an act of defiance, I ramped up the music to some AC/DC and as I tell my friends, “legged it down the road”.
Wind in my face, feeling so free. Smile turned into a grimace. Part of my brain shouted. Ignored it. Got shouted at again. Stopped.
Swore.
Tried not to cry.
The next day I purchased arnica (a herbal remedy that is good for swelling) and some other vitamin that the chemist recommended that looks like it should be taken mashed up in food rather than orally, given the size of the tablets.
I have allowed myself 14 days of rest. When I’m feeling miserable, I do keep looking back at my previous blog post and that last paragraph. Keep reminding myself of those words. There’s always next year I suppose. Watch this space!
Follow me @JWilbyPalmer
But it’s true that my marathon dream might be over, for this year at least. Less than 2 months to go and my right quadricep (the bit at the front of the thigh) (which for days I admittedly thought was my hamstring – I’m no doctor!), just isn’t getting any better.
I could of course blame my Garmin which decided to conk out on me a few weeks back during a long run. My goal that day was to do a steady 17 miles, but due to the sat nav function on my Garmin stopping at inopportune moments, it transpired when I got home that I had in fact run TWENTY miles, which kind of explained just why I was feeling so sore.
When you have never run 20 miles before, it is very difficult to establish how you are supposed to feel afterwards. Clearly, there would be a level of tiredness, but how extreme that level is supposed to be is just not defined. I was shattered – after a half attempt at an ice bath, loads and loads of cooling down exercises, I spent the evening with my legs elevated, barely compos mentis.
Not only until a few days had passed did I realise that part of my body was taking longer to recover from that run – my right leg. To say it hurt though would have been too strong a comment, the term I used was “weak”. It just did not feel right.
So to be on the safe side, my marathon planning went from plan A to a sort of plan B. Yes, it was gutting to admit that I would be unlikely to now achieve a sub 4 hour marathon, but at least I was still, well in the running, so to speak. My marathon chart went from a load of ticks to a lot of gut wrenching crosses.
But after 10 days rest, of wearing trainers to work, flat shoes throughout the day, and not doing anything overly energetic, I tried a test run on Thursday night.
I started out very slow, put some classical music on the mp3, listened to what my body was telling me. And it was telling me to stop. Yes, I was frustrated and angry. In an act of defiance, I ramped up the music to some AC/DC and as I tell my friends, “legged it down the road”.
Wind in my face, feeling so free. Smile turned into a grimace. Part of my brain shouted. Ignored it. Got shouted at again. Stopped.
Swore.
Tried not to cry.
The next day I purchased arnica (a herbal remedy that is good for swelling) and some other vitamin that the chemist recommended that looks like it should be taken mashed up in food rather than orally, given the size of the tablets.
I have allowed myself 14 days of rest. When I’m feeling miserable, I do keep looking back at my previous blog post and that last paragraph. Keep reminding myself of those words. There’s always next year I suppose. Watch this space!
Follow me @JWilbyPalmer
Comments
Post a Comment