Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would come to this. After my last run (W7R2) last Thursday I haven't run since. Yes, it's grey, miserable, damp and cold, but I can cope with that. What I can't cope with is that my body has let me down! Am I getting old?
My last run was only my second outdoors, and I was beginning to really enjoy it. I'd found a nice route, up hill and down, with a bit of woodland and a mix of tarmac (Milton Keynes redways) and gravel. My new running shoes (all properly fitted after gait analysis) were working a treat and I felt comfortable, and could have kept running all the way to the 30 minute mark, but decided to follow the programme and stop after 25 minutes, with a last minute sprint to end on a high. A quick shower, then off to work, with that nice tingle in the legs of a job well done.
But then, once the adrenaline my right knee started to misbehave. So much so that for three days I struggled walking up and down stairs, and although it has improved a bit, there's no way I'm going to risk running until it's completely healed. It's a long standing problem, so in a way I'm surprised it took until week 7 to materialise. I'll just have to wait it out. In the meantime I'm getting through Ibuprofen gel at a rapid rate of knots and I'm on some industrial-strength anit-inflammatories as well.
And I SO want to get out there again! I feel gutted that, just when I was really getting into this running lark, I have to rest. It's not until I've had to stop that I've realised just how much I've got out of the programme, both in terms of exercise and, more importantly, a sense of personal achievement. Hopefully in another week all will be well and I can venture outside again. Until then, I'm stuck with a thought I never thought I'd have...
I miss running!