Post injury/recovery run in the bag - it was cold and hard going :-( - but the heel inserts seemed to work!

[mo-mentum]

Yes. I feel like I'm back - not quite in the grove yet, but nothing dropped off!

After what felt like a lifetime (but was actually only four days) without a run (never thought I'd hear myself saying that) I decided to do a gentle 20 minutes.

The first shock was the cold! Having read what Sue (SBG356) was wearing yesterday I decided to get out the buff, gloves and hat. That first 5 minutes walk was painfully cold, at one point i thought I might need to go home and get another layer.

Wearing my new Garmin I decided to venture out without Laura and enjoy my own music. To my amazement I got to the point when i said to myself "you've been running for 5 minutes now, I hope you are in a good rhythm" I looked at my watch and it was 5 minutes and 1 second - pretty good omen - er NO!

I managed to catch the bezel and put my Garmin in to 'elevation display' - all very interesting when you come to look at the overall run, but when you are going up hill during the run you know it and don't need some silly device to tell you. I'll put this down to operator error and try to remember to lock the thing next time.

I didn't really get in to a good rhythm until the Kaiser Chiefs came on. Sorry Freddy - but 'don't stop me now' really works on the motor bike when you can enjoy good fast beat and at then the mellowness of the slow sections - but it really did b*gger up my run. Another one to put down to experience.

I also got the same nagging stitch which really took the wind out of my sails.

But there are positives to take out of today. I can remember back to week 8 and 9 when bad runs were always followed by two good ones. I managed to stay running for the whole 20 minutes despite feeling shocking and best of all the lower legs seem to have coped OK. I guess I'll have to wait a day or so to see if the tenderness comes back, but i hope the deep tissue massage I gave myself afterwards and doing the exercises pingle shared with me before and after the run will have done the trick.

Happy running peps - Mo

[SBG356 Graduate]

Glad you are back out there Mo! When you have the bug, every day not running really does seem like a lifetime......

Yes, pretty damn cold to say the least but nice all the same, as long as you are dressed for it! So pleased that you managed the 20 mins and everything seems ok; fingers crossed for you.

Sue

[mo-mentum Graduate in reply to SBG356]

Hi Sue

Yes it's really hard being disciplined and not going too soon. I'm taking 3 days off before recovery run 2.

Don't seem to be able to get the clothing right though - I went our with gloves, buff and hat - but was WAY TOO HOT after only a few minutes!!! It's a real balance between avoiding freezing during the warm up and over heating en route!

Thanks for the works of encouragement - Mo x

[SBG356 Graduate in reply to mo-mentum]

I always do my warm up indoors Mo. I too tend to get over heated (think it's the age!!) but in this cold it doesn't seem such a problem. It's not easy getting the right balance I agree....

[psarapsych Graduate]

Mo, that's wonderful :-)... I am envious of you that it's been sorted so quickly BUT pleased and so happy that you are now pain free.

Not sure stopping running for a while will help me... the heel spurs won't go away sadly. When I get out of bed I'm a cripple, can barely stand but with the spurs as well I'm not sure how it will ever right itself apart from daily hi-strength pain killers.... not sure Doc will allow that :-)!! At least after half an hour of hobbling about I'm good(ish) :-)... AND it doesn't hurt when I run :-).

Anyway, I am sooooo impressed. Did you get the insoles from Dr Foot or where??? I really, really hope that the pain stays away, OH I AM pleased for you, take it from one who knows what you've been going through.

GOOD LUCK for continued improvement, Sara

[mo-mentum Graduate in reply to psarapsych]

Hi Sara - thanks for you're words of encouragement!

Not sure if you have seen the videos that pingle attached to my blog of 6 days ago? On one of the associated films a physio talks about his heel spurs and the fact he has an injection to sort them out - have you thought of that?

Whatever happens don't give up - sounds like you already have that spirit to keep on battling through the pain. I remember (many years ago) when i was 13 (quite an active hockey player, foot baller and in to trying my lot at athletics) i was doing a 400m run and suddenly my knee gave in! I went to the docs and it turned out i had a form of teenage arthritis! I had to give up sport for over a year!! I was prescribed some pretty heavy pain killers just to get me through walking to the school bus. I could never heel down - which was annoying. I seriously never thought i would get involved in sport again! Luckily I got better, after using alternative therapy and ended up representing my county at hockey, took up squash and joined the cadet force (which really chained my mindset to challenge).

Thanks for the advice about Dr Foot heel inserts - in the end i went to our local running shop and got a pair of Sorbothane sport heel inserts (as i couldn't wait for the postal service before my next run!).

If it does hurt keep running - but please look in to the injection option.

Best wished Mo x

[rolphie2 Graduate]

Well done am so glad you are back running and trust you have suffered no ill effects. Good luck in your future runs x

[mo-mentum Graduate]

Cheers rolphie!

Great news is 48 hours after the 20 minute run there were no ill effects! Onwards and upwards