If I'm honest, I have developed a bit of a fear of running, and I really don't know why. It could be because of the pain, it could be fear of getting injured, or just not wanting to run on my own (which used to be a highlight for me!), who knows.
Anyway Saturday morning came around and fair play to the weather, it really seemed as though spring had arrived! Warm sunshine meant that I felt confident enough to try out my marathon kit (albeit with a windproof over it which I hope not to have to wear on the day).
I haven't really mentioned this in my blog yet, but the issue of what to wear on marathon day has become a sort of obsession for me - I think it is diversion from thinking about the big issues, like the fact that I am about to do a marathon!! I have ordered about 5 different running tops, all of which were hopefully going to be 'the one' to wear on the day under my charity vest. The problem is, the weather has been so appalling and cold, that I have been struggling to decide whether I will need long sleeves or short sleeves, or even a full on ski jacket (only a little bit joking!!!!). So imagine my happiness when I discovered these little beauties;
These are arm-warmers, so if you get too warm, you can simply roll them up/down. And better still, you can have a funky slogan on them to cheer you up if you are flagging - mine say 'If found on ground, please drag across finish line'. They are super-soft and well worth the money it cost to get them sent from the States (almost the price of the arm warmers themselves!). So I have now decided on my final marathon outfit (obviously still slightly weather dependent) which I will post a picture of in a couple of days when I have added the finishing touches (need to iron on my name and sew on my buttons).
Anyway, I digress, back to Saturday morning and the 16-18 mile run I had planned with Sui. Glorious weather and up early to make sure I was properly fuelled, meant that for a change I was in a positive frame of mind as we set off to Green Park to start running. We set off and within half a mile or so I was feeling a bit of pain in my right hip. I often get a few aches and pains when I start running, which settle down as my body settles into a rhythm, so I wasn't too worried. After the first lap, around 2 miles in, I realised the pain was getting worse and so decided to stop and have a quick stretch to see if I could work out what was going on. We ran another half a mile after that and to begin with it felt ok, but the longer I continued the more it hurt. And so for the first time ever in my life, I had to abandon the run. Less than three miles covered, and actually I struggled just to walk the last half a lap back to the car as the pain was so intense. It felt like someone had punched me in the outside of my hip and I had a sort of dead leg, but with sharp intense pain all over the top of my leg and hip area. I was gutted! However after the short drive home, walking from the car to the house was OK, so I began to wonder whether whatever it was had already started to resolve itself. I got in the bath and spent some time massaging the painful area, and stretching as much as I could, and was having no problems walking around the house at all. So Pete and I headed off into Newbury as I needed to visit a jewellers there. We don't know Newbury at all, nor did we know where the jewellers was, so law of sod dictated that the car park we found was literally at the opposite end of town to the jewellers! The further I walked, the more intense the pain. I was grabbing onto Pete and was really quite close to tears on several occasions, but short sitting down breaks would ease the pain for a couple of minutes. Once we had been to the jewellers, we decided to sit down and have a coffee so I could have a proper rest before the walk back to the car, which again helped for the first couple of minutes of walking but by the time we were back to the car I was in agony again and very tearful.
Pete was off out that night and I was feeling pretty distraught about the fact that with just over two weeks until the marathon, I was unable to walk, let alone run. I have always said that at the very least and if all else fails, I know that I can walk 26.2 miles, and here I was struggling to walk from my house to my car. It has to count as a real low-point not only in my training but just in general for me. That might sound overly dramatic, but for me this marathon isn't just a race, it is a dream that I have worked hard to achieve (and one I never thought I would) and it is an emotional journey, as I'm sure everyone who has read this blog will know. Injury put me out of the running last year, and you can only defer your place once, so it feels a bit like now or never.
Thankfully, I have wonderful people in my life, who came forward in my hour of need to sort me out! Sarah not only invited me round to spend the evening with her and family, but she even came to collect me and dropped me off again so that I could have a glass of wine! That's really going above and beyond, and I felt so much better to have some company, have a laugh and watch a movie. OK so I didn't watch all of the movie, because Doug Bug is just too cute and I couldn't stop staring at him sleeping next to me or in my arms!
Add to that my running friends who came out with advice and encouragement, including specific stretches to try, and by Sunday morning I was feeling much more positive. Still in pain but nowhere near as much, which made me realise how much actually resting is key to this. Resting and stretching!
Today I have sorted myself out with a physio appointment and will be stretching and using my foam roller before bed again, and then tomorrow I will brave the gym for personal training and hopefully a quick go on the cross trainer as a little test. I have everything crossed and feel positive that this will not stop me, but I know I need a little bit of luck too, so once again, please wish me luck!!!!
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