| Manchester 10k, (regardless of who it’s sponsored by!) will always be one of my favourite races. Part of that is due to the apparently seamless organisation (I’ve never had any problem with it anyway!), the sterling support from the marshals, the generous goody bags (though what was with the noodles this year, yo!?) and the electric atmosphere sparked by the crowd and runners alike. Mostly, however, it will always be one of my favourite races as it marks the anniversary of my having been bitten by the running bug. Manchester 10k in 2013 was my first race and it’s fair to say that I have never looked back. You can’t really do that too well when you’re running, you’ll fall over. (bad-um *tish*) |  They're only noodles, Michael. Well, if you can't have 3 minute miles... |
So; Manchester 10k also, in a way, marks the start of my running year and provides a good point to take stock, reflect and aspire; but then my recent London experience has given me plenty of opportunity to do that recently, as has the physio-imposed running fast. That is, running fast as in not allowed to run, as opposed to running with any particular speed, which is certainly beyond me at present. (Wow, these jokes are like buses, huh?)
Over the last two weeks, I have, for the first time in 2 years as a runner… not run. You won’t know how hard that is if you’re not a runner, but then if you’re not a runner, you’re probably not reading this blog (Unless… Hello Mum!). Nevertheless, having hobbled, on the day after the marathon, into the physiotherapist and loudly demanding to be made fit enough to get on the starting line of a 10k in a fortnight, I resolved to follow his advice to the letter. Cue a fortnight of twice daily foam rolling and stretching routines, 2 sessions of acupuncture (so that was a new one!) a burst of ultrasound… and no running. Well, said physiotherapist is soon to become my new official running guru whether he likes it or not, as it has to be said, I was certainly fit enough, and up until about 10am this morning I was 98% pain free too. Of course, in an ideal world of recovery, I’d have had at least 2 days totally pain free, followed by a slow getting back into it through a steady series of walk/jog, slow 5ks etc., you know, easing back into it. But heck, I’d used up all my common sense in the whole not running venture, and that was never gonna happen. A gentle (10 min/mile) warm up on the treadmill before the race confirmed my suspicions… I was indeed almost totally healed!
Over the last two weeks, I have, for the first time in 2 years as a runner… not run. You won’t know how hard that is if you’re not a runner, but then if you’re not a runner, you’re probably not reading this blog (Unless… Hello Mum!). Nevertheless, having hobbled, on the day after the marathon, into the physiotherapist and loudly demanding to be made fit enough to get on the starting line of a 10k in a fortnight, I resolved to follow his advice to the letter. Cue a fortnight of twice daily foam rolling and stretching routines, 2 sessions of acupuncture (so that was a new one!) a burst of ultrasound… and no running. Well, said physiotherapist is soon to become my new official running guru whether he likes it or not, as it has to be said, I was certainly fit enough, and up until about 10am this morning I was 98% pain free too. Of course, in an ideal world of recovery, I’d have had at least 2 days totally pain free, followed by a slow getting back into it through a steady series of walk/jog, slow 5ks etc., you know, easing back into it. But heck, I’d used up all my common sense in the whole not running venture, and that was never gonna happen. A gentle (10 min/mile) warm up on the treadmill before the race confirmed my suspicions… I was indeed almost totally healed!
 Even the Garmin was unfit; don't recall all that swimming!  Happy New Running Year! | So, obviously I ran it… 47.54 chip time. Not my fastest, actually, the slowest I’ve done that course (45.31 in 2013, 41.20 last year) but hey, I can honestly say I really enjoyed it. If there are 650 muscles in the human body, 649 of them were working perfectly. On a cardiovascular level I felt fit and strong, my form, from what I could tell, was good despite the pain. How sorry for yourself is it really possible to feel when you’ve just been treated to a quick succession of jelly-bean-sticky tiny high-fives anyway? Setting aside the joy I felt in discovering that you really don’t forget how to run after a fortnight off (who’d’ve thunk it!?), I think that was really all I needed to get over my recent disappointment. Yeah, I ran slow, yeah, it hurt but it felt good anyway, both physically and, better still, mentally. And with regards to reflecting? Learning from your mistakes? The best thing I did today was take recovery seriously. None of the post-London sullen refusal to bother with stretching or refuelling! The ‘I hurt anyway, what’s the point?’ mentality had definitely changed to a policy of damage limitation; protein and stretching, like… before I got complacent! Ah, those heady days of not feeling like cack when I woke up in the morning after a race! |
Next on the cards; another few days off to get back to that blissful 98% pain free state and beyond, followed by a sensible approach to maintaining fitness (3 x 10k + 1 x 13 miler a week, as prescribed by Physio Bob) and getting myself onto the start line of the Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon in a fit enough state to pace the 4:45 hopefuls round 26 miles of fun and frolics..! Liverpool, here I come!
