Back from the abyss…

When I rain the first of my Half Marathons, the wonderful Royal Parks Half on the 7th October (my God, it seems so long ago), I experienced sharp pains under my knee after I had finished, collected my medal, met the others, grabbed a coffee and tea, dried off, changed and was walking out of Hyde Park towards home. I left it for a week and a half then tried a slow job on the treadmill and, 10 mins in, experienced a lesser, but still sharp pain.

With the Amsterdam Half Marathon the following weekend (21st) I had to make a decision and so rested until the race and then strapped my knee up with the most comprehensive of supports.

Ever aware of the pain of before I ran a cautious race and, after stopping a couple of times to walk when I experienced discomfort (in my mind a precursor to the pain of a fortnight before), and finished 5 mins slower than the Royal Parks, but still all in one piece and not all that sore.

But then I realised that I had just 2 more 10s left in 2012 and wanted to do well in them, and not cause further or more serious damage so decided to rest until then.

And so the change began. From no pain I started having very tight ITB on the right, and it was persistent. I went to a physio, the Six Physio people at Leadenhall Street in London, and they stretched me, taught me exercised that would strengthen the rest of me.I have followed the routines they gave me religiously and feel much the better for it.

I even went for my first run this week, with my new shoes, and felt great. Shoes, yes, I replaced all those beautiful Nike+ shoes with a pair of Brooks Adrenalin GTS. This is a little ironic as I started with Brooks and assumed they were the cause of my shin splints back when took up running in March. I ran fast, upright, in the wet, albeit with a brace, but it was good.

So tomorrow is the first 10. It is the Movember Greenwich Park 10 and I shall be running it a few people. I do not want to slow and stop with shin splints, so will tie my shoes tight. I shall strap up both knees. I feel very rested, maybe beyond rested and more slothenly, and have not run 10K in the shoes yet, ignoring the cardinal rule:

I have not, unless I go out tonight. And I would prefer not to. Still, I have walked around in them for a good fortnight, and they are comfortable. We shall see.

I am very excited about running again, and racing again. I am, however, worried that the shoes and the knee, and the lack of running for the last 5 weeks could cause me more problems. We shall see.

Hey, I ran Amsterdam with a known knee injury 5 mins slower than PB, a fortnight after my previous race. All I need do is strap it up, and try my best.