November
30th
The
last day of the month and over a month since I last blogged so no harm in
getting a post up there. I haven’t been doing a lot just doing small amounts of
running in the last 4 weeks, hampered by a number of injuries and focusing on reactivating a social life with my
mates and getting work stuff sorted.
Dailymile.com
tells me I have logged 100 miles this month, a very low amount, in fact my
lowest since last May but after a marathon I tend to take a break and start
from scratch.
I
had planned to run the Sixmilebridge marathon during the month but when I
returned back to running within a week after Amsterdam I noticed a tightening
in my hips and a constant pain in my left knee. This was more pronounced when I
was running distances of more than 10 miles. This required me to take more and
more rest and as a result I was in no shape to get through the Sixmilebridge
course. I returned back to reading my stretching manual and focused more on my
hip flexors and of course the foam roller was of great benefit as well.
The
other problem was that I suffered what appeared to be a strain on my ankle. I
couldn’t put weight on it and I feared a damaged ligament or a stress facture.
As a result I took a week off running. John O’Sullivan of Advanced Physical
Therapy in Mallow diagnosed a minor pull and his magic hands have appeared to
have solved the problem.
I
tested the leg by taking part in a charity 5 K race in Doneraile park yesterday. Low
key is one way to describe the event, another word would be anti-climatic so
small was the turnout. I think there was 20 runners at it and none of us managed to
break 20 minutes.
I finished 3rd in a pretty slow time of
21mins47seconds, 70 seconds outside a PB but a good training run if nothing
else. It was my first attempt at speed work in 7 weeks. At least now I know
where I stand fitness wise.
In
terms of races next year I have entered the Dungarvan 10 mile race and hope to
enter the Adare 10k and Ballycotton 10. In terms of marathons I do have a few
ideas but will keep those plans a little closer to my chest until the New Year.
I will see how the next 6 weeks pan out.
