Recovery

I had it all mapped out. Cut down the amount of running. Keep it easy. Nothing to train for on the horizon. All good. And then I got an injury. Not a serious one, but enough to make me appreciate running all the more.

I had gone down to Dundee for the weekend and had decided I would run the parkrun on Saturday morning there. Though I have gone to parkrun for a few years now, all but one of them has been on my home event, just a short distance from where I live, so this was a chance to try out somewhere new. Though I had been warned it was an, ahem, challenging course.

Stunning morning in Dundee

It was such a beautiful morning for a run. Perfect, crisp autumn sunshine and gorgeous stunning colours in the trees. At the pre-run briefing for new and visiting runners, the race director described the course and true enough he talked of the big hill at 3km and the hill up to the finish, so my friends had been bang on with how they described the route.

The parkrun is a genuine parkrun, done in Camperdown Park and primarily on trails. The race director also mentioned that it would be a bit muddy. He was not wrong. He also mentioned that if you were used to running on a flat parkrun, that the time to expect would be around ninety seconds slower than that. This genuinely made me think, “crikey, how hilly is it?”. I was about to find out.

The initial part of the course was downhill and quite narrow, but as we headed towards the two kilometre mark it got progressively muddier in places. Not a total mud fest but enough to have you trying to place your feet to avoid the wettest parts. And that was when it happened. I can only think it was a tree root I stood on, but a pain shot through my foot, my ankle twisted round and I leapt up in the air.

“I thought I could just run it off”

Now being the bonkers runner that I am, after initially going “ooyah” (and that was the polite version of what I said), I of course thought I could just run it off. This also coincided with heading up the hill at 3km, which was a bit of a beast with a gradient of around 13%. This was a struggle, but I got up it, kept going, even though the pain was shooting through my foot as I headed back downhill before the final climb to the finish.

As I hobbled over the line and stopped my watch, I was pretty pleased with a time of 26 minutes and 20 seconds. My previous couple of parkruns at my home course had been 25 minutes so that counted as a pretty good effort, even more so as by this point my foot and ankle were really starting to throb as I headed back to the car to then enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Later in the day we went to go for a walk, I managed about fifty yards but was limping so much my wife suggested we get the car. This was the best thing we could have done. By the time we got home the following day, my ankle had swollen up but the bigger pain was on the sole of my foot, which I can only assume was from where I stood on the root itself.

Resting up was the only solution

I am ok with running through a bit of pain, but with this injury there was only one sensible option – rest. I think all runners probably feel that they could run through an injury and just battle on, and if I had a race coming up maybe I would have felt differently. But this time around, I decided to just take the week off. This was a slightly odd experience and I am not going to lie that as my foot began to feel better, I was tempted to head back out again, but I managed to resist temptation until the following weekend parkrun back at home, and decided to take it easy to test out the foot.

Stunning sunshine was not to last

Now do not be fooled by this picture, which I took on my warm-up. By the time the parkrun started, drizzle had started, and by the time we were into the run proper it was a full-blown heavy shower. So I got soaking wet but the good thing was my foot felt ok. Not perfect and a bit sore in places, but taking the week off was certainly the right thing to do.

Since then I have been back to doing 10km with my JogScotland group, which has been ok, though my foot is still a bit sore. My ankle is absolutely fine, just the foot, so I am continuing to take things easy.

Our group also had a social event, which was great fun, and was so nice to get a chance to chat with everyone and enjoy their company. It has been a very long time since we have all been able to get together like that. I was also really pleasantly surprised to be given an award for being the most positive coach. Leading the groups at JogScotland has definitely been one of the most enjoyable things I have done this year, and it was lovely to be recognised in this way.

The award certificate

This weekend our JogScotland group took over all the volunteer roles at the local parkrun. It is fabulous to be part of such a positive club with so many people willing to give up their time to support their fellow runners, especially as it was on such a freezing cold day.

Buoyed by all of this, I have entered the ballot for another race. It is not until March next year, but I should find out in the next couple of weeks if I have got in. The race is the New York Half Marathon. I only have a slim chance of getting in – and having never been successful in any race ballot I have entered so far, I am not getting my hopes up, but it would be amazing if I did. Fingers crossed.

For now it is about going back to the plan I had a few weeks ago, making sure my foot heals completely and seeing how the weather goes as we head formally into winter. Though as the weather over the last week has got progressively colder, windier and even with snow, it feels like winter has already arrived.

Now What?

I got the Manchester Marathon done. Two weeks later I got the Liverpool Half Marathon done. Now the question is – what on earth am I going to do now?

Training for events like these consumes so much of your life – particularly the marathon – that after an event it is very easy to sink into post-race blues. The big thing which has been looming in your calendar for months is done. One of your main reasons to get out and run is no longer there to motivate to get out and lace up. It can certainly feel like there is a big void in your life all of a sudden, especially with longer, dark nights and colder, damper weather setting in.

Cold, windy, grey days can put you off going out

I have definitely felt like this in the past after big races. I only run one marathon a year so it is the biggest goal and once it is past, there is no doubt that you begin to question if you can be bothered to go running once again. The summit has been reached, let’s just sink down to the ground again. As much as there is a runner’s high, there can definitely be a runner’s low.

I think this time around, because I had the half so soon after the marathon, that kept me focused. It gave me a reason to run again after the big day. Plus I was running with a friend so that is always extra motivation. But since then, with no races on the horizon, it would not be unreasonable to perhaps take a break or to struggle to find that running mojo once again.

“I have not signed up to anything”

Usually, I do have a race to look forward to, even if it is months away. The prospect of letting my fitness run away and then go back to the start again to build it up sounds so grim, that having that target to aim for keeps me honest and out running. At this point, I have not signed up to anything. That is not to say that I am not looking and I may sign up soon, but at this stage it is not my reason to run.

At the moment, I am running just for the shear enjoyment of it. Being out with friends, being back at parkrun, leading groups at my JogScotland group. All of that is motivation enough. The best thing is that – unlike when I was training – I do not feel like I HAVE to run. One of the aspects of marathon training is sticking to the plan; getting out and running distances even when the last thing you want to do is head out once more. For months, you are pretty much running when tired almost all the time. As I have said before, marathon training is as much mental as physical and it is about having the mentality to get out and do it that really counts.

The autumn colours on a run this week

Now? I have cut back my running to four days a week, (I realise that this is still quite a lot), but when you have been doing five days a week and sometimes more and doing distances up to almost fifty miles in a week, then running four times and perhaps only doing around twenty miles or so is a big change.

Pretty much all of my running is social running too. Twice at JogScotland during the week, parkrun on Saturday and then out with friends on a Sunday. There is no pressure, it is that return to running for fun that is so important. That is not to say that I do not find it hard at times.

“Not the easiest thing to do”

Returning to parkrun has brought about a bit more of a focus on running a bit quicker. The two occasions I have been back have been horrendously windy down at Aberdeen beach which has been really tough, but to get close to twenty five minutes on both occasions, without feeling that I was really going for it, has been a great boost. For someone who was, for a long time, aiming for around ten minute a mile pace (six minutes per km) because of my marathon training, to get back towards eight minute a mile pace is not the easiest thing to do but I am getting there.

Two windy runs to welcome me back to parkrun

I also think the fact that I have become one of the group leaders at JogScotland has also given me an extra boost of motivation. I really enjoy planning the routes and running with the different groups and hopefully helping them to achieve their own goals, whatever the distance they are doing. It feels really pleasing to give something back to the group which helped me so much and I would really encourage anyone who is interested to find out about the Leadership in Running Fitness courses which are run by various athletics bodies in the UK.

I am sure there will be plenty of days when I think, “can I really be bothered?”, in fact last Sunday my friend and I did not go out because it was so horrendously windy. In the past, I would have spent the day sulking and being hard on myself for not doing it. This time around? C’est la vie. Will it make any difference to miss a run or two? No it will not.

Running through a carpet of leaves

The important thing to my mind is to run because it is what you want to do, for fun, to keep fit, to stay healthy, to get out in the fresh air, to enjoy the view, to spend time in the company of great friends. We have all been through so much in the past couple of years, running has undoubtedly helped me cope. Now I may not have any races to train for, but I still have running to enjoy. And that is more than enough.