On The Road Again

Well, I went out this morning to see how the old leg would perform, just a very light jog round block for about 1.8 miles.  The result: not bad, not great.  No real acute pain or discomfort, just some tightness towards the upper part of my hamstring.  I was expecting to feel at least something anyway as I’ve not really exposed it to movement for over two weeks now.  Hopefully there’s no more pain to come when I start to push it.

Step by step…

In other news, I posted my Kidney Research UK running vest this afternoon in order to get my name printed on it.  Should be back in around two weeks.

Injury Update #376522

Although this is actually only the fourth post about my hamstring and I’ve only been out for just over two weeks, it does seem a lot longer, a painfully long time in fact (sorry, I’ve realised that’s one of my terrible puns!).  I do have good news to report today though.

After banning myself from any sort of running and doing some rehab work in the pool I had another massage on the nasty hammy.  Unlike the last time when it was painful under minimal pressure, it was painless under a lot more stress – great news!  I’ve therefore decided to hit the road on Thursday morning to see how it feels, just a light jog round the block for around 2.5 miles.  After that, I’ll know where I stand.  Let’s hope I’m back with more good news!

Another Injury Update

Had another session of work on my leg again today, this time considerably more painful (as I was promised).  Unlike the last time my cousin was getting stuck into the exact location of the problem, which resulted in a fair amount of pain.  At least I know exactly where the pain is coming from now!

Anyway, once he sent me on my way I stopped into the chemist this afternoon for some heat patches, one of which I put on when I got in.  They’re meant to last for about 10 hours so I’ll take it off when I go to bed.  My instructions going forward are to visit the pool tomorrow and Wednesday to do some basic dynamic stretches (swinging legs, squatting and the like) which I’m sure will be great fun to do in a busy pool.  I’ll need to time it so that there’s not any school classes in, really can’t be bothered with that situation arising!  After that I’ve to head back over to his on Thursday for another session to see how it’s getting on – well, I hope!

On another note, my marathon programme and runner number came in today which I was pleased at.  The programme’s packed with information regarding everything: how to register when you get down there, how to travel to the start (it’s free for runners), where you can go if you’re spectating, what to do when you finish and a lot more!  Good luck trying to get through the day without knowing any of this!  It also has information on the Pasta Party the day before at the Expo as well as the vast amount of stalls that will be there selling running gear and merchandise.  Can’t wait!

Injury Update

Well, just a quick update regarding the hamstring.  Contacted my personal sports injury specialist (my cousin Keith) in order to get some sort of massage and a confirmation of what was wrong.  Went over yesterday around 5pm which was good as I could watch the  Bristol City and Newcastle game whilst I was getting it done, great end to the game by the way.  He managed to establish what the problem was immediately and worked on the area for a while.  I’m heading over tomorrow afternoon for some more fun although this time he says that he’ll be putting some effort into it so it may be slightly painful.  No pain, no gain I suppose.

Stop…Hammy Time!

Well today was meant to be a repeat of the enjoyable stadium tour of last week.  However, after having the cold during the week and a tight hamstring on Tuesday I wasn’t best placed for such a run this morning.  To be honest though, I felt pretty good when I got up, the cold has all but gone and the hamstring didn’t feel too bad.

The first extremely crucial decision was actually made before I set off: tights (yes, running tights people) or shorts.  It was supposedly 9 degrees outside so it was time to phase in the wearing of shorts.  Might have seen the back of the tights until next year now.  After the severe procrastination involved in that decision and a fair bit of stretching I set off at a leisurely pace in order to get myself, and particularly the left hamstring, warmed up.

The first couple of miles were obsolutely fine but it started to get ever so slightly tight after around 3 miles going into Uddinsgton.  Of course at this point you’re having to think what to do regarding the run itself, how far to go.  I decided to see how it went for the next couple of miles and turned left again over the motorway and onward to Mount Vernon.  As the run went on, however, I could feel it getting progressively tighter and elected to stop just after Mount Vernon train station.  Of course, just as I came round the corner onto London Road where I was going to stop, a woman jogger appeared on the opposite side of the road, running in parallel with me.  ’Must not let her beat the pain’ the voice was telling me, ‘must keep going’!  Don’t be silly, after around 100 yards I stopped and made a call on the Batphone (well, phoned my Dad) in order to get picked up.  Slight change in destination from Ibrox, but at least I had arranged to get picked up if there was a problem.

Although I was disappointed, I think I made a good decision.  No point in risking additional injuries due to my body compensating for the hamstring.  Also no point in continuing until a ‘ping’ noise ends the full training programme either!

I suppose I can be more positive than on Tuesday where I could barely run three miles and there were shooting pains, as opposed to the basic tightness experienced today.  I also completed the distance to Mount Vernon train station in roughly the same time as last week, both being 55 minutes, and managed to put another 7 miles in the tank.

Need to wait and see how it feels over the next few days, although I’m confident that it won’t be that long until I’m out again.