Well, at the moment I’m not running as far as I would like due to an injury.
Everything was going amazingly well after the Downslink Ultra and I was feeling really good 🙂 I decided to enter the Mouth to Mouth marathon on the 3rd December and started training… About 19 miles in to a 23 mile run I hit a problem with my left knee and found it too painful to continue running (even walking was hurting) so I had to phone for a lift back home. The downside was I still had 1.5 miles to walk to the nearest road. It was a real shame because everything else was going so well ! I think I’ve finally cracked the nutrition while I run bit, I was feeling strong and enjoying running in new places and map reading as I went.
I’ve been seeing a physio and it looks like the problem with my knee has been caused by tight hamstrings and low mobility on my ankle. Realistically I should have spent more time stretching that I did whilst training for, and immediately after, the ultra and this might have prevented the problem (hindsight is a wonderful thing !)
So, at the moment I can only run about 6 miles with my knee taped up but on the plus side if I’m running in boots with my big (30lb) backpack I don’t feel any pain so I can run further ! This does mean I can carry on training for the Fandance in January whilst doing all the exercise and stretches that the physio has given me.
What it does mean though is that I’ve had to pull out of the Mouth to Mouth marathon next weekend. Part of me still wants to give it a go but I know if I seriously hurt my knee at this point it won’t have time to heal before January and the Fandance is the event I really want to do….