Recovery is coming along nicely. There are still plenty of issues with my high hamstring tendinopathy which will not get resolved overnight. There are 4 events; 2 XC marathons and 2 ultras (38 miles and 50km) to do until our first child is due on 14th December. If I can hold myself together until then, I will take a full break and have some healing time whilst daddy-duties take over my life.
This weekend was an unexpected boost to my training. Having decided to take some time to detox from the amount of alcohol consumed over the summer holidays, I have been feeling very positive. I was apprehensive about a longer run with Phil on Saturday as I had not run over 7 miles in any session in 3 weeks since the TG60 DNF. Parkrun was my first hurdle on Saturday morning at Crystal Palace. I ran up the hill to the start and felt rusty......
So with a 1.5 mile warm up and a little stretch at the start line, I relaxed (and for the first time at Park Run, didn't know anybody) and waited for the off. I was wary of the niggle so set off conservatively knowing that the 2.5 laps of the 5k course would reveal 240ft of ascent and some tight corners. I decided not to look at the Garmin and focus on my breathing, which I never really felt was near its limits, possibly 85% ish. I did have a sneaky glance at the top of the first climb feeling OK and thought that anything sub-24 would be really good, bearing in mind my recovery. All of the way round I focused on my breathing and my foot strike and was pleasantly surprised to have knocked out a 21.47 for the course. The Parkrun stats show I was 13th (out of 103) in my 13th park run but was also my quickest of the year. Not bad. I hopped off up the hill to meet Phil and his little brother Richard (training for Royal Parks half) and ran with them in a parks and cycle routes way to Brixton for a coffee and then home. 14 miles.
After an afternoon of DIY finishing off the bathroom and lots of other odd-jobs around the house, a relaxing evening and it was off again this morning to do more miles with Phil. This time his wife was competing in Run to the Beat half marathon around Greenwich. We trotted down to the start, saw her at mile 1.5 and then ran the back ways around Woolwich and Charlton, then the Thames Path before ending up at the Dome where I got the tube and then ran home. Great to have a bit of northern banter with Phil. 13+ miles done and although this afternoon the hamstring felt it, it was not uncomfortable. Things are looking better and as long as I can hold it together for about 10 more weeks, recovery beckons.
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