I'm in another familiar phase of sem-injury. I’ve been ticking over doing some short training runs. I had hoped to do a whole load of events that I typically do each year, including the Peakers Stroll and the Harden Hard’un. However, I’ve been quite busy organising Dusk til Dawn. Also, during and after doing the Coventry Way 40 in April, I’ve struggled quite a lot with back pain, as I mentioned on my previous post. I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to build up by core muscles again, like I did before Nepal last year. I think neglecting to do them, or much in the way of running between January and April meant that the muscles wasted and I’m suffering again.
I can run about 12 miles and then I get a fairly sudden onset of pain radiating from the Coccyx, going down the back of my legs, and upwards into my lower spine. My stride shortens pretty severely over just a mile or two and running becomes pretty much impossible. It’s the same old story with my lower back. Unless I keep up a very rigid weekly routine of exercises then I think this will always happen. It’s worse at the moment than I can ever remember it though. I’m not training for anything specific this year, I always planned to give myself a year off doing anything too serious, however I’ll now use the rest of the year to work on core strength and get my pelvic floor muscles, gluts and adductors back up to strength. I’m reasonably confident that will sort it all out.
Prep for Dusk til Dawn is going well, I have lead a few recces of the course for the competitors. The recce distances are just about within my distance capability, so I have managed them ok. We’re doing another couple of recces this weekend.
In other news I've finished my last contract, which has had me working in London for the last 3 years. I've never specifically spelled it out that I was working there, but my training mostly revolved around running to and from work. I had the added bonud of being able to use the altitude facility when I had an event coming close. Apart from that, it was mostly running along streets and sucking in exhaust fumes. I'm not that sorry to bid it goodbye for now.
I'm back at home in Staffordshire, and not living part time in London as I was during the week. It's good to be back as it means I can spend more time at home and run around fields and woods ad not roads. My new contract is near the NEC in Birminhgam. It's a fairly torturous commute. To save Money I cycle 5 miles to the train station, get a train for 1hr 20 mins and then cycle at the other end a further 2 miles to work. I then reverse then in the evening. So, it's roughly 2 hours and 15 minutes each way! I have to get up at 6am to get to work for 8:35, and then I get back home about 19:15. It's a long day and it is wearing me out. I do that between 3 and 4 times a week, and work at home on Monday or Friday, sometimes both. In this economic climate you can't really be too choosy about a job, so I'll have to put up with it.
It's the first time I've cycled since I was a child. I'm renting one of the Brompton fold up bikes from the local train station for £4 a day, which is a lot cheaper than paying £8 to park, plus paying £10 each way for taxi's every day! The cycling is actually aggrivating my back however, so it remains to be seen if it is sustainable. If it wasn't for the discomfort I am quite enjoying the bike. After 3 weeks I have only narrowly missed being knocked off or killed once, which is probably a good record for cyclists. Idiot white van man decided to overtake and try and turn left on a roundabout while I was going straight across. He stopped about 6 inches from me. I lived to cycle another day this time. I'll keep you updated with the strength programme. My friend Mike Perry an excellent stoke physio (local to me) is just about to email me a link to an exercise training programme to sort me out!
Hope everyone else is running well!
