Race Report: Les Witton Dartford 10 mile race, 21.09.14

I didn't feel particularly good or confident the day before this race. I spent the majority of the day foam rolling, stretching, stuffing my face, drinking water and moaning/worrying about my knee. Even though I had got in a couple of nice fast session that week, it was aching a bit off and on. The phrase "runner's knee" was on repeat in my head...!

After a fitful night's sleep, my alarm gaily went off at 6am, and I was ready to (foam) roll. I packed a bag full of supplies - coconut water, lucozade, snacks etc and got into the running attire. We had to leave the house at 7am to make the ridiculous early start time of 8.30am, booo! I had a banana in the car plus some jelly babies beforehand.

Vita Coco obsession

We arrived in good time, and I collected my race number and spent a long time queuing for the toilets. I noticed that a lot of the people around me were 1. quite a bit older than me and 2. professional looking. There were a lot of people in running club vest who knew each other - I felt slightly like billy no mates! They were  all very friendly though. I did some stretching outside whilst waiting for the start. They announced a lady was there who had done 500 marathons...what a gal!

And we were off! The first mile of the course was downhill and then pretty flat, and I got carried along with the other runners. I remember thinking I had gone off way too fast. However, what goes down must come up. And come up we did! It seemed to be long hill after long hill, followed by a steep hill! I'm not sure how I managed to keep my pace fairly consistent, but I felt ok considering the inclines. There were some lovely marshals along the way who shouted encouragement such as "nearly at the top" and "there's a nice downhill bit after this". It helped at the time! 

I gave in and turned on my iPod around mile 5 - just to give me an extra boost. I also had a (sticky and melted) jelly baby which I had stashed in my pocket! There were 2 water stations on the course with people handing out plastic cups (most of which ended up down my front) which was enough for me. I had taken the advice of Whizz Kidz coach Phil and tried  to hydrate for the last week beforehand, so I didn't feel thirsty at any point. Coming up to mile 7, we ran along a long pavement which was a bit frustrating as it was single file, but when the road opened up I was able to overtake - god knows how I had anything left in my legs. I just think I was fixated on finishing, and finishing without feeling injured! 

There was one more mean hill right near the end, and then the finish was in sight. I tried to push for the final sprint finish, and was relieved and happy when I crossed the line. I was proud of my splits and time, especially on a tough course.

My mile splits, plus the medal

Everyone was given a medal, and around the corner there was a table with cups of water and bananas. I then saw my Mum and boyfriend walking over from the car park...unfortunately they thought I would be slower and so missed me cross the line! To be fair, I was  surprised at both my stamina and the capability of my dodgy knee.

We waited around for the presentation of trophies for the fastest 3 in each category, and I found out I had come 5th in the Senior Female category, which I am delighted with.

 All in all, this was good race experience and I'm glad I took part. Next up for me is the Royal Parks Half Marathon on the 12th October. 

Whizz-Kidz September training day

I really enjoyed the training day that Whizz-Kidz organised last Saturday. It was held at the University of Greenwich buildings near the Cutty Sark - which I went to gawp at because I arrived too early!

After wondering around lost for a bit and peering at the campus map, I came across someone in running gear who was also running for Whizz-Kidz and thankfully had more of an idea where we needed to be. 

The events team were so organised and friendly - they had bought our training vests along for us to take (which I wore with pride - see below!) and had some goodies such as bananas, cereal bars and coconut water - which was ideal as I'm obsessed with it! I had to reign myself in from asking Coach Phil a million questions about my dodgy knee, and we all sat in a classroom to listen to the talks.

It was useful to hear from Stacey, who has done a lot of fundraising and events for Whizz-Kidz in the past, including the London Marathon. She have some good tips on what works fundraising wise, and how to train smartly. Just listening to her describing the race gave me goosebumps - I can't wait to experience that feeling. And hopefully cross the finish line with my legs still intact...

We also heard from a beautiful little girl called Grace, who has severe cerebral palsy. Whizz-Kidz have provided her with a motorised wheelchair which has given her so much more freedom and independence. She was so happy and cheeky, and it was humbling to think that fundraising such as mine could help children like her.

We also listened to a great talk from Coach Phil - about everything from nutrition to training and recovery. I think it's so brilliant that Whizz-Kidz offer Phil to their runners - he really is invaluable and so knowledgeable. It was great to get the tips in early, and hopefully it will help us all avoid injury. The main things I took away were to keep stretching, foam rolling and strengthening exercises, to make a training plan, and to look more into nutrition and hydration. He mentioned about mixing training up a bit with temp runs - where you run at a faster pace than you normally would for the duration of your run. I tried this on Tuesday....it hurt!! But I can definitely see the benefits of this type of training.

The last part of our training day was to have a group run round Greenwich park. The route was 1.5 mile laps, and we could choose the number that we completed. Unfortunately the first part was a rather painful long incline (the same one that left me half dead at mile 12 of Run to the Beat I might add) and also unfortunately, I am too competitive for my own good! I did 3 laps and attempted to out sprint someone at the end. Then felt a bit silly as he clearly wasn't racing! Coach Phil suggested I foam roll my hips as well as leg muscles, which seems to be relieving tension. I'm trying to foam roll twice a day.

Thank you so much to the events team for organising a brilliant day. They were all lovely, and made the effort to get to know us and be really helpful. It was really good to meet some of the people who I will be fundraising and running alongside for the London Marathon.

The team before the run!

Backpacks, injuries, recovery and lessons learned

Not for the first time since I started running, I fell out of love with it slightly during the past couple of weeks. This is usually down to frustration with myself caused by a niggle or injury, and this time was no exception. 

Having moved jobs, and trying to sneak a few more miles in wherever I could, I bought myself a Karrimoor running backpack (pink of course) and set about running from Farringdon to Victoria, where I could then get on the train home. NB: I learnt the hard, very painful way that you should invest in a backpack with padded straps for comfort, and chest and waist straps so there is mimimal movement as you run....the first jaunt with a little Primarni number gave me a very nasty friction burn on my shoulder!! 

So everyday after work for a week, I launched myself out the door, pack on back. By the end of the week, I noticed my shin was a bit sore. Having suffered with shin pain before, I ignored it, hoping it would go away. On my long(ish) run at the weekend, without backpack of course, I noticed that my knee was feeling a bit odd. Not painful exactly, just kind of like it needed to click. Again I ignored it, and threw myself into another week of post work backpack runs. No warm up, no stretch before, no stretch after. Not sensible!

By that weekend, it was clear to me that something definitely wasn't right. I still ran that weekend, but my shin was sore and my knee felt very odd...like it was unstable. I began to worry, and when I woke up that Monday morning my fears were confirmed. Something definitely wasn't right, and I couldn't keep running when my legs were feeling like this.

I've never really had to stop running for a prolonged period of time since I started training for races. I've had a couple of niggly pains and had to make myself have a day or two's rest, but this felt like something altogether different. I panicked.

Unfortunately, I made the mistake of browsing the very knowledgeable Google. And diagnosing myself with everything under the sun. And convincing myself I would never run again. I also ate A LOT. And I mean a lot. My normal careful healthy diet to fuel my running, became a stuff my face with everything full of fat and sugar diet. I was wallowing in self pity and mourning my loss of running ability. And making things a lot worse than they needed to be!

While there was a lot of scary things on the internet relating to runners and knees, there was also a lot of helpful things too. Forums of people in the same boat offering advice and support, and reems and reems of advice, tips, and possible reasons for the injury. I read so much, possibly obsessively...but it did make me thing very long and hard about my form, stretching, recovery, and my attitude. So I:

-started icing and elevating as soon as I felt any pain or discomfort (morning and night)

- got some ibuprofen gel and freeze gel to massage into affected areas

- read up on stretching and started stretching properly!

-read up on strengthening and started some exercises for the surrounding leg muscles

- read a lot about form. And asked advice from people. Am trying my hardest to adopt more of a barefoot/natural running technique, where I have good posture, my foot lands underneath me not in front, my hips and feet are pointing forwards, and I have an increased stride number and decreased stride length

- invested in a foam roller and started using it religiously, in the morning and before and after exercise.

I'm not going to lie, I have felt rubbish not running. I was so jealous of every runner I saw. I hated all of them and their functioning knees. I feel like I've put on 2 stone, which I may well have done as have found it hard not to eat everything in sight! And the foam roller is REALLY painful at the moment as my muscles are so tight. Which I believe to be part of my problem. But, my legs felt quite a bit better on Sunday, so I couldn't resist trying a run! I had no pain, and just a little bit of discomfort, but nothing that worried me. I was so happy- even though I felt massively slow and heavy! It just felt good to be out and running again. But I still have the makeshift ice bath (below) on standby...

It's now Tuesday and I've kept religiously to the foam rolling, stretching etc, and at the time of writing my legs feel ok. Like they're getting stronger. To summarise my lessons learned from this experience:

- don't make a big change to your training before looking into it properly, thinking about it carefully, and starting slowly! Suddenly launching myself into running with a heavy(ish) backpack every day was not my best idea! 

- listen to what your legs and body is telling you! It knows best. You need to accept this, and even though there are people who run hundreds of miles a week without injury, everyone has different limits! Although it's tempting to run through it and hope it will go away, it's not worth the risk. My body was telling me I needed to rest, and that was the best decision. 

- turn setbacks into a positive thing, and use the rest wisely - This doesn't mean slob around feeling sorry for yourself and/or stuffing your face. Have a bit of wallowing time but try and snap out of it quickly. Which brings me nicely on to...

- look after your legs - stretching, foam rolling, icing, massage, strengthening exercises and generally being sensible will be my plan from now on. I can't believe I wasn't doing a single one of these properly before, and I think they all have a place in good marathon training and recovery
- ask for advice and make yourself knowledgable about the subject (but don't scare yourself with self-diagnosis on Google). It is likely many many runners have been in you position before, so seek comfort from that if you can.

Me and new bff - the foam roller

Although I thought that all hope was lost, I am now getting towards being able to run the Dartford ten miler (not this weekend but next) - although I very much doubt it will be a fast race for me. For next steps, I am going to continue the strectching, foam rolling, and listening to my body and ability. I am looking into a sports massage. I have also ordered some joint tablets on the reccommendation of a friend - Glucosamine & Chondroitin.  Some studies say this helps rebuild cartiledge and keep joints healthy - I'm willing to try anything! Hopefully I can try and prevent any problems as much as possible - life without running was not enjoyable!

Trainers, technique and cakes!

How is it mid August already?! Time flies! I've stuck with the routine of gym classes and a few short runs during the week, and then a longer run in the morning at the weekend. I got up to 15 miles a few weeks ago which I was pleased with - especially as training near home involves a fair few inclines! The Garmin that I was given for my birthday is  so so good! I really like seeing how far I've managed to run, and it tells me my pace every mile. This has really helped me try and even out my pace on the longer runs, and realise that I was charging off too fast and then flaking out! 

I've really tried to work on my technique too, and read lots of articles and opinions on this - as I have suffered with shin pain in the past. I've found that concentrating on trying to run as lightly as possible, making sure my feet don't turn in when I run, running more on the mid/forefront of my foot and concentrating on posture has sorted this out for now. Of course as I continue to build the miles it may return, but I'm hoping that keeping good form will help. I recently had my gait analysed, and was told I don't over or under pronate - which is good news!

I've also got another pair of trainers to swap in for training runs, as I read that changing up your trainers can help avoid injury. I now have two pairs of Asics, and my beautiful pink Nikes for speed and gym work! 

I also started my first bit of fundraising for Whizz Kidz, with a cake sale at work! It went well...

Since the 15 mile a few weeks ago, I haven't managed to go any further, mainly because I've had plans at the weekends! I think sacrifices will have to be made when I get into training properly...I think the fear of race day will get me going!!