My last run was on 8th March on a roof top track in Central London with Advent Running. That day I went to Function360 (gifted) and saw my osteopath, Emma. She hadn’t examined my Achilles before and was concerned at how swollen and tender they both were (particularly my left). She gave me orders to rest for a week and ice every day until I saw her again the following week. Unfortunately, the following week brought even worse news. No high impact activities for at least four more weeks, and continue with the daily icing. I was able to continue teaching indoor cycling, which was a Godsend. Without an endorphin release, I started to go a little bit crazy by week 3.
You may be wondering why I didn’t try swimming or some other form of no impact exercise? I started to get a cold about the same time. I stayed home one day to try to recover from it, yet it still lingers on. Along with the running nose, sinus pain, and now phlemy cough, I feel tired. The silver lining is that my injury and cold are aligned. At least my body is efficient!
Every week, I see Emma and she examines my Achilles and decides if I need soft tissue therapy, acupuncture, and/or taping. When I saw her last week, she said this week we can talk about starting to run again. Then she gave the caveat of one minute on, one minute off to start with. But I will take it!
Even though I am not allowed to run, I still need to do my strengthening and stretching exercises. I have been doing my full physiotherapy program two to three times a week. On my tea breaks, I pop over to the gym and do my eccentric calf raises and isometric holds. I hope by sticking to my program that when I am able to run again, I will not have lost too much speed. My cardiovascular system will need to catch up with my legs but I am hoping once my cold is gone, I can get into a pool (if only my hair wouldn’t get wet).
Since I am injured, I have been volunteering at parkrun. Today, I learned there is a Boston marathon in Lincolnshire that is the same weekend as THE Boston Marathon. As the ever optimist, I am going to put it on my list for next year (even though it will be not too long after Tokyo Marathon).
I have also joined a virtual run club, as I haven’t been running with my Advent Running crew as of late. If you are looking to meet other runners from around the world, why not check out the Run Things Virtual Running Club (scroll down this page for all the info)? These are the people behind Run Up to Christmas for Mind Charity, which tons of people in the UK do every year. For a one-time payment of £25, you get a t-shirt and online support in a Facebook group and Strava club. They offer additional virtual races throughout the year, so if you are motivated by race bling, definitely check them out.
Good luck to everyone running the 123rd Boston Marathon today and congrats to everyone who ran Brighton yesterday. I hope I can stand in a starting pen for Boston in 2021 as my last WMM. If all goes well, I will be running Tokyo in 2020.
If you are struggling with an injury, niggle, or need a sports massage (and live or work in London), give Function360 a call. Their team can handle it all and give you continuity of care. You can get 15% off your first appointment with code #F360MM15.
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