What a week

It has been a while since my last update. My new shoes are still glowing, and I still can't help but to keep staring at them.

I took some rest Monday through to Wednesday. Given the way my ankle had been before that, I thought it seemed like a wise course of action. Went out for a run again on Thursday with my running club.

7.4km - a distance over which my previous best time was something like 42:00. I did it in 38:30. Improvement? Hell yeah! Did it feel good? Well if you exclude the fact that I could barely walk later on, then yes I actually felt invincible.

Not a good feeling to have - Friday evening, leaving work, planted foot awkwardly on the stairs and my left leg tightened up badly. If there ever was a clear sign of someone having caught the running bug, it is at this sort of moment when you get that feeling in your leg and your first thought is whether you will be able to compete in your upcoming race.

I could not believe it. 30 days to go to Silverstone, and I went and injured myself doing something stupid on a staircase I have been going up and down for over 2 years without a hint of a problem on any other occasion. I would have been livid if I hadn't started panicking about my run.

I drove home in a state of complete panic, dragged myself to the freezer and got me some frozen peas and immediately stuck it on my knee. I still couldn't think of anything but my run. Spent the evening frantically googling any information I could find.

Once the hysteria died down, I came to the conclusion that it is likely that I got myself a sudden case of ITBS....I don't go into the medical mumbo jumbo, but if you want to see what it is, the Wikipedia (they have a link for everything, seriously!) page is here.

Long story short, I read on a couple of sites that average recovery time is 4-6 weeks. It was about here that depression started to kick in. 4-6 weeks???? F*%&*%$. I don't have that kind of time. I felt absolutely gutted. This was meant to be my goal, my big day, a huge landmark for me. And I was making awesome progress. The feeling that all that hard work, all that build up, all that anticipation could go to waste because a split second slip up, I can't think of the words to describe it.

I went for my boot camp this morning and took it really easy. I suppose complete rest would have been the wiser option but I didn't sleep at all, still felt low and just needed to get out.

It's better than it was yesterday and I have read accounts of other runners recovering within a few days. I've calmed down and am going to go see a physio early next week...and rest...and ice....and hope.