This morning's post brought the second Marathon News magazine, which includes the registration form I will need to hand over in order to receive my official race number, which is 35972. I understand that there is a live "runner tracker" available on the day, which will enable you to follow my progress along the course, and you will need my race number to do that. Today also brings good news on the running front, despite my having run barely 6 miles this week. Fundraising - so close to crossing the line, with today's total standing at £2484.50. I know there is at least several hundred pounds to come, in the form of the proceeds from several fundraising events, and whatever is out there on the sponsor forms which are on notice boards here, there and everywhere. But wouldn't you love to be the person who goes online and makes the donation that takes me across the £2,500 line?
So - running. The physio said, try a run before I see you again. I went to the gym on Wednesday, intending just to do strength and crosstraining. But after 15 minutes on the exercise bike, I kept on glancing across at the treadmills, and couldn't resist. I moved across and programmed the treadmill for 10 minutes of walk/run intervals. I was very cautious, starting with just 15s of running out of each minute, but gradually stepped up until for the last few minutes I was doing 30/30. Admittedly the running was very slow - but my knee felt fine. Emboldened, I programmed the treadmill for another 20 minutes and started again. This time I had only been going a couple of minutes when my knee started to feel uncomfortable. I considered pushing through it, but decided caution was more sensible, so I terminated that run after 5 minutes, giving me 15 minutes altogether.
The following day I did crosstraining on the rowing machine and bike, then yesterday, David and I went for a long walk. We parked at Bilsthorpe and walked almost the full length of the Southwell Trail and back - 13.4 miles round trip, with a lunch break in the middle. I found that if I strode out (i.e. walked too quickly), I would get a pulling sensation at the back of my knee, but otherwise it was fine. The total duration was a shade over 4 hours. Afterwards, I iced my knee as instructed - but in fact my injured knee was fine, whereas my "good" one ached a bit.
Today, I decided to attempt an actual run out of doors - it was a beautiful, if breezy, spring afternoon. I wore my Cancer Research UK T-Shirt to train in for the first time. I programmed my watch to show me only time, so I would not put on pressure on myself about the pace at which I was running. I didn't use the walk/run timer, simply ran for short periods, with short walks in between, according to how I felt. I had been going for just over an hour, and was within half a mile of home, when I started to feel a bit of discomfort in my knee. It was quite minor, though, and I was able to continue with a bit of running until I got home, having run/walked 4.95 miles in 1:12.
So there we go - it is hardly speedy! And there is a lot further to go. But the signs are encouraging - especially the fact that I improved from 10 minutes to an hour before I started to feel any discomfort, in the space of three days. My next run will be on Monday, and I'll see how much longer I can go before I start to feel discomfort. Then when I see the physio on Tuesday, I'll discuss with him what my strategy should be for the 4 weeks that remain. Ideally, I would get 2 more very long runs in - at least 16, preferably 18, and ideally 20 miles. But we are into the art of the possible, weighing up the benefits of doing that training (psychological as much as physical) against the risks of aggravating my injuries.
A massive thank you goes to all the people who have encouraged me, especially since this latest setback. The easiest thing in the world would be to say, I'm injured, I'm pulling out. If I were a serious athlete chasing a fast time, that would be the only sensible thing to do. But I'm not - I'm an ordinary person, trying to do something crazy, and do some good in the process. It won't be fast. It won't be pretty. But if it's physically possible for me to complete the course, I will do it.
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