In my last post I mentioned that I would be attempting to do my Long Slow Distance runs (LSD) on Sunday morning before working for Munchkin Sports, just so that I can have a free afternoon to relax. I attempted this on 26th January at 6am going to 12 miles, which proved to be a bad decision.

I have to admit that preparation wasn’t the best with 4/5 hours sleep and not enough food eaten the day before. Nice long warm up as per usual with dynamic exercises and a series of lunges and I started in West Wickham, headed through Beckenham, Eden Park and eventually had to stop. I could sense that my technique was awful because I was tired mentally and physically. No matter what I did, I just couldn’t regain the technique. Walk/run helped but as as I got to mile 6 I thought that it was best to stop rather than put myself through more agony than I needed to be in.

Main culprit (apart from lack of preparation) was Medial Tibialis Stress Syndrome (MTSS) which did affect me on the later stages of my London Marathon 2013 training. After working for Munchkins, I got home and I ate well and rested as much as I could with a session on the foam roller which was needed! While I did this I took my time to think about what to do next with regards to training. I decided to go down to 3 runs a week ( 1 LSD) with 3 gym sessions focussing on strength for my entire body but not neglecting any prehab work.

I got a new pair of trainers from the Runners Shop near Clockhouse Station which was a huge relief! It was needed and I could feel a very positive difference. It was good to try different trainers & makes to see which ones felt comfortable and give me the best support for my over-pronating feet. Now I had new running trainers, it was a case of taking a few steps backwards to go several forwards.

I didn’t go straight into the mileage on my original training plan, I started with 2 short runs at an easy pace just looking at running well. No thrills, no strides just a good solid run with good technique. And it went well! Even though it was 4/5 miles both went well and had no issues. I then went for relatively hilly 9 mile run, again it went well.

Last Friday 7th Feb, 10 miles in 93mins and felt I could’ve done a lot more despite the hills of Shortlands and West Wickham. This was done before a birthday weekend packed with more work than socialising, and a few too many days off from running resulted in some Plantar Fascia pain which I’m managing with some myofascial release and normal rehab.

Went for another run, hit the gym hard and things are getting back to normal. Sometimes with marathon training you have to take a few steps back, to take many more forward. I have had numerous clients  with varying injuries, but they all are desperate to start training again, are frustrated at the setback and want to get back to running 12+ miles straight away. This is a huge risk towards their training and could set them back further!

I strongly advise to listen to your body and what it is trying to tell you. If the pain is more than a 3-4/10 then start to run slower, walk/run or stop. It really isn’t worth running in pain and making things worse. When heading back to running, make sure you are cross training to maintain your fitness. A couple of weeks without running won’t make you completely unable to run, but you can give yourself a huge lift by cross training. As I’ve always said, there is a lot more to Running than just running!