May - The calm before the storm?

Well Aprils training had been great, and the date of the Great Manchester Run was getting closer. I was aiming for some fast training runs this month... but events would conspire against me.

10km
02/05 - 46:25
05/05 - 47:54
10/05 - 44:45 - MU - new course PB - new 10km PB
13/05 - 45:03 - MU

After my training run on 5th, my left hip felt worse than usual. It had not felt "normal" for a few weeks but I'd been able to run on it OK. So I gave it a few days rest and by the time the 10th came around it felt much better. With hindsight, doing a MU run straight after a rest for a minor injury wasn't the most sensible, but I got round in a new PB so didn't think too much about it. However following up a few days later with another MU was probably the nail in the coffin. I should point out my hip felt OK when I attempted my run on the 13th, but half way round it started to cause me a bit of pain.

The pain went away the next day but it didn't quiet feel 100%. I sacked off any idea of trying to get another training run in and instead looked for exercise which was gentler. Swimming was what I chose. I quickly found swimming to be an entirely different beast, and my honed running muscles, and healthy heart and lung proved to be of very little use to me in the water :( In all fairness, the last time I'd been "swimming" was during Euro 2004, and that was more of a laugh around the pool sort of affair. Ignoring Euro 2004, it could well have been the first year of Uni... that was over 6 years ago! Anyway, it certainly got me tired, and didn't shock my joints and hips too bad so it was good fun... maybe I'll look to turn to swimming after the Great Manchester Run as I've certainly got a lot to improve on in this area.

So now it is the day before the run, my left hip does not feel "normal", but it is good enough to get me round in a good time. I doubt it will affect the time much at all. It might add 20 seconds on looking at the last MU I did, so I'm not worried. The time I will be aiming for is 43:30. This is based on the fact that my training course is harder than the Manchester Run. Last year my Manchester Run time was over 2 mins quicker. I doubt it will be the same margin this year due to diminishing returns, so I've knocked 1 and a bit minutes off my best training time. I do think though that after I've finished the run, my hip will be giving me a large amount of jip... so if you see me hobbling for a few days you'll know why. It also means the odds of me missing the first match of the new footy season have increased... but there's still hope it won't .

Last but not least, a special good luck has to go to three runners also taking part tomorrow. Russ, Ann-Marie & Charlotte! It will be there first time running this distance under race conditions, and they started from scratch at the beginning of the year, so have had a big hill to climb to get to the 10km standard. Good luck also to the rest of the Rangers taking part also... May the Braeburn's keep you from eating a nasty Golden Delicious.

Andy