This week was injury week. I am actually surprised I got this far after talking to other people who have trained for a half-marathon but yet it came so unexpectedly. In hindsight I can see how I had over-done it previously.
On the Monday and Tuesday morning I did run rather fast on the school run as we were late and my son took his scooter. Other than that I went with an after school group on a very short sponsored walk but other than that I didn’t do a lot. On the Tuesday morning after I had dropped my sons off I thought I would try the Zombie App which I had heard about in the Fitbitches group. This involves running away from Zombies whilst doing 5k. I thought yeah I could do that and it wouldn’t take up too much of my morning. The Zombies were no-where in sight and I had literally just begun a gentle jog when I felt what can only be described as a spasm all up my leg! It was so painful and when it finished I can hardly walk. I then shuffled back home and this took much longer than my anticipated run!
I did a lot of Googling and talking to others and this is what I tried to get rid of the pain:
Epsom salts – sat in a bath for 20 minutes.
Deep heat – and generally rubbing my legs.
Rest – It hurt too much to do much else though to be honest.
Ibuprofen – why it took me so long to even think about taking any!
Water – apparently it could be dehydration.
Gentle stretches – I especially like the one with my foot hanging half way off a step.
Better diet – although this mainly includes a lot of stir-fry and I still need to improve what I am putting into my body. And if I am totally honest I ate out a lot – but it is better than all the chocolate and hot cross buns right!
A sports massage – if you have ever had a nice relaxing massage then let me tell you this is NOTHING of the sort. Torture massage would be a better description and I left bruised and in pain. I do believe that it did the job though!
I did not run all week. I walked the school run, I missed running club and was a marshal at Park run and Park Run Junior (where our 9 year old collected his Half Marathon band).
I cannot tell you how gutted I felt for this to happen. It was so depressing. I feared (irrationally I know) that I would never run again (it hurt okay). To get so far and to be stopped in my tracks. I have no idea how some of these inspirational runners do it – who have really bad injuries and come back from it. To not to be able to run for months at a time (at least). I was just glad that the half marathon wasn’t too soon and that I had chance to recover. Now just to keep injury free as I head towards tapering time (not that I have been doing enough to taper lol).
I have also been told to use a bottle of ice-water or a tennis ball and roll them under my feet. Do you have any other tips for preventing or alleviating injury pains?
I am running the Tewkesbury Half Marathon on 14th May 2017 for The Roses Theatre. Please sponsor me: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/glosbloggers
Wow, you certainly tried a lot of ways to recover! I’m glad the sports massage worked. I do a few stretches after a run (but not before) and do two minutes on a foam roller on my weak side. After a long run, I also sit in a cold bath (no hot at all!) for 10 minutes. I eat chocolate to take my mind off what I’m doing because it’s not a lot of fun.
Hope you’re back in action now, not long to go!
Oh gosh I’m sorry this stopped you for the whole week. I’m glad you find something that worked though and I hope you have a better week this week.
Nat.x
I’m so sorry abou that. Last year I broke my leg and had to take 2 weeks off. You should eat Calcium foods such as salmon, sardines, fresh milk, cabbage, sesame … are rich in calcium. I also ate them and it worked really well. Wish your wound heal soon.
I am so proud of you I know you are working so hard – sorry you got injured!