Nervous anticipation

Waking up on Friday morning to find my ankle was still aching, did not fill me with confidence I should be trying 30 minutes run on a 4:2 run/walk basis. This is where you put your whole trust in the advice you're given (in this case, from my physio Tim).

So, with nervous anticipation, I began the run/walk on the treadmill (my instant get-out clause if I needed to bail early). The first 4 minutes were awful and I seriously thought about stopping there and then. I did the first 2 minute walk and it all seemed much better so I attempted the second 4 minute run. During this, I had already decided to cut the run short to 15 minutes! Another 2 minutes walk and everything felt so much better. The ankle hardly bothered me on the next running section and apart from the odd twinge it was painfree. I decided to carry on for the full 30 minutes.

Once I'd finished, I immediately stretched, grid rollered, ibuprofened, iced, elevated... and then every hour I continued to ice for 15 minutes until I'd done it three times. Paranoid wasn't in it! I went to bed, and all night I worried what it would feel like the next day!

Getting up on Saturday morning, I have to say it felt no better than the day before... but more importantly it felt no worse! Continuing with my cautious approach, I decided to cross train and not do 2 runs on consecutive days (just yet!) and so I chose to do 1 hour on the rowing machine instead. I thought it might be tough as I've only done 30 minutes on this before, but it went relatively smoothly. I spent the last 10 minutes 'stepping it up a gear' and went with the hardest effort I could manage, ending the hour with a total distance of 10.581KM. I didn't find it too difficult (I think I'd have made the level on the machine higher than level 3 if I thought my back could take a higher level, but I don't think it could have today), but I was aware my bum felt uncomfortable... especially in the last 10 minutes. It wasn't until I went into the shower and almost hit the ceiling, that I realised I had some serious chaffage. It's so painful I am unable to sit down properly. On the plus side, my ankle is painfree... is this because it genuinely IS painfree, or is it because my chaffing is so bad I simply can't feel anything else?

One thing I am sure of... I'm happy to take the running as slow as I need to. I think my ankle pain has been a very strong warning that injuries come on thick and fast if you try to do too much too soon. I read an article yesterday by Ian Sharman. He said it's best to get to a startline undertrained and injury free rather than well trained with a small injury. I get it... I really really do!