So in the past month things haven't been too great (again) for my lil running legs! I was struck down with a chest infection and a cold for 2 weeks and I am now recovering from a torn intercostal muscle (rib muscles) and infection on the lungs. It is utterly excrutiating and I am once again supplementing my diet with Ibuprofen!
All is not lost though. When I am poorly or not able to get in the fast or long runs I tend to focus a lot more on the future and finer details of running.
So I've not been running an awful lot but the runs I have been doing have been slow and I've been really working on my gait. In the past few months I have felt my gait has been getting sloppy and I was getting a few twinges but I have been tidying things up there.
As a result of these shorter runs I have felt like i'm not running enough but my rib injury can't cope with much more than 5 miles so I have been introduced to the world of 'doubles'. For those not down with the lingo this basically means running 2 shorter runs a day as opposed to 1 longer run. The way I have been doing it is running with the dog in the morning (up to 3 miles) and then a slightly longer and faster one in the evening on my own. This way the dog gets his joggies and I get a quality run and still get to eat dinner at a reasonable hour. At the moment it's working well for me and it's apparently excellent for burning fat so hopefully I'll shed the few inches of winter padding I've acquired!
With being ill for almost a month now my long runs have been neglected and whilst I could still run a half marathon the pain in my ribs is not yet fading and with the race getting ever closer I have made the (hopefully) wise decision to pull out of the Norwich Half Marathon at the end of the month. It does mean that I will not crack one of my targets for the year but I will now focus on getting my sub 50mins 10k for now. I'll see how I feel once my ribs are better but half marathon's are few and far between in December so I will be focussing my energy on the Grantham half in March to really smas that PB, it's a LOVELY race and close to my heart being my first half!
So future planning is underway and I have now decided to run a marathon in Spring (as well as Istanbul in October 2011). Despite being offered a place in the London Marathon I have opted for the Edinburgh Marathon. I've not yet registered. Waiting to get better first. Other than that, I am yet to sort out my race diary for next year but I am aiming for 4 half marathons, 2 marathons and perhaps 4 or 5 10kms (maybe 11 for '11). Also hoping to do a triatlon (sprint) with the Husband in June. Busy busy but it's good to have these targets to keep me going, especially when training isn't going your way!
Now I can't wait to get better and go out and do some proper running and hopefully come back stronger. Despite my short distances and slow paces I have still clocked up 24 miles this week so the doubles certainly get the miles in :)
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