Cool Running Ramblings: Issue 9
Trots, nipples and 200 miles
Howdy doody friends of the foundation! This week’s training runs took me past the 200 miles marker in my training program and only another 322 to go before the race (did you like the way I used the word “only” there?) This week also saw the earliest I had to set my alarm clock too, a frankly inhumane 5.20am!
My wonderful other half, Vanessa, is a chiropractor and on Thursday she had an 8 o’clock patient in her Henfield clinic which meant that she needed to leave the house by 7.00am in order to get there in plenty of time to set up for the day. This sadly coincided with an 8 mile training run which meant that I had to be out of the front door by 5.40am to be 100% sure of getting home before 7. The street lights in my road weren’t even on it was that early! So as I was stumbling along the darkened streets in my half-awake state I was amazed by how many other people were out and about at that time. They were predominantly dressed in all the colours of the high-vis rainbow and I imagine that they had to be up at that antisocial hour as part of their every day routine. I swear I will never ever again whinge about how hard my 9-5 job at my comfy, warm and dry desk is ever again! I salute you high-vis army, all power to your collective elbows!
After suffering knee knack last week (or Ilio-Tibial Band Friction Syndrome caused by tightening of the ITB and abrasion against the Lateral Epicondyle as my other half pointed out to me) I did a bit of research to find out what other injuries might be in store for me over the coming weeks. I also discovered that ITBFS is also more commonly known as “runner’s knee” (they clearly had their best and brightest minds on the naming committee that day). I’ve also experienced another unimaginatively named condition this week, having had my first taste of jogger’s nipple! Well, when I say taste I don’t mean… well you know what I mean. There was bleeding and everything! Gross! I now run with plasters over my nipples as protection and would really appreciate it if anyone knows of a brand of plaster that only sticks to skin and not chest hair.
Well if you think that made you wince then another response I got on my quest for injury enlightenment within the running fraternity was this little beauty:
“No running blog would be complete without a reference to Runners trots. I saw the effects when running in my first Marathon and the effects as you can imagine are not good. So the thing is, be prepared! Imodium is the best option, just don’t take too many and also stay off anything which you have not encountered before e.g. don’t go for a curry if you have not had one the day before a run before. The best option however is to ensure you’re hydrated before and after the race so a) you don’t encounter fatigue and b) you don’t get cramps”.
Eeeeuuuwwwww!!! Well I’m hoping this is a complaint limited to fast runners as I’ve yet to experience it personally. I also go before I go, if you know what I mean. A really good resource for self diagnosing injuries is this one: http://www.physioroom.com/sports/running/index.php
An added bonus of this site for any fantasy football managers is that they also keep tabs on injuries of all Premier League footballers which could be very useful information indeed come that end of season push for glory (or mid table mediocrity this year in my case).
Last thing this week is that I’ve had a request passed on from the lovely Jo Laker who kindly organises an unofficial BSI running club after work every Tuesday here in the UK, based in Sussex. Runners of all abilities are encouraged and the route Jo leads varies from 5 to 10 miles. An inside source has suggested that the distance run seems directly proportional to how mean Jo’s feeling. As such, I would suggest a polite and cheery enquiry as to how her day’s been before setting off might be advisable. So if you’re looking for some friendly company while you’re pounding out the training miles then simply loiter in the West Car Park at around 5.15pm on a Tuesday and keep an eye out for similar loiterers. The ones dressed in running apparel would probably be the safest to approach.
Keep up the training!
