After the Pop heard around the world from last week, I went into wk15 of my training plan behind my schedule...
And it was not good.
Having popped my SI joint and loosened a few things off a few days earlier, I got a short run in on Thursday morning (a less than fun 5am 5K) and went into my long run on Sunday of 20km to close the gap after a shocking February of illness and injury. On waking on Sunday, my back decided that it would pop all over the shop when I moved in my sleep. It did so to a point that woke me up.
Me being me, decided that must be a 'good thing' and that 20k that same day would be straightforward.
...I was wrong on both counts.
What should have been a beautiful, blue-skied, sunny day easy run turned into a miserable clusterf*ck of pain. Within 3km I was already wincing and limping. By 7km i was thinking about calling to be collected in a nearby village. By 10k I was pretty screwed.
Me (again) being me, decided in my infinite wisdom that this was in fact a teachable moment for myself and another way to build my pain tolerance and resilience. That I did not want to programme into my mind that I can simply quit and call for assistance just because shit hurt (a lot). Not when I had to retire so far into the 100k last year, and not when i have 300K to do, as everything will suffer when I tackle that monster. Retiring feels fucking horrible. I want to avoid that feeling again at all costs.
And again, I was wrong. The run was most definitely a walk from 10km. Every step felt like someone had stabbed the back of my hip with a rusty screwdriver. There's a difference between building resilience and bloody-minded self-harm... and I knew I had crossed that boundary by about 12k.
I finished the 20, though. I take a little comfort from that. I reached home (just about) and went immediately for the ice pack. Something I did for the next couple of days. Walking hurt. Sitting hurt. Lying down hurt. It's left me feeling VERY low this week.
So low was my mood, I was having serious doubts about getting through 50k in 5 weeks time. No way if my back feels like this. And not being able to get 50km in the bank means I'd seriously jeopardise my ability to do the 100 five weeks after that. This had made for a horrible week for feeling like it might not happen. Not one to be defeated, I've stepped into action and snapped out of my low mood. I decided to do what I do and try to do more about it....
Heat, lacrosse ball, self massage, stretching, core strengthening and treatment...
I had the Physio work on my QL muscles (given how deep they are, that was less than fun). And got an emergency appointment with Brad (my Osteo) who today has forcefully folded me into shapes you can only experience as a beginner getting his ass whooped by a Judo master. He clicked my back in places I didn't know existed, and then decided to stick needles (the biggest fucking needles I've seen, by the way) deep into my hip and ass. The needle that went into the bottom of my spine had me nearly bounce off the treatment table. At this moment in time, the pain of that treatment is worth it as my back was in spasm as were my glutes. And I am under strict orders to not run for 3 days, which I am happy to follow. There is a glimmer of hope...
I have banked enough miles that if I can get to 25km over the next couple of weeks leading into the 50 in not too much discomfort, then I can get the 50 in. After that, my distance will taper down as i approach the 100k having already banked a 50k in the legs. These next 2 weeks are critical. No stupid risks, lots of heat in the back and hip, easy stretching and more treatment to keep thing. No runs for a few days to let the back and muscles bed in. Test it with a long run at the weekend (after a significant warm-up first), but with a view it's testing how the hip holds up and reacts, rather than going for distance. If it hurts, I'll stop. Once that's done, and assuming that goes well, then I can push the envelope a little more in the last 3 training weeks leading up to the 50k. My Fitness levels are just about holding steady, but this back issue is the single most important area of focus to get sorted. A challenge for sure, but that's what it's about... right? Thanks for reading...
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