So since my last blog I have
Held a very successful Windmill 6 and raised £550 for my son's School
Won the competition that my wife and I entered to win a trip to the Kangaroo marathon in Austrailia
Completed the world half marathon in Cardiff in 1hr30m23s which is a 3s PB
Finished the Wakefield 10k in 39.26m plus SJ ran it too as her first 10k and smashed it (very proud)
Had an amazing trip with the boys and SJ to Alton towers (the boys first visit)
Started and held the first School mob run at junior parkrun (It went well)
Been asked to help organise the Poppy Dash 5k which will be rememberence Sunday
Become an Event Adjudicator for UK athletics
I'm now also a Grade 2 registered course measurer (Measured my local parkrun for fun and practice)
Applied to be on Ninja Warrior UK 3
Witnessed a few of my running group runners complete races they wouldn't have even thought about and done amazingly well too (really proud)
I have taken the next step in becoming a running coach
Most recently I have also got a job albeit a temporary one, but who knows what will happen.
And now to why I have be away until now......
I have done all of the above while being injured, I have been struggling with a knee injury that I think started at the Huddersfield 10k. What brought it to the surface or tipped it over the edge was the 21 mile buggy run I did in prep for the Manchester marathon. I had to think of the long term effect and drop out of the marathon because of it but from the bad stories I heard about it this year and the incorrect distance of the past few years I may have made a good decision. If it sorts itself out I may give it a go in the future but not for now, I will have to find another flat marathon to attempt my good for age time.
So once I had decided to listen to my injury I dropped down from running 7 days a week to just 2, parkrun and my beginners group, which was ok for a while but it wasn't helping. I then did what I should have done a while back and listened to my body and my wife and went to see my GP, who suggested complete rest for a while. It was the best thing to do but as any runner will agree injuries suck, I sat and sulked, imagined, and wished I could be out there as friends and others ran all the races I was suppose to run or wished I could run (London marathon for example). I also ate like I was running and as a result I have put on a stone and lost some fitness. I did nothing for 3 weeks (GP said a month, sorry Neil) then I ran at Preston parkrun on my return. It was a lovely parkrun but it was really hard and even though I took it easy on my first run back I don't think I had much more to give. I was 4 minutes off my usual pace which was a little disheartening but it was a target, a challenge, a goal to aim for on my comeback. A couple of weeks later and it still wasn't right but I tried a longer run to see if I could attempt the School run (2nd race in the SHTAR (South Huudersfield Trail and Road) series) and after 5 miles, a few stops and some burning lungs I stopped and realised I needed a new approach. Luckily it come in an unexpected but very much appreciated form of Mr Simon Courtney (fellow Stadium runner and personal trainer) who gave me some body weight exercises and foam roller exercises to do. He said that my injury is mainly due to a tight IT band which is pulling at the ligaments and muscles around my knee.
So this past Saturday I ran parkrun and ran it at pace and to my surprise I managed it without too much pain and that was from just one session with Simon. I wasn't completely fixed but I could see a light at the end of the tunnel, I just needed to regain my fitness. So it was on to the School Run and it wasn't for me no it was for SJ, when I said I couldn't do it she said well maybe I should. I was ever so proud of her, she even ran parkrun with the boys before hand as well. She finished parkrun and an hour later was running up some silly hills around Digley reservoir, I couldn't have been more proud of her.
Yesterday (Thursday) I went for my first run other than parkrun for a while and a run with Steve which also was a first for a while. We went for a 5 mile run up hills and on trail and my knee felt really good, I went round about 95% pain free with only the odd twinge so I arrived back home with renewed optimism about the road back to fitness. The 5 mile run was still hard but on a hot and humid night and on the terrain we ran it was a huge step in the right direction. So a big thank you to Simon for taking it upon himself to set me on the road to recovery.
The time has now come for me to get back running properly and that also means I can start to think about entering races again. My main thoughts though are the Shepley 10k which as you regular readers know is my race I organise, which this year should be amazing for so many reasons. Firstly this year will be it's 4th and biggest to date with my fellow Stadium runners making an appearance as its on the clubs championship calendar. Plus it's the 4th race on the SHTAR series which is turning out to be a better series than we thought it would be. As I have become a course measurer I might be able to get the Shepley 10k a UK athletics licenced event which means it will count towards the power of 10 leaderboards and should attract a lot more athletes. But the main reason I'm looking forward to this years Shepley 10k is because this year there will be so many of my friends at the event that I have met over the last 4 years and that was the main reason for starting the event. I wanted to put on the race to start with to run a route I enjoyed a lot with all of my friends and share the beautiful views and surrounding areas with them. The friends and friendships you make on your journey is what keep most people coming back to races and runs and has been a major part of my running this past 4 years. In that 4 years I've also set up various races or runs and met lots of new friends because of it and I hope that I will continue to make friends and create new events and races for people to come and run with me.
Oh it's good to be back
Keep running everyone
