Over the last few weeks my running has almost ground to a halt. My knees are complaining too much to make any headway. At training last week, the coach advised I see a specialist running physio to discover what is going wrong, and ask whether or not I should run the Edinburgh Marathon. My own conclusion was that I've simply built up my running muscles to the neglect of others too much and/or too quickly, which is why my knee is being pulled out of shape. The fix: thigh strengthening exercises and cross-training, especially cycling and swimming (I was chatting to some triathletes, who claim to never get injured due to this very fact).
Today I visited a marathon-running physio who immediately hit several pretty sore points, and thinks it may actually be my shoes that are to blame. Next step on that road (groan) is to have my gait analysed and get some shoes that 'work for me' better than the ones I have at the moment.
My appearance in the 2004 Edinburgh Marathon is now looking distinctly unlike happening, to my annoyance, but the journey thus far has included a steep learning curve which has certainly been educational. Following on from the thoughts of the coach and the physio as well as my own gut feeling, it is very likely I'll resign my place and attempt to find a team looking for a member to do a relay stage. It's certainly not the end of the world, and I'm not really that annoyed.
Looking forward, I'll get my footwear checked and my knees back in line (literally), and then heads down with training. There is a weekly marathon group that goes out on a Sunday morning, which I'm going to join up with, and I have a place for the Berlin Marathon in September which I'm really excited about. Should be a good chance to meet a 'virtual' Mobitopian friend, doing the sponsor thing as I had planned for Edinburgh, having a short holiday and hopefully catching up with some friends. Anyone else feel like running in Berlin???
OK, I'll try to get away from just posting about running here now. Pub feedback on Friday suggests it's boring you. ;-)
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Karen -- Run and Become are also in Edinburgh, and I've happily donated a fair chunk of cashola to them over the past few months, including for my shoes. Today I went back and chatted to them about the whole thing. My running style and shoes seem to match OK, so I'm debating what to do next.
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