Run no 71

Strained the big muscle at the back of my knee just above the joint during a 10k on Tues last week. Thought no more about it and ran again on Wed, it wasn't long before it was quite painful and by the end of the run it was pretty sore. Dave advised I have a complete layoff until Sun which I did. Got up at 5.45am this morning, and applied Deep Heat and a tubi grip around my upper right leg. Set out and made a point of taking it easy. It wasn't long before I could feel it twinging although it wasn't anywhere as near as bad as it was on Wed. Although it would be daft to run with an injury the thought of not doing this wasn't something I wanted to bear thinking about given the marathon is only about 6 weeks away. For the first quarter of the run I was concious of every little ache and pain in the right leg tho that tends to happen if you're continually thinking about it. Settled in to a comfortable 10 min/pace and the aches seemed to vanish. Stopped at the 6m mark for a delicious gel ;-) and a drink of water which I felt gave me a bit of a boost. Round the 10m mark the legs started to feel really heavy but by them I was running on auto-pilot. Took a second 1min break for another gel and mouthful of crisps snack at the 11 mile mark. The last 9 miles were ok albeit with aching legs. Unfortunately the right leg pain returned with a vengeance for the final 2 miles but by then there was no way I wasn't going to finish. Overall felt quite fresh from a breathing and energy viewpoint tho the leg was sore.

I'm very satisfied the way the run went tho am pissed off with the injury especially with the marathon so close and a few of the really important long runs scheduled. Just need to rest as much as I can and hope the old body can repair itself within time.