Thursday, August 28, 2008

Post marathon

So it's now been 3 full days of rest after Mudgee and a little time to reflect on it. My recovery (if you take out the injuries), has been remarkably quick. In fact on Monday I felt pretty good, and by Tuesday was walking very freely with no real aches or pains. I expected the quads to be a lot worse than they were, but I think this maybe down the the slower pace I took in the race.

So that bears positive now, and the fact that I can recover quickly is good. The other good news is that I think the knee is pretty much fine. A slight ligament strain as we thought, but the bad news is that the soleus is not great. I'm walking fine, but when I break into anything resembling a trot I can really feel it. I wanted to see if I could get out running again this weekend, but I think I might have to give it a miss and really have a full week off. It's really important that I'm 100% for Glasshouse, and if that means another couple of days then so be it. I also have to get all of my kit and food sorted too. I'm using this as a full on test of kit, food and bag and will be trying some new things. Namely full length leggings, OMM rucksack and other types of food which are TBC at this stage.

Post Mudgee I was also slightly disappointed with my run. However it also makes me realise that if I can run that slow and still post a 3hr 46min then things aren't that bad. My last 8kms were awful, taking 46mins. But the good thing was that I felt good up to 32kms, which is encouraging. If I'd felt bad anything before 30kms I'd have been worried, but I'm pleased with that aspect, so onwards and upwards. Glasshouse is the next biggie, then it's a focus on Melbourne to try and run a PB - looking for a 3hr 20something... not sure what yet, but something around mid twenties would be awesome. One thing at a time though!

2 comments:

Mike Blamires said...

Somewhere in the 3:20s would be an awesome time... my prediction for the Nottingham marathon is going back almost every day at the moment.

It will take time to recover from the Glasshouse though so be sensible 2009 is still a fair way away but it's not that far away! It goes without saying but keep running, mate :)

Ian Cunliffe said...

Hey Dan,

Congrats on the run. That's a great time, especially with a tender knee. It sounds like you'll be in fine form for March.

You mentioned in your post that you will be doing an upcoming run with kit. What backpack have you settled on? I'm still trying to sort this out - I'm torn between the Aarn and the Raidlight.

All the best,

Ian C

another crazy marathon des sables runner in 2009