Week Summary week ending 23/9/12

This week was always going to be interesting for a few reasons. How was I going to pull up after running my first 100km race, was I going to bounce back quick enough to do the Esperance Half Marathon in just over 10 days time? The first few days were as expected, the quads felt a bit ginger but nothing too serious. Then by Wednesday I was feeling a lot fresher and feeling pretty good about things. Apart from a slight twinge in my quad and Popliteus (Muscle in back of the knee) my legs were feeling outstanding. The quad niggle and popliteus pain came on at probably the 20km mark in the race so I knew they were going to be a bit inflamed post race.

I decided to go for a really quiet jog on Wednesday as I was getting really itchy feet having so many days off running. I only went 2km as I didn't want to overdo it. My quad was a bit tight still but popliteus was fine.

I decided to take the next few days off as I figured it would do no harm to rest up some more. Despite feeling really great I still had lingering pain in those two areas.

By Sunday the quad niggle had completely gone so I decided to head out for a short run around the river with Dan. We only covered about 6km at a pretty steady pace. Things felt quite good in general but still a lingering pain in the Popliteus. What does this mean for Esperance.....? I'm not too sure. I need to listen to my body despite what my head is telling me to do. This is probably the hardest time for a runner, when you feel just about 100% but you aren't. The need to relax and rest up is so crucial, as recovery is a huge component of training and racing.

I have a massage appointment booked with Nathan next week so no doubt he will know what to do. He has a knack for getting me back on the trails!!

Some more exciting news this week included me entering in the Great North Walk 100km race in November. I decided after Glasshouse and how things went there that I would love to give a tougher race with more elevation a crack. I think the GNW race suits me better as there are just more hills and it is more technical. I can't wait for this challenge.

Now I just need to shake a couple of niggles before I can get back to my favourite part of the whole running and racing thing, training. I get such a buzz out of being able to run trails every day. Have an escape from cars, cell phones and copious amounts of people. I am really hanging out for Esperance to be over so I can concentrate on that.

So overall it was a pretty interesting week with lots of things happening and things to get excited about for the near future. 1 week on and I feel I learnt so much from Glasshouse and I will take a lot of it with me into my next training block for GNW100.  Also a massive congratulations to my running mate James who placed 5th Overall at the Surf Coast Century 100km on Saturday and he also ran the quickest individual time for the final 14km section, good job!!

Some useful links:

http://www.terrigaltrotters.com.au/GNW100s.htm

http://www.rapidascent.com.au/salomontrailrunning/WhatIsSC100.aspx

A beautiful morning running along the Swan River