Matt Gets Running

I think it’s quite for­tu­it­ous that this is the week I’ve been read­ing the chapter on avoid­ing injur­ies in John Bingham’s No Need for Speed.

One of the things he talks about is how to pay atten­tion to your body; how to listen to those early, gentle aches and pains that mean you should back off for a day or so, instead of press­ing on and turn­ing the ache into a pain and then into some­thing more serious.

So, see­ing as my thighs have been aching quite a lot since Sunday’s run — not sur­pris­ing, as it’s the most hill I’ve ever climbed — I left an extra day, and tried to do a pretty min­imal run tonight.

And I’m glad I did, because even the slow 4K was quite a slog, and my right ham­string did whinge a bit at me. Noth­ing ser­i­ous, but I’m going to take the advice in the book — oth­er­wise there wasn’t much point in me buy­ing it! — and take another couple of days off, and then go out for some­thing on Sat­urday and see how I feel.

If I feel good, I’ll do the nor­mal week­end around-the-Downs run. If I don’t, I’ll cut it shorter.

Still, really enjoyed the 8K in the woods on Sunday, and it’s good to open up another longer, hilly route that goes through green­ery and ends up at a café!