The mental running game

I started off faithfully writing up all my runs but that went pear-shaped over the summer. After my father died I started to get a pain in my right knee, which eventually got worse. The weekend before last I was due to do 19 miles but could only manage 10, and I really could have stopped at 6. Cue massive wobble, the worst I ever had with running. I couldn’t do the marathon, everything was finished, it was all a waste of time. I actually felt terrible, I think everything caught up with me.

I emailed my very sensible coach Mary Jennings and she talked me down. She said to go to my physio and forget about running for the week and see what could be done for the knee. So that’s what I did.

I had two sessions of dry-needling which was very effective, though weird and painful. I think it was the calf that was causing the knee pain. I used a run/walk strategy for my run on Saturday and the upshot is I did 20 miles and felt like I had won the race. I was, and am, delighted. All my marathon plans are back on.

However even before Saturday I had decided that one way or the other I was doing the marathon, even if I had to walk the whole thing. I was lucky that physically my knee held up but the most important thing was the change in my mindset. Just shows how important the mental game is in this running lark. I’m back in the game.