I decided to take a break from writing about my running in August. I felt there was just a lot going on and frankly my running still hasn't been improving.
The problems with the builder still persists and I seem to be uncovering more problems. In the long run this will be a really valuable lesson, as my wife and I will know what to expect when buying a home, however it is a hassle I could really do without at the moment. Then towards the end of August, I started to feel shooting pains down the right side of my shin. After seeing a physiotherapist I found out I had shin splints, due to tight calf muscles. So a key problem for me in 2016 had arisen again, though luckily ths time I had caught the problem before it became a serious issue; such as a stress fracture.
Whils the shin splints have not been catastrophic for my running, they have put an end to a good spell of consistent running; as well as delaying me entering a 10k and a half marathon. Hopefully I will be able to get to a decent level of fitness before running cross-country this season.
Besides the shin splints I have found another problem with my running. The new club that I am training with start their training sessions at 6:30pm, which means I cannot make their regular training sessions due to the Thameslink train timetables. In a lot of ways this is more of a setback for me than the shin splints. I have always been a firm believer in training with a club, as it has a whole host of benefits that aren't purely running related. The obvious solution for me would be to turn up periodically, but not consistently, to the training sessions; however I do not believe this would be beneficial to my training. I would still like to train with the club, and they are incredibly friendly, but I do need to assess whether it is the right for me and the way I want to train.
It was whilst all these issues were bubbling away, that I was listening to a podcast interviewing a military helicopter pilot who specialises in search and rescue. The pilot stated how part of her training was to 'wind her watch' when the helicopter encountered a severe malfunction and had the potential to crash. In other words rather than panic, it was taking a calm and decisive moment to fix the problem. What I took from this, given the current state of my running, is that instead of trying to fixate on any potential races. I am going to take a step back from my running and see what I can do to solve some of the more significant problems facing my training at the moment.
An old clubmate had also shared an article by Steve Magness about being adaptible as well as mentally tough. Regarding adaptability Magness discusses how runners have to be responsive to what life throws at them, whilst still being able to train. For me this is about putting daily training practices in place to develop my running, whilst I can't train with my new club.
The advice on mental toughness is not so suprising, but nevertheless useful for my current situation. Essentially it is making the right choices whilst being under pressure, as well as being fatigued, and not trying to appear 'macho' when dealing with the problems that life deals to all of us.
So with all these different things going on, I am not going to rush to change things; however I am going to need to make a decision about how to change my current situation for the better.
