9 weeks left, 32 stationary bike miles and a real distaste for being injured

So I didn’t run 60 miles this week, I had every intention of starting the week with my usual 5.4 mile loop on Tuesday but my foot was causing me quite a lot of discomfort during work on Monday. I booked an appointment with my GP for that evening and found out I had sprained my foot. This was far from ideal and I have been advised to not run until the new year.

It is quite hard to articulate how it feels to find out you will have something you do so often and for long periods of time, taken away for the best part of a fortnight. There is a large amount of my self esteem and confidence that stems from the running. I have found myself spending more time indoors and really missing the 7-10hrs of solitude normally provided by being either in the gym or running out in the street.

I managed to do 12 miles midweek on the stationary bike at a good pace and enjoyed being out of breath and challenging myself to get under a certain time. There was no pain during the exercise but this could be put down to adrenaline. My foot muscles did feel a bit tighter afterwards though.

I contemplated (quite extensively) doing 1-2 longer cycle rides of possibly 30-50 miles on the stationary bike yesterday and today. This was motivated by being able to maintain my endurance base. I didn’t really feel up to it either day and decided to just try to do an hour at a reasonable pace today. I was more aware of the foot during that hour but I was never in doubt about being able to get the target miles under that time.

I’m going to try do some more short cycle sessions next week and hopefully manage something a bit longer next weekend. With a bit of luck I will be able to get back to full speed again in enough time to fit in a few 75 mile weeks before the race in Belfast.