Sparkie's rundiary

After an easy 11.5km in 51 minutes on Thursday with no problems (apart from some residual flatness from the previous day), I decided on Friday to test the right hamstring to see if racing InterClub on Saturday was an option. After a LONG strech and 2km warm-up, I did 4x40m run throughs, then 4x60, with the last two basically at full speed. So far so good. Then 4x20m starts, then 4x40m starts. Everything holding together nicely. I decided to do a full 100m run-through. 30m into it - BANG - my left hamstring goes. Down I went, in a LOT more pain than when I did the right one. Could barely walk on it and limped back to the car in a mood not unlike the title of this post.

This is very different - can't walk properly, and much, much sorer. On the plus side, there was no tearing sensation, and instead it felt like a massive cramp (and I once ran the last 10km of a marathon feeling similar). Off to the physio today - they're starting a college trust fund for their kids in my name soon - where the verdict was actually not too bad. No major damage, just some localised hardness from the leg's cramp mechanism. The usual drill - massage, ultra-sound, electro-shock therapy, bike, stretching, ice. Was able to get a pretty good range of motion (for me) in the stretching, and the bike was pain free, so things aren't looking as bad as they appeared yesterday.

However, my body IS trying to tell me something. I actually attribute the weakness to my recent leap into strecthing - that for a while the stretched muscles will be more susceptible to injury before the acquired flexibility renders them more resillient (my physio concurred with my amatuer exercise physiology theory), and like all distance runners, my hamstrings are the weak link strength-wise in my legs. So before I test them at full-speed again, I will be engaging in about a month's strength training, as well as my current stretching regime.

This has pretty much ruled out the State 3000m champs, and probably any serious racing for the rest of the year. Ironically, I finally got some details on Pole Vault coaches this week!

I was seriously debating packing-in the whole double decathlon lark yesterday - 12 months of sacrifice and hard work, and I could turn-around and do this again the week before. Better to stick to what I know best and am fairly good at...

Then it occurred to me that once you make a commitment to something, you don't turn away at the first or second (or even tenth) hurdle - it ceases to be a commitment, and just becomes a bit of wishful thinking. The purpose of setting your sights on something big is to carry you through the tough times, when you want to give it all away, or wish you could just click your fingers and make it happen instantly - rather than earn it. Even when there is a fallback option (sticking with something that whilst it doesn't inspire you, isn't too bad), you still need to by unswerving in your focus, as though the fall-back option doesn't exist. I could easily drop the whole idea, jump back into fun runs, and derive some level of satisfaction from it.

But I am committed, and every setback is just a lesson I need to learn. More strength training, more supplemental work, MORE PATIENCE. The rest of the year will be about getting myself to a point where I can start doing the work I need, rather than chasing short-term rewards and distractions. What I am capable of now is irrelevent - it's what I am capable of in twelve months time that is important, and the best way to maximise that is to focus on the complete picture now.

So 6:00am Monday I will be at the gym (although no leg work for a while), as part of a '3 days a week' program. Once I am back running, I will spend a month on easier longer runs, to get my base fitness back, and not overtax my system whilst I am working on leg strength. With the State Decathlon championships also looking extremely doubtful, the pressure on acquiring Pole Vault skills rapidly is gone, which means I can get into this properly, rather than rushing to meet a deadline. Essentially, I will spend the next two months getting myself sorted out, and kick off the campaign proper in January. Two months of hard work with no reward - I'm looking forward to it already.