The past 6-7 weeks have been pretty much hell.  Doctor ordered a ban after Athens Marathon.  I was suffering from either a stress fracture or planter fasciitis.  As it was more down the inner left side of my right foot with no ankle pain my doctor was convinced it was a stress fracture.  She prescribed anti inflammatory pain killers and a 6-7 week ban from running.  I was distraught.

I’d obviously been planning to run Portsmouth 50k Ultra last weekend.  That didn’t happen.  Although at the end of the ban I couldn’t risk getting back  into long distance running the day after the ban ended.  That would have been silly.

What did I do during those 6-7 weeks?

I busied myself with studying as I started my Advanced Creative Writing course at Open University which focused my mind indoors.  I switched energy suppliers so I now work for the start up Bristol Energy.  I have been finishing a cross stitch stocking for Holly for Christmas.

Fitness wise Steven has been dragging me swimming once a week.  It’s a totally different kind of workout.  Most of the time I’m just minding my own business finding different ways to not drown.  I’ve also thrown myself back into yoga.  The big deal that changed my sanity levels was starting INSANITY.  It gave me the cardio boost I needed whilst being a focus on strength and recovery rather than solely running.  I’ve been tracking my INSANITY progress so at some point I’ll do a post on that.

This break made me think about my running.  About how my determination perhaps got the better of me.  I’d always keep going if I got injured no matter what the cost.  This break has made me realize just how many injuries I fought through when I could have just taken a break until I was back to 100% and got back into it fresh and strong.

On Christmas Day I treated myself to my first run since my xray came back with no abnormalities.  A running friend had warned me that hers didn’t show up either so to still take it easy when starting back up.  I did two laps around my local lake equating to 1.7 miles.  It’s not a marathon but it’s a start!

Moving forward I plan to maintain my focus on stronger running that I had begun in late summer.  I don’t want to go back to my lazy running habits just because I’m excited to get back into it.  I’m turning over a new leaf of going into it with my yoga mind – one that pays attention to my body instead of ignoring the signs.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,

Eleanor.