The Qwer Old Fella's Marathon Method

No run yesterday or today - I'm recovering from the gruelling exploits of the weekend's marathon predictions.

Although my leg has held up well to the 3-5 mile easy runs, I decided to take two days off so that I could hammer my leg and lower back with some intensive soft tissue work. I want to make sure that I'm 100% sorted before I start training properly.

Last night, after releasing just about every muscle in the right side of my body and a good few on the left, I felt like I'd been struck by lightning: sharp and tingling pulses zipped through my body - unnerving:) and sometimes unpleasant. Today, I feel battered and bruised and lopsided - I'd better be careful walking down to school to pick up the kids - I might fall onto the road and get run over.

Hopefully everything will settle down by tomorrow afternoon - I'm supposed to be running with Grace.

pm 2 miles easy along the canal with Grace - well, not really easy and not really with Grace.

Plan was 3 miles easy but my leg played up bad. Grace took her opportunity to destroy me in true Terminator fashion. She zipped off into the distance, not even stopping to see if her poor old fella was ok. When our paths crossed as she came back along the tow path, she gave me the loser 'L' sign with her fingers. Kids. You do your best by them and then when you're on your knees they stomp on you.

Going to get my own back on the little rapscallion:)

p.s. my leg is about as much use as a chocolate bikini in the Sahara - no more running until leg feels perfect for a week. On second thoughts...

Where's that humongous Belgian chocolate cake I bought. Ah, there it is. No way Grace - only losers with gammy legs eat this stuff:) Oh yes, here we go...

I'm angry. I'm livid. I'm apoplectic with rage. I'm going bananas. Ballistic. Mental.

I'm so annoyed I can't even say why...

Seething...

Doing my nut...

Somebody's having it... They're getting weighed in. Nobody, and I mean nobody, has my pants down and gets away with it.

Narked. Vexed.

I'll be back -Just got to go and blow up a physiotherapy clinic:) Quacks. Bounders!

I'm back and I've calmed down:) Today I decided, against my better judgement, to go see a physiotherapist (that's a bit like your PT's). Big mistake.

Checked the clinic out on the internet and they had a range of therapists who had supposedly worked with Irish Olympians etc. Arrived and the pad was professional looking etc. My Physio did all the history stuff - very good. Then they did all the right assessments - excellent I thought. Maybe we'll get this little thing sorted once and for all...

I'd told them what I thought and I sensed the physio was a tad nervous. Physio gave me all the spiel about how great my musculature was etc - I can handle that, even though I'm 14 pounds over weight.

The physio then gives my erector spinae a bit of a rub - no effleurage, petrissage, tapotement, kneeding etc - just a rub - like the good lady might do.

'We'll get you sorted over the next couple of months. I'll pass you on to my colleague - he's really good."

What the... I'm thinking. The next couple of months at 50 sheets a week. On your bike.

"That's it, for today," she said.

After a bit of chat etc - there's no diagnosis or thoughts about what's wrong or why no proper treatment etc.

I pay the Euro 50 (out of my ipad fund - yeah, I know, but I've been spending the money on cakes and sweets etc: it's part of my injury depression). They try to book me in for next week with super physio. He'll have you on the wussmill and he'll look at your gait.

So I tell them there's no point looking at my gait etc - I can't run at the moment I'm injured and I need fixing. Much embarrassment.

They book me in for next Wednesday with the rub-a-dub-dub physio.

I ain't going back. All this PT stuff is a rip. A con. Eat cake  and watch the goggle-box when you're injured. Let the body heal itself.

Anyway, the good news is... my new belly - from the cakes - has pulled my si joint into place, my core muscles etc have settled and I think, if I eat a few more cakes, I'll be back running in a couple of days.

No run yesterday or today but plenty of soft tissue release and AIS. Feel great but I'm not going to run until next week. I feel 100%. I'm sure if I were to run today, I'd feel ok. But I'm going to play it extra safe. I hammered my postural muscles after I went to the physio. I was in agony yesterday but today I'm feeling great. No pangs or discomfort. If I can remain patient for a few more days I'm positive I'll have this injury sorted once and for all.

No run today. But I'm going out with Grace tomorrow. We're going to do 3.5 miles on the rolling sand dunes at Banna beach. Should be fun. I confident that my leg will be fine but we'll see what tomorrow brings.

Went up to Tipperary (it's a long way to Tipperary) today for the Munster Regional indoor relay champs - Grace was running in the 4x100m for her club. What a laugh. Grace was half the size of the other girls:) She ran the first leg, and although I can't pin it down, it was hilarious. She just didn't look right out there. The baton was the size of her arm. Her team finished 3rd out of 4 in their heat.

She's decided that while she has some basic speed, she's not a sprinter. Some of those 10 year olds were juiced up:) Fun day. Looking forward to getting out tomorrow for a plod.