Last pre-race run

4 miles, 27:02

Decided I wanted a preview of the pain I'm subjecting myself to on Monday and was relatively pleased with how this went. Did one mile at ~MP that turned out to be around 6:15 which will do grand given the lack of training the last 3 weeks. Felt fine with it, leg was tight obviously, the question is whether it can stand up to another 25 of them. Will hit the pool tomorrow for a light session and that will do it.

Got more physio this evening and more lined up tomorrow.

The last few sessions have really been helping loosen things out, but also getting down to the crux of my non-stress fracture injuries. Pretty much all of these have been problems with the left quad/groin. What I didnt know is that they are all stemming from a total lack of work by the left gluteal and piriformis muscles. So basically my left ass cheek doesn't do what its supposed to. What this causes, as I think the 2 pictures below demonstrate, is a compensatory roll of the femoral head in the hip after the leg makes contact with the ground, and the knee tracks inwards upon transition to toe off. This puts a lot of stress on the quad/groin as the pic in red shows, causing the problems I now have.

The advice from the physio (which you guys will love) is to run 'like John Wayne, pretend you've got a horse between your legs'; i.e. focus on keeping the knee outward. Tried this on the run today, and while it isn't too challenging in a physical sense, mentally like any stride adjustment it took a ton of concentration, and maybe difficult to maintain throughout the race on Monday.

Catch up post

Thurs: 1hr steady aqua jogging. Nothing really of note, didnt vary the pace much as the legs were a little tired and calves were threatening to cramp.

Fri: 45 mins aqua jogging with 4 x 6 lengths hard, 1 length easy, which boiled down to ~4 mins hard, 1:15 rec. Did the normal gym routine after.

Spent the evening getting various treatments. Spent 45mins at the physio which I didnt find as productive as the ones earlier in the week. Call me sexist if you want but I put it down to the fact that I had a female physio who wasn't strong enough physically to get deep enough into the muscle tissue. After travelling back to Dundalk then I went and saw my bone guy who cracked my hips for me and left me feeling quite a bit looser.

Dark Clouds brewing in my mind

Day off

Took today totally off. While the aqua jogging hasnt caused any discomfort, I'm not really seeing any improvement in the condition of the hip, and was not able to get to the pool during open hours anyway. Didn't want to risk biking or the like, so just went for complete rest. Had another session with the physio, which while doing a good job loosening up the hip joint, gluts and hammy, the hip flexor didnt really respond too much. Its only been 3 days since I ran, but it feels like a lot, lot longer. Trying to stay positive, but like pimpin', it ain't easy.

Progress?

4 miles, 30:49

Went to the physio today, who went through the usual 15 min history lesson and only 15 mins of actual physio work, then charged me €40. Such a crock of shit. During the 15 mins he got paid for, he found that I have a lot less mobility in my left hip than the right, and the pain in the hip flexor is a result of tightness in the quads. I have been instructed to take it very easy for a few days, although I am allowed to supplement actual running with aqua jogging. Sorted out a belt for the Trinity pool and will do that which I swore never to do again tomorrow.

The run itself wasn't too bad. Kept it extremely pedestrian, and after 5-10mins there was some release in the quads. Going to a physical therapist tomorrow who should spend a lot more time on massage therapy than talking about it. Tentative plan at the minute is aqua jog followed by 40min run tomorrow, aqua + 50 mins on Sat, and all going well finally get my 3x3 mile workout in on Sunday.