I don't want this blog to turn into the Alex O'Gorman show as that might give him a big head but I honestly can't praise him enough.  This week I had a bit of panic following my Sunday run as I honestly thought I had the start of a stress fracture.  Sunday morning was the day of the Liverpool Marathon so I had arranged to meet a few of the lads down the track for 9:30 to get a good 90mins done before the race headed over to Sefton Park and then finish off with 30mins or so watching the race as there's nothing worse than stopping and starting every 5mins when your trying to get a good quality run in.  9:30 was probably a bit early as it was but when the race was delayed a further 45mins it meant we were out for 2-hours before McCole and the rest of the runners even got to the park. I could of headed back but I decided to hang on and cheer the runners on as I am always grateful to people who make the effort to cheer me on when I'm racing.  Plus I appreciate the hard work John McCole (Yes John McCole doing hard work!) and Ian Lawton have put in and I can only begin to imagine how tough a marathon must be.  Having said that Ian Lawton is a bit of a nutter and did his one and only long run of 2-hours the Sunday before the marathon! He has just come back from doing a duathlon for GB in Spain though.  Anyway by the time I had watched the lads go past the 18mile mark and then loop round for the 19 and 20mile mark I was really starting to feel tired and my legs were pretty goosed as it was from the run.  All in all I was probably out running for around 2h15, which doesn't seem a great deal compared to some people but that was my longest run of the year so far by 30mins, and all on road as well, which seems to take it out of your legs more than off road runs.  When I finally got home at half 1 due to traffic I decided to get a quick ice bath because my legs were feeling sore, particularly my Achilles and when I got out my foot started to hurt.  It was on the top, in an area I have never really had pain before so I wasn't sure what it was.  It eased off throughout the day and I went swimming in the evening with no problems at all, but the following day in work the pain come back quite bad, which is were the panicked phone call to Alex took place.  He seemed positive it wasn't a stress fracture but said he'd like to see me to make sure.  I decided to rest Monday and replaced my morning run on Tuesday with a swim.  By this point my foot was feeling much better so I warmed up for the session Tuesday evening, and me being me I decided to risk it as it felt so much better.  I ran the session steady with my foot feeling ok but that evening my Achilles and foot started to hurt again.  I was sat eating my tea with an ice pack on the top of my foot and one on my Achilles, I felt like a right cripple.  I managed to get another run done Wednesday morning before my afternoon torture with Alex.  I'm not good with massages and needles as it is but this specific time was brutal.  Anyway it seemed to do the trick and got me back running pain free yesterday.  I was amazed by how he found the problem so quick, which was basically just down to tightness in my calves, Achilles and plantar faciar.  Same old story with me really.   He ruled out a stress fracture though which was the important thing. The specific area that had caused me problems this time was at the front of my arch just behind my big toe, which caused the soreness on the top of my foot.  It's a good kick up the arse though to keep me motivated with my maintenance work and drills, which I've been a bit lazy with lately. 

If anyone is struggling with injury though I really urge you to check out Alex O'Gorman at Athlete Matters. He's been spot on with me every time and has got Sophie back running again following her stress fracture. 

Until next time I hope you're all running well and getting some good training in ahead of the XC season.   Also a big congratulations to Big bad John McCole who won the Liverpool Marathon in his first run over the distance in 2:34. Knowing him we probably won't see him until 2012 now as he recovers!