The No Race report

Last week I strained my hamstring during a speed session. I quickly put on my doctor’s outfit and prescribed myself some rest, about a week I thought should do. Problem was the Xerox 10k race was only 3 days away and given how well my training had been going until the injury I badly wanted to race! I had had no problems walking normally, but a short run the day before the race revealed there was about 99.9% chance I wouldn’t be able to compete the in the race – there was just this dull tightness in my hamstring that inhibited my normal movement . Of course on race day I just had to give the 0.1% a chance. I met up with Anais at home and as we made our way to the Arboretum rain clouds were gathering over Ottawa, some relief from the heat, ideal for running!  However, when I tested out my leg it was clear I wasn’t 100% - jogging felt fine and perhaps I could have given it a go, but chances were that sometime during those 6.2 miles the hamstring would have given in and all I would have accomplished was additional weeks off running… so, no race for me.

Part of the Xerox 10k race course map. First one to crack the tree numbering code wins a prize! I hung out in the recovery area, but there was no miraculous return from injury this time...

Oh, well. What's a race in the Arboretum? After all, I suppose it would be frightfully dull, and..and..and boring, and..and completely... completely  wonderful! But enough of quoting Cinderella -I was fine with not running in the race.  In fact, seeing so many people race made me happy inside and cheering Anais on was fun. Perhaps there was indeed a Cinderella in the park that night. At the bustle and hustle at the start someone lost their shoe..and it was Anais! If my shoe had been stepped off by someone else I would have been angry and possibly quit, but Anais carried on as nothing had happened, impressive! The race was three laps around the park so I got to cheer Anais on three times – the same number of times as I got to see her during the NY Marathon last November…great memories! I hope one day Anais will be able to cheer me on during a NY Marathon, but right now that seems far away, but I digress. It was the perfect evening to race in August: overcast and surprisingly mild. In the end, there were a bunch of runners who finished in the 35-37 min range, so I bet it would have been a lot of fun to have been involved, but my lack of discipline left me injured. This day, however, I was disciplined as it turned out a good decision not to run. More importantly, when was I going to be able to run again? After all, a hamstring pull is a tear of the hamstring muscle, not just a discomforting, aching muscle due to training. A quick look online suggested anything from running through the pain (which was also heavily opposed by the majority) to 4 weeks off with no running for a mild hamstring strain. Luckily, I found the real answer in my favourite book. Yes, now that I wasn’t running I found myself with some extra time on my hands, and I managed to read and best of all water color the street in front of our house (or let's face it, a very limited portion of it).

So my favourite book, Anais simply refers it as “the green book”, is formally known as The Secret life of Tony Cascarino, and a great (soccer) book!  Or as the reviewers put it: “Compared with the standard-issue footballer’s autobiography, this is Tolstoy” or simply “It’s a lot more interesting than David Beckham’s”… yes, it’s that good…Anyhow, in this masterpiece, pro-footballer Tony Cascarino pulls his hamstring during a game of tennis, plays a game of soccer three days later but he was not OK and likely aggravated the pull and ends up missing another week and a half due to the injury. Not to tout my own horn, but I ought to be in at least the shape of an Irish footballer in the top British beer-infused league of the 90s (book spoiler alert: Tony Cascarino wasn’t really Irish but got away with it and became one of the country’s most capped players).  Therefore, about a week or so off running and then back on track, I thought. A week never went by slower, but there were benefits. I felt fresher. Now a week later and two runs post-strain, it seems like I really made the right decision. In fact, during my week off my right foot made a complete recovery from the sprain it suffered during the “insect attack incident” (previously, after runs, it felt dull and numb and I was favouring it a bit during sprinting, which probably led to the hamstring strain). So something good came of all of this, and I’m rested, healed and with a few weeks to go until the half marathon there is every chance I can still have the best race possible. After a couple of regular runs, focus will be on race pace and long tempo runs from now, exactly the type of work-outs I enjoy, and focus, focus.