Iris regularly gives us an update about her training schedule for the quarter Marathon of Rotterdam.
After a very hopeful start, my optimism has faded in the past few weeks. More and more often I find myself limping out of bed in the mornings, and I have slowly developed seemingly chronic muscle pains.
Stretching my calves
A visit to the physiotherapist confirmed that I have an injury in my right ankle/achilles heel. I am not allowed to run for the time being and have to stretch my calves every hour, resulting in some strange looks from people passing by. If I diligently do my stretching and go to a few more physiotherapy sessions, my therapist has promised to evaluate whether it is still possible for me to join the Charity Run in two weeks’ time.
Obviously, this is very frustrating, with less than a month to go until the quarter marathon. After a day of moping, sulking, and doom and gloom, I have decided that this is a valuable lesson to learn, and I will have to accept that I will not be able to reach my time goal. Admitting that it is impossible to go to training sessions, I hope to make it to the start with the help of a lot of yoga and walking
It runs in the family
It’s a shame, as the expectations are high. I come from a real ‘runners family’, as both my father and my grandfather, despite his respectable age, are fanatic sportsmen. My grandfather even ran half a marathon in his sixties, something I am yet to achieve with my 24 years of age.
All and all I do not have much to report, as I spend a lot of time on the couch with my feet up. Am I not built to run distances, or is this just a small, temporary obstacle? Time will tell. In the meantime, I remain hopeful.
