Fraser Darcy

It always feels too late to ask for forgiveness. Especially when it’s something you’ve done wrong and know you were doing it wrong at the time. I’m not talking about anything sinister. Worse. Injuries. Yes, if given the chance to recover more and make better decisions last week I would have done things differently. Forgive me father, for I have sinned and completed too much intensity too soon after a marathon and now I have a niggle for a third consecutive week. How did it come to this? What will happen to me now? Will I be able to repent? Why doesn’t the word repent get used more often these days?

Answering my first question, it came to this because on Monday I ran my normal easy hour along the Sturt River. I survived and with a few groin stretches spaced out along the route I finished feeling even better. So good in fact, I opted to run again in the afternoon for the first time in two weeks. I was unsure on Sunday if I would be able to do a session on Tuesday but the feeling of satisfaction from completing a double run on Monday meant that I had passed my fitness test and could do a session of intensity the following day.

Which of course is Tuesday. I didn’t jump in the 6:30am session with RAO, instead opting to take the reins of the handlebars of the team bike and coordinate the session. It also helped loosen up my troublesome hip/groin area. By 9:30am I was ready to go and jogged out to where we run with Connor and Izzi. With no real prescribed session we opted for 5*Mile with 60sec recovery. I planned in my head to be happy with anything between 3:10/km-3:20/km for each rep. That was how I eased back into things post Adelaide marathon with four 8 minute reps at 3:18/km. But, in the first sin of the week I ran the first mile at around 3:08/km pace. The next one was just as fast. A little faster on the third, again on the fourth and fastest on the fifth. Each time I felt great during the rep but terrible at the start of the rep. Just get through it, pay the price later. Which I did of course.

But not straight away. First Connor, Riley and I had to collect some gym equipment for a new venture which ended up, as all good removalists jobs do, taking longer and more effort than anticipated. Job done and my Dad’s trailer returned at 3pm I finally started driving back to Quorn around 3:30pm. Ah, I can finally rest after a long-ish morning/day. I felt so rested I needed a little twenty minute power nap on the side of the road before I got to Port Wakefield. That meant I was well and truly arriving back in the dark and the rain creating a bit of an exciting drive through the Pichi Richi Pass. Stepping out of the car just before 8pm I was very very stiff. I was paying the price.

I received full value for the cost of my goods and after orienteering with Quorn Area School on Wednesday morning I sauntered around Dutchman’s Stern for a not so easy hour. By the end of it I was starting to feel better, but not great. After ticking off my Wednesday run and orienteering work this is the part of the week where I feel like I’m on my ‘weekend’. I’m away mentally and physically from RAO and really start to relax. Soak in the Quorn lifestyle. It’s great. I wish it healed me completely but it’s not that great.

I was healed enough at least for an hour run the next day around town before more relaxing and then finishing off preparations for The Blue Line. Another weekend in Quorn ticked and my last one for a couple of weeks. I have no obligations to return to for next week or the week after so instead will save the diesel cost and try to invest some time in a couple of new projects (or more likely, just some more relaxing in Adelaide). Stepping out of the car this time in Adelaide I was far less stiff than I was 48 hours prior. I was again confident I could handle a session of intensity.

So this time, for a change of time zones, I opted to join Jacob in the 6:30am group at RAO on Friday. We ran 5*6minute tempo reps (90 sec jog recovery). I felt like I was pushing too hard in the first two but the last three felt great. Not having to stop completely and start up again also meant I didn’t feel my troublesome hip/groin at all. I even ran a total of 21k’s. I was back!

I jumped on the bike for the 9:30 crew and with Izzi starting to do some longer marathon specific work meant I was on the bike for almost 2hrs. With TBL published and a sense of euphoria from having managed to get over the worst of my niggle I relaxed for the rest of the day at The RunHouse finishing off some programs and taking care of some other things. I felt a bit stiff throughout my afternoon but due to my euphoric feeling I wasn’t too concerned about how I’d pull up the next day. I even got home later that night, rolled out my muscles, stretched, felt a million dollars and patted myself on the back.

How good’s life hey?

Pretty fricking confusing actually. I relaxed on the couch for a couple of hours in my million dollar body only to get up and realised I was now feeling like a single gold coin donation. My front left quad area just didn’t work. I couldn’t walk. My knee wouldn’t extend. There was no pain or doms when I touched it, it just was so tight that it wouldn’t move properly. What the hell is this? My groin feels fine, now it’s this weird quad problem?? Hopefully it sorts itself out in the morning.

It did not.

I couldn’t walk properly at all. The only solution I could find was if I stretched my hamstrings for a while it would loosen off completely and it was like I never had the problem. If I then sat down at my desk for ten minutes, bam, the inability to move properly was back. Very strange.

I attempted a run out at Belair hoping if I stretched enough and got going it might warm up and release.

It did not.

I only made it several minutes before realising it was a futile effort. The other strange thing, or fortuitous if you will, is that a few of the runners I coach also reported injuries to me within this same 24 hour period. My advice to them was to ease off and not run. Here I was though hobbling along trying to run. I decided I would instead of hobbling along, take my own advice and focus my energy on going to the sauna, contemplating my poor choices and stretching my hamstrings and hip area out.

That all helped so much that two hours later I went out for another run. Yes, I solemnly swear I am up to no good when it comes to managing niggles. I did make it through this 35 minute slow run though. I commenced a full stretching and mobility routine afterwards to continue trying to release everything. My theory was that the extra intensity in Friday’s run, plus the bike, plus the poor recovery afterwards had meant I was still paying the price for being too tight since the Sydney Marathon. I was disappointed I couldn’t run the mileage I wanted to on Saturday but considering I’m ahead of where most people find themselves two weeks after a marathon I wasn’t too upset.

I would’ve been upset though if I couldn’t run any of the Sunday long run. I arrived nice and early to do some stretching and foam rolling when Bailey suddenly appeared. He asked if I fancied a 15 minute warm up to which I thought yep, great idea. If I could test my body out over 15 minutes I would commit to the long run. That 15 minute wasn’t great but it was better than Saturday’s run. So yes I committed to another 1hr 45 minutes of running and at times felt terrible through it and other times not too bad. I made it even tougher on myself by not taking any gels with me. When you make things tough on yourself though the rewards of finishing that task are greater which was true for me as I survived my long run for the week. I added in some time in the sauna to finish off the day with more stretching and was somewhat optimistic I would bounce back from the disappointment of Saturday into a normal training week this following week.

Which, if you’re reading this on the day it’s being published has started off ok. I am still contemplating just jogging tomorrow instead of doing a session but having reflected on my track record with decision making around niggles I am not confident in myself. There is all likelihood I will turn a jog into a fartlek in an afternoon run tomorrow. Who knows. The unpredictability of it all is a little exciting though. Probably not great for performance, but great for entertaining myself and keeping me on my toes.

Anywho, as an overall remark, I did run 110km’s for the week with two quality sessions. I just need to tick some more 3:00/km or faster work in the next two weeks to feel confident about handling that speed over 10km’s at Melbourne on October 13. If I can’t get that sorted then who know’s what will happen? Maybe I should ask for forgiveness now?

Thanks for reading.