Half Stevenage Half

Getting up this morning I knew today wasn't going to be a good day. I had to drag myself out of bed, force myself to eat, I felt nauseous all the way to the race, realised I hadn't taken my medication before leaving the house, and when I got there I was told the car park was full, then it wasn't. I finally got parked, grabbed my spare meds out of my bag and then it started to rain. I seriously debated whether or not I should just start my car and disappear! Instead I just added a base layer to my outfit and walked the 15mins to the start.

It was a good start, I'd arrived early enough to warm up properly and did a couple of gentle jogs around the track and some stretches to get the muscles moving. My bag was in the baggage tent, I'd used the loo (v. important) and I was ready to start. Even once we were off I still wasn't really in the mood; something wasn't right, but I didn't know what. I felt fine and I happy to keep running, but my heart wasn't really in it. The first km beeped on my Garmin, but I didn't even acknowledge it. I figured I could get through the race at a pace that was comfortable, but not too hard; no PB, just a finish! A little after the 1st mile marker I started to get a pain behind my right knee. It wasn't anything worth noting, just annoying, I figured the muscle had tightened up and I needed to stretch it out or something. I continued on without thinking too much about it, but the course was undulating and whilst the pain wasn't bad on the flat, when the hills it it became progressively worse. After 5 miles I could no longer run up hill and had to walk those stretches. The course consisted of two laps and the amount of pain I was in made my decision to drop out after the first lap very easy. I did injury back in March and struggled to finish the Reading half marathon, I wasn't going to do it again I figured the quicker I stopped running the less damage I was doing. 

As soon as the course looped back to the start I dropped out and found the nearest St John's Ambulance for treatment. A bit of rest, elevation, ice and a tubigrip later and I back on my feet trying to minimise the hobbling (street cred lol!). I handed my timing chip back in and collected my goody bag and t-shirt. I must say I am supremely disappointed as the race was advertised as awarding all runners with a medal and technical shirt, but instead we only got shirt. So I'm not disappointed I didn't complete, just annoyed my knee still hurts all these hours later (yes I was hoping I'd faked it...). Walking's not too bad right now, but seeing stairs makes me cry! Coming down is almost barable, but going up is a nightmare. I've figured out that it hurts more when I bend my knee so I've been trying to get up and down the stairs without bending my knee. I see a physio appointment very soon in my future and not a whole lot of running!