the tale of three 5k's

The last few months haven't gone quite to plan... my ankle had been hurting for a while but the pain didnt stop me from doing anything so it had kind of become the norm. However, turns out all this running hasn't helped and as the pain got worse I found myself on crutches in December with a suspected stress fracture in my foot. Not one to be underterred, a few sessions of physio, a few sessions of accupuncture and a potential different diagnosis gave me belief that I could at least carry on with ChallengeTwelve as along as I was sensible and looked after my foot. The only solution if I was to continue and complete the ultra challenges later in the year was to do three smaller challenges over the winter that my foot could cope with to give it time to heel. Winter is the worst time to find a range of challenges and I was limited therefore to picking running (not great for unlaoding the ankle!) and therefore sticking to a short distance, hence the last 3 months have consisted of three 5km races. Not being able to load my ankle properly has resulted in frustrating training periods and a lack of progression in my running which has really frustrated me. However, my ankle has been getting stronger each week and I had a realisation the other day that I now class a 5km run as a short distance. If thats not a success then I don't know what is!! 

The three 5km's I completed were:

1) RunThrough Olympic Park Velodrome Run - Another in the RunThrough series, this event took place on the mile long outdoor cycling track that is next to the Olympic Velodrome. I think the track was designed as a short cycling track, so there is plenty of small hills and bends. 3 laps for the 5k it did get a bit repetitive (especially running at the pace I was!) but it was fun to run round such an iconic venue.

2) RunThrough Olympic Park Run - Another RunThrough race in the Olympic Park but on a different route. Starting at the iconic Orbit tower this 5k snaked through the Olympic Park past the Olympic Aquatic Centre and Olympic Stadium and was a much more interesting route. This race was a bit of a milestone in my running career as it was the first one I completed alone without Gareth there to help pace me or provide moral support. Turns out it isn't as bad as I thought running alone! 

3) Loughborough Sport Relief Run - I love running routes that I know, and will often break the course down into sections to get me through it, and running a route round Loughborough allowed me to do this. Unfortunately the course chosen wasn't particuarly scenic as it looped from town through the park and then through the residential roads (and right past my front door) but it did require very few road crossings and was really flat. Being a sport relief charity run the turn out was great, and many of the participants took the opportunity to just get involved and walk the course, leaving me in an unusual position of having a lot of people still running/walking behind me! Second 5km race completed by myself and my confidence in running is definitely growing. 

Love that 6 months ago I had never run in a race and I now spend evenings looking for the next race i can enter :)