Trussed and OK

Well, the compression shorts arrived in the post on Tuesday, and very unyielding they are too. Believe me, there's very little scope for a groin to misbehave when under their iron grip. Furthermore, when I read the accompanying leaflet, I was delighted to find out that not only do these shorts offer firm support to troublesome groins, they also have very effective "moisture wicking qualities" to help keep the area in question dry and fragrant. Things are definitely looking up!

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I gave the shorts an initial try out on a two mile treadmill run at the gym on Wednesday morning, and was very pleased to make it through with not even a hint of a twinge. More than that, though, my whole running action felt a lot more efficient than it had for a long time. Somehow I felt more upright, which in turn made me feel lighter on my feet and this in turn placed less stress on the knees and hips. Not content with providing compression, these are "go faster" pants too. 

On reflection, I think perhaps the injury that surfaced last weekend has probably been bubbling under for a while, as in spite of covering a lot of training miles in the past couple of months I have struggled to show the improvement in performance that you would normally expect to accompany them. At least initially, shoring up the injury seemed to have had a much more holistic effect than I'd hoped for.

Putting this hypothesis to the test, I set forth with gusto on a four and a half mile run on Friday morning, and kept up a good pace to the end to beat my previous best for the route by a minute, and again I felt that I was running much more efficiently. This morning I was up early to set off before sunrise on a 17 miler. After last week I needed to complete a lengthy run but with Florence only two weeks away, the 20 miles I had intended to run last week would have been too much to recover from in such a short space of time.

Sunrise over the outskirts of St Albans

Apart from the health benefits, one of the things I enjoy most about my running exploits is getting out in the open air and taking in the beautiful countryside. As dawn broke today on a glorious mild autumn morning it was fantastic to be outside breathing it all in. The run went well too, especially for the first fifteen miles. In the final couple of miles, though, all of my leg muscles tightened up significantly and felt almost at breaking point. However, nothing that a rigorous sports massage won't be able to address, I feel. I've had similarly taut muscles before, and a visit to the physio has always made a massive difference. I did encounter one unexpected and, for me, unusual problem on today's run, though. Blisters. Two whopping great big ones, one on my left big toe and another on the instep on my right foot.

I'd like to think this was caused by my blistering pace......

Why I've suddenly succumbed to them, I've no idea but I don't see blisters as a serious threat to my performance in Florence, and although last week's difficulties have set undoubtedly my preparations back a little, I'm now feeling much more confident about my prospects. Bring it on!