The Fling is Flung

It's a week before the Fling and its now official. I have pulled out. My shin splints have eased but I now have tendinitis in my Achilles. That with the fact I haven't run over 10 miles in three weeks is an enforced taper I wasn't wanting. Running the Fling would be far too risky a strategy for the WHW now. With such an elite field the chances are that I would get pulled along at too fast a pace, end up broken or worse injured more and then spend even longer with little training and really struggle for my main race.

This week started so well. After last week easing myself back into training I felt ready for a bit of speed on Monday and I was flying. Feeling good and reckoning my Fling chances were good. On Tuesday I went out for an easy 8 mile run. After 6 miles I felt pain in my Achilles that would go away on hills but hurt on the flat. I think it was caused by all the calf stretching I had been doing recently to combat my shin issue.

So no running on Wednesday and Thursday and by Friday I was ready to run again. But to be on the safe side I decided to do an aqua session with Graeme at the Sports Science Centre. Into the pool and luckily for me there was Frank the Physio there too. He took a look at my ankle and straight away said 10 days no running. So that was that. No more pressure or decisions. I trust Graeme and the guys at Hampden. It is good having them look at things away from any emotional attachment etc. If this had happened when I didn't have their support I would have run the Fling. And most likely struggled, got a disappointed time or worse injured.
So on with the Aqua session and Graeme didn't take it easy on my injured body. I was knackered at the end but felt good at doing something. We also went through my training plan and adjusted it for not racing the Fling. Afterwards I felt much more positive.

I left Hampden and immediately called Murdo the Fling organiser. Done.

So how do I feel? Actually still okay. I have wanted to see what it would be like to run the WHW without doing the Fling race but I never had the guts to do it. I also think that personally for me any run or more so race over 35 miles are counter productive to my training requiring too much of a taper and too much recovery to be of any real benefit. They do have their place though for a lot of people that like to have done a 50 mile run before the WHW as a confidence booster for it. For me I know I can stagger over a 100 miles so I am happy that my longest run this year before hand will be 35. Kate Jenkins said something similar earlier this year. She does not to badly on that philosophy.
And if I ever worry about my mileage I alway take a look at Gav's blog. He does amazingly well on lower mileage with a sub 20 hour WHW under his belt after having only ran 450 miles that year before it. Well, I am on about 800 so does that mean I can put my feet up until June?

Good luck to everyone running the Fling. It's gonna be some race and I can't wait to watch and cheer you all on.
Enjoy the easy week. I will. :-)