Swings and roundabouts

Having survived 39 and a half years with virtually no sports-related injuries of any description that I can recall, it's frustrating to lose the last two weeks of training time to a couple of injuries. Firstly, having completed a 17 mile run one Sunday night and feeling like a burst ball but otherwise OK, I was a bit dismayed to have to pull up after just a few miles the following day with my right knee feeling like it was ready to explode across Great Western Road. Fortunately a few days off and I was back in the saddle and making up for lost time quite nicely, thank you very much.
Then last Saturday morning, while pulling a training bag out from under the bed, I felt something go ping in my back and quite literally couldn't stand up. Took me 10 minutes to get upright and then I couldn't walk properly. Twice during the day my back  and left hip locked up, sending shooting pains up my spine and leaving me doubled over in public places, unable to stand up straight or move from the spot for 2 or 3 minutes. Much to the bemusement of my fellow Co-op shoppers.
It's now Thursday and while the pain has largely gone, I'm still feeling a tightness and soreness as the day goes by. Running not an option and I'm starting to get concerned at how many more days I'm going to lose.
Somewhat more existentially, it's been another unwelcome reminder to me that I'm not getting any younger and I'm going to have to deal with the fact that my body isn't what it used to be - the situation no doubt exacerbated by the fact that I'm asking it do more than it has ever done before.
I should probably just be grateful that I haven't had more injuries before now, but it is frustrating to lose valuable days to a niggling pain.
Having said that, it was only this week that I realised that the marathon is on April 17, not March 17 as I'd been working to. Bingo. I've won a month. You'd think I'd have checked a little detail like that before now, wouldn't you? So even taking into account the couple of weeks of training I've just lost, I'm still net 2 weeks to the good. Swings and roundabouts.

Fave running quotes #675

"Only gringo run when he got nowhere to go."

Lovely little observation brought to my attention by one David Leishman, a friend of mine who'd been reading this blog and recalled something a former flatmate had once told him. Jim Fanjoy, the flatmate in question, was an American who'd spent a couple of years in Guatamala and used to go running to keep fit.
The rye observation above was made to him by one of the locals.

Excuses, excuses

Only 15 weeks or so to go till the big day and I'm having to face up to the fact that I'm having to make excuses for not being as well advanced in my training as I'd hoped. I was going really well up until about a month ago - then the shitty weather and Christmas shenanigans ganged up on me to put a dampener on my training.
I did put in quite a few snowy miles, running home from work up the very middle of Sauchiehall Street at 7pm because there was not a single car on the snow-covered road (which I admit did feel rather jolly) but for about 3 weeks I basically didn't put in a single session. Appallng. Now I'm going at it with the fervour of a born-again believer.
My plan is to run 6 days a week from now till the marathon in March, and 2011 is already conspiring to test my resolve. Jan 1st run was fine then on the 2nd it was horizontal sleet in my face for 40 minutes then the following day, after waiting for 3 hours for the rain to stop, I had to just grit my teeth, get into my running gear, open the door and get out and grin and bear it - an hour in torrential rain. Horrible.
Not only that, I'm really feeling the 3 weeks off, even though I lived life pretty low for those 3 weeks.
Yup, running definitely keeps you honest.