My Forum

I don't pay that much attention to splits, only going so far as to check my time halfway through a 10k and then again when I cross the line. I find I ALWAYS run the second half faster than the first, but it's not a conscious strategy, I hink it's more that I relax when I know I'm on the homeward leg. If I checked my splits every kilometre I'd get really hung up on it, so I just don't do it.

I thought the perceived wisdom was that you started slowly and gradually accelerated as you warmed up, so don't most people have at least some negative splits?

Mine would have Paula Radcliffe as my pacer (we could have a nice chat on the way round). There would be enough undulations and one big hill  to make it interesting and it would go around a beautiful bay withthe tide almost full in.

The medal would be gold (solid!) but terribly terribly tasteful - a suitable reward for sailing  powerfully yet gracefully up every hill. My toes would remain un-banged and I'd be so well massaged and stretched afterwards that I'd be running again by the end of the week!

By the end my face would NOT be bright red nor would I be covered in sweaty bits, and I'd get to use every one of the Lush bath, shower, hair, massage and moisturising products in the goody bag ALL IN ONE SESSION! Oh, and the generous helpings of Green and Black chocolate and Bumbleberry smoothies.

Bring it on!

I tripped and fell while running the other night and landed hard on one knee. Since the rest of me landed on gravel I think the top edge of my kneecap must have hit a pebble, because a chunk of flesh was removed although there wasn't any damage to my tracky bottoms. The wound has now dried up and looks quite healthy, but it's at the centre of a swelling which covers all the top of my knee. I've treated it so far with Nurofen (orally) and Savlon (rubbed in) and it seemed to be going down but now it's swollen again.

Is this normal for this sort of injury? Will I damage it further if I run? It doesn't hurt inside and my knee works fine, it just feels rather like when you have a large blister, i.e. the skin feels tight and it's a bit hot.

Advice needed urgently - I've got a 10k in 2 weeks!

Hi Nick,

My daughter suffered from this some years ago, and we still don't know what caused it. I'm pleased to hear you are still bearing weight on that leg - DON'T STOP! She was told to go on crutches for 2 weeks and lost all her muscle on that leg.

From what I understand it's a neural reaction which makes the body feel pain and act injured, although there's nothing wrong - a sort of over-active pain reflex. In her case the affected foot was very cold because the nervous system closed down circulation to that area, so she had to keep it warm. She ended up having intensive physio involving balance exercises to re-train the leg to ignore the 'injury' and rebuild the muscles. She also had ultra-sound treatment on the affected area, which seemed to be very efffective in in-knotting the ligaments and making them behave normally.

 You can get this treatment on the NHS, but I had to bully and play the Child card (she was 13) to get it, so you may find it quicker and easier to go to a clinic specialising in sports injuries. Hope this helps!