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I now find myself in the position of being able to answer my own question, so figure I'd may as well summarise my experiences in case anyone else comes on with similar ponderings!

I followed the recommended exercises twice daily for a week before attempting a 5k training run, and felt pretty good afterwards - was this just a result of the week's rest though...?  Well, I continued with the exercises and tried a slow 10k a few days later, figuring I'd just have to stop and walk at the first sign of discomfort.  By the end of it, I was buzzing and had to rein myself in otherwise I'd have tried to run further.  No aches or pains afterwards, other than in the glute area that the exercises were targeting, and this was more of a muscle tightness that went away not long afterwards.

My next visit to the physio was positive without as much soreness in the knee area, and she gave me a new set of standing exercises - the previous ones had all been floor-based.  It felt like being promoted!Now I have to admit that a lot of these exercises seemed a bit dull and tedious but I really forced myself to commit to them on a daily basis, and in the meantime managed to get a 7.5 mile run in, again without any problems although my knee did start to play up the next afternoon and there was a bit of an ache in it over the next few days so I focused on exercises only. 

Then the third trip to the physio, who checked me over and said my main problem was I'd been sitting still all day at my desk the day after the 7.5 miler and this was what had most likely caused my knee to ache - so I was advised to occasionally stand, walk about, and do a couple of stretches just to keep things loose and flexible.  She also gave me the all-clear for the Half Marathon, which I ran this weekend, holding back for much of it until the 8 or 9 mile stage, before speeding up and finishing with negative splits and a few seconds off my PB - this was not a situation I had expected to find myself in following my original post 2 and a half weeks ago. In fact, just over a month back, I was a DNF in a 10k because the pain in my knee was so intense by the halfway point!

So my experience has been a pretty good one, and I have to put a lot of that down to following the physio's instructions, and a gradual increase in my mileage but always with a day in between to recover, and resting longer at the first signs of any troublesome aches.  I'll not be doing too much in this week now following the Half, but am still keeping going with the exercises and have my next appointment next week - all being well, that will hopefully be my last, but the whole thing really has been a big confidence booster and shows what a good physio can achieve when you find one

Rich Jackson wrote (see)

sneglen wrote (see)

I got a pb by 7 seconds on this one yesterday, but don't know whether to celebrate that as didn't they mention something about being 75m short.. PB or no PB?

This just occured to me also after I looked on the runbritain website and the Barcknell results are not yet listed, my first half, on my broken leg, and it may not even count !!!

First off, well done for finishing your first Half in those weather conditions and despite the injury you sustained!  

Sorry to be the bringer of bad tidings  but Runbritain (and Powerof10, which stores a lot of the same information) only include races that were run with a UK Athletics licence.  I found this out back in January when I ran my first 10-miler and was disappointed not to see the results on my Runbritain profile - emailed them and they explained about the UKA licence issue. 

I tend to check Runbritain records for previous years now if I want to know whether a race is likely to count to my handicap or not, although that's not always a guarantee as it's still dependent on the organisers paying the licence fee from one year to the next, but is a useful guide nonetheless.  And I don't let the absence of a licence put me off doing a race if it looks like a good one, which was why I signed up for Bracknell anyway.

The main thing is don't let it not appearing on Runbritain detract from the fact that you did it!  Your name and time's on the list of results as proof you did it, and hopefully when you're rested up and your leg's recovered, you'll go out and do another Half in an even faster time having learned from the experience, and watch your handicap take a massive leap afterwards.

Bought a pair of GTS a few months back after running with ASR previously. Comfy shoes to run in, though after about 100 miles wearing the GTS I'm noticing a similar issue to the ASR: the right heel pad tends to make a noise when it hits the ground as if I've picked up gravel in the groove or got water trapped somewhere in it though I've not been able to find anything on close inspection.  I certainly wouldn't say I'm dragging my heels when I run, so I'm not sure what's causing it.

Hi folks,

Following a 10-mile race in January I've been experiencing an on-off niggle which started in the front of my ankle and seemed to work its way round so that I now feel it more in my heel - never seemed to give me any trouble running on it (no pain or discomfort) so I've been mindful of it but not fearing the worst.  Three weeks back I probably over-did things a bit where my mileage was concerned and ended up with sore knees - the left one's been fine since but the right starts to ache after a few miles each time I run, then I get a jolt or spasm up through my leg under the knee which is enough to tell me I'd better stop.  Furthest distance I've managed lately has been 5km, and a week's rest didn't seem to make much difference.

After coming on here and starting to self-diagose with ITBS, achilles tendonitis and 101 other things, I figured I'd best get myself to a physio for a professional opinion. Their verdict (and not something I'd considered) was the problem is a weakness in my glutes which has been causing me to over-pronate, leading to aches and pains elswhere. So I've been told not to run for at least another week to 10 days, and to focus instead on some twice-daily strengthening exercises.  All of which puts paid to another 10-miler I'd signed up for this Sunday (I'd already pretty much ruled it out anyway) and casts doubt on a Half Marathon I've got at the end of the month.  Well, if it comes to it I'm not going to take any risks that could see me out of action for even longer.

All of which lengthy backstory leads me to ask if others have experienced similar troubles, whether the strengthening exercises helped, and what sort of recovery time was needed before you could resume your normal running regime? I appreciate everyone's different - really it's just a case of: if I'm sensible and follow the exercises dilligently, is this a short-term issue or something that could take quite some time to get over?

Cheers,

FC

Sounds promising, and I hope it proves a success!