It’s been a slower than usual recovery from Tarawera miler.

It’s probably because I don’t try hard enough but usually I’m back running easy after a 100k race after about three days off.

Last year I was back running in some capacity six days after Tarawera started.

This time I was a little more unsure and not in a hurry to get back to running.

I was pretty over it during the training block. I got to the point where I was just desperate for race day to come and I was worried that I would get to race day and just want to get it over with.

I love the process and the daily running, otherwise I wouldn’t do it and it’s felt weird the past week not opening Final Surge to see what’s on the plan, be annoyed about it and go out and do it.

If I had my way I’d just go out with the dogs, no plan, no goals and just shuffle. But that method is what I’ve been doing for years and hasn’t seen any improvement, the plan works, I just don’t love having a plan! (yes I’m probably a control freak!)

But this recovery was different. When my knee gave up during the race, I knew it was going to be thoughtful recovery and that I was going to have to make some changes to my training to make sure this knee thing doesn’t pop up again.

The day after the race both my knees were sore, all over. They weren’t bruised or swollen, just sore and stiff. After UTA, the first time I had an ITB issue, I could barely do anything on the problem knee, so I took some comfort in the fact that post race it felt different but also I was slightly concerned because it felt different.

I hobbled around the cafes, shops and petting zoo and had quite a bit of mobility, I wasn’t getting stuck on the couch or toilet and could even pop down to pat this lion.

I knew I was going to take a least a week off running or even testing the running, then I booked an eyebrow micro blading appointment on the Saturday after the race, exactly one week, forced recovery.

You can’t get your eyebrows wet or sweat for at least 5 days post micro blading (don’t come at me, that’s what my artist said specifically regarding running/sweating).

So I went and did that and got a donut and tried not to completely freak out about not being able to run for another 5 days!

But when the 5th day came, I ran, 10 days after toeing the line at Tarawera.

I decided to be half smart about it and test out the body.

My return to run physio last time said pain under 3/10 that doesn’t change your gait is ok and we used a run/walk method to keep the distance/time up whilst not aggravating the issue.

So I figured that was a good place to start. I programmed into my watch starting at 600m of running up to 1km with a 2 minute walk break in between and took notes on the in between about how my body was feeling.

The plan was I would continue for another 2k at whichever interval was the longest that didn’t hurt.

Everything was fine, tight and fatigued, but no sharp pains, no knee pain, nothing that felt injured or an acute problem.

So I came back the next day with test 2.

Thankfully everything seemed fine with up to 2km, the hardest part was walking with the dogs afterwards.

One of the learnings that came out of Tarawera (and Taupo) was that my body needed more actual strength work which means I have to make more of an effort to go to the gym if I want to improve in this sport.

So I took my gym clothes to work on Friday, go changed at the office before I left and decided to go straight there and get it done.

The 2 hours in traffic to get home didn’t exactly light the fire for the gym so I was actually quite impressed by myself that I even made it there.

Now I know I’m old, but when did people, of all genders, start wearing nothing at the gym?!

I’ve heard folks (boomers and misogynists let’s be real) whinging about women wearing skimpy outfits at the gym but this was the dudes too, doing weights in shorts that were basically jocks! Hypocrites!

I was baffled, and felt a bit out of place to be honest. I shoved my headphones in and did some pretty basic weights and very low weight, so much so that I got up the next morning and nothing was even sore! Gotta start somewhere.

I’ll try the gym attached to the pool I go to and see if the clientele are more my speed before working out where my place of torture will be.

I’m aiming to start with 6 logged gym sessions for March, wish me luck.

One thing I did notice at the gym was my shoes felt funny.

I have two pairs of Hoka shoes, the Tectons that I raced in and the Clifton 9’s. I felt like they were squishing and lifting my big toe. Think I stay away from these for a bit and see if it makes any difference.

The bottom of my foot was a little sore too, nothing major just a bit of tenderness. Going to Green Day and acting a fool for 4 hours probably didn’t help either.

But recovery has been better than I expected and even though my body isn’t really there yet, I’m excited to start planning out my next goal. Stay tuned.