Weekly summary - 10 weeks to go

A good week or so it seemed. I'd started to feel on top of things and comfortable with the mileage. However, after the Thursday race, I had some discomfort in my right ankle. I've had problems like this before: I think it is a mild form of anterior compartment syndrome, however, unlike the usual symptoms of shin splints, in my case I think a tight shin muscle causes pressure on a nerve and causes a non-specific pain around the ankle area. On the Friday 5-miler, I started out feeling an ache in my heel, later on the sensation was an achey tingle inside my ankle joint on the inside, then it moved to the outside, and then drifted up the leg. The pain, if you can call it that, doesn't seem to come from any one spot: it just drifts around.

I did a bit of massage, ice and heat pack, and things felt fine for the 20-miler. I had some aching going uphill, but by the end of the run my legs felt OK, apart from a little soreness here and there. The following day though, my shin muscles were very tight and sore, and the aching in the ankles was back. I rested rather than going to the gym.

I've yet to convince a physio about this trapped nerve theory, but I'm convinced this is the problem. At my massage yesterday, my physio couldn't deny my shin muscles were tight, insisted the soreness in my ankles was muscular/tendon related, but couldn't identify the problem:
"Does this hurt?"
"No"
"Does this hurt?"
"No"
"Does this hurt?"
"No"
etc...

I've taken an extra rest day, and had an easy run tonight. I just need to wait for my shin muscles to relax a bit. Hopefully I'll be back on schedule in a day or two.

Monday	6 miles	Recovery run
Tuesday	14 miles	Slow run
Wednesday	5 miles	Easy recovery
Thursday	11.9 miles	Tempo run 7 miles slow plus club handicap race	29:18 for the 3.7 mile race - felt good!
Friday	5 miles	Easy recovery	Some discomfort in ankle - anterior compartment problems?
Saturday	20 miles	Slow run	Went well but could feel some tightness in calves uphill - ankle sore afterwards
Sunday	Rest
Total	61.9 miles