It’s been a while since I’ve been running. It’s been quite a while actually. Worst of all, the reason for my lapse is completely self inflicted. Let me explain…
Ten months ago I posted this about a glass splinter I’d managed to acquire while running. Not a problem, I’ve been here before; just dig it out and carry on. However this splinter was quite deep and took more than a little effort to get it out. Six weeks later I realised the small wound caused had healed over into a hard patch which made running uncomfortable–located as it was on my landing zone. Looking at it closely I realised I had a verruca growing there. And it took me another month to realise that’s what it was.
I’d only had one verruca before, and having gone through many painful and unsuccessful ‘remedies’ to remove it. All to no avail. The final solution was duct tape, which appeared to clear it up in four weeks. Of course they do go away on their own eventually anyway, so it may have been the duct tape or it may not.
So of course I tried duct tape, but it did nothing. So I upped the ante by also using a cotton wool bud, soaked in cider vinegar. Again, all to no avail. Eventually I resorted to over the counter verruca removal gel, which does work, but you have to apply and re-apply, over and over again, using an emery board to wear down the infected area. It’s a right faff. But finally after months of doing this I am almost at the end (I think) and I’m just about able to run on it without discomfort. So I’m running again.
Before all this happened I’d set out on a new scheme of running little and often, instead of trying to run longer distances only a couple of times a week. The idea being that little and often is kinder to my body, and the total distance per week is higher than doing more less often. I’d gotten up to 14 k per week and was very happy with that. I managed to keep this up for over 100 days and suffered no injuries the whole time.
Now it’s time to reinstall that strategy and see how I get on. So yesterday I ran 1 k and the same again this morning. I’ll do this very short distance for a week or so and then slowly up the distance.
Wish me luck.
[update 29/11/17: in desperation I ended up booking an appointment at a chiropodist’s to have my veruca removed; I’d tried it all myself, to no avail. However they took one look and said that it was a corn and not a veruca (no wonder all the home-remedies I used to kill the thing didn’t work. So now armed with this knowledge I’m finally able to deal with it and get back to running. The main difference being that I can cut the excess hard skin away without fear of it spreading. Removing the hard skin allows me to run on it again without discomfort]