Unfortunately this blog does not start with the news that I am now back running – after only a couple of minutes a gentle jog on grass began causing me shin pain every time I put my leg left down. I am in the process of arranging a scan on my leg in order to finally rule out the possibility of a stress fracture. However, the good news is that I really enjoyed those few minutes! My love of running remains strong nearly four months into this injury and I will be back training eventually!

So, with apologies for yet another injury related blog, this article is about sports massages. I have been seeing a physio regularly but over the last few weeks I begun having sports massages. I used to be really sceptical about the value of these, my view being that if you stretched and used a foam roller then you could do the same job in half the time. However, I have reached the stage where I am going to try anything at all that might help me get running again so I decided to give this a go. This makes me feel like I am proactively trying to recover rather than just waiting, resting and swimming.

The first sports massage I had was incredibly painful! Despite regular stretching and foam rolling it seemed that all my muscles were really tight and sore. A couple of physios have even described me as an ‘enigma’ – I stretch, rest etc and yet my muscles refuse to recover! The next day my legs felt the best they had done for several months which is what convinced me to book in a couple more sports massages. I don’t mind if the massages hurt, that just tells me they are doing some good.

The massages have also identified that I apparently have tight muscles in my lower back. Essentially every muscle I have is tight and sore but this is apparently particularly important because it causes an imbalance in the way I put weight onto my legs. Obviously this has led to me incorporating some back stretches into my regular routine.

Are sports massages a miracle cure? No, but then I did not expect them to be. All I know is that I want to get back running and that, given I think these are helping, I am going to carry on having the occasional massage.

It is Easter this weekend, the weekend where we celebrate the best news in the world. I hope you all have a good Easter and I pray that I will get back to you with my own good news next time.

Liz