A strange blog title and one that hopefully doesn’t result in an influx of “No Win no Fee” type spam comments.  It has been three weeks since I last pulled on my trainers and headed out for a run. I’ve been making the most of the extra free time.

Hopefully you won’t ever find yourself in my situation but I’ve decided to blog my so-called Injury Benefits.

1. I’ve had more time for what I call other (normal?) stuff this has been great news for my PhD research/housework/chores etc. Unfortunately, the nature of my injury limits what I can do, but I’m now more focused on my research than ever and am reaching the end of my PhD. The end is finally in sight!

My PhD journey!

2. I’ve finally got around to sorting out my running gear. After a couple of hours I ended up with piles of running gear to (a) keep, (b) donate to A Mile in Her Shoes, (c) sell on eBay and (d) throw out. I also realised that I don’t need to buy any more running gear/accessories. All the wiggle, Nike, Adidas and Lululemon emails are being deleted as soon as they hit my inbox.

3. I’ve remained involved by reading numerous race reports, blogs, tweets, threads on Runners World and on Fetcheveryone. Rather than hiding away I’ve been getting my running fix via the internet! Leah took over Charlie’s twitter account this morning, and provided updates as Charlie completely smashed her marathon P.B. in Berlin (I can’t wait to see Charlie’s Berlin marathon blog entry). The running community is awesome and I can’t wait to start running again.

4. I’ve also decided to get more involved and am volunteering at as many events as I can.

5. I’ve finally got around to reading several of the running related books that have been gathering dust on my bookshelf. ‘Running With the Kenyans’ is highly recommended, the debate on the benefits of different running techniques has given me loads to think about.

6. I’ve been cooking a few meals from scratch and have tried and tested quite a few recipes. Having a nut allergy limits what I can eat, so creating my own energy bars etc makes sense. I think that I’ve just about nailed the Berry Burst Breakfast Bar recipe that was included the August issue of Women’s Running magazine.

7. I’ve been researching foot injuries. I know that turning into a Dr Google type obsessive is rarely a positive move, but I want to know why I keep on getting injured. Is it my running style? Is it related to my slightly dubious diet? Did I do too much training too soon?

An example of one of the numerous sites.

Some of the more useful articles have included ‘How Do You Know When You Have a Stress Fracture?’  If I had a stress fracture surely I wouldn’t be able to walk? ‘Ask the Coaches: Metatarsal Fracture Recovery’ and ‘The Ultimate Runner’s Guide to Stress Fractures: Causes, Risk Factors and How to Return to Training’

Having access to academic journals has been useful; I’ve spent more time searching for articles on the symptoms of metatarsal stress fractures versus metatarsalgia than I have environmental flows and hydrology. I’m starting to think my phsyio has got my diagnosis incorrect but I’m trying to trust him as he is the expert and I’m the patient.

8. I’ve set myself some new targets. If I can’t have running targets then I’ll set myself alternative targets. I’ve already signed up for Go Sober for October 2014. I’m also going to be restarting my #NoDietCoke challenge in October, this month wasn’t very successful.

9. I’ve started to plan my 2015 race calendar. 2015 is going to be all about returning from injury and racing shorter distances. Much as I would love to complete a couple of my bucket list races, realistically I know that at this stage I need to focus on shorter distances.

10. Finally I’ve managed to remain positive while I’m injured. Although I still have the occasional “why does it always happen to me?” type negative thoughts, generally I’ve managed to remain positive.

Although I’m not a fan of heights, I’m now doing my best to ensure that I always sit in the positive seats!!