There’s not much to say, this week.  My knee hasn’t recovered from Silverstone, and I’ve spent most of the week with it heavily strapped, swearing colourfully as I descend every staircase…

I haven’t been alone.  One of my dogs has been very severely ill, for the last week and a half.  He had horrible diarrhoea about 10 days ago; lots of blood and very shivery shaky.  So off we went to the vet, and he was promptly admitted for rehydration (on a drip) and tests.  Several days of vet hospital later, with x-rays and barium x-rays and blood tests galore, it turns out he has Addison’s Disease.  It’s treatable, with life-long drugs, and he’ll be OK.  But it’s been a bit of a worry.  He was finally released on Wednesday, and spent the last two days in my office, while I tried to get him to eat again.  He’d lost so much weight he’s technically classed as ‘anorexic’.  But he’s getting the hang of three square meals a day, and doing much better, so fingers crossed…

And back to the knee(s).  I’ve taken the attitude that rest is better than running through it, at this stage.  So I ran on Thursday morning – set out on my 45 minute route, and pulled up on a downhill stretch after 40 minutes.  Otherwise, I’ve concentrated on physio and rest.  But with Brighton only 4 weeks away, this is the last week I can possibly do that.  I will have to do my final long run next week, come hell or high water.  And that’s a gamble – it’s a bit close, frankly! But I’m banking on the fact that I’ll have a week of rest in my legs.

I’ll keep the plan under review; it’s a little bit terrifying to be injured at this stage.  I’m determined not to let it knock me out of the event all together, but at the moment I feel that the best I can hope for is a walk/run strategy, aiming simply to get round and abandoning any time targets altogether.  Let’s see… But please keep your fingers crossed for me, too.