Looking back over old posts I managed to run 5k for the first time more than a month ago and this is still my furthest distance to date. Granted, the first 5k was on the treadmill and my first outdoors 5k was just two weeks ago, but I feel that I’ve come to a plateau in my progress.

The past week I’ve been getting a bit of jip from my left leg and the hypochondriac inside me was convinced that it was a stress fracture. It didn’t hurt during or before my run but came on the next day – a dull ache in a specific part of my shin.

This happened twice after running so I took a couple of days rest. Last night I went out for a short run to see if the pain returned and I’m pleased to report that, more than 12 hours later, it hasn’t presented itself.

On the other hand my run was cut short by a burning pain on the top of the ankle of the other leg and I had to finish my run at just 1.4 miles. This has really annoyed me. I really want to push on past the 5k mark and try and get out for a run three times a week, but at the moment it’s just not happening.

I know that having a couple of days rest is the best thing to do to avoid an injury, but it is really affecting my motivation. I might go out on my bike just to keep active, but I know I’ll get really jealous as I pass all the runners in my neighborhood.