DNF

Avid readers may note very little recent change in the dailymile totals. Apart from an inability to dislodge my lung from behind my tonsils, where it has been gurgling away for the last fortnight, I have aggravated my anterior compartment.
No, not the front of my house, my ankle. The anterior compartment  (of the ankle / knee / eye / at the front of any structure) is just a fancy name for the sheath that holds the tendons running up the front of the ankle onto and around the shin, controlling the upward flex of the foot and toes. When these tendons are sliding in a sheath made of sandpaper, it stings mightily.
I believe the cause was, innocently enough, a new pair of socks with a wide and rather tight band at the top, which I thought would feel nice and snug. These socks were thick, and I was also experimenting with my original Kinvaras (half a size too big) by pulling the laces real nice and tight. The combined result was a constant pressure on the top of my foot and tendon bundle quite above anything they usually experience. Magnify that pressure over 14,000 flexes during a jaunt around town, and whammo! agony.

this is what it feels like - thanks Photosynth!

The run where I did the damage was uneventful until the niggle started to become real pain. About this time, I stopped at an intersection. By the time the cars had passed and I stepped off, my ankle and shin was on fire. 6km home thereafter was not entirely pleasant.
I rested a couple of days, then tried again over 5km. The rest days made me feel like superman and I really booked it, but the pain kicked in again pretty quick.
Last weekend was the Perth Half Marathon (and WA champs). I warmed up from East Perth to Burswood and the ankle twinged, but the race-day adrenaline, I think, masked it sufficiently or me to think "Nah, I'm good".
I started mid-pack (850), which was a little too far back, but I slotted into 4 minute k's and nibbled my way forward. I could feel the ankle, but stretching my stride out and trying to maximise mobility seemed to ease discomfort (though a totally dumb thing to do, considering the injury - d'uh!). At about 10km, though, it just spasmed, and I jogged slowly back to the start/finish at about 14km. Depressingly, all the runners I had comfortably meandered by in the first 10k were now streaming by - no doubt chuckling at the skinny freak who started way too fast and burned up.
I don't remember a DNF in he past. maybe blocked them out, maybe never happened before.

Now, three days later, I can feel a tightness when I pull my toes up, but I'm ready to try a little run - probably a little barefooter, in order to eliminate landing slap and get the softest action possible. If the pain under my toes reappears, I'll be really, really pissed.

In the midst of this, I've been frantically busy trying to scrape together work to pay for the time I take off in Berlin. The extent to which running has been instantly forgotten in the face of late nights in the office and long days in the welding booth is more than a little disconcerting.

some of the stuff I help build - a series of maths puzzles tables at Scitech

Frankly, I'm falling apart. The joy of a tickly cough that disallows sleep for several nights in a row (even the neighbours were impressed with my clockwork regularity) is truly something to behold - and not, evidently, something to continue using power tools during (note new welding holes in work shirts and multiple bashed / stabbed fingers.)

Interestingly, this whole episode of experimenting with speed and shoes and discovering injuries (though not related to the shoes), has again made me question why I started (and started enjoying) barefooting - not only would it eliminate this issue of  gear-related variation, but it was adventurous and just a little bit dangerous. I have, back in shoes, become immediately obsessed with speed and race performance again. Not necessarily a bad thing, but worth taking a moment to consider what's important. I won't make a judgement - not now anyway - I love both sensations, and I've made a deal with myself to find speed, so, on we go........