Cool Running Ramblings: Issue 8
Bar bills, knee knack and UrbanDictionary.com
It’s been a funny old up and down week this one. Training started well with Tuesday’s four mile run going beautifully to plan but then I found Thursday’s seven mile run hard going with my legs really aching for the last few miles and my right knee starting to develop a worrying twinge. Friday’s run was back on track with my knee knack clearing itself up after about a mile and then as a special treat to myself I booked the afternoon off work to prepare for my sister’s wedding.
It was a splendid do on Saturday which rolled nicely into a boozy evening where I made the classic mistake of booking drinks to my room. Imagine my horror when I went to check out and they produced a big wad of receipts with my gradually deteriorating signature at the bottom of them. Thank heavens the room was at a discounted rate! Needless to say Sunday’s run was postponed until Monday which I’d booked off especially for the occasion.
So Monday arrived and a slightly daunting 15 mile run lay ahead of me, made a little less daunting when my other half part jokingly suggested that she might come with me on her bike. Foolish woman! Before she had chance to retract the comment I legged it to the garage to pump up her tyres and dust the cobwebs off of her handlebars. That’ll teach her!
The route took us from Rustington to Worthing and back and I was really enjoying having a bit of company and someone to carry water and stuff for me. It did have its downsides though, like when Ness crashed into me in order to avoid a stray branch from a fairly harmless looking bush which she thought might brush her arm! Later it was my turn to do something stupid when I boldly went through a gate to a private beach without noticing that there was no way a bike could follow me. D’oh! 11 miles done and I realised that I’d now be doing the last four miles without water or company. Things then took a turn for the even worse when at 12½ miles my right knee gave way for no reason at all. It was as much as I could do to walk on it, never mind run!
After a few minutes it seemed to be easing and so I tried to run again but had to stop almost immediately as the pain was excruciating and all strength in my knee had deserted me. I was back to slowly hobbling along the road with no phone, no water, no one for company and having slowed right down the chill in the air was much more noticeable. After about ten more minutes of walking I was starting to shiver which was most definitely not a good look, so I gave my knee one last chance and gingerly started to jog again. Thankfully the pain had subsided a bit and some of the strength seemed to have returned, which turned out to be just enough to see me through the last couple of miles.
Once home I did a bit of stretching, defrosted in a delightfully hot shower, wolfed down a hearty lunch and then flopped back into bed for a well earned hour and a half nap. These weekend runs are certainly getting tough!
Having recovered from the run I finally got around to writing an email to all my friends and family about my marathon training and who I was raising money for. Unfortunately I made a completely honest mistake in the opening line of my email. Thankfully a self confessed OCD proof reader friend of mine pointed out the meaning of the word I had used instead of “fettle” as stated in urbandictionary.com. I have never been so grateful for my useless home broadband connection having a problem remotely connecting to my work email system which meant I didn’t have to explain away the word “feckle” to anyone!
