Running On Empty

Three full weeks since my last run and I only go and try a parkrun at a course with a killer of a hill in it. And, ultimately, this became only the second ever parkrun that I've had to walk part of. Disappointing, but this time it was down to a persistent injury rather than a dodgy gut. Things were going ok for most of the run — I'd at least made it up the hill without needing to walk, even if I was taking very short strides — but at about 4km, I started to feel the knee. I had maybe another half kilometre to go before the steep downhill to return to the start/finish area, but even over the course of that, I could tell it was going to be problematic. The 5 or so metres of downhill as I made the final turn by the duckpond just confirmed it. And as soon as I rounded the corner to descend properly, it took only a few yards to concede that finishing after a bit of walking was better than not finishing at all. Not me, for the record. I just 'borrowed' the image from the Park...

I'm writing up this run pretty late. Like, 4 weeks late. (Even if the publish date is the day of the run.) So yeah, for some mad reason, I decided to go for a run at 10pm about a month ago. I must've been feeling pretty good to have been up for a run at that time and the weather was decent enough that it wasn't freezing. I even aimed to do 7.5K instead of the usual 5K, heading up to and around Burradon pond, in the hopes of working up to a 10K event later in the summer. Unfortunately, I messed it up on two counts. First, I got my bearings completely wrong on the tracks skirting the housing estates by the pond. This is a perennial problem with me and this area. I simply can't get it in my head to map the trails on a map (before the run) to the real-life tracks that I run. Anyway, it meant I was accidentally cutting the run short and I had to improvise a bit to get back on track. Even the swans at Killingworth Lake had called it a night Secondly though, my left knee start...

For the record slowest solo parkrun time, that is. I am parkrunning today, but I intend to do a slow one because of my injuries. Genuinely slow. Maybe even walking. Need to say that before I set off, to commit myself. Here goes...

Ugh. If it's not one thing, it's another. 🙄 No lunchtime run today, as my left foot started really hurting under the heel yesterday. Given it started a whole day after the parkrun, I didn't initially think it was linked, but a quick google and I now suspect it's plantar fasciitis , which apparently eases during exercise, but comes back later. Yep, that fits. The NHS page also reckons I shouldn't walk barefoot (or, I guess, in thin socks?) on hard floors. Ooops. That's exactly what I've been doing to try to avoid getting dependent on soft shoes indoors (which was a problem with my toes last year). Hey ho. The shoes are back on, then. Anyway, all of this has persuaded me not to go for a run. But mybe I'll dust off the exercise bike later, who knows. I just hope it doesn't take an age to resolve itself. 🙁

Impatience got the better of me in the end. With the toe still hurting when I walk around in stocking feet — 3 or 4 weeks after injuring it — I just came to the conclusion that I might just have to get back to running with an injury. It's effectively what I did through most of the Couch to 5K in the first place; it's just of not had to  since getting the Brooks trainers. 😐 So, with the orienteering on Sunday looming, I took to the streets of Newcastle for the first time in ages; call it a shakedown test, consisting of walk-run-walk-run-walk. Each running bit was probably about a mile. I guess I did around 3km of running overall. Long time since I last saw myself reflected here in running gear And... it felt okay. Actually, it felt really quite weird at first (it's been so long!) and the toe started out with a few complaints, but both the weirdness and pain soon dissipated. Of more note perhaps was how unfit I felt. I was expecting a time for the first kilometre — w...

Two weeks now since I injured my toe and while it's still giving occasional sharp pains, the frequency is definitely decreasing. Apart from the ill-advised parkrun after it (which didn't help the recovery) and the odd dash for the bus, I've done no running. On the up side, it's given my knees and my right ankle some much-needed respite as they were all feeling a bit battered but feel back to normal now. Mostly. There's the chance to return to running this coming weekend, with a parkrun on holiday in the Yorkshire Wolds, but it's not certain at this point. Or rather, I'm not certain. That is, in not certain that doing 5K for a first run back is wise, especially if there's a chance I'll aggravate an injury that's almost healed. If I do do a parkrun, chances are it'll be at Heslington . It's an interesting sounding location in that it's held at a cycling facility, over 5 (FIVE) laps of a flat training circuit. That might sound a bit bor...

Given the toe (2nd toe, left foot) is still giving me issues and Saturday's parkrun only made matters worse, I've decided that I don't want to run myself into a gradually worsening injury, so I'm taking a week off. My left knee in particular will thank me for it too, as that leg's starting to feel like it's got all the cushioning of a fence post. Yeah, it's disappointing and it'll mean my form slides back and I have to build up to 25-minute 5Ks again, but so be it. I thought I'd done really well to avoid any kind of injury since Feb/Mar, but here we are. So, I'll rest for this week and see whether I feel up to a parkrun on Saturday. If not, it seems like an ideal time to volunteer, not least as I'm about to dip under the 10% volunteer ratio that seems the done thing. And if it takes longer than just one week off to recover, then that's just what it takes. Yeah, the 3-runs-a-week goal will be truly hosed, but I still only need 6 runs befor...