Think of a new pain

Tuesday slid past like a train-dream. We managed, beyond all odds, to get several bags, a huge pram (with a crying baby), a toddler, a bike (OK, a toddler's bike) and two adults into a taxi, and pile out at Waverly, totter to the platform and get onto the 2-coach direct train to Manchester. Yes, I know, it was slightly out of my way. But that's the kind of girl I am. (Confused). The compartment we had especially chosen for access to the toilet was foiled somewhat as the toilet was out of order, and our main dramatic event was changing carriages when another train joined ours, because we learned that the other available toilet had broken down since the start of the journey. That was another mad dash with too many things and not enough hands. It was very exciting for Jasper though, because we joined a carriage with two dogs in it, Cairn terriers, who turned out to be very friendly (Snowball and Toby). After arriving in Manchester, and getting the bus back home, I decided to make a dash for it, and get the next train home to Peterborough, but not before I was able to get some of the longest runner beans ever seen. I got home before 7, but not a running day.

Wednesday slid past in an annoying way, the sort that happens when one of your buddies, who's just always cheered you up and made the place a bit better, leaves. Yep, it was mainly Jim's last day on Wednesday. I took a half day, although in all honesty, the morning was primarily made up of wrapping up his leaving presents, so I time recorded it as Priority Species, as they were mainly frogs and lizards. Also, there was a special, surprise guest - Cat, who feels much the same way as I do about Jim, actually flew all the way from Ireland just for his lunch and leaving-do, and flew back the next morning. Which goes to show some people are actually more insane than me. Fortunately I'd been able to persuade him to go out for dinner that night, without giving the game away (I wasn't sure he'd want to, what with already having eaten lunch out). All in all, it wasn't set up to be a training day, although I had primed Cat that I'd be doing some training in the afternoon, so I emailed Sal to ask if I should do half an hour hill training or pace training. But the long and the short of it was that Cat and I talked for so long, I ran out of time. Nonetheless, I blame Sally wholeheartedly, because she didn't reply to my message till the next morning, which meant I had the perfect excuse to not do either. When I did get her message, she said she'd focus on getting more miles in, so doing some longer runs.

Thursday, then, I set out at lunchtime. No one was around - I looked out for running Dave, but assumed I'd missed him as I was late setting out. I decided that I would add a loop onto the Rowing Lake run, by going around the leisure centre and down to the river before heading up the footpath. This made the run up to 6 miles, and I set out at a good pace, about 9:30m/m. It was a nice warm sunny day (finally) but I realised I'd forgotten my water, which was stupid. Almost as stupid as forgetting to have breakfast. This was doubly stupid, and is something I'm going to have to get out of the habit of. I did quite nicely, and kept the pace up all the way across the railway line, and across the bridge where the weir is, but just over the other side, my head hurt, and I had an ache down the back of my right leg, and I just thought, this is awful, really awful, and I stopped and walked.  I don't know, I may still be a bit post-viral, but on the other hand, not having proper breakfast and running without water on a hot day, really weren't going to help.

Having said that, as I walked along the top end of the rowing lake, down the nice side with the trees around, and the sun was shining, I did suddenly realise what a gorgeous day it was, and I really enjoyed my little walk. I decided I would start running again when my heartrate dropped to 120. This was entirely arbitrary, mainly being because it wasn't showing any sign of doing so. I found it ironic how much I enjoyed the walk on my run. Usually it would have annoyed me because of ruining my pace, and giving up, but it was just such a lovely day. I walked past someone who seemed to be giving my "running gear" a mocking glance, so i decided that when I'd cleared him, I'd start again - I didn't want him to think I had acknowledged the lack of running. Also, my HB dropped to 117, it was time. I started again, but didn't get the pace back up. My leg really hurt, and it made me feel like a crock, the fact that I seemed to "think of a new pain" seemingly every time I went out. It was more of a dull ache, though, so I decided I could keep going.

Well, I made it back to the Lido, and got to the pelican crossing. Just round the corner, where the Fengate roundabout is, that's where Dave usually gets me to speed up for my "home straight". Sal says it is good to get the body used to a fast ending, so you can end a race on a high. Today was different, though. I was really knackered, and just pleased to get back, and I told myself I wasn't going to do the fast bit, I was listening to my body, it hurt, and it had done well. But here's the weird thing: my feet didn't listen to my brain! They went ahead and ran faster! I swear, it freaked me out! I mean, they didn't go Dave-fast, or anything. But I went back up to a 9m/m! I was impressed, in spite of myself.

Anyway, the good news is that the pain isn't a debilitating one - it is piriformis syndrome, which affects a muscle that runs down the back of your leg along your sciatic nerve, and can sometimes pull it. This made perfect sense. There are some stretches you can do to stop it aching. Woo-hoo! On with the training!