06/02/20 – A Pain in the Butt
And so we’re back. Did you miss us? Hmm, thought not.
I say ‘back’, but actually I’m writing this somewhere over Siberia, although it won’t actually be posting until we are home. We are on the final flight after an amazing holiday in Australia. Not one, however, that particularly conducive to building up the Marathon mileage.
In my case, there has also been the glute injury to deal with, as Sue outlined last time. Aprt from anything else, it’s such an undignified place to have an injury. With pulled and strained leg muscles and joints, it’s so much easier to point to and administer relief to the affected area. More than once I’ve gotten some very odd looks, when publicly kneading my right buttock when it’s playing up.
I’m pleased to report that it has gotten much better, although still not completely healed. Thanks to sticking religiously to the daily exercise regime recommended by my Physio, the pain has largely subsided. I’m now left with a stiffness, that I sometimes feel impedes my gait. It’s certainly impeding my times, I’ve not managed a mile in under 10.30, in the month that I’ve been here. After spending another 24 hours on my backside on these flights home, I don’t think I’ll be concentrating on improving my speed just yet.
My stamina also feels distinctly lacking. Whilst I have gone back to running continuously, I haven’t managed much over 3 miles. Doing 26 of the buggers in one hit looks a long, long way away at present, certainly more than the the 80 odd days it actually is. That said, there have been three long walks on the trip, so at least it’s been good to get time on the feet. These walks included a stunning Tasmanian hike around Cradle Mountain lake, with an undulating return through the valley to our lodge.
Last week was a 10 mile City walk out and back along the Yarra River in Melbourne, on a warm, warm day. Although the following day the mercury touched 42c there. I’m so glad we dodged that. Even walking for a mile in that heat, due to a Tram strike, was torture.
Parkruns have duly happened each Saturday, with last Saturday’s inaugural run at Edinburgh Oval in Perth being a particular highlight and not just because it’s a stunning course. There is a something about an inaugural parkrun that brings out the best in everyone. And the mood, like the weather, at this one was particularly warm and sunny. I’ve been lucky enough to do four inaugurals now, which is seen as a bit controversial in the UK. The thinking is that you shouldn’t go to the first event, to give the admin team time to ‘bed in’ and iron out the kinks with their local community. Of course, I do get that and starting dates for new events in the UK can be quite closely guarded.
In our experience, the complete opposite is true for inaugurals abroad. They are happy to advertise their first event widely and are very welcoming of tourists. Last summer, we were lucky to be in Seattle when Perrigo parkrun launched, which again was a fantastic event and atmosphere. Not quite sure, why I feel the need to explain myself about the two UK first’s that I went to, but suffice to say they are both walking distance from my house. I felt as a local, I was fully entitled to attend and have run them many, many times since.
None of our Aussie parkrun times have been anything to write home about, due to various factors – not least the heat. Nonetheless, each one was a pleasure, despite my personal frustration of just missing my final bingo number (the elusive 03) by one and three seconds over the last fortnight.
I’ve been managing to keep up my daily runs, admittedly most
have been the mile minimum. Other than parkrunning, Sue hasn’t really managed
much running in the last fortnight and is looking to quickly build back up her
pace and stamina now we are home.
So looking ahead to the next fortnight, we both want to get at least a couple
of hour-plus runs in with a view to maybe tackling a Half Marathon at the start
of March. The next few days will determine whether that is realistic for us.
And finally… yep, the bit you all know is coming… it’s fair to say, we haven’t
done much pushing of our Sponsorship whilst we have been away. As such, after
that first delightful Christmas burst, it’s all gone a bit flat. Over the next
couple of weeks, we will be ramping that back up via social media and email,
not least because we have several exciting announcements, opportunities and
events to tell you all about, BUT you could always get in early and beat the
rush! It really would help mitigate those inevitable post-holiday blues, to see
our totals ticking on upwards again.
Cheers all.
Sponsor Neil – Alzheimer’s Research UK
Sponsor Sue – Bowel Cancer UK