Last year I managed to break a tooth then, the inevitable then happened and I developed an abscess under it. Anyone who has had one of these little blighters will know just how truly painful they are. Room-temperature tap water passing over it was excruciating and I felt each pulse through it. Running was completely out of the question.
Now, and thanks to the wonderful work of a hospital dentist [my local dentist wouldn't try and sort it - way beyond a local practice, so he said] and after a mere 10 minutes in the chair of doom, my tooth is out - not salvageable. No more pain, just a ruddy great hole where once proudly sat a gleaming gnasher. I miss my tooth!
However, back to the purpose of this missive. During my enforced lay-off I found I was getting grumpy, short-tempered and irritable. At first, I put this down to my tooth, and indeed that may well have come into play. Now I realise that I was missing something fundamental - my running and being outside. I need to connect with the outdoors; the outside world. I need to see the seasons progress and change, and running helps with that. Now I do fully understand that 'abscess' really does make the heart grow fonder!
I'm nearly back to running now. All that stands in my way is the absolutely delightful bug our son so kindly brought home from uni. Thanks, James.
On a positive note, the log burner that our sweep condemned led me to investigate just what was behind the fireplace, and I found this!
week3run1 ✅. 3 x 17 mins with 1 min walks. 
How did your parkrun or (not)parkrun go?
