It was my turn to rock-up to my first PR yesterday. The weather was glorious and the course as flat as the proverbial food stuff; the course officials went over the safety brief and the course route. All was well, I had done a warm-up walk and run and I felt happy.
We all lined up and waited...the started sounded his whistle and off we went across the grass and down the path. Somewhere up ahead the 27 minute pace setter was trotting along in his hi vis bib. I slotted in to mid-field and was happy to watch the hares charge off into the distance, and to glance backward at the mix of runners behind ~ some younger, some older; some fatter, some thinner...then I felt it. Something I have not felt for many years [no, not that] and I reached down and held my right knee. The Lateral Collateral Ligament was hurting. I gave my knee a bit of a jar jumping a stream on Dartmoor last weekend, and it wasn't happy with running on the tarmac. Very sensibly I sat down of a convenient bench and then hobbled back to the start from the 1 to 1.5K mark I was at. As I neared the 'finish line' I heard some loud foot-falls and heavy breathing from behind as the lead runner came thundering past...
Maybe in a few weeks I too shall make it the the end...but only if I stop jumping streams and landing awkwardly...
Thanks. I last had trouble with it about 20 years ago when we were walking on Helvellyn. It was so painful then, that I thought the Mountain Rescue Team would have to take me off the fell. A few trips to the physio sorted it then, and it was fine until I decided to jump the stream!
So your last paragraph sums it all up, you are a runner not a show jumping horse I assume!
No seriously that is a great pity and take great care now. Park run is an amazing experience even for those of us at the back losing site of the pace runners after the first bend. Its a pity your PR is on tarmac, we run through the woods although the fallen pine cones were a nuisance yesterday.
Take it easy, listen to what that knee is saying, a quick visit to a sport physio may not be a bad idea if you have one local.
Lateral Collateral........isn't that the thing that is bothering Greece at the moment?
A shame also as I was going to ask you what the course was like, as I am thinking of trying Exeter riverside parkrun as the only way to overcome my longstanding (13 month) Killerton parkrun PB. Where exactly is the start?
Ahh, the Greece issue...maybe I wasn't applying enough of it to my knees!! Well, something has brought Greece to theirs!
The run is very, very flat and starts at the quay-side on the St Thomas bank down from the abseiling centre/Haven Banks out towards Turf Locks, and just over a swing(?) bridge by the boat yard. It is a lollipop shaped course with a run out on the shared path, round the university fields and back again.
Killerton is a tough one by comparison, so I have been told.
Pop along and have a bash...and I wish you better luck than I had.
I parked in the Cathedral and Quay car park, but there are other car parks by Haven Banks.
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