I'll be frank - it's been a terrible couple of days. Yesterday at 5pm Mum's care home called to say she'd had a fall and the paramedics were taking her to the John Radcliffe in Oxford for CT scan as she is on blood thinners. On top of this she has Parkinson's, dementia and a nasty chest infection. Spent a anxious evening at the JR with her - they said they'd keep her in overnight. They did not - discharged her back to the care home at 4am! We rang care home next morning to find chest infection is even worse. Rushed over there, met the GP who diagnosed pneumonia - sent her to Witney hospital for IV antibiotics. So spent this afternoon anxiously at Witney (a much nicer hospital than the JR - more friendly and relaxed and with a beautiful garden). Got her settled and drove home.
I thought what shall I do for therapy to unwind. I could either get ... alcohol, or ... go for Week 8 Run 1. Then it occurred to me that I could do both!
Set off at 9pm, initially slightly anxious at the bump up to 28 minutes. Set my Garmin to show HR and settled with it between 150 and 160. With about 10 minutes to go of the run I suddenly realised I was starting to enjoy it!
So now feeling pretty chilled out. Not a fast run, but one that was needed to unwind.
Think I'll have that beer now!
Written by
iain-strachan
Graduate
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Iain, firstly best wishes to your mum, thoughts and prayers, been there but each journey is unique. Secondly well done for being kind to yourself, too many posts seem to be searching for a tellng off when life interferes with running, and they won't get that on this site.
Glad you treated yourself to a beer but my eureka moments were rehydrate with water first, drink for taste not for hydration and then I discovered non alcoholic beer, so much better than it was. Although a real ale man I keep Heinekin 0% in the fridge, cheaper than beer but still a treat in my head.
Ben - I've also discovered non-alcoholic beer (or rather ultra-low). I was quite surprised the first time I tried a Becks Blue how like beer it tasted. (By contrast, I've not found a non-alcoholic wine that didn't taste yuk to me - I think wine needs the alcohol to give it bite, but beer doesn't because the hops give it bite).
I found the Heineken 0.0 a bit sweet for my taste. But far better than any of the others is Brewdog Nanny State. (yeah, silly name). It's slightly higher in alcohol at 0.5% compared to 0.05% of the others but still negligible. And ridiculously low in calories - just 26 per 330 ml bottle. But I think it has a really good "ale" taste and makes a very acceptable substitute. If you want to have a bit more alcoholic content I found a half and half mix of Brewdog Nanny State and Brewdog Dead Pony Club (3.8% ABV) is pretty reasonable, and you have about a 2% brew - and you can have a second glass while only consuming 1.25 units of alcohol.
Clearly I was preaching, sharing, to a connoisseur, thanks for the tips. You have every right to express righteous indignation on behalf of your mum, but I was given good advice when told the most effective approach is to be persistently pleasant and pleasantly persistent when dealing with beauracracies such as the NHS.
Glad you waited till you got home - I had visions of you running while slopping a bottle of gin all over yourself ! The JR’s performance is completely unacceptable and I hope at some point you can find time and energy to make a formal complaint. We all know the NHS is under pressure, but pushing those who can’t complain back out too early is no way to resolve it, and reflects badly on the majority of staff too. Hope your mum makes a speedy recovery and that the rest of the week goes much better x
That’s amazing. Great discipline and achievement, against all the odds. Most would have been forgiven for giving up at this tough time. I’m not sure I would have found it easy to keep going - well done you, a well deserved beer!
Thanks to everyone for all the lovely supportive comments. Mum now comfortable in hospital but still on oxygen and strong antibiotics. All we can do is wait.
Currently planning on getting up at 6:30 am tomorrow to do Week 8 Run 2 before the morning traffic gets going.
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Take care you!
Week 8 Run 1 eventually
Week 8 run 1 wooden arms.
Week 8 run 1 
Week 8 Run 1
