Saturday 17 August. 10.30am. Sunny, getting warm.
I last ran on June 26. The run had gone well. I'd even done it barefoot (on tarmac).
However, a little niggle had been happening between runs. I'd dropped a heavy cutting board end-on to my big toe about a week earlier and had connected that with a strange pinching sensation I'd been getting on the top of the toe when putting on socks, and a sharp feeling whenever I pointed my toes.
I decided to pause my running to see if it would get better. A week later I visited the local Minor Injuries Unit to have it looked at. No X-Ray was taken as that unit was only open in the mornings. The nurse there thought it was a ligament tear and bound up the toe with Elastoplast. That dressing lasted until my next bath.
Various events meant that I couldn't follow it up for a few weeks. When things hadn't improved much I visited my GP (early last week) who ordered an X-Ray. It took until the end of the week before the radiologist's analysis came back, the technical language of which was boiled down by my GP to a verdict of "basically normal". The GP had already discounted a possible stress fracture because I'd mentioned the cutting board incident.
There's a slight discolouration of the skin of the toe near where the discomfort was, so I'm now thinking it might be a thorn or similar embedded in the skin there. It doesn't respond to me pressing on it.
Anyway, now I know it's unlikely to be a fracture, I decided to massage the area and do some flexing of the joint. This seemed to improve things, so I thought I'd give a run a try. I'd been in a few situations over the last week where I'd had to do little dashes (catching dog, going back for something Dad forgot, etc.) and I'd had no troubles.
So what do I do? I go back to the start of Couch to 5K, of course.
I've been running regularly for about four years now, having graduated C25K at the end of August 2020.
With a little trepidation I kitted up for the first time in seven and a half weeks.
I wore my black parkrun 100 tee shirt (bad move given the sunny weather), trail shorts, thicker socks (also a bad move) and some well worn trail shoes (Vibram Treksport).
My five minute warm up walk was delayed by a minor conflict at a narrow bridge between the local minibus and a holidaymaker car heading for the beach. (The bus won and the driver gave me a wave.)
I was using my watch to time the intervals. The first run interval came up and I started running.
It was as if I'd never been away. My legs remembered what to do.
I must admit I got carried away and for the next few run intervals I went a bit too fast.
OK. I'll be honest: I went much too fast.
In the third run interval I encountered a lady on a bicycle who I'd met whilst walking my sister's dog the day before, when she had been running back from the beach. It transpired she'd lived (on and off) half a mile up the road for twenty years and we'd never before met in that time. I called out a greeting as she cycled past.
The turnaround point came, I took a photo, and I set back.
Again, I pushed myself in the running intervals more than I probably should have. It seems that my legs wanted it.
In one of the walk intervals a car approached on the single track road. It stopped just before a wider area so that we could comfortably pass without me jumping in a ditch. I jogged towards it and the driver waved as if to say "that's not necessary; I'm in no rush". I gave a thumbs-up as he drove past.
Then the eighth and final running interval was done, and I walked back to the house.
My very sweaty running clothes went immediately into the washing machine, and I had a long drink.
Stats:
Duration: 27'38" (8 × 60 seconds running)
Distance: 3.49 km (1.67 km running)
Interval paces: 5'33"/km, 4'25"/km, 4'25"/km, 4'58"/km, 4'18"/km, 4'31"/km, 5'03"/km, 5'23"/km
No problems after the run. Rest day today.
I'll probably do a run from Couch to 5K's Week 3 tomorrow. And try to stop my legs carrying me away.
Fish, chips and mushy peas!
Hello all - 71 years old and hoping to run!
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