Break Time

Last Updated on Sunday, 16 August 2009 12:41 Written by The Virtual Runner Sunday, 16 August 2009 12:31

Hasselt Flag

I’ve taken a break from running for four days.  It coincides with my wife’s trip to Hasselt, Belgium (flag on the left).  She went with her mum to visit family for her mum’s birthday and to attend Rimplerock.

That means it been me and my little boy from last Friday until Monday and it’s been good.  Yesterday my daughter came over to visit for the day and hung out with us. 

My and my son have been to a lot of different parks in a couple of days.  I’m trying to keep him happy and entertained and it seems to be working.  I’ve told him that mummy and nanny have gone on an airplane to Belgium and he seems to get it.

Today we went to a park that had an i-Play game and it was great for daddy!  I was running all over the place.  It’s basically like a giant version of a Bop It game.  I made it through all the six levels with my son laughing and laughing at me.  He thought it was hilarious watching daddy sprint around to “press it”… “stamp it”… “pull it”… etc etc.  I was really sweating.  Great game.

At the moment my son it lying on our bed watching TV and chilling out.  I’m sitting here writing this short update and this afternoon we’ll probably go out in the garden and find things to get in to…

I’ll be back to running again first thing on Tuesday morning.  I thought I would give my legs (especially my achilles) a rest for a bit.  It’s good to have a break sometimes and give your body a chance to heal.  Unfortunately my break also comes with me stuffing my face for four days… oh well.

On other non-running related news, I’ve found a political party that I’m actually remotely interested in.  The Pirate Party has just been formed in the UK and is already growing in membership very very quickly.  No wonder!  Most of the people that are joining the party are pretty IT literate and the party’s core policies are appealing:-

• Reform copyright and patent law. We want to legalise non-commercial file sharing and reduce the excessive length of copyright protection, while ensuring that when creative works are sold, it’s the artists who benefit, not monopoly rights holders. We want a patent system that doesn’t stifle innovation or make life saving drugs so expensive that patients die.
• End the excessive surveillance, profiling, tracking and monitoring of innocent people by Government and big businesses.
• Ensure that everyone has real freedom of speech and real freedom to enjoy and participate in our shared culture.

Woodley 10k and Injury

Last Updated on Sunday, 17 May 2009 07:30 Written by The Virtual Runner Sunday, 17 May 2009 07:30

I almost didn’t run the Woodley 10k today because when we left the house at 10am it was raining quite heavily.  I like running but I was not going to run in the pouring cold rain (I guess I’m a fair weather runner).  I weigh up things like how much I want the medal and how much I paid for the run.  If it was only a cheapy run (like this one was) then I’m not too bothered about missing it.  If it was expensive (like the one in London on the 25th) then I’d be running it no matter what!

Anyway, we drove to the event in the pouring rain and I made the decision to come back home (it was 10 mins away).  We got home and then the sun came out!  My other half (who doesn’t run) made the executive decision that we were going to go back and I was going to run.  I’m glad she does that because I’m so indecisive a lot of the time.

We got to the event about 15 mins before the start and I stretched a bit but had no time to warm up properly (something I regret now). 

I kissed my lovely wife and son and then the next thing you know I’m off.  The first two kms were quite painful and I had terrible shin splints.  I mean, really bad.  I haven’t had shin splints like that since I started running and I couldn’t understand it at all.  I had to stop many times and walk/stretch during the first 5km and I was thinking “there is no way I’m going to do this in under an hour”. 

I knew that because of the shin splints my gait was being effected and I should’ve slowed down or walked more.  I could feel some niggling pain in my left ankle and in my right foot on the outside edge.  I’m such an idiot.

I managed to plow on and even felt a bit better during the last 3km.  My pace increased and I passed a lot of the people that passed me when I was walking.  This meant that I finished the race in 00:57:52 which is about a minute faster than last years time.  Not bad considering the pain and the amount of stopping and walking that went on.

When we got home my shins were still tight and burning for about 45mins and my left ankle still hurts now when I walk.  It feels like some bones or something grinding on each other and I don’t know if I’ve sprained it somehow or what.  Who knows.

This means I now have to see how it is tomorrow (I don’t run on Mondays anyway) and judge what running (if any) I’ll be doing this week.  I want to ensure that I do the 10k in London in a week because that race/event was quite expensive and I want to do it no matter what (I’ll walk the damn thing if I have to).

I’m glad I did the race but not happy about being stupid about the injury.  I should not have pushed myself so hard when I felt the pain.

Duh.