Rain, running magazine moans, parkrun forever and rainbow runs

On the Sunday after running Milton Keynes parkrun I headed out on a long run. I ran 10 miles in the end but it felt like hard work. Although it’s not been really hot, it was fairly muggy so I wonder if that made it feel harder. Something popped up on Strava to say that if you added the rainbow emoji then it would turn your route rainbow coloured, to celebrate Pride month, so I did that. I do like the pretty colours!

Once home I watched a bit of Springwatch and had a hot cross bun and marmalade.

The foxes are totally trolling us right now- they left a green flannel hanging on a tree, and a hedgehog slipper (not a slipper for a hedgehog, but a slipper in the shape of the hedgehog) directly facing the little box Andy put in which is meant to detect motion and emit a high sound that they don’t like.

After a bit of pottering in the garden we went to meet up with Andy’s family at a local tearooms for some scones, tea and a walk around the woods.

(Right- the images are still upside down and I have no idea why… even if I edit them and turn them, they revert to being upside down again).

I got annoyed when reading a running magazine- on the same page were these two snippets- one promoting these “natural” energy gels (containing natural cane sugar- it’s still sugar)

and one warning that women risk premature death if they drink sweetened drinks each day. No wonder people get confused with nutrition.

That week yoga was on a Monday instead, and it totally poured with rain all day. I went on a short walk in the morning to stretch my legs after the 10 the day before, and that helped a lot. Yoga was lovely as always, and when I got home it was bucketing down so much I sat in my car for a few minutes to see if it would ease off a little (it didn’t), so I got drenched!

On Tuesday and Wednesday I went out on a run after work (4 miles and 3.6 miles)- but with fairly tired legs. I suppose I usually have a rest day on Monday, and although yoga is good for stretching, it is also a lot of strength work with planks, press ups, and when we hold the warrior poses you’re essentially doing lots of squats and lunge type moves. I was glad to have a rest on Thursday! I met Andy in town as we had a John Lewis cake voucher to use before Saturday, and I think I just sat there and stared into space. For some reason I felt so tired. I had been in a lot of meetings at work so I think my brain was running out of energy too.

My parkrun forever letter turned up- I had signed up a while back (you can do a monthly donation to help keep it sustainable), and I got a thank you letter and lovely parkrun pin badge. The only thing is I don’t want to wear it out in case it falls off, so I shall have to find somewhere for it to go at home I think.

(As a side rant, I have seen so many people recently on parkrun related comment threads moaning about the free t-shirts and how there is a back log (I got my 100 t-shirt on my 150th run- be patient!), but I have also seen people saying they would rather pay for a t-shirt than have to wait. This makes me angry because the point of parkrun is that it is free so it’s accessible to anyone- even if you charged £1 this would mean it would not be affordable to some people, and would go against their ethos. When I pointed out to someone that they could either make a donation to their event via their page, or set up a parkrun forever donation, they were very dismissive and wanted it linked to the t-shirt. I didn’t bother replying because it just seemed futile, but if you want to donate when you earn a t-shirt, then do it, and then you will know the link- who cares if no-one else knows? Rant over.)

I’ve been updating my blog a little- my parkrun touristing page now has all the latest links, and I’m up to 63 different events now which surprised me.

On Friday after work I had booked a massage as my neck had totally seized up. I left work on time but got stuck in a little bit of traffic, and as I ran up the road to make it on time, I tripped. As I fell, I really thought I’d get my foot out in time, so I was even more surprised when I hit the floor and skidded into the road.

I was so relieved that no-one was around to see, and hobbled up the road to the place. Thankfully Katie, the lovely masseuse, told me she was first aid trained so ushered me into the bathroom to wash my hand (I had to pull a flap of skin off my hand). My leggings hadn’t ripped so I didn’t even think to check my legs, but as the massage went on my knee started throbbing, and when I got dressed after I checked, and my knee looked rather bloody and swollen.

I had to get a few bits in town, and went to Starbucks to get my free drink, and when they told me they had no chai I thought I was going to cry. (I think this as left over emotion from falling over.)

Driving home was really hard as each time my hand touched the gear stick or handbrake it really hurt.

My weekend running plans were somewhat scuppered due to this, as even though I iced my knee when I got home, it was really swollen and I couldn’t bend it properly.

Have you ever fallen over? I have a few times, but they have always been when I’ve been out on a run before, not just walking along (well, I suppose I was running because I was late, but only half running). I’ve got a scar on my shoulder and one on my right hand from two other falls.