Not much to report, futsal most Fridays and a couple of hearty hill-walks plus three half hour runs around the river in October. It’s a start.
The right knee is an ongoing concern, a slight discomfort more than an injury but much better than it was after 4 months rest.
What hurt most on those first tentative jogs were my ankles which reminded me of why I packed in the footie in the first place. But I can’t help myself. The futsal games are unbridled joy compared to the loneliness of the long distance runner.
Which brings me back to the reminiscing and the rummaging through all those old running diaries. The end product is the mother of all spreadsheets, painstakingly drawn up by hand with pencils, ruler and felt tipped pens. It covers from 1996 to 2017. Monthly totals, no gaps, 22000kms run. Of course, never having run with anything more complicated than a Casio digital watch the true figure could be anything between 20 and 25 thousand but hell, that’s a lot of running. Analysed in the cold light of day I should have been confined to a wheelchair long ago. Or an asylum. November beckons…
And in response to MLCM’s video, and never having been much of a fan of laughing Lennie, I send my retort to raise the spirits…
(01-11-2017, 07:53 PM)marathondan Wrote: Hallelujah indeed. All praise the might of that dataset. 21 years, no gaps. Phew.
mmmm, better rephrase that then, there are some monthly totals of zero (9 of them including the recent break) but I can confidently say that all running data between 1996 and 2017 has been recorded, retrieved and presented in the back of exercise book number six.
(02-11-2017, 08:13 PM)marathondan Wrote: Yeah I got that, don't care about gaps in the running, it's the continuity of the record keeping that's so impressive!
Yeah Dan, it’s like a nervous tick. Get back home, find a pen, scribble it down and go for a shower. And then don’t look at what I’ve actually scribbled down for another 20 years!
48th birthday run around the river. Not varying my routes much up to now. Ran along a golden carpet of poplar leaves interspersed amongst random rubbish and derelict buildings. As ever El Bierzo is both beautiful and ugly several times over in a half hour run.
Going back to the day of my 28th birthday I see that I ran for 25 minutes in the park. What I notice is that 20 years ago my running was not dissimilar to now. Well, it was a lot easier and I didn’t ache as much. The monthly total for November 1997 was 73km. Will try to at least match that this month.
Sunday. Changed the route and threw in a bit of uphill. Half Monte Pajariel-Otero village and home. 43 minutes. There’s a steep ascent up one side of Pajariel then a descent followed by a winding section of single track that hugs the contours of the northern slope high above the river. My left ankle hurt like hell, should probably pack the futsal in some time soon.
Finished November just short of the humble target of 73k a la 1997. Would have passed that number comfortably if I’d included walking in the total. My running involves a lot of walking these days.
And it really is a lovely season for running. Cold, crisp sunny morns with the first smattering of snow on the mountains. Such was today’s outing on Monte Pajariel. The frost underfoot sparkled like a starry night and in the shade baked mud emerged from an icy oven. It was occasionally uncomfortable but never treacherous. Have managed 2 or 3 futsal matches over the month and my ankles screamed constant abuse at me. Like a doomed love affair the footie should go some time soon.
Things slowly getting back to normal again and December’s 1997 total to chase will be an accessible 78km.
I'm liking the idea of rolling back the clock 20 years, to see how things have changed.
Personally, I couldn't run 2 miles 20 years ago. Well actually I could have done, if I'd known how to. I would never have guessed that there's more to it than just putting one foot in front of the other.
2017 registered a new all-time low of 448 kms run. I wouldn’t normally boast about it but having exposed my numbers fetish here prepare to be bombarded with a lot more silly stats from now on..
February was the most prolific month with a modest total of 85k run.
In July, August and September no running was recorded.
The other monthly totals ranged from an unimpressive 18k to a not even slightly impressive 69k. Must add that if I had included walking kms I might have reached treble figures a couple of times, but walking just isn’t running or so I’m told.
Not surprisingly there were fewer races this year.
2017 was the year when running became even more an exercise in injury management. The year started with a mysterious pain in my right knee which by December had teleported itself into my left ankle. If I am to extend my running life beyond my late 40s perhaps I should pay heed to advice from countless RC posts over the years regarding core strength, diet, cross training, stretching exercises… You know, it’s no longer just a case of going out for a carefree run and I’m open to all possibilities now, yoga, pilates, dare I even say the “gym” word.
(07-01-2018, 11:50 AM)Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man Wrote:
(06-01-2018, 11:42 PM)Bierzo Baggie Wrote: ... I’m open to all possibilities now, yoga, pilates, dare I even say the “gym” word.
It ain’t getting any easier.
That could be the theme of 2018 for a number of us, I fear. Keep us posted...
The "gym" though. You can't be seriously considering the "gym"? Life is over at that point isn't it?
I'm am suffering from my own injuries at present. Having rescued a stuck sheep earlier, I tripped over that which had held the sheep fast, and rolled down a steep bramble patch. My legs are shredded... at least it gave Radar something to chuckle about.
(07-01-2018, 06:12 PM)Charliecat5 Wrote: I'm am suffering from my own injuries at present. Having rescued a stuck sheep earlier, I tripped over that which had held the sheep fast, and rolled down a steep bramble patch. My legs are shredded... at least it gave Radar something to chuckle about.
And I thought the rural life was all about sitting in pubs drinking pints of bitter and moaning about the price of barley. How wrong was I?
Back On The Road Again
