Hello, all

[marathondan]

Friday afternoon saw my first run for 12 days, as Rugby Playing Vicar took me out for around 6 miles of the local fields and bridleways. Being a habitual nocturnal suburban plodder, this was something of a departure for me – although very welcome. We left the road as soon as possible, out through Pinkneys Green village, across the green (a local favourite for kite-fliers and kiteboarders) into a headwind, then into open countryside. My shiny white Asics knew that they had been out for a run – I’m sure most of the time I was carrying an extra pound or two in mud and clay. Nothing unusual for you regular trail runners, but a bit different for this townie. Through a network of farmyards, tracks and fields, we wound our way out to Cookham, and then back into Maidenhead via the Green Way path.

RPV (actually he hasn’t RP’d for a good few years) gives away about 10 years and 3 stone to me, so the pace was relatively comfortable, but I guess we covered about 6 miles in just over the hour. We retired to the vicarage, where I was looking forward to some tea and biscuits. Instead, I got a disturbingly keen "Shall we do some sit-ups?" and before I knew it, the exercise mat and ab machine were out on the living room carpet. My wife had one of these beasts until couple of years ago – it was one of the few things we managed to sell on eBay when we moved house. They’re actually bloody good if you’re in the business of doing crunches. Without one, you can inadvertently work all kinds of back, neck, arm and leg muscles. But in the torture harness, the work is directed straight to the abs. Completely out of practice, and not wishing to strain anything, I managed about 10.

So all in all it was good – I was a little stiff over the weekend, a reminder that I must build up again slowly. And although I only managed one outing for the week, in the current climate that’s not to be sniffed at. Meanwhile, I’m back on the DIY treadmill – half the weekend was spent stripping my son’s bedroom for painting. So any spare hours in the near future will be directed towards that. And so the story will repeat for the next 20 years.

In other news, I’ve pencilled in the Goring 10K in four weeks’ time – a handy, medium-sized, out-of-season event which is easy to get to.

Finally, the ankle seems to be pretty well OK now – it still makes itself known during football if I try a full-on, head-down power-drive, but fortunately that’s not a common occurrence for me. But during and after running, it aches little more than any other part of my lower body.

Week 3 summary:
Planned: 12.5 + football
Actual: 6 + football