A Better Day

 

Nothing worse than the blinking awful daily Covid news, has happened so far today, so that much is good about today

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The most cheering news for Stephen and I is, that we both felt that was it was time to try a tiny little test run after both being injured for a while.

Steve’s injury has lasted thirteen whole weeks up to this point and neither of us can remember a time when he suffered anything that lasted more than a couple of weeks before. Please don’t bother to mention that ‘before’, he had been much younger than his present age of seventy, because we would not be happy with a reminder of that kind. The injuries, his and mine, were both the result of slipping in very muddy conditions after long periods of rain. He pulled a hamstring that has been very troublesome considering how careful he has been not to keep testing it. That seems to be one of the big mistakes runners and triathlete make once they have pinged a muscle, is to keep on, ‘Just trying a little run to see if it is better yet’, rather than rest it off properly only doing other exercise that does not affect it. Niggle, niggle, niggle. Steve’s hamstring injury spread as it tightened muscle’s both sides of the original site of pain, until it hurt from his butt to his ankles. In normal times we would have done more swimming rather than attempt running but that was not an option with the pools closed during lockdown or crowded when folks were once more allowed past the barrier at the cash desk. Instead, we have both done gentle classes on You Tube that did not irritate or cause any pain at all. Qigong Is something we have only started during 2020 but both absolutely loved plus a ballet work out class, that is more workout than ballet. All that plus the usual turbo training sessions but not going at that like maniacs either. 

 

My injury started when toward the end of an eight mile off road run, I felt something tightening just under the lower part my calf. it didn’t feel like anything dreadful at the soon, we were both in the same boat even with the initial pain being in completely different spots. It was sort of spooky in a way since Steve often seems to feel and discomfort that I have; well on an ESP level anyway, but for me to return that ability was unknown. Sympathy yes, actual physical pain no. Still there was discomfort from the backside all the way down the back of the leg. I had in fact had several slips and slides in the mud, three of which were full body surfing episodes in different locations.

By the river in Arundel, In the wood on an animal track and the third not even running, I had just stepped through a five-bar gate when slid downhill a couple of metres in the sludge. We both decided to call it a winter break period and knock any though of running on the head for a while and until totally mended we opted to simply take comfy walks in the woods but to stay on level lanes, enjoy nature, take lots of photos, admire the view.

 

My leg has been several weeks loosening up but has been feeling ok this week. The funny thing was that the most painful thing to try to do was simply to point my toe.

This morning we started at first light, as we have been doing and the plan was to walk two miles on a track that was only very slightly up hill, hardly noticeable and then turn at that ‘point and try a one-minute gentle jog and see how that felt. We were both felt greatly relieved that it was ok. Some years ago, we used to offer a ‘Ladies beginners running course’, which was held over six weeks after that we hoped they would have made new friends matching ability and simply go off on their own little runs having been given a basic guide on how to start running without hurting. The courses worked well and lots of female runner locally started with that. Some started swimming or biking too which was a bonus and put a smile on our faces. We didn’t charge anything for the course.

 

After the happy moment of the first one-minute run, we walked again for roughly the same amount of time and then did another slow jog, being careful not to pick up any speed or get carried away with the sheer joy of running again. Easy does it. I think basically what I am saying here is to be very careful not to keep trying to run when your injury is not healed. This message is especially to younger people who are the most likely to keep pushing and pushing. The other thing that we have to remember is, that the older you get the longer injures take to mend and so you need to listen to your body and not your happy memories of all those long runs of old. It’s bad enough getting older, but you are supposed to get wiser too.

 

Later this morning something else with a hint of promise happened. The postman brought a letter from the doctor’s surgery! It was not telling me to bowl up straight away for my long promised, by Boris the Awful, vaccine jab. No, the news was not that good. It was a letter, again telling me not to contact the surgery, but instead, telling me that I should fill in the attached consent form to be given the jab. This had then to be returned to the Willow Green Surgery and placed in the box outside the premises. I would it seems then, in the fullness of time, be contacted when things were all fully set up for that operation, which it added would not be at the practice but somewhere else that we would hear about later. Still, it is a tiny step forward.