Life in the slow lane

So where does it go from here? A weekend of treatment did little to improve things, mood and hamstring suffered alike, especially when the wife dragged me on a shopping trip to the Mall in Bristol. Four hours to endure, something that tests even the most fit of middle distance runners, so you can imagine how I enjoyed it, by the end I had limped to a standstill. Surprisingly enough, I didn't buy anything either.

Things did improve as the week progressed, a cold bath and a hot soak supplemented by the opening of a bottle of Tesco Glen Foyle helped some. Certainly underlined the fact that cheap single malts aren't ever likely to become collectors items, but they do improve their flavour whilst relaxing in a hot bath. The other lesson to learn (again) is that no matter how much you might have washed your hands, it is better to have a pee before massaging damaged muscles with Deep Heat, because you won't get a lot of sleep afterwards.

Monday dawned, with me tired from the late night and so the week's training sessions were forgone and I spent the Tuesday and Thursday sessions observing our coaches and discovering that although I might know a lot about training, UK Athletics are convinced I know little about coaching, a lot of work to be done somehow. I stood around chatting and freezing my what-evers off wondering how I was going to fit all this in, work dictates that despite riding my Honda VFR on the Motorways of the West Country like Jorge Lorenzo of Moto GP fame, I can't get to the track in Newport before I leave Cheltenham. (Dr. Who to the rescue?)

I started planning my recuperation, initial running will have to be on grass, or to be more accurate - something that passes as marginally solidified mud, and not for another week. Physio was pre-booked for next week so it was up to  me and the buckets of cold water until then, when I hopefully get the go-ahead to start running again. Retirement is still being suggested and here's why, some of the major isssues are: Left leg only - Achilles Tendonitis, mysterious knee pain, pulled hamstring and hip pain: Add to that the right shoulder Brachial Plexus Neuropathy (no idea sorry but it hurts) and you see the problem. Anyway, I'm clearly too stupid to quit, so we'll soldier on  a bit longer as long as I can afford to have my physio keep gluing the wheels back on.

And to cap it all, the bike is now off the road, seem's to be injured or something, bloody Honda VTecs.