Rest Day

L talks me into a rest day and as the legs still ache from Wednesday’s run, that’s probably a good idea. I do feel a bit lost heading to work with neither my bike nor running shoes and several comments are passed from colleagues.

Part of me thinks I should be thinking of the bigger picture not just Sunday’s half marathon. That said if I don’t survive Sunday in one piece the bigger picture will start looking like a passport photo again.

Over lunch I venture to the JJB shop on Pride Park to see if they have any lightweight running caps in case it’s still mega sunny on Sunday. They do but only in heat absorbing black, which I thought might be a touch counter-productive, so I declined. Actually they did have a pink one in the Ladies’ section, which I also declined.

Thankfully the forecast is for it to be cooler at the weekend and it shouldn’t be too bad at 9.30am surely.

(Friday 19^th July)

The Bigger Uglier Picture

I feel a bit ill, another cold perhaps. I don’t understand this; I don’t have one for around ten years and then suddenly get several in one winter. It’s not on really. Who do I complain to? I decide to cancel my planned run but then after getting up, I start to feel a bit more human. Making myself ill-er might stuff my performance at Huddersfield on Sunday, if we’re in it, but then again the ‘undulating’ course will probably do that anyway. I need to think of the bigger, uglier picture, e.g. the Reading Half Marathon next month.

So I run and it’s a horrible run but I did it all and didn’t feel too unwell at the end of it. Problem is now that I’ve left my car five miles away, so I need to run back to it as well.

You’re never too old. Even 83 year olds drink Jagerbombs.

I survive the run back to the car, which is at my parent’s house because there’s a football match tonight.

It’s a much improved performance but with the same result, which doesn’t bode well. We actually had several shots on target second half, more than we’ve probably had since Christmas, even if you add all the games together. We were for once the better side but still we lost the game.

In the end an injury to our goalkeeper cost us the game, as our nineteen year old substitute keeper misjudged a corner. Too much cost cutting you see, we no longer have an experienced reserve keeper.

We’ve had a call from Huddersfield. I'm afraid we're in. Oh goodie.

(Tuesday 22nd February)