Resolution of Illogical Conflict
Running, Walking and Words.Illogical Conflict
You can love someone and hate the choices that they have made.
This conflict is illogical. It is a purely human trait.
Knee. Jerk. Reaction
“The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when it must and survived.” – Robert Jordan
April 18th – Days until Dartmoor 108: 28, Days to Silverstone 10k: 138
I am nursing a mild injury. I have felt fine whilst running or walking, but recently, once I stop I have started to experience a prolonged aching in my right knee. I wrote this off as ‘the usual aches and pains’. The last few months have seen a lot of activity, so I wasn’t unduly surprised. To counter it I started to pay more attention to stretching out before and after walking or running. But this weekend my knee has been a bit more troublesome.
It started on Thursday with the 9.5k with race intervals. The run itself was fine, I felt really strong and finished in good form. Once home, I stretched out in the way that I do normally, showered and set about the rest of my day. As I walked about the house I noticed that my knee was painful. I put it down to the punishing run and thought nothing of it. I had planned for a rest day on the Friday, so was confident in my ability to recover.
I took #dogbeast out for a walk on Friday as normal, and within about 10 minutes of setting out with him, on what turned out to be a gentle 90 minute walk the pain in my knee had all but gone. So far, so good, I thought. Arriving home I sat at the kitchen table with a cuppa for a good 20 minutes, feeling pretty good about myself.
Standing up caused a bolt of pain to shoot through my leg. This wasn’t right. So I started to read about what I could do about it.
Rest, Compression and Elevation was the consistent advice that came across the internet. We had a tubigrip in the cupboard, so I put that on, lifted my leg onto a couple of cushions and took it easy the rest of the day.
When I woke on Saturday my leg felt as right as rain. All good. The plan I am following called for a 70 minute easy run, so, a little nervously, I stretched and set out for that. Fully prepared to come up short if my knee started to give me any grief I ran out of town and followed a loop that would eventually take in about 10k.
No issues, nothing to worry about, good pace (easy pace) and no trouble with my leg at all. I came home and stretched out as normal. It was going to be a lovely weekend. #littleDacombe was spending it with us, I had #dogbeast to take out, a trip to our local pub with friends and a 20k walk planned for Sunday.
My knee was aching, but no more than normal, #dogbeast and I were out for an hour, no problem with that, #littleDacombe arrived and we walked into town for a couple of pints and some lunch. Bliss.
The walk on Sunday was when I started to feel something was amiss. Whilst my leg did ache somewhat at the beginning, it didn’t calm down at the start of the walk as it normally does. Whilst it didn’t get to the point where I felt that I couldn’t go on, it was constantly nagging. I kept pace with the others and we finished about 20k in 4 hours. But it wasn’t the most enjoyable day from that perspective. I had ordered a couple of knee compression socks, which turned up in the afternoon once we got back, so cleaning up after the walk I rinsed and repeated Friday’s schedule. Compressed my knee, elevated it and took it easy in front of a movie.
I am now waiting for a foam roller to arrive, as the advice is to massage the muscles, not the connective tissue. And I have paused the running training for a few days. I will take these days with gentle walks, continued compression, rest and elevation and an hour on the foam roller before I start running again.
Whilst I am really enjoying the running and the benefits it provides, I do not want to jeapordise my ability to complete the Dartmoor Walk.
“She stood in the storm and when the wind did not blow her way, she adjusted her sails.” – Elizabeth Edwards
You are what you eat, update.
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Other streams of consciousness
When I’m not working, walking, cooking or otherwise enaged, I write.
Short Stories
Longer than 100 Words, shorter than a book. What more could you want?
100 words
An experiment in micro-fiction. Some of it lands, some not so much. Have fun!
Henry
I was the first to spot Henry, waiting for us outside the flat. I didn’t say anything, it didn’t feel right.I looked across at the other two, heads down against the incessant rain, their feet melting into the reflections of the street lights above them. The full...
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I walked for two days in a largely circular route looking for any sign of the temple in the mountain. I was careful to stop and see if I was being followed, but there were no signs of my captors being interested in me anymore. I think waking up to find your paymaster...
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The attack happened on the third night. Berad and I had fallen into a routine quickly and that evening had started pleasantly enough. After asking Berad whether we were likely to be seen and watching him scan the area and shake his head, I built a small fire in a...
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The Bench
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Calm before the storm
Lightning, tearing through the night. My sight is overwhelmed, suddenly, briefly. I should be afraid, but oddly, I’m not. I look at her, she returns my gaze. ‘I don’t like this,’ she looks at me, ‘take me home.’ But we can’t. Not yet. There are things we must do. She...
