Marathon log 36

Broken man or just a runner with a wonky leg.....

Normally on a Saturday morning, I am up with the lark and churning out the miles with my running group. This Saturday morning though, I am still up with the lark, my running group are still churning out the miles, but one thing is missing....me. They have gone off and left me sitting on a park bench, as I am reduced to watching them head off into the distance all alone, which in fact was exactly the same scenario this time last Saturday, after my calf muscle went twang..!!

The injury has taken its toll, and the road to recovery has meant me putting my feet up, resting and reading the Sun. The calf has been sore, and still is, though having said that, I am walking a little less like John Wayne, and waddle more like a penguin.  I crawl around at the pace of a turbo charged snail, and hobble along like Robo cop with a blown fuse.  I am like one of those toys from many moons ago, back in the 80's, known as a 'Weebble', who the makers once claimed, that, "Webbles wobble but don't fall down". Unless filled with alcohol, which then becomes an entirely different matter.

This is a pain in many ways more than one. Firstly, my calf hurts, and I can't run, so my marathon training has come to an abrupt stand still. A vital period of training is now on hold, as this is the bread and butter phase, when you are putting in those long runs and big mileage. This is the period before tapering, when your weekly mileage should be sky high, and mine is currently at zero. 

I should be out there happily sweating it out, pushing myself, and making my heart pound. Instead I find myself sitting on a park bench watching the squirrels leaping from branch to branch, and couples on a Saturday morning stroll and their dogs chasing sticks. Even the responsible adult has allowed Yoda, ET and Zippy out to play football. Well that's one activity in which they can't cause mayhem. Well maybe not, as with one well placed shot from Zippy, see's one dog walker bent double, has the ball has struck his nether regions. And I thought that I was in pain...?

It is hard to justify. Even sitting alone in peaceful green surrounds with your own thoughts, you can't console yourself on the possibility of not completing your goal. If you could bottle and sell determination, then right now I would be on my way to my first million. But you can't, and my plans lie in tatters at my feet.  There is no one to take you by the scruff of the neck, give you a good shack and point you in the right direction. These are the pieces of the jigsaw that you have to fit together yourself, and wouldn't you know it, I have the jigsaw puzzle with vital piece is missing.

So were do we go from here...? Home, breakfast and coffee, with the Saturday morning paper. There is the weekly shop to do, and another battle around Sainsbury's with a shopping trolley with a wonky wheel. I guess that is a metaphor for my life at the moment, as I am a runner with a wonky leg. (23/2/2008)

Tags:

Post Views: 70