The Stonehenge Stomp

Today I ran the 30km course of the Stonehenge Stomp in Salisbury Plain.  It poured with rain last night, but thank goodness it was dry and sunny today, albeit leaving a waterlogged landscape.

It is an LDWA event - i.e. a picturesque route for walkers at which runners are welcomed.  I turned up at Amesbury just a few minutes before the 10am deadline.  I was given a route description, but I really can't be doing with those so I stuck it in my pocket and asked to see a map.  I was lent a highlighter pen and traced the route out on my Explorer map - and happened to draw it anticlockwise because that suited the side of the map that was facing me.  I set off, unthinkingly following the route in the direction I had drawn.

Twenty minutes on, I was wondering why I hadn't seen anyone else.  Then a couple of runners came towards me.  It dawned on me that I had been spectacularly stupid in setting off in the wrong direction.  I felt like an idiot every time I met a walker or runner.  Then I got to the first (last) checkpoint and confessed what an eejit I'd been.  'What's your number?' I was asked.  My checkpoint card was with the route description.  I fumbled through all my pockets.  They were both gone.  So now I was doubly useless - the man who was going the wrong way without a number.

The scenery was spectacular over the high ground, and Stonehenge was looking terrific.  Later on there were very muddy tracks and paths which took all my energy and wit just to stay upright.  For the last third of the course I was completely alone and feeling very sore and tired after very little running in January.  I finished in a very sedate 2:50.  It was well worth doing as a first step to getting my longer-distance legs back - only 5 weeks till the John Austin and the Grizzly is the week after that.

New year, new shoes

January has been something of a fallow month.  I've been cycling to work, but I've tried hard to be good in giving myself time to recover from shingles.

I have gone mad and bought myself two new pairs of shoes, both road (Asics Nimbus Gel - I've been getting these for years), and off-road (Adidas Swoops).  I've been hanging on to my old shoes for as long as I could, but after 18 months of use they're both looking a bit venerable.

Out with the old, in with the new

 So - next stop the Stonehenge Stomp as a kick-start for the new season.

Time to fix the shingles

Yesterday I was diagnosed as having shingles, and I'm less than chuffed.

Visibly, I have a rash forming a line right around the right side of my torso from front to back.  My right side was very tender for a few days beforehand, but at the moment the spots are really no problem.  What's bothering me are the invisible symptoms, specifically:

(a) an acute awareness of my kidneys.  When I walk, it feels like a couple of cricket balls are thumping about in my back.  Running just isn't an option at the moment.

(b) a strange tightness in the muscles my my abdomen and thighs, which means that just about any sitting or lying position is uncomfortable... and that makes night time a challenge.

The lack of exercise is starting to get to me, but my main concern is missing the next cross-country league race in Bournemouth on 12 Jan.  I'm trying to be sensible, but it's frustrating.