Trans Pennine Trail

I've become an injury obsessive/bore. Ever since last week's 20 mile schlep I've had tightness behind my right knee that feels like muscle strain but hasn't gone away. I've kept to the training plan under the premise of no pain no gain but I'm starting to worry my asymmetric running style might be damagingly uncoordinated to a degree that I need to try and fix it as after 18 miles yesterday I feel like an old lady, or at least the right-hand side of me does. I have to admit to feeling a bit sorry for myself which is ridiculous since rain hasn't stopped play, yet. It means such a lot to me to do Emily's marathon and not just do it, really run it.

We went up to stay with good friends Rob and Kerry in Thurlstone, Yorkshire at the weekend to see Kerry in panto as Robbing (Vatman and Robbing the dynamic tax collection duo) as part of the Penistone Theatre Group production of Cinderella. We thoroughly enjoyed it's classic British panto mix of terrible jokes and eclectic singing. The well-endowed Ugly Sisters stole the show along with the young man (ooh young man!) who played Buttons. Iain and I even got a shout out for 'not being from round 'ere' :)

Near Peak District Prettiness

One of Many TPT Railway Bridges

Aside from seeing our friends and the panto I took the chance to do my long run out amongst the green stuff and as Rob and Kerry live on the Trans Pennine Trail (TPT) Rob suggested this an ideal, and flat, place to run. The best route taking into account me not being familiar with the area was to run west for 4.5 miles then turn around and run east for 9 miles and then back again for another 4.5. Iain came up to the path to high-five me after I passed the house at 9 miles and check I wasn't hurting too bad and at that point I felt pretty good although both right ankle and knee were making themselves a bit of a distraction. The path whilst mostly being flat was uneven and necessitated some vaults over frozen puddles and swathes of mud and I think this must have provoked the ankle. This was a bit depressing as I thought the new-new trainers had solved that one. The path from 9 to13.5 miles was slightly downhill all the way to my turning point. The Trans Pennine Way at least in part follows an old railway hence the flatness and presence of lots of bridges and just before my turning point a tunnel...

There was no light to be seen at the end of that tunnel and there was no way I was going in there in the pitch black. I made my turn back early and on sensing the path rising away in front of me and the headwind now blasting me in the face it did cross my mind that the lack of light at the end of that tunnel was some kind of omen. So the five miles to finish constantly slightly uphill with a hurty knee and hurty ankle really tested my patience and I'm sure anyone going past me probably thought I'd lost it with my red face grunting and cursing all the way. Demonstrating that distance running is as much a mental game as a physical one, I then overshot the house by too far lost in distracting hurty bits obsessed with finishing quickly and had to walk a mile back crying like a baby. It was done and so am I... physio appointment now booked to assess misbehaving right-hand ailments tomorrow morning...