Race no.85 Prudhoe Riverside Parkrun

....and the calf goes

Jogging in a winter wonderland alongside fellow harrier Hilary Graham

Picking up the pace

After two weeks of rest and recovery from the hamstring injury, it was time to try a jog and what could be better than an easy jog around an icy Prudhoe Riverside Parkrun course.

The freezing cold morning must have put a lot of Parkrunners off, for numbers were down, from 295 in my previous run here to just over 100. For me, knowing that the -4c temperature overnight  would have frozen the muddy off road section was all the incentive I needed to give it a go.

In the event, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the offroad section, the muddy part, that is, had actually been resurfaced in the interim. Wow, that was almost unbelievably quick!

Letting my running pal, Brian Stonehouse,  go nearer to the front at the start, I was happy to settle into an easy jog for the first mile and even happier to find no discomfort from the hamstring. Then, just as I was feeling more confident in my running, there was a sharp pain in my calf, damn!

After a year of running injury free, I just cannot enjoy my running. What should I do, stop, or (wishful thinking) try and run it off? Yes, I chose the latter and as I jogged on the pain went from sharp to just discomfort. Picking up the pace a little, I went round the course for the second lap, easing back as I did so , no sprint finish for me today.

At the end I was 21st out of a field of 108 in 25.02. Brian was 17th in 23.45. Fellow Tynedale Harrier, Hilary Graham ( pictured above), was 39th in 26.57. For me, it is back to ice pack, rest, recovery and treatment. If there is any silver lining to the injury cloud, it is that recovery from a calf strain is, generally,  a lot quicker than a hamstring problem, here's hoping!

Brian pushes on