The inner cat in every runner. The long game.
The very handsome Joseph. Hunter, climber and jigsaw destroyer.
Disclaimer 1: I am a cat person. I share a house with a cat. But I would like a dog. A fell dog. This blog should in no way be mistaken for any relinquishment of this goal.
Disclaimer 2: Disclaimer 1 is unashamedly aimed at long suffering husband Poor Pete.
Lets begin. I look at Joseph as he prowls through the living room for the umpteenth time today. Joseph, or JoJo as he is also known (bellowed usually by our 6 year old who is trying to rope him into one of her dress up sessions..JooooJooOOOOoooo!!) has had a dose of expensive antibiotics and pain killers for a bug he has picked up somewhere. He is confined to barracks until further notice. Or at least, until we are sure he wont have a reaction to the drugs he’s been given. Now, I like to think one of my superpowers is my ability to empathise with JoJo. However, today I am at one with the puddy cat in my life. Fair enough, I prefer not to hunt and chase rodents, and undo the breeding programme of the RSPB (we have literally become paying members to try and undo his murderous ways*!) and thankfully I have all my breeding bits and bobs still in the places where nature intended them to be. But today my neutered child and I are weathering the same storm. Dear Reader, I have a chest infection!!! Not just any old phlegm inducing bug, but in my opinion its a new strain aimed at reducing the most dedicated of runners to a hacking mess as soon as they take a few footsteps out in their nearly new and rather fashionable trainers. Damn you the Gods of irritated airways and bronchi.
Ok, I might be ever so slightly exaggerating but I know I’m not the only one of you who has a dose of this year’s lurgy. Its been going on for ages and wanes and retreats such that I continue to plough through the training plan, only for it to return (usually on a Monday!) to bring me to my knees in a hacking mess until I force myself around ‘insert race, parkrun, recce’ whatever was on the plan that weekend.
‘But surely someone is telling you not to run’, I hear you cry. Yes, of course they are. The list is long: Poor Pete, Coach Ian, the Dr, running buddies who have heard me hack up my lungs. But I feel like I am preaching to the choir when I say ‘did I listen’? Did I feck! A message exchange with a running buddy this week ended with us sharing tales of using vitamin p (paracetamol) and vitamin I (ibuprofen)* to get through events. I recently ran a race with a good friend who dislocated and broke a finger 15 miles into a 42 mile race. He finished and nearly broke the rest of us on his team in his rush to get back!
So we are all guilty of not doing what we should do when sick or injured. However I’ve finally reached the point where enough is enough. I’ve my big event of the year in 10 weeks time (oooooh twichy bum time writing that!!), the Dragons Back Race, and I am doing myself no favours in continuing to force the miles out. So an emergency coaching session in my local pub with Ian Warrington who is my club coach, personal coach and one of my best mates, has thrown some common sense into the plan. I’m resting, concentrating on the stuff that I haven’t had time to do, such as foot care, route studying, neglected core work, learning how to use my GPX do-hicky and my watch properly, and learning to run to heart rate. I’ve also bagged a much needed full weekend at home (first since Xmas which is a disgrace).
JoJo prowls past me again. He looks fed up and bored to tears. But next week, he will feel much better. There will be birdies and wee critters to hunt (and more donations sent to wild life charities) and he will live his best catty life. I know the fells and mountains are going nowhere and look forward to getting out to chase them again.
*We have tried on numerous occasions to put a collar and bell on him. We’ve used several versions of collar and the wee shit still manages to get them off. Any advice is very welcome.
**we all know using ibuprofen when running is stupid and dangerous and can lead to kidney failure. I use it rarely and never recommend doing so!