Friday 23/4 - An eventful run on WHW! Home-(almost)Rowardennan

Time: ~3h45mins
Distance: ~22-23miles

Phew. All I can say to start off this post! I actually have no idea how far I went, but I have very roughly mapped it out and I reckon it's about 22miles...maybe 23 (since it's about a mile to the start of WHW from my house) but most likely no more.

Was off work on annual leave today (primarily to get my penultimate "long" long run before the marathon done) and had been having dreams of not being able to run cos it was raining really heavily. But it wasn't (when I started my run at least!). Headed out about 9.20am down onto WHW and off I went...

The hiccups started at the Mugdock turn off. I rubbed my eye as a fellow runner passed me and totally knocked my contact lens out. Spent ages checking for it on the ground until I realised it was just pushed further into my eyelid. Using the back of my ipod as a mirror (I looked great), I managed to get it out, clean it with water and put it back in again. However, it did take a while and quite a few ppl passed me in the process. Oh joy.

So, headed onwards as you do. It began to rain at the Beech Tree which was a bit offputting, but it was light so ok. Decided against going up Conic Hill as it equates to more walking than running for me, so went the road round to Balmaha. Shorter distance but I knew I could make it up. Plus, it is a road race I'm training for after all.

Queue incident 2. I'm running along and this sad looking dog apporached me just before Buchanan Smithy. Now the dog was walking towards oncoming traffic (a smart dog, perhaps?) but I called it over to the pavement I was on. It sort of looked at me sadly then trotted off, but I called it and it followed me into the little village. Someone there was also looking for its owner who seemed to be AWOL. The dog looked so sad and just kind of sat there, I didn't want to leave it but was assured that this other guy would take care of it. So I spent about 5-10 mins of my run looking after a lost dog.

Run after that was fairly uneventful into Balmaha. Getting wetter (annoyingly) but not too busy which I like. Was listening to some really funny podcasts which kept my mood high. The path through the forest past Balmaha was quite slippery so I was trying to be careful where I walked.

Queue incident 3. I must have been watching the view or something, but I suddenly tripped as my left foot hit an elevated branch and I came down quite hard on my right side. Luckily I was carrying a waterbottle round my wrist which seemed to take a lot of the impact off my hand. My left hand was really sore though, as was my right hip and shoulder. Plus I was flithy. I was kind of mortified, but no one saw so I just kept running. My shoulder began to get really sore, the tshirt was rubbing against the cut which wasn't pleasant.

I literally got a couple of feet and then incident 4 - down I went again. This time I have no idea what caused the fall, as the ground was levelling out. I went down on my left side this time and REALLY hurt my knee and right hand this time. I had scratches on my arms and shoulders but I just got up and kept running. My knee was sore but it felt more bruise sore than proper injury sore.

I actually felt like crying at this point, so text Derek and told him. Then text my mum who was getting me from Rowardennan. I kept going after that but I didn't feel so hot at all. I had arranged my mum to get me at 1.30pm, but I wouldn't make it to Rowardennan by then so I ran up the big hill just after the Glasgow Uni centre and crossed down the other side and continued up the road. She met me about half a mile further up the road and we sat in the car park and had some sarnies. I changed clothes and tried to clean up a little.

Lunch was great (my mum continually feeding the crow which sat next to the car and ended up having cheese mayo all over its beak) and we went in to see a few wedding venues (exciting...) on the way home in Drymen but I was glad to get home.

Now, assessing the damage I don't feel so great! My shoulder is cut and it hurts a lot but it's ok. My left knee, on the other hand, is pretty sore when I bend it. I don't think I'll be able to run for the next few days at least. There is a massive bruise appearing round the kneecap. Of course Derek came home from work after sliding to save a goal at football at lunch and he has grazed his right knee terribly...stealing my thunder!!

If there's any consolation, I did have a great run and did keep going for a while after my falls. Plus, my Achilles Tendon was fine...every cloud, and all that!!