Hazel
What an epic Sunday run. There is not much detail I can add after Gillian’s account. 20 miles across country, with the added difficulties of navigation (thankfully this only troubled me, and just slowed Gillian down), terrain (by which we mean ankle deep sloshy mud with surprises hidden in it to catch the unsuspecting blind runner), hot weather (this must have been the hottest day of the year so far, I got a suntan), and the unexpected issue of tourists on the path through the popular towns. Added to this Gillian had to battle with the fact that she had forgotten to take any antiinflammatory drugs for her horrible arthritis, so she was going solo pain-wise. The main thing in the second half of the run was the crazy bridges. They were unforgiving to say the least, and one of them was so far past hump-backed it actually went to a point then straight back down. It would have been funny if we didn’t have slithery, mud covered feet and four screaming knees…
We have developed a passable technique for getting moving again after a stop or walk break. Unfortunately these are sometimes necessary when you come up against pedestrians and other hazards, as well as for navigation breaks when your guide is a moron. But starting up again after stopping is the hardest thing when you’ve got over a dozen miles in your legs, and especially if you have arthritis. The technique involves me being completely unsympathetic and telling Gillian that pain is all in the mind, and asking her to resolutely focus on how she felt just before the stop. I’m working on a watered down psychology technique of visualisation, based on no scientific research whatsoever, but it seems to be working in practice. We also run with very small steps to reduce the pain of each heavy step, which is a technique from my barefoot running style. Two little hamster wheels is the effect I’m going for. It’s not stylish, but it is effective. If anyone wants to hear me give a sermon on barefoot running techniques, just ask, but you will probably be in a minority!
Anyway, we managed 20 miles, against all the odds, and I am so incredibly proud of my unstoppable mother. We crossed into the next County for Pete’s sake! What she didn’t mention is that she also had a rough fall, which really pulled at her ankle. I take full responsibility; I warned her about the dip in the path but simply missed the rock sticking out over the lip of the hole which caused her to trip. Hence the frozen peas at the end. She also didn’t mention that on arrival in Henley we were informed that the baby had been an angel in the car and had been sick, so she then spent an hour playing with us in the park to cheer him up. No rest for marathon runners. We did finally get a lovely break in the Chocolate Cafe by the riverfront, with absolutely necessary tea, and lovely sandwiches and soup. I would strongly recommend this cafe. The staff were lovely, the food normal and not faffy but excellent quality, they gave the baby some crayons and paper, and seemed very forgiving of the fact that we looked like lunatics with bright red faces and fell on our food like a pair of scavenging birds. To the staff in the cafe, I am truly sorry for the mud we left under our cafe table, and I hope you like the picture we left you.
Gill and Hazel Run 