Run The Date - Day 18

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Date: Wednesday 18th September

Distance: 18 miles

Motivational quote: "Running makes the ground feel wanted."

Sponsor: Jon and Manda Wilson

Song: The Shining - Badly Drawn Boy

Running partner: John Lawrence

Weather: Warm and sunny.

Fuel: Shreddies, banana, muesli, coffee, Veggie McDonalds.

Route: Park loops. Monkey run. Night run.


Comments: Last night I had a hot bath and it seemed to ease the pain in my hamstring. First thing this morning I attended the physio who did a great job of locating the area and massaging it before applying tape. I also had my hips rebalanced, the fronts of my thighs massaged and my IT band stretched.

I came out feeling revitalised and in a much more positive frame of mind. It occurred to me that yesterday morning I had been putting out the bins. They were full and heavy so I used my foot to kick one into place and felt a pain in my leg. It must have been this that resulted in the damage to my hamstring.

The advice I was given included shortening my stride length, lifting my knees and running straight on a soft surface. I'll be sure to follow those wise words and hopefully the challenge is back on track.

Part 1

Having forgone an early morning run for a visit to the physio I was left with 18 miles to complete. I decided to do a devil of a run. A 666 special. 6 at lunchtime, 6 after work, and 6 at night. Hopefully this would place less stress on my legs too.

The lunchtime run consisted of a short jog up The Leas to a private garden. Basically it was a large lawn fenced off with a small gate onto the footpath. Large houses backed onto it but it was empty.

The first lap proved to be around 0.2 miles so I would need to do quite a few. After about ten I had the idea of making a rainbow within the frame I had created as acknowledgement of Rainbow Centre.

I ran from the south-east corner out and up and then back to the north-east corner and repeated this about eight or nine times. More laps followed until I had a mile left. There was no sign of pain in my hamstring for which I was very thankful and hugely relieved.

Just before heading back to the office I tried to map out the words runthed8 but when I checked strava it looked more like nMWo8.


Part 2


John met me after work and we took a route around the town and down to the sandy beach beside the Harbour. We then ran along the Harbour Arm stopping at the lighthouse for a photo op. My hamstring started to play up again as I approached home with another 6 miles completed.

Part 3

It was almost 10pm when I left to complete my final miles of the day. It has been months since I last ran at night and it felt good to feel the cool breeze on my skin and turn on my head torch.

I managed a big loop that took me out to the top of Hospital Hill, back round to Tescos by the M20 and through Cheriton to my house. The last mile was painful but with an hour to spare I had completed day 18. Just time for a quick bath and I was out like a light.

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