Olympic Torch Relay - St Leonards On Sea/Hastings.

The Olympic torch relay came through St Leonards & Hastings this evening.
This is a video of the whole procession passing near to my house, sponsors and all.

The torch bearer is Eric Hardwick, who seemed to be enjoying himself:
http://www.london2012.com/torch-relay/torchbearers/torchbearers=eric-hardwick.

Jog Blog No.2

As promised in "Jog Blog (Well, sort of)" here's the second installment detailing my recent running progress. Or, more accurately, the lack of it.
As mentioned in that first blog, I had finally started running again, after a 4 month lay off.
The first run went very well and i felt a great deal better than i thought it would. Those first few runs are always a bit of a worry. You are never quite sure how your body will react to that sudden exertion. And, let's face it, I'm not getting any younger!
Three days later, Wednesday, I went out for another run. A run of similar length, approx 3 miles. As before, I took it all pretty leisurely. After all, the object is for this to be enjoyable, isn't it?
I guess I'm lucky in that I've always enjoyed running. I feel very sorry for those people who feel that they "have" to run, for whatever reason. I know of many people like that. I can think of nothing worse than having to do something that you really don't enjoy. Especially, when it involves exercise.
I've also been lucky in that I actually enjoy running on my own. This is fairly unusual, from what I can tell. I've always been happy with my own company and use the time to think and generally, just enjoy the view and the experience. I've also never used an iPod, or similar, when running either. This is partly because I think they can be dangerous. But also because I've just never felt the "need" to. I like to enjoy the natural sights and sounds, as I run along.
Anyway, the run went well, as before.
After 20+ years of running, I have got used to listening to my body and can tell if there might be a problem. With my legs, or body for example. Throughout my running "career" I've suffered various injuries, as is to be expected. Hence that listening process. Especially after such a long lay off. I was even encouraged that my legs had not ached afterwards, as much as I'd feared that they might.
All was looking good, Or, so I thought.
Thursday morning dawned bright, sunny and very normal in the leg and body department. No aches, or pains and no signs of any after effects from my recent runs.

By now, anyone reading this, must have realised that something is going to happen and you'd be right.

Well, as with all the best incidents, it all happened so suddenly and unexpectedly.
I tried to get up from the armchair and felt my right knee "go". Now I realise that 'go" is not really the most descriptive word to use and it's certainly not a medical explanation. But, it's the best I can come up with to try and explain what happened and what it felt like. The sensation was as if my leg could collapse at any time.
Now, I've had things like this happen before, as I suspect a lot of people have. Usually, my knee will sort itself out after a bit of walking around, or stretching. But, this time was different. All my normal methods of trying to sort it out didn't work and as the day wore on, my knee felt worse and worse. It also started to swell up. Which has not happened before.
By the end of the day I could hardly walk and was having to be very careful when trying to move around.
As you'd expect, I went to the Doctor on the Friday, to see what they could do and to ask what might be the cause. Unfortunately, because of the swelling, the Doctor could not give a full diagnosis. So, here I am, a few days later, wearing a knee bandage and taking anti-inflammatory tablets to try and reduce the swelling. I have a further Doctors appointment, next week, when he hopes to finally figure out what the problem might be.
In the meantime I'm still hobbling around. As it happens, the swelling has gone down a lot and my knee feels a lot better than it did. So much so, that I can walk fairly normally, albeit slowly. I'm taking this as a good sign. When the injury first happened, I couldn't straighten out my right leg. Now, at least, I can do that and it feels far more comfortable. Thankfully.
But, now my thoughts are turning to the future and they are rasing many questions.
Is this a permanent injury? and will I ever be able to run again? being just two of them.
As somebody, on Facebook, said to me the other day. Maybe this is just a case of my body telling me that I'm not getting any younger and that i need to slow down a bit. Or, at least, start to think a little more about what i actually try to do with my body?
And that's a fair point. Hmm....
To be continued...

Wet 'n' Wild.

As any of you who know me from other Internet sites may know, i like to do a bit of running.
Of late though, that has been a rather hit & miss affair. But, i'm once again trying to get back into it & i may even try & run a couple of races in the new year. No promises though. I'll have to wait & see how my body holds up! I'm not getting any younger after all.

I have been thinking of using this blog to write about my running progress & maybe even to relay some of my thoughts about running & what it has meant to me. We'll see.

But, in the meantime, i just wanted to mention my run this morning.

As is often the case, when i woke up there was the usual debate raging in my head as to whether i could actually be bothered to go for a run. Believe me, the hardest step is the one out of the front door.

Over the past couple of days we have been having some rather wild weather. Very strong winds & heavy rain. Not the most ideal conditions to run in, as you can probably imagine. Having said that, those conditions can be quite exhilarating to run in. but, more of that later.

As the weather seemed to have, at last, calmed down overnight. I decided to take the plunge. A very prophetic word as it happens.
Getting out the front door was no obstacle & off i went.

Now i'm pretty lucky in that i live very close to the seafront, which is the perfect place to run. No cars, plenty of room & good views etc. Today was no exception.
I'd already decided which way i was going to run. Maybe rather foolishly, this was with the wind behind me on the way out. meaning i'd be running into it on the way back. Although not gale force any more, the wind was still pretty blowy (is that a word?)

As i said before, we've had some recent stormy weather. So, it was great to run along the seafront, watching the waves crash onto the beach (the tide was pretty high at the time), checking to see what damage the storms had done & seeing what interesting items might have been washed up onto the beach.

One of the great attractions of living in a seaside town in the Winter, are the storms & the sea. There is nothing quite like watching the huge grey waves rolling in from the sea & crashing onto the beach. I could & do watch this for hours, as do many others.
This may seem a little strange. But, i know of many locals who actually prefer the Winter to the Summer for exactly this reason.

As i was running along, i happened to look behind me. I often do this, as there is a great view across the bay towards Eastbourne. Another reason is because this is the usual direction that the weather comes from, the south-west. Well, i couldn't see Eastbourne! It was completely obscured by a huge grey/black cloud & it was heading straight for Hastings.

There was no way that i was going to turn back. Not after making all that effort to get out of the door in the first place. I was also rather intrigued as to what that huge cloud might bring.
I kept on running & the wind started to strengthen, as the clouds got closer & closer.
Well, soon enough the sky grew very dark & the rain started to fall. Not too hard at first. But, within a minute, or so, the rain, mixed with hail, was pouring down & i was already getting soaked.

I carried on manfully & reached my turning point, which is basically where Hastings ends & the cliffs start. The rain was lashing down & sea there was crashing into the base of the cliffs. It was such a spectacular sight that i stopped, tried to shelter behind part of the rock face & stood watching the sea bashing the rocks in front of me. It was at this point that i wished i'd had a camera with me.

By this time, i was so wet that i didn't care any more. So, i turned around & headed for home, approx 2 miles away. Straight away the wind & the rain hit me right in the face. The rain was stinging my face so badly that i was having to lower my head to try & stop the worst of it.
I was soaked to the skin & my running shoes were full of water.

But, i was having great fun!

As i mentioned earlier, there is something strangely exhilarating about being out in that kind of weather & of battling against the elements. Which is exactly what i was doing.
I'm sure that all the people safely huddled in the relative calm of their cars thought that i & the other runners & dog walkers who were still battling on, were absloutely mad.
But, little do they know that, probably without exception, we were all getting a kind of perverse enjoyment out of the situation. The runners etc, who i did pass, all had a smile on their face. Maybe it was a knowing smile? A smile saying "we're all in this together & they just don't know what they are missing"

I eventually got home, still in the pouring rain & dripped my way into the house.
I don't think i've ever been that wet before. Certainly not when running.

But, you know what? I wouldn't have missed that run for the world.