Author: MarathonMannUK

Firstly the good.  Hasn’t it been a brilliant GB performance at the Olympic Games in Rio?  It’s just one astonishing statistic after another; beating our medal tally at London 2012 (not been done before), coming second in the medals table and Mo Farah’s amazing double-double, the list goes on (& I ought to mention our track cycling team where every one of them will go home with a medal).  It goes to show what well run and well funded elite sports can achieve; from a personal perspective it would be great to see the same being done for distance running!

Another good thing was the Escrick 10K that I ran today.  It was a lovely flat course in the countryside with a great atmosphere and I am not surprised it’s so popular.  The bad bit was the fact that I am still struggling to get a descent time although I felt OK so its just a matter of sticking with it!  Because of the hospital examination I had to endure on Thursday, I have had to suspend taking my prescribed iron tablets for a week so I might have to be a little more patent before I feel a difference.  (see blog post: Iron Mann).

Now for the Ugly bit, as I mentioned in One week and 40 seconds I had to report to Leeds General Infirmary for some endoscopy examinations to try and get to the bottom (so to speak) of my iron deficiency.   Well, I can tell you, if you have any doubt, that having someone stick a tube down your throat feels exactly like someone sticking a tube down your throat and the same can be said for the other end!  This was a seriously unpleasant experience but the good news is that there is nothing horrible going on in my innards, so I can rest easy there!  Still a mystery then but at least I can resume iron tablets which I am told, will make a difference.

My Great North Run number arrived on Friday and Mo Farah will be in the race also so I’m really looking forward to that!

“Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the heavens above – what can you do? They are deeper than the depths below – what can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea.”  Job 11:7-9 NIVUK

After taking iron tablets for one week I did Temple Newsam parkrun again and managed to gain 40 seconds over last week.  I didn’t really feel like trying too hard this morning which makes the 40 seconds even more significant!  The sting in the tail though is that I now have to stop taking the tablets for 5 days to enable tests to see why I’m anaemic in the first place.

I’m philosophical though because a week is not a long time and I am very grateful for what modern medicine and the NHS has done for me.  Thinking about it, my heart problems alone would have put paid to my running back in 2012 and if my thyroxine deficiency wasn’t treated I’d also be in a pretty sorry state.

Despite all this and not looking forward to my visit to the Leeds General Infirmary next week, I am doggedly getting on with my training for the Great North Run.  This includes a 10 miler tomorrow and a 10K race next weekend (Escrick).  The 10 tomorrow will take me to 50 miles for the month which is half way to my goal at less than half way through the month!

“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” ‭‭James‬ ‭1:12‬ ‭NIVUK‬‬

http://bible.com/113/jas.1.12.nivuk

This is where I am staying this week and I thought I would share the name as my blog’s title because of its similarity to parkrun, although “park inn” does have a space so they are unlikely to get a law suit from Paul Sinton-Hewitt any time soon!  The particular park inn I have been staying in is in Telford and that is where I have been exploring this week.

Telford is a fascinating place; a “new” town even though it is steeped in industrial revolution history.  It has a fantastic Town Park and some amazing countryside round and about.  The only complaint that I have is that it, in common with all the new towns that I know, is that it is hiddiously pedestrian-unfriendly.  The town planners want to separate pedestrians from traffic and I get that.  The problem is that what they do is firstly remove the pavements (or sidewalks as our American friends would say) and then take the pedestrian pathways off in all sorts of different directions, none of which lead to where you want to go.  It’s impossible to tell where a path will take you so you end up following the roads, which is very dangerous since there’s no pavement!   The planners have therefore achieved the complete opposite of their objective and ended up making it more dangerous for the walker or runner!

The one solution I have is to go running at 5 AM in the morning which pretty much avoids all traffic so you can run through town whereever you want, willy-nilly!  And, have you noticed, it’s getting DARK in the morning.  At 5 AM it seemed like it was before dawn which is another reason to avoid going down dark isolated pathways although by the time I ran back through the Town Park it was light enough.

Tomorrow morning I shall try a different direction!

“as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way’ – ‘a voice of one calling in the wilderness, “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.” ’”  ‭‭Mark‬ ‭1:2-3‬ ‭NIVUK‬‬

http://bible.com/113/mrk.1.2-3.nivuk