Ouch!

 was quite excited by the prospect of marshalling again at least weeks ParkRun as I'd seen on an email I was going to get a radio! After helping out a few times this felt like a bit of a promotion, but as I cycled to the start line there was the a sound of military drumming coming from Coppers Field. I took a look as I went past, lots of men in khaki and guns hanging about. There's frequently lots of random things happening in and around Cardiff's City centre parks (...easy...) which is what adds to its charm and I didn't think much else of it. Phil Parkrun - the race organiser - asked if I could stand at the bridge between the main road and the park: "There's something military going on." he said."No problem." However as the start time of 9am for the ParkRun came closer it looked like it was going to be a big problem. Not only were there a ton of trucks trying to get it, there were also Armored Trucks coming in followed by Marching Bands and cannons (okay I may be lying about the cannons, but for possibly the only time in my life I was asked by some confused men in kilts: "Have a military bagpipe band come this way?" and I could legitimately say "Yes, they went down there."). It was Armed Forces Day and the runners looked like they were going to have a few obstacles in their way. Luckily the steward from Cardiff City Council was a good guy and agreed to keep a load of the trucks from coming in until the runners went past (cue a lot of tutting from the people in the trucks), so it all went fairly okay.

It was my time to go out for a trot the next day for my weekly 'long run' this time a pretty tame 11 miles in preparation for the Cardiff Half Marathon in October. Inevitably I'll feel a few aches and pains when I first start a-clopping and on Sunday my left ankle was hurting. I didn't really worry about it and thought I'd just run through it. After the first mile I felt good and thought the pace my running coach had set wouldn't be a problem. Everything was fine and dandy until I was making my way back round Roath Park Lake, switching between grass and tarmac my ankle twisted again and it hurt like fuck. I thought I'd run through it but after a few steps it became very clear that my run for that day was over. I was very frustrated because up to this point of seriously running for six years I haven't picked up an injury, so I suppose in a way I was overdue. When I got home I bandaged it up and hoped for the best. I went out for a run today which is a day later than was in the plan, after a few worrying steps it seemed to be okay, even though there's still a bit of pain. I'm actually running the Parkrun this Saturday after which I'll probably get an ankle strap, so here's hoping for the best.