...or,
Stupid, Stupid, Stupid
...or,
Thanks John You're a Star
...or,
Sorry Duncan that you Missed Your Beer Festival
...or,
A Great Day Out Despite My Troubles
...or,
The Drugs Don't Work
I could go on with the alternative titles, but I'll stop there.
As the actual title suggests, today I went to do the Spring in Lakeland LDWA run with John Swift, as he missed out on it when it actually took place.
We started from Elterwater instead of Ambleside as it's easier to park there in the National Trust car park and it wouldn't be as busy on a bank holiday weekend. I had met John in Bamber Bridge, where he left his car and I drove up to Elterwater.
We arrived at about 8.45 and got ourselves ready for the off. It was a beautiful day so we slathered on the sun cream and away we went. All was going really well and I climbed up Tilberthwaite much easier than I had done on the actual event so I was feeling great and John was on good form too. When we got about a mile from Coniston though, I started to get stomach ache (what is with my stomach?). On arrival at Coniston I decided to use the public conveniences to try to alleviate the problem but, you know me, it didn't go to plan and my body didn't seem to want to relax. Why, I have no idea as I'm not at all prudish about poo and will chat about it to anyone who'll listen but it appears my body thinks otherwise.
Anyway, we carried on but my stomach ache got worse and worse and was causing me to really slow down. John, as usual, was on fire though, motoring up the hills with me trailing behind him.
Once we got to Skelwith Bridge I decided that I really had to 'go' so I went into the pub there and I managed to relieve myself, although I did end up buying a Coke because I felt too bad just going in there, causing a stink and leaving.
Feeling much better, we continued on our way up to Loughrigg. We managed to find the path which Gordon and I had missed last time, coming down from Loughrigg Tarn and heading into Ambleside. We didn't bother going into Ambleside though as that would be an out and back so seemed pretty pointless and we just continued along, heading back to Skelwith Bridge.
It was just before we reached Skelwith Bridge that my foot suddenly began to throb. It wasn't painful as such, just aching but it got worse and worse to the point that I could no longer run and, by the time we got back to Elterwater, I could barely even walk. The worst came after we stopped moving though. It just completely seized up and the pain got unbearable. So much so that I felt sick. I walked along to the toilet block but felt like I was going to pass out and twice on that very short walk, I had to stop and bend right over to try to avoid fainting.
I knew I needed to eat something because, due to my earlier belly ache I hadn't felt like eating all the way around and hadn't eaten much but because of the pain from my foot making me feel sick, it was really difficult to get the tuna and sweetcorn sandwich I had in the cool box down.
Eventually, I decided to set off. John had a meal planned this evening and I really didn't want him to miss it. I started driving but the pain on pressing the clutch to change gear was so intense that it was making me dizzy and sick. I feel like such a marde arse but I really have never had pain worse, aside from the pain I got when I smashed my front tooth when I was 15.
On arriving at Windermere I had to admit defeat and ask John to drive because it was just too painful. John obliged and we had to try to put a plan into place for when we arrived back at Bamber Bridge. John offered to swap cars, drive me home and then take Duncan back to Bamber Bridge to pick up the car but I really didn't want him to have to do that so I spent the journey massaging my foot and holding my cold can of Coke to it in a bid to ease the pain a little. It did work to a degree but it was still terribly painful and swollen up. I insisted I was OK to drive when we reached Bamber Bridge though as the majority of the drive home was on the motorway so I wouldn't have to change gear much.
Getting off the motorway in Horwich was awful and I cursed out loud when I pressed the clutch. Usually, I drive along Victoria Avenue to get home but I decided to carry on along Chorley New Road in third gear hoping that the traffic lights at Aldi would be kind to me. They weren't and I had to stop, causing lots more pain. After that, I carried on along getting into third gear again and thankfully managed to turn into Lever Park Avenue and then Fearnhead without having to change gear. When I arrived at my house I waved at Duncan through the window to get him to come and park for me as, by then, I really had had enough. I'm currently wandering around the house with my foot strapped up and using Duncan's old crutches to take the weight off, seriously, that's not overkill! I've had Paracetamol and Ibuprofen which have helped a little but not a lot.
The annoying thing is, the other week on a Saturday, I put on a pair of heels and the pain in my foot was terrible and I had to change shoes but the next day I ran the 22 mile Todmorden Boundary Run injury free but today, having had no pain for about a week and having stayed off the hills, this happens.
I'm quite angry with myself to be honest as I'm worried that I've now really damaged it to a point where it's going to take a lot of fixing. I'll try to be optimistic though whilst I want for the scan results to come back, hopefully it won't be as bad as it feels.
Huge thanks to John for driving my van back down to Bamber Bridge, I don't know what I'd have done otherwise.
Also, sorry to Duncan who was supposed to go to a beer festival tonight which he wanted me to pick him up from but unfortunately, that ain't happening!
Total distance - 22 miles
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