Good Morning Winter Hill, It's Been a While

The pain in my feet has largely gone away now, however I do get occasional dull aches and my second to on my right foot is still numb and tingling.  Even though there is very little pain, I'm aware that there is still a problem.  It's quite difficult to describe but the best I can do is to say that they don't feel very 'well oiled'.

Still, I've reached a point where I just want to get back out running again so have decided to just go out a couple of times a week for short distances relatively slowly.

Usually on a Saturday morning I go to the gym to do my strength and conditioning workout but I did that yesterday and so decided that I'd meet the WFDBWGUA lot this morning and get back up onto the hill.

At the UTUP were EtU and TLoB.  We set off and headed towards the top barn then up through the terraced gardens out onto George's Lane.  We had walked the majority of this but I decided that I wanted to keep the promise I made to myself a few years back of never walking up the Pike.

On the way up, we bumped into Dave J and Charlie-dog who were out for a morning jaunt.  A short natter later and we carried on up to the Pike and I'm pleased to say that I did make it all the way up and my toes didn't seem to give me any grief (I usually feel the pain most when running uphill on my toes).

I decided to rein myself in on the descent and take it nice and slowly mostly because my Hoka trail shoes have absolutely appalling grip on them.  I wonder whether they'll ever make a fell shoe?

At the bottom of the Pike, we ran into Lindsey B and Andy S.  Lindsey was saying she was knackered but I think her achievement in the past few months is absolutely massive.  That girl really is a machine!

After a chat, we carried on along to the kennels then up to Two Lads.  From there, we headed over to the mast, but took the road route rather than the wet route.  Even though I ran it all, it was tough going and my legs felt like lead.

We carried on round to the trig point (I didn't go up to the trig with the others though as I didn't fancy sliding around in my useless shoes and so stayed on the tarmac).

We then ran down the diagonal and I don't think I have ever descended it so slowly.  Again, partially due to my shoes - not only have they got very poor grip but they aren't overly tight around my ankle and so I found my foot slipping around in them - but also because, if I'm completely and utterly honest, I'm scared!  I'm scared of overdoing it and hurting my foot again.  The pain I felt on that day out with John when my foot problems came to a head is not something I ever want to repeat.  It's the most painful thing that's ever happened to me.

At the bottom of the diagonal, I decided to head back as I didn't want to do too much too soon and so I left the others to carry on along towards Hordern Stoops.  I ran along a bit and then hopped over the stile and went down through the plantation to the bridge near Dangerous Corner.  I then carried on to the pigeon tower car park, along to the top barn and then back down to the bottom barn.

I really enjoyed myself this morning and it was great to be back out and with good company.  Thanks for the company guys!

As I'm sat typing this, my big toe on my left foot is throbbing a little but, other than that, I haven't had any problems during or since running.  Fingers crossed...

Total distance - 6.5 miles