SUNDAY....GOOD.....BAD ...WORSE!

  As we sat in Accident & Emergency at Airedale Hospital, Pat reminded me of the word I always tell people is the most important word in the English language..........consequences!   Namely that when getting involved in certain activities we should think carefully of what can go wrong and try to avoid adverse consequences.
  It was a shame having to endure the trip to the hospital  because Sunday had started off pretty well.  The plan was a 13 miler made up 2 warm up, followed by a solid pace 10 miles with a mile jog to finish to bring the heart rate down.   Although I failed to check out the wind direction for the routine canal run , the return
6 into a fairly strong breeze went well despite having to weave through dozens of cyclists taking advantage of the spring sunshine.  The 10 mile section was completed in just over 80 minutes;  a "brisk pace"  for me  without  a particularly "brisk" approach to it effort wise.  Best average time in the last 18 months for a steady run of this length. .  The consistency in training would appear to be overcoming the ravages of time.
  During mile 12, I passed a group of 3 (man and 2 ladies) jogging along and joined them for my 13th cool down mile.  I asked them if they were training for London.  The male said no they were training for Madrid.   He said he had been at his best when he was just over 11 stone some years ago but following injury had let his running lapse and not burning off his diet of curries and beer had ballooned to over 18 stone!!  He appreciated that it was like me running carrying myself, but he was determined to do the Madrid. His main fear being that the Spaniards had a cut off time of 6 hours and he might be asked to come off the course before crossing the finish line. A long way to go..........
  So the start to the day was good but turned to bad as Man. U. played out a frustrating 0-0 draw in the Premiership against Blackburn.   But things got worse as I decided I would do a spot of valeting on the car after the depressing match. Brushing a cleaner onto one of the alloy wheels I "flicked" some up into my eyes and eventually headed for A.and  E. to have the stinging fluid washed out.   Consequences?   I had put gloves on in case some of the cleaner touched my hands but should have worn some protective eyewear as well.  Eye damage is classed as immediate priority at A.and. E. so thankfully I was seen within minutes of reporting there and after having a litre of salt washed over the eyes I am back to normal today.
  Not quite the end to the week we had planned for.   A week that had gone well running wise with not just another 56 miles on the chart but an improved 5K tempo track run on Wednesday in 22.38 and that brisk 10 miler today at just over 8 minute training pace.   The yearly weekly average being maintained just below 50;  somewhat short of the 180 miles per week of young Simon Lawson, mentioned recently.