Since sustaining an ankle/heel injury early last year while training for the Greater Manchester Marathon I’ve suffered pain and stiffness in the joint. I managed to nurse it through the marathon and then the training and the Great North Run in September, but it was difficult. So I decided to lay off the running and do some strength and flexibility training until it was somewhere near right again. I’ve got a place in this year’s GNR, which will be my 14th consecutive entry, but that is all I’ll be doing. So I thought it was time to start a long, slow training schedule to get my fitness back.
And boy do it I need it! This morning’s 4½ miler on the towpath showed just how out of condition I am! Some work to do…
It was getting on for eleven before we finally pulled away from the bank.
Leaving our overnight near Wedgwood.
The trip to the top of Meaford Locks takes about an hour, and is punctuated by the regular trains zipping past on the offside. apart from that it’s a pleasant run.
Moorhen mum turning her eggs
Family foot-cooling
The towpath swaps sides for a bit at Bridge 100
The queue had mostly died down by the time we reached the top of the locks, just a single-hander on a motor-cruiser waiting to go down
Meaford Top
He was one of three single-handed boaters heading down, so, although I closed up after him, it was a little slow on the way down. I was surprised that we only saw a couple of boats coming up.
But we got there in the end
It didn’t matter anyway; we weren’t going much further, pulling in on the straight below the locks. There’s fewer pedestrians on this stretch of towpath than the first run of official moorings in Stone. It’s worth the extra five minutes walk to the shops.
It’s been fine and very warm. The day started out misty and cool, but as soon as it burned off we’ve had bright sunshine. Lovely.
Oh, nearly forgot. We’ve got a mention in Boats and Outboards Magazine!
Locks 4, miles 3
1 comment:
Hi Geoff, glad to hear your foot is better - have you tried parkrun yet?
Debby
Post a Comment