Hurts.

After half an hour it's my left side - bum, ankle. After a hour my right bum joins in. After 90 mins my feel start aching, especially my right one. After that, my right foot seizes up and everything gets little more serious.

Amazingly, heart and lungs are fine - especially after running up to the camera obscura and up the cross country hill by the zoo - those bits seems to be more invigorating than knackering.

But, feet. Now there's a problem.

I had a blister on my little toe which seemed to be healing up fine, so it was duly strapped up in a plaster and seemed ok for a while. When my foot stared hurting, it felt more like a stiffness coming into it, but then the real pain began and it was all coming from this fiendish toe.

So I get in, and unpeel my socks and there it is - still, in essence, my toe, but in addition to the seriously gross dead skin from the old blister is an enormous, deep blood blister. mmm.
Feel very annoyed and puzzled as to what the hell to do about it. I'm not planning on another long run before next Sunday - might even be presuaded not to run at all frankly - so there is a good chance it'll heal by then - but how to stop it coming back??
It's not a chafing issue (I had none of those today, hurrah) it's cos my little toe is a freak of nature and curls under the other ones so it's getting squashed all the time.
It's a problem...

Distance: 11.73 with some of those up steep hills. It's still 15 mins short of the real thing though which would put my time at 2h 10 - down on last time - but I am 3 years older and about 1/2 stone heavier. Not that I should be looking for excuses. After all, surely I should be applauding the fact that I can run over 10 miles with only minor inconvenient injuries.

This time next week I may have finished the Bristol half Marathon. Not sure if I deserve to do well as I haven't trained properly for it - none of the cross training you're supposed to put in, and apart from training runs, I cycle or walk to work, but done none of the yoga and pilates I had been doing, and certainly none of the body pump or aerobics which might have made a difference.
Last time I just wanted to finish - this time I know deep down I want to do it faster - but I will have to settle for the glorious feeling of crossing the finish line without making too much of an idiot of myself by coming last or having to have a sit down along the way.
Fingers crossed.

Good luck to everyone running next Sunday - let's hope it's cool.
xx