The Perils Of Barefoot Running And Underhand Tactics!

Most readers of this blog will also be familiar with the ramblings of Running Fool, Tim, and his current fad of attempting to run barefoot. Well I know somebody else that has been doing this. They are only young at just over 2 years of age, and have been running shoeless since they started running just over 6 months ago. With the current financial climate, the poor boys father could not afford the Nike trainers his son desired, especially as his son would need 2 pairs. That boy is called Harvey.

On Sunday he set off into some forest land running barefoot as ever, and returned with blood all over his front left paw. Beware the perils of barefoot running Tim, as Harvey had sliced his paw badly, almost taking the protector pad clean off. On what I don’t know, but his paw was a mess. I was in Yorkshire, and it was Sunday, so I called the vet for advice, and took him for an assessment on Monday evening. The result was a nasty vets bill, some antibiotics and a lampshade…

…this lampshade was designed for stately homes and as such was too big. Harvey could barely lift his head, and moved around by way of a commando crawl. This was fine until he reached a door frame, where he would come to a complete stop, unable to move any further forward. He was not happy at all, and cried all night. The Consani’s have it easy with Cairn, I was up half the night with the poor dog! So, on Tuesday morning I returned to the vets, and Harvey was given part of a Dr Who costume…

 …resulting in a much happier Harvey. He’s recovering well and his paw looks like it’s healing nicely. He’s back at the vets tomorrow, if the vets not happy with the healing process, then he faces stitches, or worse, the removal of the pad completely. I’m hoping he’s going to be fit for the WHWR, as I want his company for a couple of the later sections. He would not be on a lead, so would not be assisting me, and it has been cleared with race director, Dario. The first Vet, the one that gave me the inappropriate lampshade, said no chance. The second, the one that gave him the Dr Who costume, said, “It’ll be either healed, or removed by then, he should be fine”. I know which one I’m listening to!

Anyway, Harvey hasn’t been allowed to run, indeed he hasn’t been allowed to walk much either, but I have. After my 20 mile run last week, I had 5 days off. For 4 of those days I was in Yorkshire and was too busy visiting, golfing, watching cricket, and partying to run, then on Monday I was busy nursing the dog! So I didn’t run until Tuesday, when I headed out for an easy 5 miles, without my watch. I obviously don’t have the splits and times etc. as I was GPS-less, but I can confidently say that this was not slow. I would suggest about 7 m/m pace. I felt good and wasn’t really pushing it, so I didn’t worry too much. It felt good to be stretching the legs, rather than plodding!

Yesterday, I met Crazyboy who was, “working from home, with the emphasis on home”, to introduce him to running on the Glennifer Braes.

15:58 10 miles 1:27:53

Average 8:47 min/miles

We had a great run and really enjoyed ourselves. We ran most of the hills and probably pushed the pace a little more than sensible at times, as after the run we headed off to Rouken Glen to sign up for tonight’s 10k where we’ll be trotting around the course, with the emphasis on enjoyment, rather than time, as Crazyboy is targeting next week’s Men’s Health 10k for a PB and, of course, I have the small matter of 95 miles to run!

As for the ‘underhand’ tactics, mentioned in the title, I refer to the behaviour of one JK in his attempts to prevent me from taking his WHWR club record. What’s worse, is that he is using his poor daughter to implement his plan. I am currently teaching Laura to drive, and after yesterday’s lesson, I asked her when she was free next week. “Friday is my only day off”, she claimed, Friday being the day before said WHWR when I should be doing little more than lying in my bed! Well JK, you needn’t think that 2 hours sitting in a car is going to stop me… make the most of your club record over the next 8 days

Finally, watch out for the following stuffed animal’s head on a wooden plinth in the Drovers Inn…

Behold the floating head of Harvey!