Heel, toe

4 hours and 10 minutes it took The Editor and I to tag team the 41.6 km to our good friend's house for an indulgent dinner of wine, steak, chicken wings and excessive (and nearly continual) carbohydrate replenishment.

There were no shortage of sore joints and muscle pains to examine and compare during the post dinner analysis. Early signs of competitiveness entering even this area of discussion were swiftly nipped in the bud!

Knee pain, muscle pain and foot pain were common between us, with some uniquely aching Achilles tendons on my part. But nothing too severe, and nothing unexpected. I firmly believed that I would arise the next morning, eat (another) bowl of carbs and be ready for the day ahead.

But I didn't take into account that my bladder would be unable to store the processed volume of liquid consumed the night before until a sensible time of the morning. Instead I awoke before sunrise to relieve a pressing engagement. On the return, bleary eyed journey to my nest, I prematurely thought I had reached the bottom step of the staircase and stepped out into space.

Unfortunately, space is a non supporting structure that soon gives way to usually hard objects. I thumped to the ground, landing heel first on the very edge of the unexpected next step. Only due to prior parachute training was I able to limit further injury by rolling forward and delicately bringing my body to rest at the doorway. Well, that's what I thought was happening in my mind; in reality I slowly untangled my crumpled mass and hopped back to bed, wishing this to have been part of an unpleasant dream.

But my foot is still sore. Will my fitness aid a swift recovery? Next weekend's half marathon is likely to introduce pain into the various mix of endurance tests.

No weight recorded until the after effects of the carbohydrate replenishment have passed.