Those of you who have been following the blog for a while will know I run in complete fear of falling over. I have no real idea why – I never have fallen over while running – well until our last run that is…

It was just a run like any other. Not a new route, no extreme off-roading, not a tree root in sight. I was probably at about 2.8 miles of what ended up a 3.5 mile run (in 45 mins). It’s really the first proper run since the marathon and since faffing about making excuses. It was the first run of our new training programme. I was finding it quite tough but manageable. As we approached one of the canal bridges there was a group of women runners gathering at the bridge. It was obviously a meeting point/waiting point for a running club. Well for someone who doesn’t really care what other people think I found them stupidly intimidating. They all looked like proper runners to me. They were all in lycra and pink fluorescent jackets and I really wasn’t looking forward to running past them.

Well I needn’t have worried – I didn’t run past them so much as flung myself past them. I have no idea what happened but all of a sudden I saw the ground coming at me and my little legs were trying to move fast enough to stop the inevitable happening and then it happened. My left knee, hands and right shin hit the floor. It’s safe to say I don’t bounce like I used to! If I’d fallen on the other side of the canal tow path I may have been tempted to roll into the canal to hide my embarrassment but that wasn’t an option, there was nothing for it, I hauled my arse back up and just kept running. In my head the women were all falling about laughing at me, none of the were of course, they showed concern and several asked if I was ok – only making the embarrassment worse.

I just kept running for that interval- everything was stinging – my hands, my knee, my shin, my ankle, the tears in my eyes… The walk break came and I assessed the damage to my hands – not too bad, little scrape. I also tried really hard not to cry. Yep, I’m a wimp. Then the next running interval came and and we were off again. Kath kept talking to me, reassuring me that all was fine and nobody had laughed at me. I completed the run, walked home and then we went out. My knee is grazed and bruised, my shin is too although there is less evidence of that and I have a bruise on my ankle too.

It’s now two days after the ‘event’ and I still feel like a bit of an idiot. My knee, shin and ankle are sore, worse than yesterday, and much worse than they should be. What happened to the days when you got a brightly coloured bruise that was a bit tender for a few days but nothing more? It feels achey and generally rubbish and I think I am walking funny because my hip has been niggling, too. I’d like those bouncy days back please.

Anyway, I’ll live but going arse over tit in front of a whole bunch of people is not an experience I want to repeat. Haven’t run since, likely to go tomorrow and I just hope this hasn’t turned me into even more of a wimp and if I’m honest I’m not sure if I am more worried about falling or people seeing me fall!

Hope your running has been more successful this week!