Flat Frogs, Flying Pheasants and Fabulous Fungi
Thankfully I may have overreacted in my frustration at twisting my ankle whilst on a run last Wednesday. Following the injury I rested it completely on Wednesday and Thursday and by the evening the swelling had subsided somewhat. I was going to get on the Turbo Trainer regardless on Friday as I didn’t think that would harm it too much, but it actually felt a fair bit better on Friday so I decided that another days rest would be a good thing to help with the healing process.
It seemed to work as by Saturday there was only a slight bit of swelling and and hour on the turbo trainer didn’t affect it all all. It’s still really sore if I twist it at all and especially if I supinate the ankle which is exactly what I did when I went over on it last week. ‘Extreme Supination’ that no doubt tore a few ligaments and tendons in the outside of my ankle. The area is still tender to touch, but better than the turbo trainer session on Saturday was the fact that I managed to go for a nice trail run on Sunday morning.
It was perfect conditions for it, cool, no wind and night bright clear skies as I set off from Machynlleth up the Roman Steps. I took it quite gingerly at first and there was a small amount of pain in my ankle but nothing too bad. The rocks were slick and slippery and covered in autumn leaves which did make things a little interesting and had me worried about twisting my ankle again so I was playing it safe. Once out onto the road at the top of the Roman Steps there were frogs all over the place, although it has to be said that most of them were quite convincingly flat, having come off worse in an encounter with a car. It felt as though my ankle would hold out for a proper run so I took the trail off to the left following the Glyndwr’s Way path out into the hills above Machynlleth. This takes you along a rocky trail to a little farmhouse where there is usually a 3-legged Jack Russell barking at me and then through a little wooded area where pheasants were bursting into flight around me as I ran past.
Once through the gate at the end of this track it is out onto muddy, grassy moorland as I made my way up the hill. It was quite sodden underfoot after what has been a wet few weeks so I was soon covered in mud and sploshing my way through the puddles. I was running well by now and feeling good, but I was still taking it very carefully on the descents, especially those that are quite technical and uneven. The last thing I wanted was to have to hobble home from here. Through another gate and into the forestry and back onto a rocky trail as the path heads ever higher into the hills. The sun was rising now and it looked set to be a lovely day. As you crest the hill here and turn the corner you are greeted with amazing views along the valley and can see the hills stretching off into the distance. I had two options here, head back past the farmhouse and onto the road down to Forge in the valley below or take the slightly longer route through the forestry weaving my way down the valley and coming into Forge from the other direction. I opted for the longer route and was soon running through the forest surrounded by fabulous fungi of all descriptions. The wet but warm weather seems to have been ideal for them this year and in places there were huge numbers of toadstool and mushrooms covering the forest floor.
I emerged out onto the road and kept my pace up back along the road all the way to Machynlleth. It wasn’t a fast run by any stretch of the imagination but it was certainly scenic, very enjoyable and nice to know that maybe the ankle injury isn’t as bad as it could be.
As always at this time of year it’s nice to be out running in the hills, just enjoying the surroundings and not worrying too much about times, splits and pace.
I swam in the pool afterwards as well and that was much worse on my ankle than the run was. I think the flick of my feet as I kick really aggravated the injury so I ended up tying my legs together with an inner tube so that I couldn’t kick at all. It’s a good upper body strength workout swimming like that anyway and also helps develop some core strength which should improve body position in the water.
