'The Fall'

Another week closer to Christmas and I still haven't run that all important 10 miles.. But there's time. 

I have however been building up the amount of runs this week and trying to push a little further each time; the furthest being 5.5 miles - halfway to the first goal! Woo! 

Whilst the milestones (pardon the pun) are small, I can still see and feel the progress in my running, which is great. The running is by no means easy yet, and an extremely windy Wednesday run was a monumental challenge, but myself and Running Club were able to soldier on. I am also keeping true to what I said in my last post. I am being more like S and refusing to give up - determination is prevailing and the hills haven't beaten me yet! 

The increase in running is presenting some other challenges too, like a sore and achy shoulder both during and post run, which isn't ideal. I'm confident that the cause of said achy shoulder is the arm wallet I am currently using to carry my phone... 

A quick fix - don't take the phone, right? This was previously my attitude. For a long time I enjoyed leaving my phone at home, having some time away from being reachable at the touch of a button, not having something bleeping at me with notifications every few minutes. Until 'The Fall, that is'. 

I'd never really given too much thought to running without my phone. I have my Garmin to track my run, which will sync when I get back and a lightweight MP3 player to listen to some pacy tunes. Why would I need anything else? This was an opinion that changed on one particular Thursday in the Summer Holidays. I had run almost 5 miles and was only a stone's throw from home, taking a route across a public footpath through a field. All was going well, I had picked up the pace knowing that I was on the home stretch, however what I didn't pick up were my feet. Hitting a stone, I went down and I went down hard. 


I was quickly able to sit up and take stock of my injuries; hands that had been chewed by stones and legs with bruises already beginning to show. And in that moment I wanted one thing: My phone! 

I was extremely lucky that day (apart from the whole falling thing), as I knew I had just run past a woman walking with her children and that she would be coming around the corner any moment and would hopefully be able to help me! Thankfully she did. She helped me up and even took me back to her house to try and clean my hands before driving me back to my house to await a lift to A&E to have my hands cleaned properly. 

Still smiling, even in A&E!

Many lessons were learned that day: 
1. Always run with your phone - you never know what might happen,
2. Falling over really hurts and as an adult you fall both further and harder,
3. Sometimes you just need a mum, it doesn't have to be yours, but a mum will always know what to do! 

So having learned these lessons and all my injuries healed, I now run with my phone and always pick up my feet! 

Please don't forget to check out my Just Giving page and read a little more about why I am running The London Marathon. It's a very important charity and I would love for people to know more about them and support the cause. 

www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Fiona-Kitchingman