Couch to 169K..... or bust

[Fellbeast]

Another great week of progress to report. Last Thursday I did a 3.1 mile trail run and really enjoyed it, with little or no grief to speak of from my knee. What’s more there were no ‘red hot pokers stabbing into my knee’ after effects either..... which made a pleasant change. And yesterday evening I did a 4.5 mile run in the fells below Penyghent and that went really well too. So two good runs within the space of 7 days; that’s what I call progress

But it wasn’t just the runs in the past seven days that stress tested my knee, it was what I managed to cram in between the runs too. Totting that up I managed something like 10.5 miles of dog walks, 23 miles of hiking up or around four separate peaks*, one cardio gym session and a pretty hardcore 28 miles and 2,700 feet largely off-road bike ride

After three months of pain, frustration and occasional despair it finally looks like I’m through the worst. And that I am on the upward slope (touch wood). I almost feel I should be quoting Churchill, beating them on the beaches or saying not the end, or the beginning of the end type baloney but l still don’t want to get ahead of myself. The main thing is I can run again.

Now I need to turn two runs in a week into three and maybe chuck in something a tad longer. And of course keep up all the bike riding, hiking, dog walking and gym stuff too

Oh and my weight is falling too - I’ve lost 5 pounds and am now down to 12 stone 6

*This included one peak, Whernside, at dawn for some drone photography. I couldn’t be arsed to drive all the way to the Welsh borders to have a gander at Wheeze’s back garden but went up a beautiful deserted mountain instead