Juneathon 2015, Day 30 – The Castle Run

At last Juneathon and blogging have come to an end!

(Well, perhaps not the blogging part. I’ve been enjoying that more than I’d expected)

I don’t know what everyone else has managed for their last day of Juneathon (I will take a long look after writing this), but I was determined to make this day memorable. Alas, it was very nearly memorable because I was asleep for all of it. I managed to get an hour outside in the sunshine at lunchtime. And then… when I next managed to open my eyes it was 10pm!

But, that meant that I’d still got 2 hours left to complete my Juneathon workout in. (More, if I work by Ice_Badger‘s ruling on Day 25, and I can count any hours after midnight as the same day, if I haven’t been to sleep.) Clothes were frantically put on and items gathered for what I was about to do.
I was going to go up to the castle. And whilst there, I would run. Yes, actually RUN. Well, I’d try to anyway.

I’d asked my sister if she would help. At the very least she could help me up from the floor if my knees gave way. And she would be there cheering me on, giving that constructive criticism that my family is so fond of. After all, she’s completed a fair few 10ks in her time. I’m sure I could do with some pointers.

Unfortunately we didn’t manage to meet up in the end. So she was unable to help. But I feel in retrospect that I may have been asking too much from her.

So, I walked up to Oystermouth castle in Mumbles. Whilst there I quickly checked on my geocache (still safe) and popped in some new swag.

And then it was time to prepare for my run.
I thought that I’d probably done enough stretching whilst trying to retrieve my cache from the bushes. So, all I had to do was get to the start. I feel I chose the route well.
Up at the castle there are 2 seats, roughly 20m apart. Half way between them is a rubbish bin.
I would start, jog to the half way line and then sprint to the finish. And I could collapse neatly on to the finish seat.

So, I started. I was rather amazed when my knees lifted off the ground and managed a slow jogging pace. They haven’t done that for a while. It all felt rather “hefty”. But then, it would, wouldn’t it?
At the half way point I felt that I was ready to give it my all. Jogging hadn’t killed me. I would sprint my way to the end of Juneathon!
And erm… 12 metres into my run it all went rather wrong.
My legs were going like the clappers. But I wasn’t actually getting anywhere. Nowhere at all. I seemed to be sprinting on the spot!
And then I had to stop, because my knees were getting sore. I may have needed my sister’s handy hints after all.

But, after a few minutes rest, I tried again.
And this time, I was successful 😀 I don’t think that the “sprint” was much faster than walking pace, but at least I actually managed to move forward.

I’m at home now, nursing a couple of sore knees.
But I’m really happy.
As I said in my last post: Juneathon has managed to get me moving again after a very bad winter and spring. My movement is far better than it was at the start of the month. And I’m full of hope for the difference the next 30 days might bring…

The Castle Run Day: 1.3km walk, 20m run
Total steps taken: 4,178
Difficulty level: Easy