And... rest...

I haven't run this week. There's two reasons for this - my left knee, and my right knee. I was surprisingly un-stiff after the Mud Runner (which is good) but had promised myself two weeks 'not running' to try and get my knees straight again... So on Monday I saw Gareth the Foot, a podiatrist I had handily bumped into at a ceilidh recently who said he could help... He drew felt pen lines on my feet, pointed out that my knees tip inwards (I know!) and said that with appropriate insoles for my shoes I could have straight knees in two weeks. Yay! I've left him making me insoles and I can't wait to get them fitted... hopefully by next weekend.

So, in the meantime here are two people who have inspired and amazed me this week:

Firstly, Fauja Singh. If you haven't heard of him, he's just run the Toronto Marathon at the age of 100. ONE HUNDRED!!! Good grief. As I'm only half his age (plus a bit) I figure I should be able to romp around a Mud Runner or two.

Secondly, Beagle Nic from work. We've travelled together on the train and I've wittered on about my knees and mud running and all that stuff. She just quietly got on with training and last Sunday whilst Ice Cream Sian and I were sliding around Herefordshire Beagle Nic ran the Cardiff Half Marathon in just two hours 25 minutes. WOW! I am SO impressed. And she just did it... didn't tell anyone, no fuss, no nothing - just did it. Wow. She's promised to come mud running with Ice Cream Sian and me soon - fab or what? We'll convert her from roads to mud, no problem...

So with no running, what else to do? Enter stuff, obviously! I've got a sought-after slot in the Christmas Pudding Race on 18th December at Merthyr Mawr - it's 10k, sand dunes, mulled wine at halfway, Christmas Pud at the finish - what's not to love?!

And a dilemma... I've now completed two Mud Runners. If I do the 'other event' that the same people organise, I get Mud Master status.... And you know how competitive I am! Trouble is, the third event is a duathlon - the Mud Runner course, then a 20k mountain bike ride, then a 'cheeky 3k mud and river' run. Gulp. Mountain bike?

So - is it a step too far, or a challenge to be tackled?

And, more importantly, what's a mountain bike?