Keep off the grass

Went out for a lovely 15 miler on Saturday afternoon, heading out to Whittighame and back. It was very fresh and clear skies lit the route. For most of the run I was undisturbed, apart from one short spell where lots of 4x4's went past, presumably on some sort of hunt. There were some great views on this very cold night, and apart from a few stretches of road, the ice was not too bad. It was dark for the last 5 or 6 but I managed to adjust to the light and only used my little torch to warn off the Land Rover brigade. So, it was unfortunate that on the only street lit part of my run (Spott Roundabout to Asda) that I decided to step up the pace for a sprint finish. Side stepping a lamp post I skirted the edge of the grass and just clipped a little tuft of turf sticking up. In normal conditions it would have no impact whatsoever, but at -5C it had become like a brick sticking out. Consequently I stubbed my tow and went flat on my face....right outside Adsa on the busiest shopping day of the year. The humiliation of it. I picked myself up and ran the remaining 400 meters in pain but daring not to look back to see if anyone had seen me. A quick assessment of my injuries revealed the stubbed toe was actually a cracked big toe which had turned black. Ouchy ouch! Not the sort of start I needed to my marathon training, but I have done a big run before Christmas, so psychologically I one up. But just when you thought it was safe to go back on the streets...snow!