Mixed month of May

It’s been a bit of a strange month so far, packed with ups and downs including this blog disappearing for a few weeks. My groin injury kept me out of action for a week. I was immediately back into it the following week, running on Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday. This included a new 7.5 mile route up through the path by Whitley Bay Golf Club and on into Holywell Dene. A great route away from traffic although there was almost an incident when a mother cow and her calf blocked my path. I followed this up the next night running home from Benton for another 7 miles. No reaction from the injury although I seemed to have noticeably slowed my average pace. For some reason I didn't run again that week but rounded it off with a goal in our 2-0 win over the Cullercoats Piper.

Last week was poor on the running front with just one run. This was a rain soaked effort home from Benton, squelching home in around 7:30 min per mile pace. A combination of events kept me from running again not least the Champions League final and the impending arrival of my in-laws from Maine. Back in action on the Sunday we visited South Beach attempting to deny them promotion. Things didn't look good when we kicked off with only 10 men and then went a goal behind in the opening five minutes. We may have been a man short for most of the half but the lads played some decent stuff and I rather fortuitously equalised just before half time. A shot from 35 yards headed straight to the keeper who generously let it slip through his grasp and into the net. Then as half time approached I felt a sharp twinge in my groin. The injury was back. It hadn't gone completely but I immediately knew that if I tried to sprint or even jump it would go. We had eleven players by this point but still no substitute, so I had to soldier on and played the second half almost as a passenger. I jogged around half-heartedly trying to give as much as I could without injuring myself any further. It was rather a difficult experience with the natural urge being to play to my full capacity. Although we lost 4-2 I just about managed to make it through the game without further problems even though a couple of goalscoring chances were almost too difficult to resist. Now the big question is whether I should play in my last ever game this Sunday. It’s a meaningless end of season match for us and the Blaydon Race is just two weeks away. Common sense would dictate that I don't risk it, but since when have I had any common sense? Just three days after the injury and it seems to have calmed down. The urge is there to play and I must admit I'll find it hard to resist pulling the shirt on just one more time.