Time out of the Peak

Well, I've been in London for the past week, working Skishow, looking at a fair few bits of kit. Mostly Skiing kit, not running or climbing bits, which was a shame, but it gave me an opportunity to say hi to a few friends, and recognise that we have definitely done the right thing by moving out of London.

Ski Show was all very amusing, though it was a tad on the quiet front this year. It seemed like people were paying £18 for the privilege of walking around a souless building, buying ski holidays and looking at this years ski clothing- which was on the shelves in the shops about 2 weeks ago- all being sold at full price. Not the most enticing thing in the world, and I suspect that next year it will be even smaller.

One great thing about being in London was the fact that I was able to commute on a bike for 8 days straight, 10 miles or so each way, mostly sober, but occassionally not so. Since being in the Peak District, I haven't actually been out on my bike much- running is a lot more simple- just putting on a pair of shoes tends to be less complicated than sorting out all the biking gear etc. However, it was good to be back on a bike and chasing traffic around the streets of London. I was a bit concerned that I might have forgotten about commuting, but it wasn't an issue in the slightest.

A minor piece of news is that I seem to have picked up some minor achilles tendinitis on the right heel, which will perhaps be featured in a later Blog on Global Therapies. At this time I'm not entirely sure whether it was because I was on my feet, on concrete, in trainers for a ridiculous amount of hours per day for 8 days straight, or whether there is an issue with my cycling shoes/ height of saddle. Whatever it was, when I straighten my leg and dorsiflex my foot, it feels like the back of my heel is ripping to pieces, which isn't an entirely nice sensation, it has to be said.
So it looks like I'm going to have a couple of weeks off running, probably a good thing, really, de-loading a bit and encouraging healing with Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. A bit annoying, but I'd rather have it totally clear up in the next few weeks rather than keep trying and testing it and having a consistently long term annoying injury.

Rest and rehab. Thats the way forward.
Oh, and I tried on a Montane Spektr Smock when I was in London. A good bit of kit, despite my size, I'm actually a Medium, which is a bit of a surprise. I may have to get my hands on one at some point soon- but not too soon- it will be a bit too much of an incentive to get out on the hill.