Goals change pretty quickly …
In which a freak accident gives us a 2021 reset.

Just like that, 2021's goals are out the window.

Originally planned for the year:

  • Set PBs at all distances from 5k to the Marathon
  • Meet qualifying standards for Boston and New York marathons
  • Set myself up to reach 5 to 6 World Marathon Major "Stars" in 2022

Actually happened this year:

  • Broke ankle on 15th of January
  • Ankle surgery on ?? January

I was feeling really good on yesterday's run - it wasn't anything special. Ten miles aerobic, which means that I try to keep towards the top of my 'Zone 2' heart rate.

BUT

It had rained the night before. And the temperature had dropped overnight - it said one degree, but that clearly means zero in places.

Also, I made a bad route plan. Writing the above has 'ice' written all over it. But I strapped on my light and went for a pre-dawn run through unlit parks and away from roads.

I stepped on a patch of ice. I slipped. I wish I had just fallen, but instead I caught myself, and something snapped. The bottom of the fibula, it would turn out.

Then I fell.

What followed was a lot of pain, a greater understanding of how overwhelmed the London Ambulance service is right now ("I see - so it's freezing, you don't have a coat, you're alone in the dark and in pain, you are unable to move and we are advising you not to try to move. The ambulance should be there in two hours."), a dislike (but appreciation) of codeine, a good bit of laughing gas, X-rays, a COVID test, and a great big honking plaster cast that must weigh at least 40 kg.

Which is a long-winded way to say that my recent attempt to share my year's goals and races with you was all for naught.

There will be surgery in the coming days - I need a plate and screws - followed by a long recovery.

And so with the "world" of Toppy Runs the World taken away from the pandemic, we also see the "run" taken away for the near future.

(Should I be scared? Is the "toppy" next?)

But we'll keep typing over here. Maybe more than before. After all, I might be immobile, but I still can type.

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