During a period of peak fitness, I sprained an ankle 3 miles into an 8 mile fell race. Carried on to finish the race on one good leg (a long way down the field... but not last). Went out on the town, drinking with mates later the same evening (as you do), and was overcome with the pain, breaking out into prolific sweats. Had to leave the lads and get a taxi home.
In order to keep the unbroken streak "alive", I was up at 4-am the following morning to get the obligatory mile in. 4-am...? Well at that time of day, there's very few people around to hear you scream in agony as your ankle gives way and you fall to the pavement. But day-by-day, I measured my improvement in the distance I could cover without the ankle giving way and me winding up on the deck. Next, I gauged the improvement on how fast I could cover a mile. Within 3 weeks I was ready for my next race. I was feeling
so good at this point that, for the only time ever in my running career, I
knew I would win the race; and I did. That was the only time I ever had such confidence, but I think that this came from the fact that I hadn't bowed down to injury, and had been able to maintain as much fitness as was possible during my recovery.
... just one of the obstacles overcome to maintain my modest streak...
, is the frustration one might have to bear in case it is REALLY impossible to run one day!
