11:08 AM. I had a good night sleep until I woke up around 4 AM. As usual my head was pounding and I tossed and turned in bed until I eventually got up around 6:30 AM. I felt flat demotivated and uninterested in anything. I had breakfast and went for a walk around the village. It wasn’t so warm and there was a nice cool breeze blowing which helped cool me. I found a couple of new footpaths that I haven’t been on before and this made for a pleasant change to my usual route. I got back home have something to eat, just a light snack and set myself up for my training session on Dragon software. I had a go at Dragon before the training session and I found it quite easy-to-use. The training session was very good. It is a very powerful program and can do a lot for you. There is still a lot to learn about it but I am getting to grips with the basics. The trainer was okay but I do find him a bit annoying as he starts asking questions that really anything to do with the training but on the whole I am looking forward to using Dragon and I think I will be using it a lot. I have just dictated this first entry into this diary using Dragon and it has taken me a lot less time and being a lot less stressful to do it this way. I have emailed my supervisors about my research proposal. I need to know what is happening with it and at the moment I have no idea so I am just researching the history of autism as that will form part of my research PhD whichever route I go down. I am now going to go for another small walk to clear my head as it is still pounding and I have another meeting at 3 PM and I am going to go to the Calder Valley club run tonight and I am looking forward to that.
10:07pm. The headaches didn’t get any better as the day went on. I went for another walk and went to bed when I got home. I woke around an hour later feeling much better. The headache had all but disappeared so I got ready and went over to Mytholmroyd for the CVFR pack run. I got to the MCC and the temperature was still 28c. I knew this was going to be hot and a struggle for me as I always struggle in the heat. I had my pack on with 1ltr of fluid so I was prepared for anything. Tonight’s route was up to the other Crow Hill above Sowerby somewhere I had never been so it was a whole new adventure for me. We set off and soon we split into two groups naturally, me being in the slower group.
We run towards Scout Woods some of it on the Hebden 22 route and carried on up trails and paths I had never been on. The views were stunning, they always are in the Calder Valley, but tonight even more so. The heat produced a simmering haze on the horizon and the land and the sky became one in a magical, other worldly line. We carried on up over Coppy Nook Lane and High Stones Road and we could see Crow Hill in front of us. It was a short climb reminiscent of the climb up to Shackleton Knoll and soon we were at the trig point. We stopped to take in the views. Words and photos cannot do what I saw justice. Everywhere was bathed in glorious, evening sunshine, Stoodley Pike looked magnificent on the horizon standing proud and majestic against the backdrop of moors and fells relaxing in the heat. I took some photos and we set off back down towards Cragg Vale Road on the Calderdale Way.
I had warmed up by now and despite the heat I was running well and enjoying being high up on the moors. I was getting faster and felt strong. After some bad days with the headaches I was enjoying myself and feeling good. We headed down crossing over Holly Hall Lane and back onto Coppy Wood Lane before going down a new trail and a steep descent to Cragg Vale Road.
Despite it being red hot some parts where in shade and this meant that they were still wet and slippy. We ran down an old trail covered in Yorkshire stone and as we mentioned about slipping I did. My right knee went from underneath me and I went down on my back. I felt the tendon on the inside of my knee stretch and my pack saved my back cushioning it from my fall. I feared the worse for my knee as it is the one that I always seem to injure. I got up and felt some stiffness in my knee and carried on, this time a lot more gingerly as I didn’t want to risk another fall. Everyone else was in front of me now and I caught them up at Church Bank Lane before heading alongside Elphin Brook and back towards Mytholmroyd.
I picked up pace again on this trail and although I could feel some tightness in my knee it didn’t hinder my progress. I was running well again and enjoying myself. The shade was a welcome relief from the sun and it was fun running on the trail. We got to the end and we headed down to the Cragg Road. I picked up pace here to see how fast I could comfortably go. I was pushing again, feeling strong like I used to do. I was passed by one of the other runners but I didn’t chase him. I maintained my own pace and kept going all the way back to MCC.
After I went for a nice pint in the beer garden of the Shoulder of Mutton although the biting midges annoyed me a lot later on. On the way home I managed to miss going straight forward at King Cross and ended up going through Saville Park to get home. Navigating is not my strong point even when I’ve been there many, many times! All in all a good day. Started off not too good but got better and better as the day progressed.
The Autistic FellRunner 