The omens were good for the rescheduled Resolution Run 10k up Shotover. This fund-raiser for the Stroke Association (their website says they don’t fund animal research) was postponed from a freezing, muddy, snow covered day in March to the 21st April which promised spring sunshine instead.

Along with the improvement in the weather there seemed to be progress with my frozen shoulder. The aching, previously consistantly uncomfortable since early February, had started getting noticibly worse a couple of weeks ago. Despite my daily diet of 3 doses of ibuprofen and 2 of paracetamol and codeine the night pain seemed to have spread to every muscle even vaguely related to my shoulder and I could find no position comfortable to sleep in for more than a couple of hours. I was reconsidering the option of a cortisone injection. Then a few days ago, just as I was about to start 2 weeks leave, I realised I couldn’t even feel it through the painkillers so stopped taking them. The pain seemed to have retreated to the quite bearable ache it started as at the end of last year and for the last 3 days I’ve just been using Tiger Balm and occasional ibuprofen gel if it gets uncomfortable. Hope I’m not speaking too soon but seems the 1st stage of frozen shoulder, the painful stage, may be over just leaving the frozen and rehabilitation stages to go through. Unfortunately I still can’t raise the right arm above shoulder height so it wasn’t just a bad dream and I’m going to have to keep at it with the daily physio exercise regime. (Three days later and it’s back to the aches and ibuprofen – oh well!)

So out the door I went, Garmin set to show nothing but the time of day as I had no plan to rush round, and jogged the half mile to Brasenose Woods then onwards through them to walk and jog up Shotover Hill to the the start. I passed a couple of puzzled marshalls on the way and explained that I lived less than 2 miles away. Ten minutes to start time and I found a lot of purple clad people being warmed up in the field by Military Fitness. I couldn’t see the registration tent but a volunteer relieved me of my donation which I’d paper clipped to my race number. We headed out onto Shotover Plain where registration and start/finish became apparent and chatted till we were called for the start talk. I couldn’t see George who said he might enter on the line but Barry from the parkrun was there. I let a few people know just how very hilly the course was going to be!

Then we were off – 1 lap for the 5k and 2 for the10k. I started about halfway down the pack and gained a few paces running along the Plain despite taking it easy. We entered the forest at the western end and followed the curving, now almost dry, trail to the top of a lovely long descent that I run down most weekends. Emerging into the field at the bottom we ran round 3 sides of it instead of straight across to get to the still muddy gap through to the next field. Again right round 3 sides, both fields are sloping so gently up then fast back down, a chance to see how many were in front – maybe 20 runners but I was expecting several to pass me as I walked the steeper hills.

Along the path at the edge of Brasenose Woods, a pretty showing of white and yellow flowers, then across the end of The Ridings and up the bridleway. As planned I walked the steep 1st part of this, I’d already been up it once today, and was passed by 2 or 3 runners one of whom I re-passed as I started running on the flatter bit and he ran out of puff and took a walk. Instead of going all the way up we took a path to the left which swooped down then climbed steeply – my 2nd planned walk. An arrow sent us right up a path that led to the big field at the top where the warm-up had been. I spotted a couple of fast runners emerging from a path to the left, it seemed someone had tampered with the arrow and I was lucky it had been reported and replaced by the time I got there.

Instead of going back onto the Plain we ran the parallel path through some of the loveliest bits of the forest with some very old oaks. The 5k was sent left to run back along the Plain to finish while we continued on. I think a few of us may have missed an arrow here and followed a parallel path as we spotted one of the arrows on the long downhill to our left and cut through to join the path while another runner was already descending and had obviously joined the path further up. Subsequently comparing my Garmin track to the the map there didn’t seem to be a lot in it.

Then down for a second time, round both the fields again, tiring a bit and losing the odd place to the more determined but loving the race. My second walk up the hill, a young woman passing me. Down and up the next one, losing another place to a young chap with a backpack. Then along the top path to be marshalled back onto the Plain for the last kilometre to the finish where I saw I could just scrape in under the hour and managed to push the pace a bit. The lady who’d passed me offered a swig of her lemon and I hung about to see Barry finish not far behind me then a pleasant run down the hill then back home, passing the marshall at the Ridings for the 4th time as she closed up shop. 59:54 28th of 48 participants.

I do like a good trail run in the sunshine 🙂