Running the Central line

Today started off so promisingly but rapidly descended into disaster.

I set off from Northolt Station at 09:30 following two weeks of complete rest. It felt wonderful to be running again and the distance between Northolt and Greenford passed without any problems. I felt fresh and fit and euphoric. When I reached the station, I pestered a guy into taking my photograph and he did a fine job. Like all of my previous guest photographers, I handed him a slip of paper with the URL of this blog, so if you’re reading this: thanks guy!

You’ll notice I wore trousers today. This was because the weather was terrible.

Almost immediately after turning my back on Greenford Station I began to feel the familiar sting growing in my knee. Urgh. I tried to minimise the amount of strain I was putting on my left knee by sort of “speed limping”, but this didn’t have much of a positive effect. I was dismayed to note the rate at which the pain was developing from “slightly uncomfortable” to “fucking unbearable” and within half a mile I was forced to slow down to walking pace. I hobbled the remaining distance to Perivale Station, occasionally testing the water with short bursts of painful speed.

As I waited for someone to emerge from the seemingly desolate underground station, I pondered to myself whether I was in any state to continue with the run. Hanger Lane was about 1.5 miles away along a single, congested, unforgiving road. No I wasn’t, I quickly reasoned. Several minutes passed without any human activity and I eventually threw in the towel by limping through the ticket barriers, photo-less. You’ll just have to imagine a frustrated, moist figure standing in front of this scene:

During the short tube journey between Perivale and Hanger Lane, confused passengers gawped at my now inaccurate T-shirt. They were right, I definitely wasn’t running the Central line.

I met Beth outside Hanger Lane Station and explained the situation to her. She took my picture while I hatched a plan. Under the harsh constraints of my injury, walking is significantly less painful than running, so I decided it would be sensible to trace my route in reverse and walk with Beth towards Perivale Station where she could take my photo and we could catch the tube home. Unfortunately, this was to prove no more successful than the rest of the day.

After 20 minutes of walking, I conceded that I had no idea where we were. Fortunately, Beth noticed an underground roundel down a side road. We gravitated towards it and soon the full extent of my navigational ineptitude was revealed. We had somehow drifted towards Ealing Common Station.

Right then. Tired of walking, we attempted to board a District line train towards Ealing Broadway but failed this most basic of tasks by standing on the wrong platform like morons and getting on a train heading in the opposite direction. Damn it. At Acton Town, we were careful to step onto a train that said “Ealing Broadway” on the front. We managed this, and at last began to make progress towards home on the Central line. We decided against getting out at Perivale for a photo opportunity in case I fell down a manhole or something. Beth took this excellent “picture” (without realising my camera was on video mode) as a substitute.

As we departed from Perivale, the driver warned us over the telecom that he would be “proceeding at a cautious speed due to a signal failure”. Fantastic. After a lot of stopping and starting, the train eventually crept into Northolt station just two and a half hours after we had initially left. What a morning.

So what happens now? I honestly don’t know. I’m absolutely desperate to complete my challenge but if I can only manage a couple of miles after two weeks of rest, what hope do I have? As far as I can see, this leaves me with a few less-than-ideal options:

• Fail to take the hint and keep trying, possibly damaging my knee in the process.
• Walk it.
• Give up.

I happen to know this blog has a lot more readers than the number of comments would necessarily betray. I’d really appreciate your input this week guys and girls. What should I do?

Thanks for reading.