ROSEMARY ABBOTT | Culture
CALF CONFESSIONS
Mick Woodlake, 35, decided to squeeze in a run during the final days of his annual leave, which his legs have yet to forgive him for as he punished them with 10 kilometers around Hagley Park in Christchurch today.
“I felt like I could take on the world, maybe even run a half marathon… until about kilometer seven,” Woodlake said, wincing as he sat on his couch with a strategically placed ice pack. “Now my legs are sore. But, you know… good sore. The kind of sore that makes you feel alive, or at least like you achieved something. Kind of.”
Woodlake, who normally sticks to gentle jogs around Hagley Park as a bit of extra fitness, admitted he may have underestimated the challenge of running 10 kilometers straight. “I thought, ‘Hey, it’s only 10k,’” he explained. “Turns out, it’s a lot. My legs are questioning my choices here, but my ego feels amazing,” said Woodlake, proudly uploading his run to Strava and various social media platforms.
Fellow park-goers reportedly observed Woodlake passing them at what he described as “a respectable pace,” though one onlooker noted he “looked like a man who had made a very bad decision for his knees.”
When asked if he planned to do it again, Woodlake shrugged. “Maybe tomorrow. Or maybe in, like… a year. I’m going to need time to recover from this good sore first. I don’t usually go for long slow runs.”
By the end of the day, Woodlake’s legs remained sore, his pride slightly bruised.
“Not bad for an old pair of legs,” he muttered, plopping onto the couch. “Could’ve gone worse… could’ve gone way worse. 10k’s I’ll take that,” he explained and eyed up one of his few remaining beers in his fridge.
More to come.
