Camming down the rabbit hole Ch5

Phone in hand, earbuds playing suitable running tunes, I opened the door and headed off out. I hadn’t left the house many times dressed as a girl, and never as exposed as this, but the music playing kept my mind focused as I began to run down the pavement. The early morning sun felt great and the air felt fresh and crisp, it was so nice to be out with so few people around, the occasional dog walker minding their own business didn’t draw any attention. With a steady pace I made it to the park feeling really good, my legs weren’t burning yet and I wasn’t even too out of breath.

Entering the park I joined the outer path, looking around I could see a few other people out for their daily exercise; runners, walkers and a handful of cyclists, it was thankfully not busy and I just concentrated on keeping my pace steady. I made a full loop and felt like I could do another so I continued, the running gear was really very comfortable, and I felt at ease in these clothes. As I made my way along the last length of the park I could hear jogging steps approaching from behind and feeling over confident I decided to push this last section.

Despite my extra pace the footsteps were closing in and I was now really pushing it, breathing hard and sweating, as I approached a bench I felt a twinge in my calf, and each stride brought an increasing spike of pain. Levelling with the bench I had to stop, with a limp I leant against the back of it to try and stretch it out, the person who had been following me stopped on the other side of the bench and asked if I was OK.

Looking up I saw a guy, maybe mid to late 20s, in a running vest and shorts and in decent shape. A bit flustered I replied “no, I’m fine thanks, just a little cramp”. He smiled, introduced himself as Marc a personal trainer and physiotherapist at the local gym and continued to talk about what injury I might have done and how to treat and prevent it. I carried on stretching without really listening too much and when I looked back up he had this goofy expression on his face, and I swear he was checking me out. He insisted that if the pain carried on I should get in touch as he handed me a business card. Taking the card and standing upright I could see him scan down my body and then back up and when his eyes met mine he visibly blushed, somewhat stuttering as he said he needed to get back to the gym.