The internal monologue...

Running is at its core very simple - you put one foot in front of the other, at a pace faster than walking...

Which is why it gets so complicated in my head...

Have I set off too fast, or too slow? Is that twinge a twinge I can run off or something I can ignore, if I ignore it for how long? How many miles have my shoes done, do I need a new pair? what flavour are these energy sweets meant to be? What's for tea? Why didn't that pair of cyclists go into single file, it meant I had to run through the puddle? What meetings have I got this week at work? How's my heart rate? Hail!!! Bloody hell that hurt! Am I going too fast, or too slow? That twinge has moved... where's it going next? What time do John Lewis' stop doing Sunday lunch? Someones texted, it can wait for my next minutes walking... How many sweets have I got left? Definitely new shoes for the GNR & Marathon, that stone hurt... Bugger the sun's come out, take jacket off or leave it on?

And then for a few glorious moments everything just works, my heart rate drops a little and my speed increases, my feet glide instead of thump, the twinge disappears...

And then a skittish horse needs to be got around...

Twinge is back, now moved for the 4th or is it 5th time... Where's the turning off the transpennine trail onto the canal, must be soon... Hmm, an idea, while at the Fringe I'll jog up Arthur's seat... Ah, a sign, no its for a pub... ohhhhh, pub lunch, what time did John Lewis' stop? Last 10km, not feeling bad, been definitely a loooong... sloooow.... run.... Canal turning, I know the route now, know it well... time to pick the pace up... jacket on, probably should be off, can't be bothered.

Sub 3:30 is possible, do I go for it, do I not... Bugger I forgot all about that text! How much hydration fluid have I got left, last of the sweets gone, down to 5km, I can see the church spire near mine, hot bath, hot bath! Bloody angler moved his rod at the wrong time, trying to hurdle after a half marathon isn't elegant, survived with a glancing blow rather than anything major, twinge on the move, where are my compression shorts in the flat, come on, just pick the feet up, 3:30 is just possible... I set off too slow, my last 5 miles is going to be my fastest, keep it up! Hell, big stone in shoe, going to have to stop, stone out, relaced... too tight, loosen, lost a minute, local drunk decides he wants to run with me, then wants to hug me, come on give me a break... Blast, 3:30 has gone, now turning up the slight hill to the flat... 3:31 accroding to the Garmin... That'll do! The one on the phone had the extra minute of my shoving it in a pocket before I set off...



And relax... time to unwind... Arthur's Seat, now that was a good idea:-)

TTFN

Paul

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Something a little bit political...

Well the legs still don't want to run, walk and climb is fine, run makes them feel a bit leary ... Probably the two most contentious words in the congenital heart world (UK branch) are "safe and sustainable", a quick trawl of the support websites or facebook will show many a group being set up to save a hospital or a ward. I won't be joining any of them. Not because I don't care, but because I care too much. The origins of Safe and Sustainable go back to the Bristol Hospital Enquiry, and quite simply this is designed to ensure that the surgery that heart kids get is the the most appropriate, done by well trained and supported surgeons who are used to doing the operations and are in a surgical setting which are designed around the needs of the child going through the surgery and their family. Is that too much to ask? I don't think so. I want every heart kid to get the best surgery available to them, I want their parents to be given the best advice, support...
Read more

12% of a plan…

  It’s been a month.     A month since the new heart valve was inserted… the chaffing has died down, I’ve been sensible and built my walking up, restarted my apple fitness plus bits and bobs (boy has it been a long time since I bent like that, or cycled/spun like that) and I’ve been for two runs – a gentle 3k which worked as a prelude to my return to my local parkrun… I finished, my tally went up 1, and I remembered just how tough it is to run the first mile on so soft, dry sand… In hindsight I would’ve been better to walk the first third and conserve my energy (and pool of fitness) to the prom and the grass thirds…   Relive 'Return to Parkrun!' Yes, it does look the first bit is out to sea…  Monday was a random day off work to get out and do something, so with a bit of head scratch and some nifty plotting on the OS Mapping app I wandered along the canal, and then down the Transpennine Trail & “loop line”… Almost pancake flat, I know...
Read more

It’s a kind of magic (the science kind)…

  Well, operation done – I have a funky new valve and a bit of a sore groin.     I was in hospital for 28, sleepless, hot, hours and unconscious for about 4 of them.     While the insertion points for the three catheters I had in me in at the same time heal it’s a case of taking it easy, let my body get over the various manipulations (sore throat, the impact of the still there frozen shoulder) and the simple lack of sleep from stress and some noisy neighbours on the day ward I was on.  There’s really not a lot else to say… I went in, did the usual pre-op checks, had a chat with the interventionist, had a chat with the anaesthetist, signed the all-important consent forms (kids – that’s when you know you’re an adult; parents, that’s when you know your kid is in charge), was wheeled across to a hybrid cath lab… laid down, bit of banter with the team and the next thing I knew I was waking up, sore and not actually knowing whether the funky valve had fitted me…...
Read more