....and if you remember that, you are showing your age!!
Yes ladies and gentlemen, I will soon be a record-breaker. The reason why is that the furthest I have ever run has just been equalled. The thirteen miles of the Great North Run joins the thirteen miles around the Lancashire hills!! Next Sunday, and every Sunday following will now be a new personal best; a new record; and may I say, that feels pretty cool.
You remember the pre-run nerves I talked about? well they were particularly jingly-jangly today. First of all the difference between 'twelve miles' (last Sunday) and 'half marathon' (today) feels like much more than a mile. Then there was the disastrous weigh in on Friday, meaning the increased distance is now being negotiated with increased weight. That said, jingle-jangling though they were; nerves didn't stop me getting out there and doing the do; cos I did!
As luck would have it; it turned out to be a spectacularly beautiful day today. Crystal clear, cloudless blue sky, sparkling sunshine and ideal temperatures made running at the beginning a real pleasure, and at the end it proved a lovely distraction. It is amazing what a boost it can be to the body and mind when the sun comes out; particularly for a man born and bred in the North-West of England, where the sun is so rarely seen it has become a thing of myth (the whole of Lancashire stops for a good hour if it ever emerges, pointing with bewildered awe at 'that orange shiny thing in the sky', we are much more used to 'that wet stuff wellying it down on me 'ed'). Anyway, it brought a smile to the face and a spring to the step; not to mention momentarily stopping me from thinking 'are we there yet? are we there yet? ARE WE THERE YET???!'.
I confess to being in a state of disbelief this morning when crossing the metaphorical finish line. I had been running for well over two hours, but it felt that no sooner had I started that I was staggering to a sweaty halt. The entire run blurred into fastforward and I have had to repeatedly check the route (mappedometer; brilliant tool for planning routes) to satisfy myself that it was actually thirteen miles. I am relieved to say that it was; not often I blow my own you know what; but I am very proud of myself. Amidst what will hopefully be the ultimate victory I am determined to enjoy the mini-wins!
Two things of note. Firstly I am starting to recognise the 'regular runners' of a Sunday morning; often passed twice (counting them all out, and counting them all back), once with a perky, downhill, just-started-my-run 'morning!!!', then two hours later with an extremely breathless and high-pitched noise that could be interpreted as a greeting, but could in all honesty be an attempt at 'call the paramedics!!' It is quite amusing and a little sad that these brief interactions constitute the entire relationship I can have with these people even though we all share a passion; it's not like we can stop and have a bit of a chinwag can we?!!! Powerboats that pass in the night?
Secondly, I have a question for you. Supposing you are on foot, in a town the geography of which you are not too familiar with. You need to find your way and the only option open to you is ask for directions. Do you ask.........
a. a policeman
b. the newsagent owner
c. a passer by
d. an out of breath, exhausted looking runner who is speeding by you in the opposite direction... ...while wearing headphones.......!!!??***?!!!
Guess what happened to me this morning?????
I tell you, it did make me giggle!! Ten yards from reaching him I saw his lips moving so removed said headphones to find out what incredibly, earth-shatteringly, critically important issue meant he simply had to talk to me. On discovering that he wanted 'to get to the shops', my first reaction - running by him - was a surprised noise, something along the lines of.......
'GLUH????!!'
.....followed after a pause by waving my hand behind me with a cry of ......
'THAWAY!!!!!'
Note to self; laughing is very VERY difficult after ten miles of running!!!
Anyway my friends; early start in the morning and need to get packing and get that early night. Sweet dreams!!
......63 days to go..... also known as 9 WEEKS???!!!!!.......
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