Lunchtime
I just completed 3.5 lunchtime miles – this is going to be a very regular event.
After the first few flying strides, as I zipped past colleagues wrapped up in scarves and overcoats, I found it very hard going. Maybe after a couple of weeks off I’ve forgotten that even a good run isn’t really much fun. Even a good run isn’t really enjoyable until it’s finished. I felt very unfit, the way I felt when I started light training back in September.
Then approaching half way, I suddenly realised that I’d been thinking about something else for about five minutes and was running on auto-pilot. I was smooth and relaxed. It didn’t last that long – just until the next hill – but it was another surprising little reminder in my re-learning how to run.
I’m most definitely not going to say “running is like life” – but this short half-hour adventure had good times and bad, surprises both pleasant and unpleasant, times to dig deep and times to enjoy the view. What a load of melodramatic nonsense.
And the final surprise? The stopwatch showed I’d averaged one minute and five seconds PER MILE faster than my previous two runs. No wonder it felt hard.
After the first few flying strides, as I zipped past colleagues wrapped up in scarves and overcoats, I found it very hard going. Maybe after a couple of weeks off I’ve forgotten that even a good run isn’t really much fun. Even a good run isn’t really enjoyable until it’s finished. I felt very unfit, the way I felt when I started light training back in September.
Then approaching half way, I suddenly realised that I’d been thinking about something else for about five minutes and was running on auto-pilot. I was smooth and relaxed. It didn’t last that long – just until the next hill – but it was another surprising little reminder in my re-learning how to run.
I’m most definitely not going to say “running is like life” – but this short half-hour adventure had good times and bad, surprises both pleasant and unpleasant, times to dig deep and times to enjoy the view. What a load of melodramatic nonsense.
And the final surprise? The stopwatch showed I’d averaged one minute and five seconds PER MILE faster than my previous two runs. No wonder it felt hard.
