Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon

Ran to my local Sainsbury's and back today, almost 2 miles.

That was after helping out with the TW Half Marathon earlier this morning. The weather was appalling for the runners but still nearly 1800 of them finished, so congratulations to all of them.

I got it wrong before, I was in the drop out car and not the sweep car. Commiserations to the three who we picked up in the drop out car, who unfortunately sustained injuries en route, so we had to ferry them back to race HQ. Not that I want to give the impression that running is dangerous at all.

Kelly Holmes was brilliant. She started the race and was still there to applaud every runner across the finish line.

About beasts, running and life

Ah, Saturday morning means weekend, means getting up a little later.

I still haven't pushed myself beyond the one mile yet, the weather is not enticing enough or there's too much to do. I have any number of reasons, but the truth is I'm not inspired enough yet to do it.

Since finishing Born To Run, I can't get inspired either by the novel I'm reading, so I've ordered Rosie Swale Pope's book about running round the world solo. I'm looking forward to receiving that some time next week.

Do you reckon I might have tendencies that could be bordering on the obsessive (Nicky you don't need to comment on this one) at times? It does seem that when I get enthusiastic about an idea, it percolates everything I do. Maybe that's just what being passionate is?

I do tend to see running, and my experiences when I'm running, as a fantastic metaphor for life as a whole. For example, the following quote from Born To Run (for a change):

“You can’t hate the Beast and expect to beat it; the only way to truly conquer something, as every great philosopher and geneticist will tell you, is to love it.”

That's just so relevant to any aspect of life. Along the lines of "what you resist, persists", and that you can only change a situation once you accept that it is as it is, and then choose to change it.

Day 57 - why I do it

I am definitely beginning to notice the lighter mornings. The fact that it's not raining certainly helps, but the early morning run is still a game of attempting to dodge the puddles.

Two days ago I was writing about it being hard to get going even after 55 days, but now I'm feeling that running a mile is just something I do in the mornings, I don't even really think about it. It's like brushing my teeth.

How can I have changed my thinking so quickly? Maybe tomorrow it will be a struggle getting going again?

What is it I'm trying to prove with this mile each day experiment? I've forgotten.

Actually, I don't know that I'm trying to prove anything. First and foremost I was just trying to see if I could actually run a mile every day for a month.

Now I know that I can, I'm just curious as to how long I can keep it up for. Also, I'm curious as to what I discover, if anything, from continuing the experiment for as long as I can.

I wonder why I always try to find a purpose? Running is something that I know nourishes me, my body, my mind and my spirit, so doing some of it ever day makes sense.

I watched Jill Bolte Taylor's TED talk - "A Stroke of Insight" again yesterday. I never fail to be inspired by this video, no matter how many times I've seen it, and it brings me back to what I have eluded to in a previous post about running and connection.

Running somehow temporarily disables my logical left side of my brain that relates to the past and the future, and that sees me as a separate entity. It engages my creative right side of my brain that lives in the present moment and that recognises that I am just part of an energy force that encompasses everything I can see, hear, feel, taste and touch.

This helps me feel that it is never just me alone. I am always a part of something way bigger. I find that uplifting, empowering, reassuring and inspiring.

And how I got here from how I started this post, I have absolutely no idea.

Oh well.

8 weeks completed

It's Nicky's and my 15th anniversary today, so lunch out, and a glass or two of wine no doubt.

I have volunteered to be part of the support team for the Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon this Sunday. Apparently, I will be in the sweep car picking up any runners who are struggling and need a lift to the finish, although hopefully everyone will make it to the finish and feel justifiably proud.

It will be great to see the inspirational Kelly Holmes again. She will be starting the race, and cheering people on. She's one amazing, and incredibly nice, lady!

Nicky asked me yesterday whether I'd be able to run the half marathon now. I haven't run anything like that distance for at least a couple of years, so the answer is probably not, at least without injuring myself.

However, I am starting to feel an urge to stretch my mile a bit further, maybe just every once in a while. I'm not sure why. I suppose half the fun of my mile each day challenge is that it's a challenge.

At the moment I'm in my comfort zone, and it's usually good to stretch that comfort zone. The trick is to stretch it whilst keeping my running easy, light, smooth and FUN!

““Think Easy, Light, Smooth, and Fast. You start with easy, because if that’s all you get, that’s not so bad. Then work on light. Make it effortless, like you don’t give a shit how high the hill is or how far you’ve got to go. When you’ve practiced that so long that you forget you’re practicing, you work on making it smooooooth. You won’t have to worry about the last one – you get those three, and you’ll be fast.” - excerpt from Born To Run

Day 55 - churning along

Nearly 8 weeks, but I guess the next milestone is 5 days from now when I start month 3.

It's funny that even when you're in a routine, having done something every single day for 54 days, you can still think "I really don't fancy going out, it looks grey and damp and I feel a little tired". How easy it would be to decide to give myself a day off, even when I know I'd regret it later.

But then again as a friend said to me recently, "can you recall any occasion when you came back from a run and regretted it?" I can't think of one, no matter what the weather was like and how I felt. And yet, the brain is a funny thing. Why does it try to sabotage me so often?

“Maybe the ancient Hindus were better crystal-ball-gazers than Hollywood when they predicted the world would end not with a bang but with a big old yawn. Shiva the Destroyer would snuff us out by doing… nothing… Withdrawing his hot-blooded force from our bodies. Letting us become slugs.” excerpt from Born To Run