Another glorious day today, temperatures reaching tropical proportions!
I had a new little chap to look after this morning so I saved my run for this evening. My friend who lives opposite me has got back to her jogging and I asked if she was going out this evening.
What on earth have I let my self in for! My friend, my neighbour opposite me, has run in a marathon! She has trained with Hollands national marathon runner! And here I am, asking if she wants to run along with me.
Of course she said yes, she has asked me on a number of occasions to go running, but timings were always out! She turned up on my doorstep, with her Ipod, her GPS watch thingy and I'm sure something else strapped on her other arm. She looked the business! And I thought I did in my running gear, (Oh by the way, pics on the bottom, warning you now, so as not to shock you too much)
You wanted to see pics of me impersonating Max wall! Well here you go, and please when you see me please .........be kind!
We set off, me and new running buddy. But she set off as if she was in a 100m sprint! But I showed her how to run (yeah right!) It was good running along with her, she showed me that I was in fact running all hunched up, so not quite filling my lungs up each time, so shoulders back, arms not up in the air pumping like pistons, just hanging down more, conserving energy. (I know Smarty Pants told me before, but still always hunched up running along, head down hoping to finish things quickly. But new running buddy was not having any of that. She is ten times worse than nagging sister!
When we got the the first down hill, she told me to let the hill do all the work, arms down, stretch the legs. Well, I know I was doing that bit right! Because I do love those down hills. And I have leaned to let the hill do the work, but this time I even let my arms relax at bit, 'Yeah, let the hill do all the work!'
She is a hard task master! I know I have been going at a slightly faster pace than I normally go! I know I have, and before I get to the end of this road, I need a a drink. I stop running and twist my bum bag round to get my drink, and then nagging neighbour says 'Oi you can drink while you're running! Come on!' Oh Right so that is how its going to be is it. This will teach me to go out jogging with a marathon runner!
We got to the first mile, and she tells me that we have just done that in 12 minutes. Wow! Now I don't normally look at my stopwatch, usually because I have been scrolling through songs on my IPOD and trying to look for the stopwatch function is just too darn hard.
Naggy Neighbour kept at me, past the first mile mark, on and on, ok so I did take a few walking steps (when she wasn't looking) but I was running further than I had ever done before. Now it could be her nagging that kept me going, or it could be me trying to show off how fit I was! Whatever it was I was running.
We jogged on to Turp and Greenway, (ok, ok, so I did some more walking) buy naggy neighbour said I was about 4 minutes ahead of my usual time! Now it could be psychological but hearing those words just turned my legs to this pile of mush being held together by my Lycra running jog pants!
On and On, mushy leggings keeping me upright as naggy neighbour looks hardly out of breath. 'Do you want to stay on the flat and go through the park' she says sympathetically. 'No, no, up, up' I gesture towards the main road trying to look as if it was a ludicrous idea of hers to do the short run. 'Oh, you like punishment then' and so we carried on.
'We have 16 minutes to do this last mile' says naggy neighbour. 'Its do-able' Do-able, do-able, I am struggling to keep my dinner in place! I wished I had held out and had just a snack before I went out. It was a whole 2 hours ago, but still, ewww!
Then she caught me walking again. 'Ok, run to the bus stop' she says. 'Ok, ok, I'm running' But when we get there she says ok now run to the sign! There is no walking respite involved here. As soon as we get to the sign, its run to the black car, ok run to the white car. What white car!? I can't see a white car!
The last 100m or so naggy neighbour wants to us to finish off at her her pace! I'm am pushing my self harder than ever now to finish this off, running faster than I ever have for this last bit of the route. 42.26 Did you see that FORTY TWO MINUTES AND TWENTY SIX SECONDS shaved a whole 2 minutes off my previous PB.
Of course naggy neighbour says normally she does that in about 30-31 minutes!! but that's not the point, she says 'I am out there doing it, and have just run 3 miles, that's what its all about' and to use a phrase I have read from a brilliant, insane, 7x 100 mile runner, Scott Jureck, "This is what you came for"
The last one was'nt authorised by me, but as the old boy has taken it, thought I would put it up here too, so you can all get the laughing done before you see me!
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