A Short Muddy Jog!

Hello Bloggees.

I know I missed my club run yesterday, but I was just too yucky to get my motivation going, especially after the horrendous day of wind and rain! Wasn't it awful? But I did hear that it had stopped by the time the runners went out. Thing was, someone at the club was bringing some Turkish delight for afterwards, seems I may have missed out!

Today I was feeling a bit better, but the Old Boy wasn't feeling brilliantly. He has caught my cold, and has a bit of a headache, but maybe the it was the 19 miles he had run last week...........(over the entire week mind)

We talked about, and thought about and cogitated about the route we would take, just a short one, to keep the legs from thinking they have retired from running. And we decided on the route that we done.

In through 'Dog Poo' ally and turn left. We are doing the bottom path first. Best get that over and done with. Mind you, there is always the danger that we will pick up enough 'gunk' and top soil on shoes to be able to plant out next years Kew Gardens. Extra weight on the shoes, now that must be good for toning up saddle bag thighs.

We got about 25 yards before I had to stop and re-tire my shoe laces. I must remember to double knot these laces, don't know why they come undone, but hey ho. Then it was back to the running. My thoughts on the path being muddy were right though. The most stickiest mud puddles, I am sure I saw a reservation sign on one of them for 'Harry Hippo' to chillax in later! "You're not going to blog this run, are you" the OB said, "Yes of course I am, I am here, running, heart rate monitor and Garmin on" He then said I should entitle todays blog a walk in the woods! Just because he is running 10k's now in just under an hour! I shall be doing that one day! (Its good to think big)

Heading down to the little brook now, and turning left. This is going to be a bit of a mud bath too, But I shall try not to think about that, as thoughts of Goss hill start to filter through. Will I be able to run up the hill in one go? How far before I stop? Cant the OB make it to the top today? Am I going to tell myself to run to the top? We shall see.

We had our first minute break just at the bottom of Goss Hill, being as the OB was in front of me, I don't think he realised that the mile bleep hadn't gone off yet! But I needed that bit of stop, get my mind ready and sorted, and a quick pep talk to my new 'Got to push harder' self, and then away we went.

I jogged up and got further along this time before I stopped for a very quick breather, and then pushed on again, up, up, "Think of how you felt about Goss hill when you were running down it, Old Girl" I said to myself. "How it didn't look that intimidating standing above it" I managed to run it three chunks! the walking wasn't as much as it has been. I am getting there! I will conquer this hill! Even if it kills me!

The OB was waiting at the top, (He overtook me on the hill, he lets me go up first, but now he has taken to overtaking me and waiting for me at the top" I rested at bit when I got to the top, I was quite pleased with my effort today, and I did think about Mr.S comments about looking at the old heart rate, I knew I could push it further and not keel over! "Right" says the OB after I shoved my lungs back into place, "Next stop is......" "No, I'm not saying when, in fact I want my next stop to be 'Dog Poo' Ally" I says. Blow me, can you believe I said that! "Thats good, he says thats where I was going to say" I have been talking about positive thinking with Smarty Pants, about her going further and further, so I must start practicing what I preach! Think positive, think 'I can do this' and then just see how far I get before I quit, and start nagging myself (along with the Old Boy)

So thats what we did. We must have looked professional at our running because people were standing aside to let us run past before we even got to them! I knew the hill was coming up soon, and I tried desperately to get up it. The OB was in his zone, cold bug or not, he was in the zone, albeit a bit slower, as he is running with me!, he kept running up the hill. I, of course stopped again, and walked up some of it. But from the top of this, and because it was all down hill from here, I was running! No more walking, all the way to the ally! I even put a bit of a sprint in the end, I could have gone on! I should have gone on, the Old Boy could have taken the car and met me at home! But, I think 2 and half miles, after a bit of a cold, should be enough for today, maybe do the same tomorrow, until I am feeling fit as the proverbial fiddle, and then start to increase the distance again.

Geeky stats (take the notice of the straight line, I kind of accidentally pushed the start button while checking on my resting heart rate! (Which by the way is 53 bpm!)