I am pleased to state that reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. I remain alive, and relatively well. I'm also pleased to report that the run around the reservoir actually went really well, and taking a friend with me was a fantastic idea, as I genuinely enjoyed tonight's outing, as opposed to suffering the treadmill.
I picked said friend up, drove to the reservoir to find the car park full, so took my trusty steed off road and abandoned it in the local foliage. Then we had a fag. As we walked down to the big pond, I panicked when I saw the sheer size of it. It looked far bigger in reality than on Google Earth! Initially we decided to run small sections, and walk small sections, but during the first running stage I became quite aware that there were lots of people around, and didn't want to look silly by stopping and walking blatantly so early on, so just carried on running. I was even beginning to think that we might just complete a full circuit! Surely not? Well, as it turns out, no. Not quite. As we turned a corner I had convinced myself, and my somewhat lagging friend, that the end was at the next corner, so mustered up just enough motivation to get me there. As we arrived, it turned out to not quite be the end, so we stopped for a much deserved walk. James (said friend) had left his water in my car so we walked back up to get it. And have a fag.
Quite pleased at the almost full circuit, we set off for a couple more laps of definite run / walk intervals, walks being considerably longer than the runs as it turns out, but overall I'm quite pleased at how much running was actually done, and more pleased that I know full well I could have run more of it and James was the one who, somewhat surprisingly might I add, was wanting to quit. Now I have to be honest, some of this motivation came from the fact that I took sick pleasure in torturing James, who thought we were going home after lap two. Well I expected him to be fitter than me, he plays squash and football a few times a week. So pleased at my fitter-than-him status, I even decided to rub it in by doing a 200meter(ish) flat out sprint on the third lap. Some of the motivation also came from two young ladies who seem to have adopted a similar run / walk tactic to James and I, and although it wasn't particularly unpleasant to be behind them, there was no way they were running more than me. I may have actually said something to James along the lines of "I'm not sexist or anything, but there's no way I'm losing to two girls". As they set off on their next run, we ran, and I would not let poor James stop until the girls were overtaken and well out of sight. Mission accomplished, we walked a for bit, ran back to the steed to recover it from the undergrowth, had a fag, and set off home.
So overall, really pleased with the result, and slightly taken back at just how different running in the real world is, both in terms of physically and mentally. My calf muscles feel a bit tight, and my breathing seemed to be more of a problem than it is on the treadmill, probably from all the chatting / laughing at James / smoking, but having someone with me made the time fly by. We will be returning on Friday for more of the same, hopefully more running and less walking though, and will be rewarding our selves with a cheeky pint afterwards.
I do have a little more to say about stitches and cycling, but - and since I'm in the swing of being completely honest, I'll continue by saying that - I can't be arsed tonight, I'm tired, so I'm returning back to the dent in the sofa for the remainder of the evening. I'll waffle about the above subjects tomorrow (my rest / moan day).
Ciao for now!
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