This morning dawned and having had two rest days, today was another day for distance.
Everything started well, and I got kitted up and warmed up without any fuss and was ready to hit the road. A new route, and my walk took me down a rather steep hill – made a quick mental note to make sure I completed my run before tackling the hill on the way back, as what goes down must surely come up!
Soon I was running along the cycle track towards Harpenden and enjoying the autumn blaze of colour around me. I was settled into a good rhythm with my Retro Runners Playlist singing away in my ear (thanks Hidden &co); really enjoying myself, listening to the likes of Squeeze, Simple Minds, Spandau Ballet and the Eurythmics - a great 1980s vibe which kept me running and running. After 7.5km at a reasonable pace I turned round to return home and that was when it happened. I hit a wall. Or maybe the bloomin’ Gremlin stuck the wall right in my path. It all seemed like too much effort. And then there it was, biting at my ankles and telling me to stop. It even pulled my earphone out, so I no longer had any music to distract me.
Where do they come from? I’d like to know. I’d been doing fine. Had it just crept up on me? Did it know my planned route and stake it out in advance? Lying silently in wait to ambush me? Was it stalking me, unseen, like a trained spy? And why did every other runner I passed seemed to be running gremlin-free.
I was 8.5km from home as I had walked a km for my warm up, and I really didn’t want to walk all that way back. Maybe I could get a taxi… was a 'kindly' suggestion from my nemesis. But with a distinct lack of cash, and the look of a woman possessed, I thought it was unlikely that any one would want me in their taxicab.
I was going to have to crack this. I put my earphone back in and hoped a track would come on soon that might help me fight off the ‘orrible little critter. After another 5 or 6 minutes of torturously labored running (well it was probably more the speed of walking) Heaven 17 came to my rescue with a 1980s number, Fascist Groove Thang. The pace was upbeat and the words just formed in my head…
🎶
Have you heard it on the news,
About this running gremlin?
Evil bug with nasty views
Spreading all across the track.
Don’t stop running, just you go
Unlock those tired muscles.
Brothers, sisters, forum friends
I don’t need this running gremlin.
Brothers, sisters, I don’t need this fascist gremlin.
😈
Forum allies lend a hand
Decrease their population.
Grab that gremlin by the throat
And throw it in the ocean.
You run with me, you make my day
I’ll cruise along the pathway.
My second wind helps me advance.
We shook that noxious gremlin.
Brothers, sisters, I don’t need this fascist gremlin.
👿
And so I made it back to the bottom of the hill with a little left in the tank, ready for the cool down walk home. That hill was a killer, and the energy I had had left in the tank soon ran out. It was a slow walk home but I had managed to run 15.25km, and with the additional time spent walking up and down the hill I actually covered 17.55km.
First run after Covid (the 3rd time): a deliciously drizzly, cloudy run
Hill free hill workout
A “Don’t Wanna Run” Run
