Hello everyone and a happy new year to you all. Let’s hope 2020 gives everyone the clear vision it promises. It wasn’t a great start in that regard - I went to a Christmas singsong where they dished out songsheets with very small font in a dimly lit hall, and for the first time in my life I could not, however far away I held the bloody thing, read the words. A well-meaning young twenty-something kept pointing to where we were in the verse and I had to tell her it didn’t matter where she pointed, I still couldn’t read it. In the end I used my phone to take photos of the lyrics and blow them up to a decent size... points for being able to use tech, anyway. So in 2020, when I leave the house, I now check for phone, keys, purse... and reading glasses. It’ll be incontinence pads next.
Running has been sporadic. I look longingly and fearfully at JuJu’s 10k plan and wonder if I will ever run 5k/30m ‘comfortably’, which is the suggested starting point.
I had six weeks or so of not running (comfortably or uncomfortably) due to a horrible flu-like virus that settled on the chest and made me breathless just saying a sentence. My mother and my son came down with it too, so it was a bit grim. Mum cancelled Christmas, she was feeling that bad - and then had some sort of fit on Boxing Day that resulted in an ambulance trip and a day in hospital. She seems a bit better now, and what with school and work restarting tomorrow and the Christmas chocolates nearly eaten, perhaps some healthier routines can re-emerge.
I did go for a run on Christmas morning. It was a beautiful sunny morning with barely a car on the roads. It is so much easier to start a run when the day is yours and the sun is shining. It felt good to be out and I planned to run again in a couple of days, but what with the Boxing Day drama and it’s aftermath, then New Year excesses... another week rolled by.
Then yesterday, the nice twenty-something who tried to help me with the songsheet walked past as I was in my shed and suggested we go for a run together. I will add at this point that as well as being young, she is slim and fit-looking and her remark about not having run for ages didn’t reassure me. I warned her I would be slow, and she said “great!” I don’t mean to sound churlish - it is great! - but I am sure the slower runners (and those who need the occasional walking breather) amongst you will understand my trepidation. I rolled out of bed this morning and pulled on my calf sleeves, sipped on a coffee and splashed cold water on my face. Then we were off. She loped along, in a bouncy gazelle-stride. I think I would need two dozen large helium balloons on each shoulder to achieve that level of bounce. Apparently she used to run with her dad in the hills of Cornwall. She was definitely C25K conversational on the Kent hillocks. She asked lots of questions and was completely charming, but I’m afraid my answers became shorter and shorter the further we went. I had to have half a dozen walk breaks for 20 seconds or so, just to recover my breath and engage in conversation, before setting off again. Actually, it was really nice to have company and I took her down a track I haven’t been before when I have run alone, because I felt braver as a pair - I just felt I was holding her back and my pride (goodness knows how that is still hanging about) struggles with that. More learning to do!
Garmin tells me I have been ‘overreaching’ and now need 3 days to recover from my slowest (ever?) run/walk, which could be a little sobering. But hey. I’m just looking at that first 6km of many to come in 2020.
See you soon x
Written by
ktsok
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I'm sorry to hear your Mum was taken so poorly over Christmas, that must have been frightening. I hope she continues to improve and recover well.
It sounds like you have a new running buddy, that's exciting. Your description made me chuckle, and a 6k run is something to be proud of....the first of more adventures to come maybe..
Keep running and you will have no need for either of the 'tags' your post popped up😏
Thank you for sharing your run report and making me laugh.😊xxx
Oh goodness you made me laugh 😂😂😂 apart from the illness bit 😥 showed hubby your phone enlarge bit, he says he uses the magnify option o n his phone! Must look that out for future. Enjoy your runs in 2020, hopefully without the need for incontinence pads. Take care and happy running
Oooh a magnify app? Sounds good, so long as you can find the button on your screen! I have a magnifying glass in my kitchen for reading labels on food. It’s a bit big for carrying around but perhaps a monocle?!
Lovely post. Hope your Mum is OK. There has been some bio-weapon grade lurgey flying around these parts as well and I got wiped out just before Christmas. Our little baby was less than 2 weeks old at the time, so I got banished to the shed. The RSPCA were called at the sound of my gurgling wheeze so I was upgraded to the sofa.
I couldn’t imagine running in tandem, I’m not a conversationist at the best of times, let alone when I’m gasping for breath. That’ll be warm up walk onward. Nonsense aside, I’d feel exactly the same as you, or utterly selfish if it was the other way round.
I’m interested in your Garmin thingamajig, Is it a watch that tells you all that? 🤔 I’m not sure I’ve spent enough money over the last few months, I’m sure the wife won’t mind if I have a little self-splurge. It usually saves her a job anyway. She usually grateful.
Oh and last thing I noticed, this blog has “incontinence pads” as a relates tag. Funnily enough, that’s how I found it!
Have a good 3 day rest. Nothing is mapped on a straight line graph, too many ups and downs and bumps and frowns for that. I just made that cutesy little saying up y’know? Pretty good, huh?
Ah, I use the app so didn’t know about tags. Excellent. Didn’t we reach a tipping point in the world a year or two back where more incontinence pads than nappies were now being sold? I am now wondering if you have joined that particular buyer market...
Congratulations on the new bambino! That’s wonderful news and a great motivation for leaving the house. To get fit, obvs.
The Garmin Forerunner 235... I bet there are many many tags on that one. I like it a lot because it gives tonnes of data and turns a gasping 30 minutes jog into something more serious-looking. We all know that having the right gear and throwing money at something makes you a better athlete, right?
Lovely post and hope your mum continues to recover. It sounds like the gazelle is just what you need to improve your running, do keep up the relationship.
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