With nice sunny weather (albeit bl**dy freezing) and having packed my husband and kids off for the day I had at least the morning to myself so decided I was good for a 10k run. On with the running gear and out of the door.
Not a minute from my house and I got called over by Mrs C (our self-appointed Neighbourhood Watch coordinator) who said she just needed a minute of my time. I considered starting a 60 second timer on my watch and yelling “Times Up” when it finished but she is one of those people that are passionate about what they do and is such a nice person that I just could not be rude to her. That did mean I was likely to be there a while as she does not pause for breath. She also has a unique skill in that she can seamlessly blend one subject into another so consequently there is no point where you can jump in without her being in mid flow.
Even without giving anyone a chance to speak, she still manages to extract information from you. I am still unaware of how in the past she has extracted holidays dates and destinations from me when I did not remember her stopping talking for a second.
After three or four minutes I was still not sure why I was needed and beginning to feel the cold.
The house next door to Mrs C has been in a state of renovation for as long as I can remember and although I was aware of it being worked on, I didn’t think anyone lived there. It wasn’t until the front door opened that I realised that there was no skip in the front garden. Two women emerged in running gear and I recognised them as we have frequently passed each other over the last couple of months. We have nodded or said hello but never stopped to talk.
A voice shouted, “If you stand still much longer in this cold you are going to injure yourself when you start your run.” At that point Mrs C just apologised and said she would catch up with me later and went in doors. I felt bad for Mrs C but was grateful for the opportunity to get away. I started to walk and was joined by the two women who introduced themselves.
We started to chat as we walked and decided to all run the same route. It was a slower pace than my normal one but did enable us to keep up a good conversation. The first topic was at the expense of poor Mrs C. We all agreed that she is a lovely lady but living next door to her is obviously more difficult that meeting her on the odd occasion in the street. Her enthusiasm for the Neighbourhood Watch does make her appear rather nosey. When she enquired about their occupations one told her that she worked in the “adult entertainment industry”. That appeared to quash further questioning. I must have looked a bit shocked too but they both laughed. I was then told she is an accountant for a company that rents Fruit Machines used in pubs and clubs. I suppose they are used for adult entertainment!!
We ran for quite a while along roads I had not been down before until one of them said “I hope you know they way home from here because I am totally lost”. I had assumed that this was the route they normally took. We did find our way back (eventually) and when I finally checked, I had covered just under 15K which just amazed me as I have not done more that about 12K before and that had been a bit of a struggle. I did sleep well that night!
My longest run so far
My longest run so far
My first dark run of the season...
