Hello running people ! Here I am again.
Gosh, I have not posted this many of my own runs for so long. Fortunately for me, I am running a tad more regularly now and unfortunately for you, I am rambling about them too!
This is a very long one and the first bit is not about runs!
Well...
Monday... I did loads of washing and drying outside...whilst taking down a very LARGE shed after which the panels had to be stored neatly and general tidying to be done. In the middle of this, I had to get to the Medical Centre to get my blood test results from my Nurse. Then come back and carry on!
Tuesday... I ran 1K...a shopping order coming, then: It rained on and off, all day. I had loads of little bits of wood and slabs from the LARGE shed, dismantling to tidy or move. It was very late when I finished up and then had to water all my greenhouse stuff
In fact.., it was a bit of a yukster day.
No it was, actually, very much of a yukster day! A lot of rubbish, to up-cycle re-cycle or throw away... and then, all of the shed site to be cleared, cleaned and power washed.
Mr OF was not in helpful mode, from breakfast time onwards... which is a sure indicator to me, that all was not well.
Suffice to say, after nearly 49 years of perfect wedlock.. 
I know when something is not right. I know that that he will protest violently that everything is fine, he is fine, etc. and I know also that at some point, the truth will out.
Well it did... but not until 4 o'clock ish! By which time I was very, very tired, he was quieter and paler than throughout the day, which he had spent doing little bits of things now and then, and eventually he said he wasn't feeling great. Well, who would have guessed it... Blood and stone spring to mind.
Long story short... hugely fatigued, incredibly achy, and after a very light supper he disappeared to bed at 8.30, where he slept like the proverbial log until 7 a.m.
I was tired, I had worked non-stop, but not sleepy... a day like that takes it out of me mentally and my body did feel a tad like I had been run over by elephants. Hands and arms really aching... a strained tendon in the palm of my left hand which was settling down, was unsettled. But.. after a while, I headed to bed too. I slept well, but woke at 6.
Now, I hear you ask.. if the week has been hard so far... and yesterday was so tricky, what on earth can there be to Celebrate?
As it turns out, absolutely lots of things!
Today. Wednesday. I ran
I slept very well. I woke feeling refreshed, a tad stiff ( understatement), but after stretches, squats, and general getting moving, a cup of tea drunk, Mr OF watered also, ( much happier this morning). I had a quick chat with a couple of my snails and despite the greyness of the day... I was smiling. I had a date.. a running date!
Sorry ladies and or gents... Chris Bennett was waiting for me again , right outside my front gate. He was so pleased to see me and we set off together on, guess what? A Celebration run. What ???? Are you serious?
But it was... a run so easy paced , that my legs were running on their own, whilst the rest of my body followed and my mind just cleared . The smooth tones, the comments, the questions... all making me think, but in such a positive way. The whole thrust of the conversation... yes there was a conversation ,I was answering my partner. In my head, obviously, although I could have carried on an audible conversation ! I know my pace!
And, unbelievably I had so, so much to celebrate. It just needed that run and the nudge from my invisible companion, to remind me what those things were.
The run was only 25 minutes, and it passed in a blink, but it carried me from Seagull roundabout ( many of you know I regularly run past there), and down the hill, yeayyyy, and into my wonderful fields.
So...
En route, I was able to look around, seeing, hearing, smelling and feeling.
The gardens washed squeaky-green clean by the rain yesterday. My bane, the gardens benefit! The last of the blossom scattered by a brisk wind, and many of the gardens showing those unmistakable signs of the longer days, the better? weather and garden centres full of temptation.
Down the hill , across by the station and up past Rookery Wood, long abandoned by the rooks, who have moved to larger premises,( Come back, McFitty, I miss you), Up the short bit to the turn, across the seaside row, for the field, no effort now, whereas in 2015... that short incline used to nearly floor me.
The fields ahead .
Not anyone there, except me... birds and beasts , buttercups, no daisies and the grass, damp and springy, on I go, as my companion says nine minutes to go... over the railway cut through and into the crop field. The ground is lifting me, my feet are light my steps are relaxed and confident ; over onto the harder track and the crop!
Those green shoots which were bursting from the dry earth a few weeks ago have transformed into longer, greener spikes, stretching skyward with an eagerness that was tangible. The Hidden Pond , its secrets hidden in the thickest of bushes and ancient trees, outlined against the dull sky. I turned, breathing deeply.
Heading back across the trail and down towards the lane... my majestic tree gazes at me with familiarity as I run by, ( how many years, I hear it mutter), across seaside row and down. It was over.
Time to go he said.... he would see me on the next starting line
As I walked back up the hill, and incidentally, the fact that the runs are timed, and I am keeping to the times, is really, really helping me, I was going through what we had talked about.
Celebration? Indeed.
Celebrating the simple fact that I was running. I was able to run... I had something to celebrate with the very first step. Celebrate that I finished the run!
Celebrate too, the bits where I may struggle, when I reach a barrier which slows me down , because I have run towards that barrier and I will move through it. I am a runner.
Celebrate every single thing I had seen or experienced on my run; the beauty of Nature in every leaf, branch, flower or blade. I am so fortunate, I live in a lovely area, and I am able to see them. Not just today, but every day, every time I go out there.
Time to celebrate too, that I have over the years since 2015, found a very real joy in something I never expected to. I have running.
Celebrate my daughter and son in law, who took me out on that very first run, so long ago, and the good fortune that led me to find the C25K forum.
Celebrate Mr OF too... my staunchest supporter in everything I do... we have our moments...but some things are unshakeable.
Celebrate myself?
Yes... he told me too. I have had one or two blips since 2020, nothing at all compared with so many of you, but enough to stop me in my tracks. But I have been strong enough, not to give up, but to come back, slow, yes, steady, yes, but come back. I have, I'm still coming back.
Sometimes we are hard on ourselves.. and it seems selfish to think of our own worth, but today I did.
Now, before you think this sounds a tad like an Oscars Speech... there is something else to celebrate, that I came home with today.
Celebration for the friendship of this and the other forums.
The faceless ,( sometimes not) friends we make.
The friends I have made, who support me in every aspect of my running and beyond. You folk who make my days lighter and happier with your posts.
It is a privilege to share your runs and your lives...to reply, to read and learn, and to constantly pick up tips and advice which enhance my own running.
To know that you are so forgiving also... reading my posts, my endless rambles, where I share my running thoughts and more. Knowing that I am never judged, never derided, never laughed at, ( in an unkind way but accepted, for the person and the runner I am.
And if that is not the most amazing reason for Celebration. I really do not know what is
Oldfloss
P.S.
Try the run.... NRC Celebration Run.., 25 minutes, easy pace/recovery run. I only covered 3.2K. How relaxed is that?
Update on Mr OF.
Much recovered and learning slowly how to celebrate the age he is and the limitation of ( some of) his activities. basically Monday was a shed too far. xxx
PPS
To make you giggle. I intended putting this in and forgot. After I had finished the run, walking back up the hill, I helped an old lady who was attempting unsuccessfully to cross the bottom of the lane. She got across after HUGE lorry stopped for me, smitten no doubt by my winning smile. I waved a thank you, and only afterwards did I think... hmmm.. here I am helping old ladies to cross roads... and I AM an old lady., one who has just run 3.2 K!!!
What a great start to Saturday :) 
Sometimes - You need something.
