Late yesterday I received a phone call from my neighbour asking if I could do her and her wife a big favour.
She explained that they have her 13-year-old niece and 5-year-old nephew staying this week but unfortunately has been asked to attend an important meeting in place of someone who has gone down with Covid. Although the niece often looks after her brother at home, she would not be able to live with herself should anything happen to them while in her care. However, she did not want her niece to feel that she is not trusted, so asked if I could just coincidently turn up to use their gym at the same time she is out.
So, my task was to have a lie in in the morning rather than get up really early to run before it gets too hot, then to run on a treadmill in the nice cool air while my little ones entertain themselves with a friend that they got on brilliantly with last time they me. How could I refuse?
We arrived just before 9:30 and after few minutes the littles ones were playing nicely. So, my plan was, 10 minutes of warmup walk, 45 minute run, 10-15 minute warm-down, a few “Oh Mum, just 5 more minutes.” And that will take us up to 11 when my neighbour said she would be home.
I started a warmup walk on the treadmill and their niece was chatting to me whilst looking on her phone at a You Tube video of how to pole dance. They have a pole in their gym too and I have given it a go a couple of times and found that it is much harder than it looks.
Moment later, she is up the pole copying the moves on the video. She was making it look a lot easier than I found it. Before long, she was skipping through videos then back onto the pole. I was running and watching her in amazement. One hand, one leg, no hands, bending back, my god it looks like she has been doing it all her life.
My phone bleeped, a message from my neighbour, she is going to be a bit longer than expected. Okay, no problem, I will just run for longer and make it look like I was intending to do that all along. I had already been running for almost 45 mins so thought I had better slow it down a touch as I didn’t know how long she will be and set my pace based on 45 minutes. When I reached the hour, I was beginning to think I should have slowed it down earlier. Another few presses and I was then down to a quite slow speed. At just over an hour and a half, I decided to slow down to a walk, I can keep that going for a while if needed but did not want to raise suspicions that I am hanging around. No sign of my neighbour and no more messages. Little ones playing nicely so that is OK.
Luckily, their niece is quite chatty, so I kept going and managed 25 minutes or walking before deciding I had had enough. I stopped the treadmill and took a couple of steps on my wobbly legs. I am not sure why, but after running on the treadmill, when I get off, the ground seems to be moving with me standing still. Running outside never seems to give me any issues no matter how far or fast I run.
A quick check on the little ones who are now playing with little plastic dinosaurs on the grass outside of the gym. “We don’t have to go yet do we mum?”. “No, you can have a few more minutes but then we will have to go home for lunch.” I replied, hoping to stretch it out a bit longer.
Back inside, I commented on how good their niece was on the pole and was told she has always done gymnastics so found it quite easy. That explains it, I was always terrible at gymnastics at school (well that is my excuse!!). Still no sign of my neighbour!
Running out of conversation subjects I asked how her dad was doing. That proved to be an excellent choice of topics to pass the time (although I am not sure her Dad would have been so thrilled). I got the full details of a lady he met the week before while they were on a camping holiday, how he seems to like her, and they have phoned each other a few times since. I got the impression she is hoping to be a bridesmaid soon. Last time we met, she asked me if I had any single friends that would be suitable for her dad. She aims to get him a new wife by the time she goes to university so that he can be looked after while she is away.
The gym door opened, and my neighbour walked in and fiend surprise that I was still there. I told her I have had a really good LONG run, and the little ones were playing so nicely that I didn’t want to spoil their game. With her niece looking away she mouthed “Sorry” and smiled.
I declined the offer of lunch, gathered my little ones promising them they can come another day if they are good. We headed home and we had our lunch. As I stood up after I could feel my legs stiffening and realised, I forgot to stretch after my run. All of the things I did to waste time and forgot to do something important!!
I didn’t check how far I ran today, but I think tomorrow will be no more than a 5K if at all.
week3run1 ✅. 3 x 17 mins with 1 min walks. 
