Week six, done.

[Mary_O]

And oh, it was PAINFUL!

I got to about ten minutes and thought "this isn't too bad... Pity the music is utterly repetitive and I'm now singing along to things I don't even like in my head..."

Moments later...

"Laura, come on. It's GOT to be 12 and a half minutes soon. That's the half way mark, she'd tell me then, wouldn't she? Maybe it's psychological, maybe she knows you're expecting a well-done at 12 1/2 minutes and then BOOM she says well done, you've done fifteen?"

"Yeah, that's it. I've DEFINITELY been going fifteen minutes."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'M ONLY HALF WAY THROUGH???"

"Okay, you can do this. Even if it is so hot the dog owners aren't even walking their dogs today... Oh, smeg, no, look - I was wrong. And she's got the friendly one - NO, DON'T MAKE ME RUN AROUND YOU, PLEASE DOG, PICK A SIDE - I DON'T NEED NAVIGATION HAZARDS!!!" Smile, nod, say "good morning!" and carry on.

"Come on, Laura, what happened to fifteen minutes? I could take a drink of water - but the top's stuck. If I bite it and fall over, will I knock my teeth out? Yes, so don't fall. Move you - awful - thing. Okay, fine, I'll just dehydrate."

"Twenty minutes - yey! Come on legs, move. Five minutes to go. Slow down for the kissing gate, I can always run a bit longer to make up for the three seconds I slowed down... I said run, legs, not turn to jelly!"

"I am getting slower, I know I am. And, thanks to a time dilation, this last five minutes is never going to end."

It did end, eventually. I did an extra half a minute, running to the end of the road to make up for the three gates I'd slowed down for. I did not speed up for the last minute as Laura suggested, but I did smile when she said I was officially a runner.

Hoping the first run of week seven isn't quite so arduous. There is part of me now that is really looking forward to graduating so that I can have my own playlist (not wanting to hear the music again is what got me through week five!!).

[Rainbowsmurf Graduate]

Well done. Loved the post.

You know you're a runner when you're thinking about making up for gates you slowed down for! (I just jog on the spot while I fiddle with the gate and hope no-one is watching!) And if you had to run round a dog then you've done a bit extra anyway!

I think it was about week 6 when Lauren told me to speed up at the end and I told her where to go and then hoped no-one was listening!

[Mary_O Graduate in reply to Rainbowsmurf]

Believe me, if I hadn't been running past a little old lady's garden at that moment, Laura would have been told EXACTLY where to stick that suggestion I "speed up for the last minute."

Thank you for the encouragement.

[CT67 Graduate]

Haha - know what you mean about the music. I wake up in the morning singing 'so easy not so easy now' in my head - it's driving me insane!

[Mary_O Graduate in reply to CT67]

That, and the one with the line "I'm the king, baby." On loop, in my head, while trying to sleep...