Week 1, Run 2 (calling it running is a joke in itself...) and this time I am fully equipped. Sarah Millican is speaking loud and clear through my headphones and the phone which is anything but smart, is nestled in a bum bag round my waist.
I read somewhere that one can have one’s own music playing alongside “the voice”, so I pressed iTunes on the phone before it disappeared into the bum bag.
And off I go on the five minute warm-up walk and suddenly “Once two is two” sings out from somewhere on my person, in rythmic rap. Oh no, I must have pressed “shuffle” on my playlist and who knows what I am about to hear? I can’t change it now, or I will never connect with Sarah telling me when to “lightly jog..” Jogging, it has to be said, has never been in my remit, but I shall have to give it a go. If only there wasn’t an uphill slog for the first jog.
“While shepherds watched” follows the times table and I have to plough on, even though it is still techncally summer. I’m sure “All about the bass” is on the playlist somewhere, so I chant “It’s all about the bass, keep pushing” to myself as I “jog”, trying to drown out the Christmas carols from Kings College, Cambridge.
“I once was an ugly duckling” and the story of Cinderella accompany my next walks and jogs and then, during the penultimate jog, I find that I can hardly breathe and I know my heart rate must be off the scale.
But this is only Run 2 and I cannot give up now. Slow down, slog on and the time is up. I can do the recovery walk and only one final jog lies ahead. The path slopes downwards at last and I complete the session, pouring with perspiration and very tired, but pleased that, despite a grandmother’s dubious musical accompaniments, Run 2 is in the bag and it’s still only Wednesday.