Oh my god I’m dying.
Oh my god.
Just give me a...
Oh my god...
I just need...
*one 5-minute cooldown walk later*
Holy s**t, I just ran for 20 minutes! I say ran, it was a little faster than walking speed but I’m a fast impatient walker so I was probably running at exactly my walking speed.
I did it and I didn’t stop, although I was ready to after 10 minutes. But NO, body! I won’t let you hold me back anymore!
Oof... that was a tough one. I would compare how I felt to week one when I was inexperienced so it’s great that my endurance has increased that much. On the other hand, back then the feeling only lasted a few minutes. This time around it was all nice and dragged out!
So, I’m still recovering and I can’t say I’m feeling great physically right now, partly because I’m starting to come down with a cold or flu or something so I’ve been feeling pretty awful in general these last few days. Should I still be running? I don’t want to miss a run if I can avoid it.
Speaking of, you’ll notice that my Friday run was delayed. This is because I was meant to be going out for a family meal last night and the general consensus here was that rather than run after that, I should take Friday night off and do it on Saturday. So I thought, good advice, I’ll do that!
And I did! But not for the reason I expected.
Warning: if you’re new to my posts, I go off on tangents about my life and stuff. I really overwrite these things and today is no exception. So, if I haven’t driven you away, I present to you The Tragedy of the Cancelled Family Dinner.
Now, here’s the thing about parenting, you need to get used to the idea that NOTHING will go the way you want it to. You can plan and plan all you like but these little, uh, miracles have the power to make your world crumble down around you and then act all shocked and innocent when they don get their own way.
SO, the plan was to meet my parter, the boy and a load of her family for a meal after work. I managed that step, I sat down and joined them, I even got as far as ordering. However, he was already in trouble when I got there. He’d been messing around and started kicking off. He’s a good boy, he really is, but he used up all his good behaviour at school and by this point he was tired, hungry and beyond all reason. And all he had to do was say sorry to his mum. That’s all we wanted.
Here’s another thing about parenting. There are few things more stubborn than a 4 year old who is being denied permission to be naughty on his own terms, he was going to do what he wanted and he’d be damned if he was going to pander to us and apologise for it! The only way you can win, if you can call it that, is if you are more stubborn than the child.
So normally when he starts to get a bit naughty when we’re eating out I take him outside and won’t take him back in until he’s ready to behave. I’d say it works maybe half the time. Some of the time. Not this time.
He was kicking and screaming and trying to push past me to get back in. Fortunately he’s tiny so I can pick him up and place him down wherever I want. He screamed, he wanted to see his mum. I asked if he was going to say sorry to her, he said no, so we stayed out. He did not calm down. After asking him many times if he was ready to say sorry to her, it became clear that it was never going to happen.
So I decided to use a good old parental bluff against him. It works about half the time. Some of the time. Not this time. The good thing about this particular restaurant is that it is literally minutes from our house so I told him if he’s not going to behave we can go home.
He screamed in protest. I asked if he was going to say sorry to mum. He said no. So I took his hand and started to walk him home. Here’s yet another pearl of parental wisdom. When you bluff, you have to be prepared to see it through if it doesn’t work. It didn’t work.
Every few steps I’d stop and ask if he wanted to go back for dinner? Yes. Was he ready to say sorry to mum? NOOOOOO. A few more steps. All the while he was screaming hysterically and trying to pull away, I hope no one thought I was kidnapping him. I kept repeating this until we were halfway home and he’d made it clear he would not be stopping and I realised our opportunity for a nice night out was long gone. So I called my partner, explained the situation, had her cancel my order, and took him home, carrying him part of the way when he wouldn’t walk.
Ugh, sometimes I feel like an awful parent, but if you back down it’s all over. So we got home and I sat him on the sofa and he screamed for a bit and told me this wasn’t right and I tried to explain to him what had happened and why. It was at this point that he told me he wanted to say sorry to mum.
I missed running for this?
I told him he’d have to wait until she was home, gave him dinner and put him to bed. He wasn’t happy about the situation but he was being civil by the end of it so that’s something right? Anyway, I got a dirty greasy takeaway instead and my partner, she really is too good to me sometimes, brought me home some beer.
I realise this all sounds bad so I’ll say it again. This boy is one of the best things in my life and I wouldn’t change it. He kicks off sometimes but more often than not he’s a nice happy boy. But how boring would it be to talk about all the nice normal days we have? Drama’s much more interesting!
So, remember when I used to talk about running? Just for fun, let’s go back to that! Long story short, I moved my run back a day.
It was good! It was hard and it’s going to take some recovery but I did it and I could maybe do it again! I can do it again! I will do it again! But not for a few days at least.
There isn’t a lot to say about the run itself, it was squeezed awkwardly into my day around a few other appointments. I had a haircut, headed straight home, did the run, showered and only just made it to the opticians on time. Yeah, it took me so long to write this post it’s taken me from my cool down walk, into the house, halfway across town, through an eye test and now I’m heading home again.
I actually did a bad thing on my way there...
After my run and my shower I was really cutting it close for my appointment so on my way in I had to run a little bit, which I know really isn’t advisable between runs, especially not after your first 20 minute run, but I was going to be late and miss it so I didn’t have a choice! It was surprisingly easy but there was something on in town so I’m sure the local news will have footage of me awkwardly running by.
But yeah, 20 minutes! I didn’t know I had it in me but apparently that’s a thing I can do now, even if I feel like I’m dying when I do it, but I just have to keep going and adapt, seems to be working so far. I’ve got the endurance for 20 minutes, now I just need to get the speed up and I’ll be able to recreate Run Lola Run in real time, which of course is what this whole thing has been about.
Quick question. On the podcast it was suggested I maybe redo week 5 before stepping it up to week 6. Did anyone else do that? Would you advise it to get my stamina up a bit or should I just move on and go for it? Either option appeals to me to be honest.
Either way, I’m looking forward to Monday’s run, whatever form it takes. My legs are dead, I’m sweaty and red and I can’t wait to go again. That’s a lie, I think at least one day without running would be very welcome now.
Once again, sorry for the long post, really sorry for the extended and irrelevant family drama, but if you’re still with me then thanks for reading this far and I’ll see you Monday for more delirious ramblings!
I did it! W5R3 beaten 
Hello! W5R3 - I did it!!!! 😃
S-T-R-E-S-S Test
In praise of S-T-R-E-T-C-H-I-N-G
C3 ✅ The long awaited inaugural run with hubbie 😆 and maybe not the last!
