I was not expecting THAT run until end week 7, beginning week 8 maybe, but here it was. I never want to know the next run until Michael J tells me at the time of the run itself, my little tease, so when he announced it, it did take me a little by surprise, truth be told; 'I'm not ready'...,'That's nearly the whole thing...', 'What can the rest of the programme have in store?'.
After leaving home at 06:15 for a long day behind a desk, in meetings, behind the wheel...sitting, sitting, sitting, then getting home at 20:00, I was well and truly drained (a tough day at the office). I said to myself all day, for the last 2 days even, tonight I finish week 6. But when I got home, shut the door behind me; I thought, 'No, I'll do it tomorrow, I'm all in!', I need to sit'. Oh! the irony.
It was when I thought about that thought for just a couple of seconds that it dawned on me that I had been, as I often am, sat down all day. 'No! I'm doing this; it's only 30 minutes, just 30 minutes'. So got changed and set off on the 5 minutes walk, feeling pleased the second I felt the chill of the evening air on my face; air that I had denied myself all day (not good I know).
It's an odd sensation, hard to describe, but my legs seemed to send a message back to my brain after we began the run, as instructed to do so by MJ after 5 minutes, to say, 'right then, we're off again...action stations!' The old legs were on auto-pilot, jogging along at their now familiar pace and gait. I felt a somewhat removed from them for a moment - very aware that they are now quite used to this, prepared, stronger, not shocked at all. Great! Crack on!
Good tunes and good earphones (I use ear buds as I do not like any wires) make a big difference for me. I have on familiar old school tunes that I know well, can bounce along to, know the words to, old favourites that I don't tire of hearing, that hold great memories which help me not to think about the tough day in the tomorrow, or overthink about the task that lay ahead of me. 7 or 8 songs later, it's all over.
In the penultimate 5 minutes of the run I was getting tired, it was hard. Those pesky demons trying to find their way into my mind, but I beat them down. Then for the final 5 minutes, they've rallied the troops and try harder to beat you down - but my new found experience, will and determination suppresses them more easily now.
'One minute to go, if you feel good, try stepping up the pace a little', MJ suggests. I felt good, tired, legs aching, but I was in control. I thought about those poor marathon runners whose legs go from underneath them in the final straight, in front of the big crowd and the TV camera's, they're all over the place, but who is going to carry me over the line if I get jelly legs? I stepped up the pace, not much, but enough to prove to myself that I'm getting stronger, have a bit more stamina, a bit more to give now. MJ is right (as always), there was no way I thought I'd be running like this just a couple months ago.
A day of rest tomorrow; behind the desk, in meetings, behind the wheel - what a life! So glad I found you C25K, you're a godsend.
W6R3 ✅ 
W6R3!!!! 🎉🤓🏃♂️
W6R3 😀
W6R3 - blinky blimey!
W6R3: this time it’s personal
