Sometimes when I look in the mirror I’m pleasantly surprised - looking good enough not to frighten the horses is a view I’ll take at this age. Other times I have the shoulder monster casting a critical eye over the face, the bod, the home, the life…evaluating and coming to some nasty conclusions - in a nutshell not good enough.
To quote Old Floss 'comparison is the thief of joy'. Isn’t that true and how many of us do it, in my case comparing what I do to a standard that is probably impossible.
An example, is thinking that I should be faster and fitter and finding this easier, because I’ve done it before. conveniently forgetting it was over five years ago and there may be muscle memory but there is no such thing as retained muscle strength on a six year hiatus…
Week 4 beckons and it starts to get interesting. We are flying tonight on a much delayed 60th joint birthday celebration… the original was supposed to happen on 21st March 2020 - the very day London had the first Covid lockdown and my birthday as it happens.
Five years later the world has changed, so have I but the good part of this comparison is that I’m starting on Week 4, not being almost a year without running as I was in 2020.
Running feels like coming home, I’m squeezing this in on the morning I should be getting ready to enjoy the much cancelled holiday. That comparison is actually a good one Floss - I’m squeezing in a run - because I want to…
How did it go ?
Not quite as well as I’d hoped, a bit out of breathy, but it’s another step done and next time out I’m running on a different continent- that’s a comparison I’m looking forward to making. The irony of One Night In Paris, by 10cc, telling me that I can't even do the BossaNova, Tango or Samba - which is true I can't. Coordination like a robotic elephant me....
Five years later getting the celebration with trainers and running kit the first things in the suitcase.
See you next time from a place that Julie Covington once sang about but I didn’t have it on my Retro Runners Country play list - better change that pronto
Week 4 Run 1 done - that's a milestone alright the first run doing more running than walking. Yay.
