Much excitement in and around our village as we are the starting point of stage 6 the famous Terreno Adriatico cycle race, a curtain raiser if you like to the big tour races such as The Giro D'Italia, Tour de France and La Vuelta.
Mr JCR is an avid long distance cyclist and his club are doing a mini loop of the course before the race starts and setting up to cheer on the many Italians in the race. Mr JCR is torn between being Italian patriotic and English patriotic for Tom Pidcock and Adam Yates.
His club and many, many others, do the course or part of it prior to the road closure which usually happens about an hour beforehand.
Even non-cyclist fans like the races coming through because it usually means the Comune (council) start asphalting the long forgotten potholes, as it's not a good look on tv for your village to be responsible for cyclists having falls.
Mr JCR also sent an excited message he'd been chosen by RAI TV for an interview because the Italian TV folk were utterly bewildered by an Englishman living in a teeny tiny village in Le Marche.
First F of the day - Fame?
Second F coming up - I took Fibi Fardashian and Bobster the Monster out for a walk, they really weren't feeling like it and it was much more of a dog drag, usually we manage about 3kms or so (they're no Mo Farahs) but today it was a very reluctant 1.5km. Fibi has injured her foot again or rather her lummox of a brother stood on it three times and knocked off the scabs which have taken 4 weeks to appear - and now we are back at square 1, with Fibi having a case of beef burger paw again. Cue another visit to the vet - ho hum.
Second F - Fibi - FFS
I was changed, breakfasted, with Pootler Pink lipstick applied and ready to shoot - have to stay local local, because I'm not entirely sure which bits of roads are shut off and I don't want to be appearing on tv as a local numpty who ran in front a cycle race.
I'd decided upon Argo's Loop, followed by Slope of Hope, Hill That Kills, Lovers' Lane, Mill Lane and home and a similar loop if the running gods were with me and I had enough puff.
Just before running I listened to a podcast by a friend, co hosted by what she describes as an accidental friend who are both living with metatastic cancer and I usually find their podcasts thought provoking and also they really help you put your own messy life into context. (Called Laugh before death)
It was another interesting listen and made me realise how much faith you have to have in your friends, family, doctors and self to live through what she and Heidi are doing.
Third F - Faith - courtesy of Mand and Heidi
Having had a very sober listen I felt I was ready to tackle Run 2, of course I've done it before and despite some right and left issues, felt it had gone ok. Jo Cool set up and warned me it might not be as easy as I thought and to keep the pace slow, it's all about stamina not speed. My warm up walk completed I started running up the Argo loop slope towards our house and it was utterly shambolic, my lungs were bursting I think I'd really overcooked it and to my shame I stopped. Proper full on stop. FFS - JCR,
Fourth F - Flaky
I paused Map My Run and Jo was telling me how I'd done my first 2.5 minutes, but actually it was my first and last. I sat down on the cemetery steps, reflecting that it was a real flop, and I was very angry shouting some particular f words at no-one in particular. I was about thirty seconds from home and I realised I had a choice, I could quit which definitely would have been flaky or I could press the re-set button and try again. I'm not sure this is recommended by Jo Cool or any of the coaches, but I decided to start again, but this time really taking the pace down.
Fifth F - Finding Faith in my ability
I started again, warm up walk once more and decided Argo's Loop had probably been somewhat an ambitious start, I was listening now to my ShepsPugMania list on Spotify, named after sheps and other C25Kers from a. while back, and was pootling happily to Crazy Horses by the Osmonds and I seemed to find a slower rhythm up the Hill that Kills. I can't say it was easy, because it wasn't but I did keep going into Lovers' Lane when Pigbag came on and that made me smile because it seemed I had been running like a pig in a bag.
Back to Mill Lane, I was sweating like a pig now and decided to drop off my running jacket and hat at the house, jogging on the stop whilst inserting my beanie into the post box and looping my jacket on the gate, hoping no-one would nick it whilst I was out.
Back down the Slope of Hope to the Stray Cat Strut, I wasn't strutting I was barely moving but as Jo Cool reminded me it didn't matter, just don't stop and keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Finally she gave me the one minute to go time check, back up the Hill That Kills and said if I had the puff, I could give it a bit more speed if I wished. I didn't have anything in the tank at that stage, just a faint whiff of bloody mindedness to make sure that I finished the run. And I did.
Map My Run Mechanical Voice Lady said I did 5.2kms with walk and running covering both attempts, in just under 50 minutes with an elevation gain of 55 metres. It doesn't sound like a failed effort.
Jo Cool was definitely right, sometimes runs just don't go the way you think they will.
The sixth F is for friendship, the C25K friends that keep you at it, we may not 'know' each other but we do, through the shared ups and downs.
For the sixth day of the week, I found 6 Fs but most important was keeping the faith...
Overstaying Guest and Jealousy Issues - Week 7 Run 3
