I knew I shouldn't do it. The phone rang again "see you in about half an hour". "Go Mummy, the quicker you go, the quicker you'll get back". "Get those boobies bouncing Mummy!" (I wish she'd stop saying that). No way was I wearing the right kit. Starting the next podcast and hopping on the spot I grabbed the nearest suitable clothes and headed for the door pausing long enough to call Poppy and we were off on our brisk walk.
I was sure my knees were still sore within seconds, drat, didn't have time to go back for the knee support. As Laura said it would be 25 mins running i wavered. Should I give up now? One of our favourite family proverbs (Proverbs 22:13) is one we say when we're being lazy - "there might be a lion outside" . I looked at Poppy, she didn't look like a lion, I thought about my knees - last time they got sore I rushed the 5 min brisk walk, I didn't want to make the same mistake again so put Laura on pause and walked the full 5 mins before breaking into what must be one of the slowest running paces on record. My new mate Endomondo had already given up on me, according to him I'd stopped after 12 and a half seconds but it was too late to give up now.
12 and a half minutes later Laura was telling me I was halfway through and my knee was fine. Poppy was telling me it was about to rain. Keep going Poppy, we can do it. "It's ok for you" she muttered, "you just get wet, I go curly". She trotted faster towards home and I realised I hadn't grabbed the best of clothes, people out walking their dogs and on their way back from work were giving me funny looks. Red trousers, clashing orange top, damp curly dog and a beetroot-faced me waving dog biscuits calling "come on this way, we're not stopping now". We took a detour out of sight alongside building works, I'd checked the route beforehand (must be getting into this running lark) so knew it would be ok. We stumbled towards some barbed wire and Poppy looked anxious as I coaxed her into jumping through the gaps other people had made before us. Mapmyrun hadn't warned us about this ...
One minute to go, "step up the pace". What's Laura trying to do to us? As we headed along the pavements back to home I spotted my husband's car turning into our road. He didn't spot us but has been getting increasingly suspicious. We nearly let the cat out of the bag over breakfast by giggling when he was asking about my 'unused' sports kit. I hid Laura before the podcast ended and forced myself to breath normally as we went back through the door. "Hello dear, would you like a cup of tea?"
I did it, I ran for 25 minutes non stop (slowly!) but I missed Laura telling me I was a real runner now. Did I miss it? Was it in the last few minutes of the podcast? I can't listen now, I'm being watched! Do I have to do it all again? I'm looking forward to telling Hubby what I've been up to all these weeks, possibly on his blog and in his Easter egg. 
After an unpromising start.......
W6R3
W6R3 complete - and my first run with Laura!
W4 r1 did it, did it, did it!!
