Six Weeks Until The Great South Run
I looked up the lyrics for the song 'It's the Final Countdown' (the tune of said song now stuck in my head like warm chewing gum to jeans) and was quite saddened to discover quite how un-inspiring they really are. Despite believing that when sung at the top of my voice at various weddings, Christmas do's and other such events where cheesy songs were De rigour, it was A M A Z I N G.
Sadly no, it's cheese and is purely a tune that takes me back to another time.
10k, 6.21miles, quite a long way . . .
That's what I clocked up this morning. That's how far I ran without stopping, not even stopping for traffic. You must have seen them, those runners that jog up and down on the spot while waiting for a gap in the traffic. Yep, I do that now as well. Yep, I thought they looked like prats to.
This morning, 10k was my furthest distance to date and I feel quite proud, chuffed, ecstatic even. As the Great South Run looms, my training schedule increases. I never imagined that I would actually start to enjoy this running lark, that I would actually . . . well be excited by the prospect of a 10k run on a Saturday morning. I'm not really sure what's happened to me, I think I must have been invaded by aliens or is it simply an over 40 syndrome?
No longer are Friday nights, those boozy affairs and late night disco dancin till my feet were sore. Oh no, they are more likely to be NO booze, or maybe 1 pint, or 1 glass of wine and an early night as far as possible. All in an effort to get that 'PB'. Before I got into this lark, I'd over hear PB mentioned from time to time, and just thought it was a bit, you know, like, who cares if you knocked 10 seconds of your time, what's the big deal.
Yeah, well I've had to eat my hat, so to speak. Every second counts and as I've waited for my results to come through from 'parkrun', I've been waiting anxiously, thoughts running through my head; did I beat my last PB, it felt faster, maybe I shouldn't have had that glass of wine last night, was I last, oh my God am I getting slower?
So my 'parkrun' results so far have been:
14/07 - 38.52
04/08 - 40.01 (the night before this run, I'd had two large glasses of wine, gone to bed late and had been woken up about 2.30 by kids outside)
11/08 - 38.31
18/08 - 39.50 (this session I volunteered to be a pacer, and wanted to pace for 38, but was put down for 40)
25/08 - 38.20
01/09 - 37.54
08/09 - 36.47
All going, really rather remarkably in the right direction.
So increasing my running schedule has meant that 'parkrun' has taken a back seat, well at least in the short term anyway, until I've conquered the GSR at least.
My Bongadongs are no longer on fire
You'll be be very pleased to hear, a change of chest bindage was all that was required and to date I've not suffered the feeling that my boobs are being cut with a scalpel and acid poured in. Thank the Lord for the development of sports bras in stupid boob sizes.
So as my legs get stronger, my boobs hurt less, and my confidence soars my time to blog unfortunately decreases. Perhaps it'll just be short posts, maybe a post about another couple of seconds knocked off a race time, or perhaps a new bit of kit that has made my running a whole lot better.
So now I'm off to the pub to have myself a couple of those large glasses of wine in a congratulatory manner. You see, no running tomorrow, only homework.
So, if you'd just got that god awful song out of your head, just try and read the lyrics without hearing it. Oh, and good luck with getting that tune out of your head . . . again!
We're leaving together
But still it's farewell
And maybe we'll come back
To earth, who can tell?
I guess there is no one to blame
We're leaving ground
Will things ever be the same again?
It's the final countdown
The final countdown
Ohh
We're heading for Venus and still we stand tall
'Cause maybe they've seen us and welcome us all, yea
With so many light years to go and things to be found
(To be found)
I'm sure that we'll all miss her so
It's the final countdown
The final countdown
The final countdown
(The final countdown)
Ohh ho ohh
