Week 11
It’s 5:15am. It’s pitch black outside, moonless and cloudy. I’m in the middle of listening to a threatening voicemail sent to one of my clients from the other side when I hear my name whispered from outside. I nearly jump out of my skin until I realise that it’s not a henchman sent to ‘stop’ me from appearing at a hearing the next day, but my neighbour, Mr Motivator, wondering if I too was crazy enough to go for a run. I was.
Ordinarily the thought of running with an ironman would fill me with dread, but Mr Motivator graciously slowed down so I could join him for the first part of the 7 mile run (he went on to finish his 7 mile run and then join his son for a cheeky 5km race – obviously). Luckily I had taken him up on his offer, as he was prepared for the inky gloom with a head torch (I naively thought the glow of my neon top would guide me away from the potholes and chickens). Despite his light I still managed to run through a huge puddle within 2 minutes of the run – nice. It was great running with someone else. Not only did it make it so much easier, but I ran faster and realised that I was fitter than I thought I was – if you can continue a conversation whilst trekking up a ridiculous hill you’re doing ok.
Others have run with me on my journey – Mr Motivator’s wife (she of ‘Dope legging’s fame’), started the training programme with me, making sure that I didn’t get ahead of myself and generally putting the world to rights as we jogged / plodded along before work.
Perhaps my most ‘rock-star’ buddy run was with my friend who lives on a neighbouring island. There’s something very cool about getting on a boat to a 5 star resort to run around the island with the millionaires, before taking a boat back to reality (well, the next-door paradise).
Running buddies are awesome. They encourage you, push you to go faster and make the run feel like much less of a chore. I’ve managed to persuade (well, bully) another friend into doing the half marathon with me, so am looking forward to another RB….but until then I’ll have Shaka Khan to inspire me.
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Mr Motivator?! I love it. Great name. Of course I remember THE Mr Motivator with a Lycra onesie. Did you get one of those?
Thankfully my Mr Motivator doesn’t wear THE onesie, but I wouldn’t put it past him!