First training run

Yesterday would have been the day of the Great North Run.

What I mean is that it was the Great North Run but I didn't take part. Why? Well I had a nagging injury over the summer and couldn't train the way I should have. Also my big boy left home yesterday to go to Bournemouth University. And I had to be there with him. So, what with not being trained properly and having to untie those apron strings, I didn't quite make the grade.

However, I did start training for my big marathon run today. It should have been an 8 miler but somehow in the grief of yesterday's leaving, I managed to make it 8 1/2. The funny thing is I always feel like shit during the first 30 minutes. It is uphill all the way (both literally and figuratively) and I always feel like I am a big overweight out-of-shape couch potato. And then something sweet happens. I run along a piece of walkway that was christened the viaduct (by my ex-running mate Tim) and think of my lovely tri-coach dara at the top as I gaze across London. And something clicks. And the running is easier. Not only have I completed all the uphills by then (apart from the undulations of the woods) but I have warmed up and into the run.

It's at times like this that I feel that I really will make the 26 miles that make up that marathon. And I will complete the marathon journey to get me there.

With a little help from my friends that is.