There is no time to waste. I've just jumped out of a quick shower after my run and I've not had such an urge to write since before the exams - time is of the essence people! You might gather that this was no ordinary run. I've been watching tennis, reading, drinking coffee etc all day today and I suddenly had this urge to go for a run. For whatever reason the monsoon that is taking place just now drew me outside and as quickly as I could have said 'I can't be bothered' I was in shorts and t-shirt, ready to take on the world.
One of the great things about where I live is that I can go left or right out of my house and run as far as I want to depending on how I feel. I am a what you might call a 'multi-route runner' meaning that I can plan my run as I'm doing it if I'm not sure how fit I am before I set out. Today I was unsure because I've not been out since last week and I spend the whole weekend sitting down and drinking beer - well almost all weekend. On top of that I've spent all of today in a similar position tanking about 5 cups of coffee before Federer had even tied his head-band. I think you get the picture that I was unsure how my body would react to physical exertion.
The first 10 minutes was, to my dismay, pretty dry. The only moisture that I had on my body was either from me or a splodge falling from the trees that I was running under. This may sound mad but I had left with the intention of getting wet because I always feel I can run further in those conditions. By the way it's also not that cold outside so those of you that thought 'shorts and a t-shirt? He must have lost his mind!' can rest easy - thanks for the concern.
The rain finally came and my legs were turning over better than I've been able to get them to for quite a while. As I said, I prefer these conditions for running; certainly more than I like running when it's sunny. I could feel my clothes starting to stick to me: a salty mixture of sweat and rain bonding together, bonding me to my chosen apparel. My lungs, one of my worst enemies when I'm running, also seemed to be ticking over just nicely with the moisture in the air helping to keep everything in working order. Only towards the end of my run after a soft incline did I start to feel them burn to the point where I had to slow down a bit. I'm not asthmatic but I'm often not very good at pacing myself or at least adapting my running to the weather conditions. When it's wet outside and not too warm, there is little else to think about than where you are going to run.
I think I ran further today than I have done for a very long time. In fact I'm sure the last time I ran that far was when there was similar weather over the Christmas holidays. At that point I would have had the desirable wet weather but it would have been mixed with that cold air that burns the lungs to the point where you think they are on fire. Today's conditions were excellent as far as I'm concerned, hence the reason why I went as far as I did.
With those first 10 minutes giving me enough confidence in my fitness I decided to take a scenic route. I passed many places that hold memories including the place where I played my first ever football game (from the bench, of course) in the field behind my old house, my primary school (which looks pretty much the same) and a few houses that hold memories that always come back to me when I walk, or run, past them. Sitting in the house all day, it is easy to forget what is out there just a few minutes away. A whole childhood, an almost full set of teenage years and a feeling that this place that I call home has not yet yielded all that it has in store for me - I have to wonder if it ever will.
Yes, OK, it was just a run. People do it all the time and don't go on about it half as much as I have. However those people will probably just come home, not think about the run itself and get on with their lives. I've said it many times before but I am a thinker and always will be so even a run - especially a run in fact - will get my brain going. Also I've been reading a lot more in the last week which is always likely to whet my appetite to write myself. Heck this is the second blog post that I've written in the last 5 hours.
Thanks for reading and the next time it is raining get on your running shoes and see where it takes you!
Martin
