Whatever You Say, Say Nothing

So what have I been doing for the last week?  Resting on my laurels?  No!  Last week I managed 8 miles - very slowly - in the bucketing rain at Tiratanaloka.  It was hard going though and I felt as if my legs belonged to someone else (much older) at the end.  This is how wet it was - I was able to wring water from my shirt as I was running, and the rain running into my ears kept washing my iPod earbuds out!!

At the moment I’m in Colchester and am about to do a 5 mile run on a mixture of pavement (not nice, lots of noisy traffic) and roads (through an army firing range which always lends a frisson of excitement to the proceedings). 

I’ve entered the Great Wales Run, a 10K race in Cardiff, on 27th July so I can see what it’s like running with lots of other people on an unfamiliar route.  Lots of advice and encouragement from the lovely Dee yesterday which was really helpful.  And thanks a million if you’ve sponsored me!

Well, an interesting morning!  6 of us from the community decided to go to the gym this morning - a larger number than usual, so we had to go in 2 cars.  On the way there we were joking about needing to do a head count before we came home.  This turned out to be slightly less amusing when, 2 hours later in the middle of breakfast, we discovered we’d left someone behind….

As I was on the way back to collect her, a car travelling rather too fast in the opposite direction on our narrow country road removed my wing mirror and then carried on without even slowing down.  Grrr!!!   Well, all that got the adrenalin going in a way the gym could hardly match.  I do notice that my muscles complain strenuously if I exercise before about 9am - aches, cramp etc.  I think they have a point.

Back to pounding the roads tomorrow.  I was disconcerted to find that the distance along the back road from Brecon to Talybont is only 4 miles - 13 miles is starting to sound like a long, long way!!  Any encouraging tips or comments gratefully received from anyone out there.

Well, run of course.  In the wind and the rain.  So here’s the latest progress report: 2 days ago I managed to run to Nick’s house and back - a total of 6.4 miles - hooray!  The bad news…? The length of time it took me to do so - over an hour (about 67 minutes if we’re being totally precise).  Still, I did do it without stopping.  Today I ran (I use the term loosely) 5 miles at a slightly faster pace.  This was ok I think as I was feeling pretty tired.  In the good old days I would have stopped after about 5 minutes and decided to do something a bit less strenuous instead, like reading the paper.  Listening to music while I’m out really helps too as I used to find the sound of my own rather laboured breathing really off-putting.  Talybont reservoir looks very beautiful even in wild and wet weather so that’s an added bonus.

Coming soon: dealing with unskilful mental states that arise when flies buzz round your head when you’re running.

…. attempt to raise money by asking you to sponsor me to do the Great North Run in October.  OK, pause for a moment while those of you who know me pick yourselves up off the floor.  It’s true I have never been a runner and I’m getting on a bit for starting this sort of malarkey.

But the money will go to a good cause - the bursary fund at Tiratanaloka, which we use to help women to come on retreat here, who would not otherwise be able to afford the cost.  This year we had someone come all the way from South Africa (she paid her own travel expenses and some retreat costs as well) just to be on one of our retreats. 

Some very generous retreatants who have just finished a 2-week retreat here today donated £46 so I’m off to a good start.  It also means I have to do it now!!

If you wish, you can donate through the JustGiving website by clicking here.  They will also gather gift aid if you are a UK taxpayer.

I’ve currently managed to work my way up from 1 mile (embarrassing) to 5 miles (slightly less embarrassing) but there is still quite a way to go before October.

I’ll keep you posted on my progress!!