Milestones

So I have made it to Week 15 of my 16 week training plan. Raise own right hand, bend at elbow, pat on back. I have to say I’m already a little bit proud and a whole lot tired.

 
Speaking of 15, this year marks 15 years of my love affair with running. Of course I had run prior to that, school cross country (propelled by the unfeeling Mrs Kimpton who is probably still a feature of many girls’ nightmare) and sport like most kids. However, not only was the effort despised, it was often interrupted with walking and always seemed like a chore. What I wouldn’t give to see the expression on Mrs Kimpton’s face today (my PE teacher for seven years), to tell her of my progression, weight loss and efforts of the last 15 years.

That first ‘real run’ is still clear as day. Urged on by a new uni acquaintance I hauled myself around Princess Park, managing the full lap without stopping. It wasn’t a pretty site but the feeling captured me. Inward satisfaction, self-control and an awakeness that made everything else in life seem a little easier. The back straight seemed to go on forever, the slight incline past the pond felt like a mountain and the tree that marked the finish point like the end of a marathon. But that was all it took and I was hooked. That park was influential for me and was my rock until I learnt to run for me anytime, anywhere. It was a safety net; the distance, the familiarity and the other people plugging away. If you told me at the end of that lap that I would go on to whittle that lap time down to a 13min something effort, run two marathons, subscribe to Runner’s World magazine monthly and consider buying a new sports bra over jeans, I would have laughed in your face. But I’ve now spent more of my life running than not and I feel like it is part of my fabric. The running leg of the half-ironman is the least of my worries, in fact I’m practically jumping out of my skin to complete it!