I had a text message this week from my best friend. She isnt a best friend that i see all the time but i have known her since we started school a billion years ago. She now lives in Port. Lincoln in Southern Australia and moved there a while ago with her family.

Her test message read:

Hi sarah, am thinking of running the London 10K while we are back, would you be interested too? Takes a lot of the Olympic route! See you soon. Mel

Thats one way to announce that you are going to be in the northern hemisphere for a while! 😉

Much as i would LOVE to run a race with my school days friend…if its the only chance im going to get to see her while she is back from Aus. Then my plans would be less in the training shoes and lycra shorts and more towards pub lunch and large bottle of wine. Since she moved to Australia i have seen her one other time when she returned when my now 4 year old was a very small baby.

But pushing that aspect aside it made me think a little about races…you know….running races…

hundreds or thousands of people all lined up to pound a certain distance together at varying speeds and times.

Im just not sure its me.

I do run…

well…probably more like a cross between a run and a jog..

a rog…

or a jun…

😉

Im not going to set any records, except against myself, which i get great delight in when the cheery little voice on the nike app happily tells me ‘thats the fastest yet!” or “great run, go hit the showers!’  ( reassuring to know that they care about personal hygiene too!)

Anyway…I go…I shuffle around some miles or clicks..whichever measurement floats your boat and you know whats the best part for me?

The Solitude….

Being by myself.

I like the headspace. I listen to some music…and try to skip the kids stories that are on my iphone playlist…has to be said that charlie and lola don’t offer much motivation to keep on going!

I also go out at a very early time of the morning when it is quiet and there is hardly anyone around. I love that feeling of space.

Clear roads

Empty pavements.

The faint sound of birdsong.

and a great openness for my mind to trail off to…

might be ‘whats for dinner…’

might be ‘what should we do next’

might be ‘ how incredible is this world we live in..’

But its uninterrupted by distraction except that offered by the silence of a waking city.

Thats what im worried about loosing if i was to run with hundred of others…my sense in running is less a need for exercise (although thats obviously good) but its about finding a tiny moment of peace in my day which can very rarely be described as peaceful.

I think i would wonder whether I would in fact find any motivation in a race, swarming along like a mass of bees…or if i would just stop and pretend to be nursing an injury so that i could hide out at the back amongst the stragglers and see if i can search out some solitude running!

Maybe its the pure lack of competitive spirit i have. I have been passed by other runners while i am out and my pace has remained unchanged and my focus stays on what i am doing. Truly in a world of my own!

I have to say though that there are a few runners that i pass regularly and we often acknowledge each other with a little nod of a wave and its nice, a nano-second of community.

Hmmm…i cant decide.

I have made plans in the past to run in little 5k/10k type races but ive always drifted off the idea. Ive thought about running in a race with headphones and seeing if that would help me to zone out everyone else but i just can’t help but feel that, that would be a little rude to my other fellow runners. Like trying to ‘exclude’ them from this group experience seems like missing the point a bit.

Maybe this invite from my friend is the shove i needed to go for it and at least try.

We tell our kids about trying something at least once before you decide right?

Maybe time to do a bit of practicing what we preach..?

This week i had to include a clip from one of my ALL time favourite movies…

 

Right this week its my birthday and to offset all this talk of exercise I am having an extra special giveaway courtesy of HOTEL CHOCOLAT

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You can win a beautiful birthday gift box for you or for your loved one. Just follow rafflecopter and then be sure to check back for winners! Also announced on my Facebook page as well. Dont forget you can still enter to win a LUSH box of goodies and support a fantastic charity by clicking on this link

 

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway