|
Govember
Sunday morning running they call it. Meeting up at 8am on a SUNDAY MORNING to go running. Madness. COMPLETE MADNESS. But this is exactly what I did.
A cross country event was cancelled this weekend which left the Athletics club at a loose end, so it was decided to arrange a romp over the Downs. Meeting up at the Dorset Arms (which strangly isn’t open at 8am) I decided to run to the start line which put a mile on the clock before the gun had even fired. Surprisingly, given it was so early on a Sunday morning (have I mentioned that), quite a few people turned up and at 8:15 we were off, heading into the railway land and along the river to Rodmell, up the hill to say Hi to Derek Baker before turning north west up the yellow brick road and back along Juggs Lane into Lewes.
Now broadly speaking this is a route I’ve done many times, although I would usually travel a little further along the river to Southease and I’ve only ever done it the other way around. But all in all it is a route I'm comfortable with… I know pretty much every step and every puddle – there were a lot of puddles. But this was really tough.
It was on mile three along the river when suddenly it hit me. Like BGG earlier this week (and probably because I had been reflecting on his recent post) I realised that I too had been cruising. Yes, I’ve made some significant improvements over the last 12 months, but at the same time I have dropped into a rut… same runs… same pace… not dialling up the pressure. Moreover, apart from a few great runs early summer with the big man, the enjoyment had started to slip away.
This morning was different. It was tough I realised because the pace was quicker. I was behind the herd for most of the run… pushing hard to keep up. The leaders would reach the top and circle back around the slow coaches to keep themselves moving… pushing the miles. This morning I was on the edge just to keep within their slip-stream as they pulled away in the mist of the Yellow Brick Road. These are my trails and I am use to leading the way over them… but it's easy to fall into a false sense of achievement when you’re only leading yourself.
Running with the herd is a revelation to me… they keep me going at those points I would have otherwise have stopped. They’re good company… friendly, quick to provide words of encouragement, to chat about all manner of things. They sympathise but don’t let you give up. And they push boundaries that need to be pushed.
I arrived home covered in mud and completely buggered, but also happy and content. It was good running this morning… I finishing knowing I had achieved something. It’s the 1st November and I already have 10.5 miles in the bag… and not any old ten miles… I had to work for every one of them.
|
