Running Nirvana and Om...elette.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Running Nirvana and Om...elette.

It's a gorgeous, sunny morning; about 8 a.m. post-run and with the joy of no work commitments ahead of me until tomorrow. I'm in the kitchen about to feast on a well-earned breakfast. I look at the small mountain of grated cheese, diced ham, parsley and tarragon (home-grown, of course) and a beautiful, thinly sliced mushroom that I'd piled onto the omelette in the pan, and wonder how I am going to fold the unencumbered half of it over the Matterhorn of delicacy awaiting its blanket. However, in the happiness that is that post-run euphoria where everything seems to just work out fine, the spatula lifts the omelette easily over itself and covers the ham, cheese, herb and mushroom exquisiteness with ease. Another minute and it's done. Usually, forty seconds would suffice, but I'd overloaded it in my exuberance and so added the extra seconds, and lo, it is wonderful, worthy of any bistro you might find on Paris's Rue de Rivoli, or so it seems to me in my runner's high.

I'd not planned to resurrect my running seriously until next week when I begin three weeks of much-needed annual leave, but today was the running of the Almeria Medio Maraton, and my not being there again this year somewhat got the better of me. And so I donned my 2017 Almeria finisher's shirt and pounded out a serious run, the first such earnest effort in several weeks; oh, I'd jogged a little here and there in the interim, but this was the first time I had run with the intention of completing a set distance at a decent pace, otherwise known as proper, actual running. This was achieved (albeit a modest 7 kilometres), and the resultant flood of endorphins and the general feeling of dizzying excellence has left me shaking my head in disbelief that I let this running habit decline at all.

Anyway, I've one more week of early starts, two nights shifts and then I have a blissful three weeks of regular sleep, freedom from work, and no plans other than to take the opportunity to properly kick start my running campaign again. The objective is simply to once more to become that half-marathon-ready runner, and more importantly, experience all the health benefits that readiness brings.

And I might make a few more omelettes. Petit-déjeuner, n'importe qui?