Earlier this week, Mr Big, the Capo Di Tutti Capi of our local running scene put out a call inviting the Soldato to attend a parkrun this weekend. I don’t like parkruns (he says having only done one) but I put my hand up as I knew it would do me good. Plus I like his company, and that of the Capo Bastone who also put his hand up (aka BGG). I also like cake.
However, as the week went on, I realised that the parkrun wasn’t going to fit into my schedule. The main reason being that on Sunday I plan to break the 15 mile barrier. This is a big physical and psychological barrier for me. It sounds almost glib amongst the giants of running who reside on this forum, but the furthest I have run is 14 miles… the 15 sits there like an impenetrable mountain, yet I know if I can break this, then the JS20 is mine for the taking.
So having given my apologies to Mr Big I decided to head out yesterday evening for some hill reps. Clearly, I need to work on firming up my flabby arse… a flabby arse I didn’t even realise I had until running with BGG last Monday.
As the weeks pass, I am slowly becoming fitter, which means that the little old hill just up the road doesn’t really cut the mustard now in terms of hill reps… so I headed to the bottom of the Downs at Kingston Ridge (the middle bit of the W as some of you know it as). I ran first up the eastern side and then down… then up the steep western side and down… before running back up the eastern side again… before heading home. I ran 5.5 miles and climbed 340 metres.
My arse feels better already.
August lashes out in volcanic fury
