Another lunchtime run, on the day that marks the start of the Hal Higdon
training programme for runners of London 2003.
I thought it was cold last week, but wow, I wonder how many novice
marathoners are beginning to envy those whose rejection letters have been arriving in the last few days?
Imagine taking a turkey out of the oven on Christmas Day and sticking it straight into the freezer. Today, I was that turkey.
The small office I’m working in has a heating problem, and today the temperature must have been in the 90s. By one o’clock I was fed up with it, and decided to go for my run. And so a few moments after emerging from the sauna of the office, I found myself, half naked, in the car park, in temperatures hovering around freezing point.
Crikey! I was too cold to realise that I should have been unhappy. I think my misery glands must have been instantly frozen as I staggered into the world outside – a bit like those peas in the TV adverts. Before I knew it I was walking quickly, then sort of ambling, and I don’t recall much else.
I do recollect coming across three aliens from outer space. Hooded figures, stumbling about, seemingly unable to see through their protective garb. Don’t ask me what gender or age they were. As I tottered past, I think I heard one of them sort of moan and croak: “Greetingzzz, Earthlinggg. We are visitorzzz from Planet Zarkonnn. We are hungreee. Take us to your larderrr. I mean, leaderrr..”
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not normally averse to administering a spot of inter-galactic diplomacy in my lunchtime, but today I was otherwise engaged.
Not much else happened. Probably. I’ve been trying to defrost the few fragments of memory that remain from the jaunt. I saw a dog in a tree. Or did I? Some pigeons the size of… pigeons. And an elderly lady waving a copy of the Daily Mail at a bush.
In the meantime, I ran for 42 minutes, which I am going to class as three and a half miles as it was an exceedingly leisurely jog.
Oh God, another run tomorrow. With a bit of luck I’ll be bitten by a rabid spider in the night.
