Run

#ihaterunning is a hashtag that I used to use a lot. I stand by it. Except I don’t. I actually like running. I like it so much that I’ve now started to use #5in25 – this is to mark my goal of finishing a 5k run in under 26 minutes (yes, 25.59 will count) and when/if achieved, I will attempt to step up to 10k.

For the third time in a row this week (a PB on its own), using my one-a-day allocation, I set off for my regular 5k route and being enabled to do so by the absence of traffic, I jogged in the middle of the road, quickly settling into a comfortable pace.

The sun shone down and as I looked to my left, two lovely rainbows had been drawn and stuck up in one of the many bay windows that line the street. AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long” blasted in my ears and as my breathing found its pace, the combination of these fleeting glances and sensations gelled into a wave of euphoria coursing its way through my system.

Once more people smiled, waved and nodded as I continued on my way, no sense of the overarching tension, fear and uncertainty here, just solidarity: we’re all in it together. Play by the rules and we’ll get through it, maybe even helping others along the way. Wouldn’t that be nice?

Speaking with a colleague earlier today and she voiced her fears about putting on weight over the coming weeks, whilst I sympathised with her Grinchian condition – “am I eating ‘cos I’m bored?” – I encouraged her to use her one-a-day to really stretch her legs with a jog. I don’t think she was buying it. Yet.

It feels bizarre to say it in the current circumstances, but it has been a very long time since I felt in such good shape in both body and mind. Moreover, I would have to go further with no alternative but to grudgingly admit that running with all its heavy-breathing, vein-popping, lung bursting, sweating in the eyeing and general ludicrousness has played a tremendous part in that. Stoopid running.

Stay healthy.

#iloverunning #5in25