Are we nearly there yet?

Avid readers of my blog (ie me) know how I absolutely hate any of that running business.  And that swimming stuff.  And to be honest, I don't go a bundle on that cycling malarkey either.

But the run bit is at the end of the triathlon, when you've swum and cycled all your limbs into not talking to you any more.  You're almost there, and all you need to do is just another <insert distance that on paper looks small, but when it's between you and the cake waiting for you at the end of the triathlon appears to be a million miles away>, but your legs feel like bricks and your arse is on fire.  Really the last thing you want to do is run.  It takes an unbelievable amount of willpower, motivation and mojo-iness to ignore your smouldering arse and get those legs and arms pumping.  Or new shoes.  I've been relying on the new shoes method up until now, but shoes don't stay new forever.

I need to get me some of that willpower, motivation and or mojo-iness stuff.

They say that practice makes perfect.  Or in my case, practice means that at some point in the future I should be able to finish a triathlon with at least some dignity intact.  With more practice I might even upgrade to a slightly smaller and less smouldery bottom.  However the problem with practice is that you have to do more of that running business.  Avid readers of my blog (me for short) know that a few weeks ago I was three parkruns short of a free parkrun t-shirt.  And that there aren't many things I wouldn't do for a free t-shirt.

So, slightly confused by too many negatives in the last sentence, I set off on a couple of parkruns to see if they would or wouldn't help with willpower, motivation and/or mojo.  I even did a guest appearance at a different one.  I'm nearly there.

The Medina IOW result on paper looks awesome.  50th place eh?  And 18th woman?  However in real life it was one of the hardest 5k I have ever run.  First of all, it wasn't in Medina, but in Sandown.  Secondly it was by far the hilliest one ever.

I will shamelessly steal the race report written by the lovely, if slightly overenthusiastic junior parkrunner Elsie Lewis.

The Sandown Parkrun set off with a bang (like a volcano erupting), with the runners starting at a steady pace. Ray followed showing off his brilliant biking skills! This Parkrun was not only celebrated as the world’s hilliest run, but Tim Woods’ 180^th Parkrun. Wow!! Tim said that “the Los Altos course was like a ski resort”. (Ed - But with a distinct lack of  chairlifts)

The runners soon spread out as the course lead them through two and a half very hilly laps!! At this point we need to thank our very enthusiastic marshals and supporters who had a tricky job of making sure the runners all followed the correct route and didn’t miss out any climbs. (Ed - Yeah, thanks a lot marshals)

The weather was fresh and fairly windy, but regular runners did not hesitate to turn up. We had a total of 56 brave athletes altogether and 8 first timers (please come back - it will never be this hilly or hard again!).  (Ed - Not on your nelly) 

There was no surprise that nobody achieved a PB, but however we can definitely say that everyone got a PA (personal achievement)! He he he!! (Ed - More like "Heave heave heave" as my asthmatic coughing at the end of the longest 30-odd minutes of my life turned into a nasty retching noise.  I've renamed this particular one "pukerun"

OK, it was hell, and it was the longest 30-something minutes of my (parkrun) life.  But I did it.  And earned a bit of mojo.  And today willpower got me out of a nice warm snuggly bed and I did another one.  Next week motivation will get me a free t-shirt.