Milestones, fun runs and gastrolyte

Yet again a lapse between blogs, but have had my head down the toilet with the fabulous gastro bug that swept through Canberra recently. The plus side was that I caught up on a few DVDs that have bee sitting around and have deepened my appreciation of my toothbrush, gastrolyte and ritz biscuits.

The last 10 days or so have been ones full of milestones – I finally hit the official halfway mark in my weightloss (25kg down, 25 to go). It is partly great and partly disheartening. The great part is that I’ve lost 25kg, the disheartening part is that I still have to lose 25kg (at least). I know that sounds really silly, but that’s the way it goes. Another milestone was also achieved – I ran in the Canberra Times fun run with my best friend, Sue. We both agree that the concepts of “fun” and “run” are ones that really never were meant to meet : an oxymoron at best, a completely sadistic idea at worst. Still, I’m the one who suggested it to Sue and then signed us up online so early we had the race bib numbers 13 and 14, so I can’t whinge that much. Someone at work asked me on the Friday what my race plan was. I burst out laughing until I realized they were serious and were waiting to hear my answer. So I told them, in all seriousness, my plan was to stand behind the sign that said “start”, start running when the gun went off, put one foot in front of the other until I passed the sign that said “finish”. My main focus during the race would be making sure I moved enough air into my lungs so I at least remained an attractive shade of purple and, if there was enough energy left, not slipping on the reflective cat’s eyes along the road. This was a specialty of mine in the dim, dark past when I did a fair bit of road running. Looks spectacular (especially if it is raining – those cat’s eyes are like polished glass and you can achieve a cartwheel that a Russian gymnast would be proud of) and often got me a round of applause from those driving past in cars. It was around this stage that this person worked out I was having a bit of fun with them and went off in a huff. Way too serious, some of these runners. I’ve seen myself running and it can’t be described as anything except bloody funny, so I really don’t see what all of the furrowed brows and earnest conversation is about. Also, let’s face it – looking at me, most normal people can work out I’m not going to be braking any land speed records.

Anyway, the run ranged from good to “why did I ever think this was a good way to spend a Sunday morning?????” and I crossed the line in 77 minutes, which I am really happy with. 7 Months ago I couldn’t run more than 500m without having to stop and walk, so 10km is a big achievement. That said, once I crossed the finish line, I staggered around a bit and then had a little sit down on the grass, which was a big mistake because getting back up necessitated a lot of those involuntary noises that tend to come out of you when your muscles really would prefer you to just lie still for a little bit longer. It doesn’t matter that a whole lot of other runners are coming through behind you and may just trample you a bit, it really is better just not to move. I think it sounds a bit like “huraighph” and is often accompanied by a fair bit of levering yourself off your knees and wandering around with hands on hips. Very elegant. One thing that was really great was at the finish line, Tim and the kids were waiting and cheering me on. Something like that makes you feel like the Olympic marathon champion. A very puffed, tired, about to throw up marathon champion, but marathon champion none the less.