All being well today was going to be the day I was going to go for a reboot run. My tummy has settled down and I’ve run out of excuses. The Too Fat to run Clubhouse session this week is to connect with the environment we run in and go for a run and take pictures and share them. That sort of sounded like fun and I thought that would work well for a reboot run because I could stop and take pictures and have a rest along the way.

I got changed and set off. My garmin is still being silly so when I try do an interval workout it resets itself. So I’d have to just not worry about intervals and walk when I want/need to or to take photos. I also put my phone in my running belt rather than pocked so I could get at it easily. By the time the watch had found the satellites I’d nearly caught up with a bloke walking two huge alsatians and I was too scared to run passed them so I turned off and walked down the steep hill instead. Then I started running.

And I kept on running. I felt great. I wouldn’t say it felt easy but it felt ok. I didn’t want to stop. I made my way through the little housing estate and was briefly stopped by a woman asking about venues/halls for hire in the area and then I got onto the canal towpath. My mind starting racing ahead, maybe I could run a full mile, maybe even two, or three, or 4. Yes I could try for 4. I kept having to pull myself back and remind myself to run the mile I was in. I plodded along  and the watch beeped for the first mile. On I went. I kept telling myself to slow down because I wanted to keep running and I was worried about going too fast. I did slow down but I don’t know by how much, haven’t checked the splits yet. But it all felt quite comfortable. I looked around. I noticed not only the ducklings but even counted them (11) and noted that one of them was bright yellow.

I saw more ducklings further along the canal, lambs in the fields on one side, people in their gardens on the other, people walking their dogs, chatting or checking phones, cyclists and one other runner and I wondered what their days had been like, what they were talking about or what the guy on his phone was watching as he walked along staring at the screen chuckling. Then the 2 mile beep brought me back from wherever my mind had wondered off to and decided to just keep running until the next bridge and turn round. I was beginning to think I might make it to 4 miles because I still felt amazing. I turned and kept going.

At about 2.6 miles there were some ominous and rather sudden rumbles in my tummy. I kept going. By 2.8 miles I knew there was going to be a toilet issues. 4 miles was out of the question but I was damn well going to try and get to 5k. I was seriously concerned as the 3 mile beep came but just gritted my teeth and kept running until I hit the 5k. Then I stopped dead and took a few deep breaths to assess any potential ‘damage’. It didn’t seem too bad and I figured I could walk home with dignity intact once everything had settled down.

So not the 4 miles I at some point decided I was going to try for but so much more than I planned when I set out and I loved it. I genuinely loved it. Pictures of my route will have to wait until another day!