I don’t really understand time. How is it that when I was a kid I could explore whole worlds in a day, summers lasted lifetimes and double maths on a Saturday (yes Saturday!) morning could drag on for what seemed like weeks. Now, some meetings feel like those double maths lessons but mostly the weeks just fly by. It was February a minute ago and I’m sure Kath’s little big run and that core class I wrote about were really just yesterday… Obviously they weren’t but the week has once again just disappeared.

So after Monday’s core class I did absolutely naff all exercise wise until Thursday. Tuesday was busy at work and I had a work thing in the evening. I had intended to get up and run before heading into work but that actually requires waking up and getting out of bed and I just couldn’t bring myself round enough to make that happen. Same thing on Wednesday. At least on Tuesday I did walk a fair bit but on Wednesday I think I barely broke 4000 steps. Thursday I also didn’t do much but went to a Mind class at the gym. The class was actually nice and stretched out some areas that needed it but it was full of chatty women and I was not feeling sociable. Friday we went to yoga first thing and I do love that yoga class. It’s calm and structured and clear. After that we had therapy at Bolton Abbey and while Kath was in her session I went for a little run. It was the first time with the next set of intervals on the Couch to 5km plan and the first time in ages I had a real inner dialogue. It went something like this.

• I’m supposed to walk for 5 minutes but I’ve set the intervals already and set the watch, the intervals don’t fit into 5 minutes
• Then walk for 3.5, that fits
• Ok
• 90 seconds running is 30 seconds longer than 60 seconds running
• yes, yes it is. I can’t breathe
• My legs are heavy
• Can’t breathe
• Eek – dog
• Fuck still 50 seconds to go, I’ve been running forever
• Can’t do it, still 40 seconds to do
• Get a grip
• Can’t, too hard. Might need to stop… ooh beeps

That first interval was ridiculous. I was unsettled, breathing was awful and my legs were uncooperative. I really thought I might need to give it up I felt so terrible. I walked the 2 minutes and when the beeps came for the 90 second run, I set off tentatively. I felt ok though. Running on grass definitely felt harder than the road running I have been doing but it also felt nice. I also died on every little slope and there was a fair amount if huffing and puffing. I ran some completely random circles across the grass to not get tangled up with dog walkers and overall I wouldn’t say I particularly enjoyed it even if it was a lovely day in a lovely place.

However, it was a nice opportunity to test out some trail shoes I have had for a while but hardly worn because mostly I have been running on road or canal towpath. They were good – in fact they felt better on the grass than they did when I wore them last weekend where I was on hard compacted paths. Anyway, I was supposed to run for 90 seconds and walk for 2 minutes five times. In the end I did that 7 times because that took me back to the car in a loop. I struggled with it but it’s done and it was just one of those runs that just needed to be over. It was also another example of how weird time is. That first and last 90 second runs went on for months! The 2 minute walks were over in a flash mostly but the one after the 3rd run was so long I checked my watch to make sure I hadn’t missed the beeps.

I am back to road running today because I am going to combine running with running some errands (so literally running errands?). I’ll let you know how it goes.