I must be getting better at running, because this weekend I had energy while battering my body around the streets of Hounslow to note a promising looking skip full of pallets (raised beds ahoy), admire a pretty oleander, and earmark a bush covered in juicy fuchsia berries for guerrilla jam-making.
At least two people have inquired how the training is going for the Trees for Cities 5k Treeathlon I'm running in, eek, four weeks time. Well, I'm so scared of not being able to get through the whole distance that I'm upping my mileage dramatically every time I run. According to the Couch-to-5k online running trainer I'm using, the way to do it is to get up to running for 30 minutes by doing intervals with walking in between. Hurray! My trainer told me to walk some of the way! 
My biggest fear currently is being seen by any of my neighbours who will tease me mercilessly, so 7.30am and 11pm runs are pretty much obligatory. One thing I am convinced about is the power of having entered for a run on a particular day: Trees for Cities Treeathlon is a gentle jog around Battersea Park compared to most of the sporting events that we've watched this summer, but the thought of messing it up entirely fills me with the requisite motivation to get out of bed and run. Ooh, that, and being more like Cheryl Cole.
PS. Don't forget that if you want to do the run and you're in Leeds or Manchester, the dates are later - Leeds is the 28th September, and Manchester doesn't race till the 5th October. Ages!
My stepson Gavin, who runs marathons and things, says that alternating walking and running is much better than running - and more difficult, apparently. (Not sure why, but that what I tell everyone who asks me why I don't run all the way round the common.) He says don't worry about what all those other joggers and runners think, they probably drop back into a walk the minute they get round the corner. And as for the neighbours, have you seen them running?
Posted by: Victoria | Tuesday, 26 August 2008 at 03:10 PM