A little insight into what goes on in my head…

It’s not a very well known fact, but I actually hate running. Abhor it even.

I’m not built for it. I’m built for reclining on an ornate piece of furniture and having peeled grapes fed to me. For the observant amongst you, you will be able to spot that the aforementioned statement is not exactly true. It’s just that I don’t *enjoy* running. At the best of times I think it’s over rated. At the worst of times I’d rather have my eyes gouged out with hot spoons.

However I do have to admit that the net result once I’ve been running is always a good one. I’m very red in the face, I generally look terrible and smell really bad, but my head is always totally, completely and utterly sorted.

Last night was a case in point – training session numero uno – 4 miles to be done according to the plan. Trot down to the gym – which was incredibly busy – baggsied the last running machine (of the 17 available!) and plugged myself in. 6.5km at 10km per hour pace with a 1.0 incline for those that are interested. Easy.

My personal trainer – Jon – popped by for a chat at about 2km. Bless him – he is very young and doesn’t quite grasp the fact that when I’m running having a chat simply isn’t a priority. Breathing is my main focus. So we had a rather one sided conversation and he got bored and left me to crack on with the job at hand.

Anyway – the mental bit – what I love about running is that it gives me time to switch off and have a good think about *stuff*. I rarely get any time to do this during the day – which is a bugger as my job kind of demands a bit (for this read a lot) of thought – and its novel to be able to stare vacantly into the middle distance and ponder the detritus that floats around in my head; What did that person mean when they said that? How am I going to approach this project at work? How can I re-arrange my life so that I can get time to see all the people I like hanging out with? How many km have I run exactly and how much further do I have to go? (My brain doesn’t do maths when I am running…)

Whatever I think about – and it’s usually pretty random as is my wont – the thing that makes me grin and actually makes me want to run again is the fact that I feel quite calm and at peace with my world by the time I finish.

Oh and for the record I didn’t do 4 miles last night – I did 4.6 miles instead. No doubt about it – I’m bloody good.