Thank goodness it is no longer half-term! Getting through a half-term while run streaking was a challenge and I am already worrying about how I will make it through the summer holiday marathon training…let alone run streaking! Anyway, today (day forty-two of my run streak) I dropped Poppy off at Steiner and I went for a run. A really good run. As I slogged up Stonegate early on I didn’t know it was going to be a good run, particularly when I inadvertently drafted an old lady on a mobility scooter up the hill. She was puffing away and her second hand smoke made me want to vomit…not the best start to a run. As I pushed on up the hill a beautiful and very strong tailwind appeared out of nowhere and literally pushed me all the way to the top of the hill, not the fake summit of Stonegate, but all the way to the mini roundabout at the top! I felt like I was flying, I could take on the world!
Obviously my legs were still turning over and I was pushing (I
was meeting Helen Williams straight after the run and hadn’t mapped the route.
It’s an old marathon training run of mine so I had a rough idea of mileage/time
but didn’t want to be too late). I remember
thinking ‘I’ve flown up that hill, I hope my legs feel a bit more like they’re
working or I’ll have to really push it up King Lane because I’m looking forward
to that feeling of hard work and tired legs’. That really scared me! Running
hard and really pushing myself has become a comfortable feeling. Not only has
it become a comfortable feeling but I’ve started to enjoy it! In fact I think
that this feeling may be the very bit that I’ve become hooked on! I needn’t
have worried, there was such a strong headwind as I ran up King Lane that at times
I was running completely flat out and was making no progress at all. It was an
incredible feeling! I shared a moment with a young tree that knew exactly how I
felt as we each tried not to get blown over!
As I was about to run onto The Ave a kind lady waved me
across in front of her car, only then I realised that she wasn’t, she was
waving hello! I was very excited to see the gorgeous Sophie Rugg for a very
mini running chat. Encounters like these make me really appreciate the Leeds
running community. I love it when Leeds feels like a pretty small, and very
supportive, place.
After running for forty-five minutes I realised that I had
forgotten to have a proper breakfast. I had eaten half a mango as I was getting
Poppy’s breakfast ready but I had meant to have something before I left the
apartment only I’d forgotten. Not the best when heading out for a long run, I
knew that soon all I would be thinking about was food!
As I ran into Alwoodley the wind died down and there was
something poignant about the stillness of the wind on these Tory lined streets and
the stark contrast to the wild strength and momentum the wind carried all
through the Labour lined streets earlier in my run. I only hoped that this was
reflective of tomorrow’s vote, although really, I have tried to avoid thinking
about it as I daren’t have faith in this country after our recent record of
terrible decision making!
Like a Tory term in government the Alwoodley section of the
run was longer and felt worse than I had remembered or hoped it would be. Long
drags uphill and old men smiling as they stand still to watch you run past as
they stare at your chest. I decided today was not a day for the opulence of
Wigton Lane (Throwback! Does anyone still do House Porn runs on Wigton Lane? I
haven’t heard about them for AGES!) so I headed back towards Meanwood on the
A61.
The only thoughts that occupied my mind as I headed back
were those about food. I planned to panic buy some food at Waitrose on my way
to meet Helen in the park. I reckoned a banana and a pot from the salad bar filled
mainly with Greek salad would just about be amazing. Once I’d decided on what
to look forward to then my mind turned to food I had taken on previous runs. I
remembered one eighteen miler where all I’d taken was a mini bag of Milky Way
stars. I remember eating a few and being really annoyed on discovering that
there was just no substance to them. I think I was somewhere around Eccup
Reservoir and I may have shouted ‘THEY’RE JUST FULL OF F**KING AIR’ to help get
over the disappointment of not taking a gel or any real sustenance with me as I
felt my legs tiring after nine miles but knowing that I had another nine to run.
In contrast I remember running through morning sickness when I was pregnant
with Poppy: I couldn’t even run 5km without eating a chocolate bar as I ran, if
I stopped eating I would be sick! I used to love those pregnant marathon
training runs. I would do a proper food shop half way round! My favourite thing
on long runs were salted squares. I realised one day I may have gone too far
when I walked out of the supermarket with a bag of Nice ‘N’ Spicy Nik Naks, a
packet of Jaffa Cakes and a bottle of apple juice. Slightly excessive for a sixteen
mile run but what the hell…I was growing a human!
On the final stretch down towards Waitrose, the sound of the
wind rushing against my ears and tossing about the trees really made me feel alive.
I really felt a sense that the world was moving. I was moving. Always moving.
The one thing my journey has taught me is not to stand still. I thought of how
I’ve moved through my journey in the past two years: some tentative steps
facing the world as a single parent and the enormity of the task ahead, some
brave steps, some bold steps out running with tears streaming down my face,
some crawling barely going anywhere - convinced I was surely going backwards.
But I wasn’t, always forwards and at the moment I can really feel it. I feel my
strength, my momentum and my joy.
I am always moving forwards... and at the moment I am flying.
