Just Run.

Having been priviliged enough to have company on my last two long slow distance runs I didn't feel all that inspired to go out and run alone this morning. Not to mention that it was 3C, windy and overcast and you can guess how (un)inspired I was. To psyche me up I put on my favourite tights from Craft, plugged in my iPod and set off aiming for at least 15k (my training programme said 8 miles). The first few kilometres I was waiting for the legs to feel tired and heavy, as it's been a while since I've had a rest day (bad, I know) but it just...never happened! Before I knew it I'd done 8k and since I wasn't the least bit tired or cold I decide to carry on. At 11k I still felt fine and perky but I decided to turn around anyway, and not overdo it. The run home was a delight, shuffle kept playing tunes and the legs just did their own thing...and for every step my smile got a bit wider. 2 hours and 7 minutes after I set out I was back home, heaps happier than before my run and 22.6 kilometres richer.  I also realized that this is why I love running - it makes me so god d*mn happy!

Ian, Me and that Eureka Moment.

Today it happened, that eureka moment when you finally get what your coach has been shouting at you for months! After having had moments in the past where I almost wanted to cry in the pool I today felt a bit like Ian Thorpe on the picture above. At the swim course I attend we do loads of drills and this afternoon we were doing a drill where we were to imagine pilling a zipper up along our sides, all the way up to our shoulder, before lifting the hand out of the water and completing the stroke. After a length of that coach Martin asked us to swim back and all of a sudden my body position improved heaps and I rolled much more smoothly, allowing my breathing just that tiny bit more of time that it needed. When I reached the end of the pool I (almost) punched the air - it felt like a proper breakthrough in my front crawl training. At the end of the session coach Martin told me that my stroke was 'beautiful' and I don't think I've ever been more genuinely happy for a compliment...front crawl for me has been/is blood, sweat and tears but maybe, just maybe, I will conquer it!