Catching the first leaf

Date: Monday, September 3, 2018

Distance: 5.83 miles/9.38 km

Listened to: Thirty Seconds to Mars playlist

Every year, my daughters, Ella and Maggie, my husband John and I try to catch one of the first leaves that fall from the trees at the end of summer. Cue lots of leaping around like seals out of water, pathetically trying to land the fabled good luck for the rest of the year.

On my second run of my 50-mile September challenge, a leaf flew right into my hand without me even trying. Was it a sign? A message from Dad? Or was it the luck I was going to need to climb the ridiculous hill from The Hen House to Belle Hill?! More on that later.

I spent this run ruminating about the fact that if I was a runner just starting out, my mileage count so far would not fill me with confidence that I truly understood the pain and uncertainty of just starting out. So where did my running journey begin?

I began running on a treadmill about 13 years ago (it has been a long journey). My husband was working overseas and was away for long spells of time. Ella was in nursery or with a childminder, so I did not have any time to myself after work. I began doing 20-minute sessions in my lunch break. These runs were at a stellar 7k per hour pace but I could keep moving and it did the job.

Then I did what any sensible new runner did and immediately signed up for a 10k. What was I thinking? I did do a few runs outside to prepare myself for the undulating course around Althorpe in Northamptonshire but in the fortnight before the race, I caught a cold, then a developed a wheeze, then I went for a last-minute panicked run, then I ended up at the doctor’s before leaving with the strongest asthma drugs I have ever taken. The doctor wagged his finger at me and told me in no uncertain terms that I should never run with cold. Paula Radcliffe wouldn’t, apparently. I pulled out of the race and stopped running.

When I moved to Devon, I began plodding on the treadmill again. Starting at 7.5k per hour this time. Woo-hoo…such a speed demon! I did a Race for Life in Exeter in memory of my grandmother and to celebrate my sister-in-law’s cancer survival, but did not really enjoy it. I was scared of running outside alongside others.

I booked in to do another Race for Life in Plymouth a few years later but suffered a stress fracture in my ankle during training, so pulled out of this one too and took up swimming.

Then in March last year, I ran 10k on the treadmill. It took me just over an hour, but at the hour mark, the treadmill kept trying to slow down and stop. I think it was trying to tell me something. GET OUTSIDE! So I did. Little by little; step by step. My first run outside was with my super-fit husband and my daughter on her bike. It was awful. So, I went out the following day and did the run again on my own and it felt better.

For whatever reason, I have not given up this time and this stubbornness was compounded when my Dad became really sick.

So you see, even though I ran 5-ish miles this time, this has been a long time coming and a very slow journey, which has encountered a few bumps along the way.

BUT nothing like the ‘bumps’ I encountered yesterday! I decided to tackle one of the most notorious hills in Kingsbridge. Known locally as Piggy Lane (it’s next to an old abattoir) or Cardiac Hill, it is gruesome (see above). Definitely a walker for me! Then I thought I would have a quiet shuffle down the lovely country road to The Hen House only to encounter a mile-long shocker to come out the other side. This is not a hill…this is a cliff face. See the red bit on my run route below. I went from the very bottom of Kingsbridge to the very top. However, the two-mile downhill run afterwards was glorious, if not slightly hairy due to the traffic.

It wasn’t an easy run. I think I still had Saturday’s in my legs but, more than that, the 10.5 hours of sitting in the car and day at my desk. My legs always feel stiff and swollen after a day at work. When I set off, I felt like a snail and felt like turning back to the comfort of my kids and my sofa. The challenge kept me going though. I walked up two of the worst hills ever, I ran roads I had never run before…and I caught my first leaf. Result.

If you want to tell me about the shocking hills in your life, I am all ears! Just leave a comment. Sharing is caring 🙂

#slowchick #slowrunningisbetterthannorunning #itsoktowalk #runningfordad #catchthefirstleaf