Firstly: CONGRATULATIONS to all those clever people who ran the bath 1/2 Marathon on Sunday. I'm very proud of my lovely friends who all raised money for worthy causes whilst running round Bath on a Sunny Sunday morning. I know its horrid running that far and I know you all run faster and harder than I do so have the utmost respect for you. My week however wasn't so buoyant – bitter would be a better way to describe my frame of mind! Recently I am becoming increasingly bitter about the effects all this running is having on my body and indeed my life. The social life (or lack of) issue is one I am gradually getting used to as the marathon ebbs ever nearer and the point at which I get my life back comes with it! However the limp and lifeless hair I am not getting used to, and this is going to take some repairing post Marathon to get it back to its original glossy cute bob that it was not so long ago. A girl with a strict beauty regime I have always washed my hair every other day; I'm not sure when or who told me this was the best thing to do but it had always worked from me, not stripping my chocolate locks of their essential oils on a daily basis had helped me to culture a head full of thick glossy hair. Washing it everyday - sometimes twice - has made it dull and flat. In fact I wouldn't blame it for falling out the abuse it’s getting at the moment. Then I come to my skin - Salt is not good for it! Not my complexion anyway; the daily dose of salty sweat and rubbing - me wiping by brow on every third step - has given me a combination complexion nightmares are made of! Dry and oily and spotty all at once! There are no creams to remedy this - one counteracts another and you end up in the reverse sorry mess having spent a small fortune on lotions and potions to solve the problems! This is not even mentioning the fact I go bright red when running and am trying to find a product I can apply to my face to cover this on race day so I don't look entirely dreadful in the official photographs! Mere foundations won't cut it in this situation and that’s melted off my face 0.4miles into a run!! And don't even get me started on the fact that even waterproof mascara doesn’t seem to be sweat proof!! I'm considering eyelash extensions for the race as these can create the look of mascara with out the need for any; meaning I'll hopefully avoid the panda eyes look whilst participating in the race! The only problem being this costs more than the running outfit I am yet to purchase!
And then I come on to other runners.... In the beginning I wanted to stop and chat to all the other runners and congratulate them on there efforts running round the bypass. In my mind they must also be training for the marathon - what other possible reason would they have for running laps of bypass on a January evening when it’s so cold it hurts your lungs to breath! But no it seems these people do it for fun; and its catching!! As the days have got longer and the weather less Antarctic in its feel more of the cheery freaks can be passed when running loops of said bypass.
Now I have always had a small issue running with others around me; the site of the running club fills me with dread and other runners I feel look on with a critical eye that just makes me want to crawl home and watch reruns of "Friends" instead of training. However a few weeks ago I began to feel I belonged! Other runners had taken to waving at me when we passed, a cheery wave and hello was a nice change for me; and although not the full on ‘so you're running the marathon too’ chats I’d imagined, it was still a bit of contact and like being shown a clubs secret handshake - I really felt I had crossed a bridge on the running front and been accepted into their clique!
Fool!! Of course I wasn’t one of them – for a start I don’t even have the right kit – they all wear proper running things and they all wear the same thing like a uniform it seems there is no room for personal style in these running cliques. And more importantly I don’t always run! This means that I don’t always get a wave! There appears to be a running etiquette attached to the acknowledgement of other people when running:
If other person running = hand up say ‘hi’
If other person walking = Scowl and shame them out of waving at you!!
One chap who had waved on my previous lap when I was running actually did a proper scowl when I went to wave at him!! He may as well have wagged his finger at me like a headmaster would a naughty child. Mortified I began to run again and prayed I didn’t see him on the next lap.
Then you have the running clubs – who think they are gods’ gift to the frigging bypass!! – And if you hadn’t already noticed here is where my bitterness really sets in. The bad hair; crappy skin; red face; puffy panda eyes and public shunning by other runners wasn’t enough to push you over the edge. The running club heading towards you making no effort what so ever to move over so you can pass each other using the pavement was! No the egotistical F*ck Whit’s just ran straight at me forcing me on to the pot hole filled, dog poo covered grass verge!! Oh I was savage; it took all my will power – which, if you’ve been following for a while you’ll know I don’t have a lot of - not to turn about face and yell expletives at them as they ran off down the bypass.
My bitterness has now turned into runners turrets; adding swollen lips to my list of running aliments as I bite my lip to stop myself swearing at other runners that pass me by!
So, rant over here is the week’s results:
Running: 30.4miles – with one whopper of a 15mile run completed on Thursday night! Apart from the turrets at other runners this weeks running was actually bearable in terms of the physical completion of the miles – the repercussions mentioned above not so great.
Weight: with all the other problems mentioned in this week’s blog I felt it best not to tip myself over the edge by asking the weight question – so weight undisclosed!
Alcohol: A few units; so not as firmly strapped to the wagon as I was hoping. But not a full on falling off the wagon as I only had once glass of wine and a vodka and lemonade; more sort of half off half on! But this week fully on strapped down fast to the wagon I promise!
So this week another big run is required – 16 miles – I won’t be drinking alcohol and I will be investigating where I can get eyelash extensions done for the marathon; oh and maybe looking into purchasing the outfit for the race…..
And then I come on to other runners.... In the beginning I wanted to stop and chat to all the other runners and congratulate them on there efforts running round the bypass. In my mind they must also be training for the marathon - what other possible reason would they have for running laps of bypass on a January evening when it’s so cold it hurts your lungs to breath! But no it seems these people do it for fun; and its catching!! As the days have got longer and the weather less Antarctic in its feel more of the cheery freaks can be passed when running loops of said bypass.
Now I have always had a small issue running with others around me; the site of the running club fills me with dread and other runners I feel look on with a critical eye that just makes me want to crawl home and watch reruns of "Friends" instead of training. However a few weeks ago I began to feel I belonged! Other runners had taken to waving at me when we passed, a cheery wave and hello was a nice change for me; and although not the full on ‘so you're running the marathon too’ chats I’d imagined, it was still a bit of contact and like being shown a clubs secret handshake - I really felt I had crossed a bridge on the running front and been accepted into their clique!
Fool!! Of course I wasn’t one of them – for a start I don’t even have the right kit – they all wear proper running things and they all wear the same thing like a uniform it seems there is no room for personal style in these running cliques. And more importantly I don’t always run! This means that I don’t always get a wave! There appears to be a running etiquette attached to the acknowledgement of other people when running:
If other person running = hand up say ‘hi’
If other person walking = Scowl and shame them out of waving at you!!
One chap who had waved on my previous lap when I was running actually did a proper scowl when I went to wave at him!! He may as well have wagged his finger at me like a headmaster would a naughty child. Mortified I began to run again and prayed I didn’t see him on the next lap.
Then you have the running clubs – who think they are gods’ gift to the frigging bypass!! – And if you hadn’t already noticed here is where my bitterness really sets in. The bad hair; crappy skin; red face; puffy panda eyes and public shunning by other runners wasn’t enough to push you over the edge. The running club heading towards you making no effort what so ever to move over so you can pass each other using the pavement was! No the egotistical F*ck Whit’s just ran straight at me forcing me on to the pot hole filled, dog poo covered grass verge!! Oh I was savage; it took all my will power – which, if you’ve been following for a while you’ll know I don’t have a lot of - not to turn about face and yell expletives at them as they ran off down the bypass.
My bitterness has now turned into runners turrets; adding swollen lips to my list of running aliments as I bite my lip to stop myself swearing at other runners that pass me by!
So, rant over here is the week’s results:
Running: 30.4miles – with one whopper of a 15mile run completed on Thursday night! Apart from the turrets at other runners this weeks running was actually bearable in terms of the physical completion of the miles – the repercussions mentioned above not so great.
Weight: with all the other problems mentioned in this week’s blog I felt it best not to tip myself over the edge by asking the weight question – so weight undisclosed!
Alcohol: A few units; so not as firmly strapped to the wagon as I was hoping. But not a full on falling off the wagon as I only had once glass of wine and a vodka and lemonade; more sort of half off half on! But this week fully on strapped down fast to the wagon I promise!
So this week another big run is required – 16 miles – I won’t be drinking alcohol and I will be investigating where I can get eyelash extensions done for the marathon; oh and maybe looking into purchasing the outfit for the race…..
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