It would seem that this week has been brought to you by the letter ‘S’, so let’s add snot-rockets as well, as there was a fair few of them! 😀
I was travelling for work and family this week, so spent the first week of my new Running Hot training program away from the comfort and familiarity of home.
Pros – New cool places to run.
Cons – Forgetting gear – Doh!
I had great fun trying to outrun the dark on Te Mata Peak (Hawkes Bay) after work. I had taken my headlamp with me, but when I went to plug it in to charge saw it still had disposable batteries in it from Hanmer. The solution, head to the hills and hope for enough light.
I got to run most of the loop track with enough light to have fun playing on the sweet technical trails on offer… but I was forced off the trail when it got too dark to see, but still, I had heaps of fun running down a seemingly never-ending pitch black road back to the car!
The other highlight was running the Hakarimata track in Ngaruawahia. I had two hours programmed so I hit the summit track for three return trips. This is where the sweat comes in. Having been based in Nelson now for the last 18 months I had forgotten the humidity of the north and was amazed at the sweat literally dripping off me during a winter run.
Having forgotten to take my pack (or any fuel – yup my packing was clearly average this trip) I left a servo ‘energy drink’ at the trailhead and hoped for the best. It was a great run with lots of weird looks from the locals and the word ‘crazy’ muttered a fair few times by others on the trail who didn’t know what to make of me doing repeats of this gruelling track. It was great to be out running again though!
I have always loved running, and have always tried to run happy. This definitely hasn’t always been the case though and in the early days, my resolve was more one of grim determination than joy! But I feel like I’m at a new level of appreciation now. Maybe that’s because it’s gotten easier (miler adaptations are legit!!) or maybe there’s just been a monumental shift in my mind.
Perhaps there is simply a level of mastery of my sport now that makes my appreciation for it so much greater? Anyhow, I am loving it and the excitement and smiles can hardly be contained!
The sleepless nights this week have been caused by the excitement of the challenge! I’m finding myself waking at 4 am, lying in bed for half an hour then wanting to get up and get at the day 🙂 You know the feeling when you wake up and just can’t quiet the monkey?! I do hope that monkey calms the hell down real soon and lets me sleep – we know this running business is all about the recovery.
It’s been a big couple of weeks, launching the Facebook page and talking to sponsors and working out the logistics of how I’m going to make this challenge happen. It’s amazing the support I’ve received and I can’t wait to share with you the awesome people who will be getting behind me to make this happen.
It’s also been just plain terrifying – putting myself out there, which has left my heart beating a few beats faster than it should have been this last week. That I will complete this challenge is not a given, though I will give it everything I’ve got, and sharing my thoughts and putting myself out there has been sooo scary ….thankfully though the response so far has been overwhelmingly positive.
So that’s about it for the week that was (brought to you by the letter S!). I’m looking forward to getting home and getting back into a routine, back onto my trails, and back to catch up with Ben (bf) and my friends. I wonder what next week will bring? ….almost forgot the snot rockets! Yeah yeah, eww gross, whatever! How satisfying are they?? 😀
