Mad dogs and runners go out on dark winter nights

Miles run this week 31!

Highlights of the week’s runs

Last week I saw a few snowdrops, but this week there were masses everywhere.  And daffodils! I’m sure I got a waft of hyacinth too, but it maybe that was wishful thinking.  Although it’s cold and dark during the winter runs, I do love the cold fresh waft of earthiness mixed in with the sweet smell of winter jasmine fills my nostrils every now and then.

My long run this week was 15 miles, further than I’ve ever gone before.  It was really tough, especially at the beginning and end.  The first few miles were into a very strong headwind and I felt worn out after three miles.  I wondered how I was going to run another 12! I had a bagel for breakfast instead of porridge, which felt like a lead weight in my tum. I don’t know what’s worse – sploshing porridge or heavy bagel.  Once I was out of the wind, I got a second wind! So then I enjoyed looking at the farmers’ handiwork of freshly cut hedges. No topiary masterpieces to be seen, but many very bad haircuts with bits hacked off. I knew that soon I’d see a shimmer of green covering those mangled hedges as spring starts to breathe live into everything.  I can’t wait!

Mad dogs and runners go out on dark winter nights

During the long, dark winter nights, I often feel a bit of an odd-bod when I go out running.  I hear my inner voice saying ‘You must be mad running in this wind/rain/snow when most people are snuggled up in the warm watching a good film!’ And you often get the same shouted at you by young lads full of the ignorance of youth, ‘You’re crazy!’.  ‘Ah’, I think to myself, ‘one day you won’t say that’.  It isn’t long before I see another runner out on the same night which reassures me that I’m not the only nut on the planet.  

But what makes me grin from ear to ear is when I go to a road race, or see the London Marathon on TV.  That’s when I know I belong to a whole population of nuts, where running is a part of their lives.  Under cover of darkness, runners pound the pavements all over the whole country, whatever the weather.

I have my own reasons for running, which I’m sure are very different to my fellow runners.  But, I’m sure we all share the thoughts from the poem below.  I’m going to memorize it for the last few miles of the marathon to give myself that mental boost I know I’m going to need.

And if you’re not a runner, maybe this poem will make you want to give it a go.

These aren't my feet, but my trainers have got that muddy before

Run

I like to feel the squish of sand underfoot

To feel the dawn wind

To hear the birds

To learn my strengths and weaknesses

To be out there

To switch off

To go to another place

To smell that summer has arrived

To clear my mind

To see the wood for the trees

To stand outside myself for a bit

To do something simple, dull and repetitive

To give problems some perspective

To enjoy the freedom

To hear the quiet

To feel tired and worn out

To beat that part of me that wants to stop

To feel that feeling I get afterwards

Don't call me a runner….I just like to run