Quite a gamut of emotions this last fortnight, ranging from dread to excitement, via frustration and joy.
Dread - each year that I've entered the London Marathon application process I've been hoping/dreading that they'd give me a place. "Hoping" for the first few years - as I was fit, running with friends, I'd done several half-marathons and we could train together. "Dreading" more recently as I had "done" injury, friends had emigrated/got long commutes, I'd only really enjoyed 2 out of 6 halves and I'm not good at running on my own. Trevor has watched me open each rejection letter with glee and Clare roared with laughter when she heard I'd finally been accepted!
Excitement - so why did I keep entering? Mostly the promise that the organisers made that after 5 consecutive rejections they'd give you an entry. "Maybe", I thought, "I'll change my attitude if I actually get the chance to run London". And I was right - after the first few days of hoping that my old injuries would not allow me to run, I've completely turned around and will be very disappointed not to be on the starting line on April 22, 2012.
Frustration - with technology. I have an iPod which I've never used to listen to music and I'm now going through the learning curve of wearing it on the run, turning it up/down, skipping tracks (haven't mastered that yet), sorting out earpieces ... things any teenager/20- or 30-something can do in their sleep. Then there is Picasa (behind the photos on my Virgin Giving page). 5 pics to show and only 3 would display ... grrrrr. But trusty Google to the rescue and elimination of apostrophes on captions did the trick :)
Joy - I don't think I celebrated my 30th, 40th or 50th birthdays with such joy as my 60th. Everyone was so positive that I had no chance to feel "over-the-hill". And gradually building up the miles will allow me to listen to lots of old friends on the iPod from the 60's to the 00's - Dire Straits "Romeo & Juliet" is an excellent tempo for me!
No comments:
Post a Comment