On a High...!

No, I'm not talking about the height I climbed up the ladder at the weekend to investigate our possum problem, which incidentally may be something far less cute and cuddly sounding - like a rat! I've shoved a piece of newspaper in the hole where I think they're getting in and out. In theory, if the paper is moved, that confirms where I'll need to block up. However, my next door neighbour is tackling the bigger picture by laying poison bait for any such unwanted guests and he tells me that the bait was being taken over the last few days but not now, which suggest that he's probably cured it that way. In which case my newspaper idea will not confirm anything. Either way, I'll block up that hole next weekend.

Nor am I talking about the victory that England scored over the Aussies in the one-day cricket last night. I watched the 1st innings but the 9 hour time difference prevented me from watching England bat. If the (northern) summer carries on like this though, I may be having a few sleepless nights watching the test series.

What I refer to in the title is the run I notched up yesterday.

I intended to go while the girls were at church, but they didn't rise until 9.30am by which time we all wanted to go for a big breakfast and get on with the tasks for the day.

So I ended up going just before tea - about 5.15pm. I intended to be back before 6. I even thought that was a great effort since it meant me missing the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (my team, based on it being the local team to where I first lived in Sydney) beat the Canberra Raiders in the Rugby League on TV.

The thought had crossed my mind to follow the 10km route I'd mapped out, and just see how it went. If I got tired, I could cut it short and head home. I never really expected to complete the whole 10km.

I started off at a steady pace, following my usual 5km route. I was feeling good. I was thinking that having eaten lunch only 4 hours earlier was paying dividends.

As I came to the point at about 4km where my 10km route heads away from the 5km, I had no problem in making the turn.

There's a long steady hill at about 5.5km for 1.5km or so, which I just steadily worked up. Still feeling pretty good. That took me toward the furthest point away from home which then turns back and rejoins my 5km route. I knew that part of my normal route was fairly flat and then heads to a steep down-hill for the 10th km, so I felt confident I could complete that. I wasn't too concerned about the time, this run is supposed to be "long, slow, distance".

So back onto my familiar route through kms 7, 8 & 9, I was amazed how good I felt. So good in fact that I thought I could go a bit further. So I passed the street which would've finished the 10km and headed to the next side-street which in fact would be the same finish as my 5km route. Hang on is that getting confusing? Let me re-read that... No, I think that makes sense.

I discovered that I could run easier if I "stiffened my feet" - or at least that's what it felt like. Rather than plodding along, I found that I could bounce off my toes, using my feet and calves more.

I really felt like I could just keep going, rather like Forrest Gump when he started running. But then I thought I'd better not push it too far and cause injury or too much soreness to run this week.

I think I did about 11.5km in 65 minutes. I had a good stretch when I got home, a hot shower and then a big bowl of lamb curry stew and rice for tea. Yum, yum!!

So as a reward, I took this morning off. I'm glad I did because my heels feel very sore. I'll run Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday - then rest Friday and Saturday before hopefully repeating yesterdays effort next Sunday.