Saturday 1 January 2011

Magathon does Janathon

"You're what?!" Mik exclaimed,
"I'm going out for a run" I replied, straightfaced and completely sincere.
"No, you're not though; are you?"
"Yes. I really am; it's the first day of Janathon!"
Mik failed to find any words to reply to this, and instead stared at me with a facial expression that looked confused, aghast and bemused at the same time; not something I've seen before.

So, leaving my other half in the house with the football, a very comfortable sofa, and all the proof he needed that I am certifiably mad and obsessed when it comes to running, I headed out the door.  Well, actually that makes it sound easy. I actually took about 1/2 hour getting ready, couldn't find my i-pod, found my i-pod, forgot my garmin, remembered my garmin and changed my 3 mile planned run to a mile!

By this point, darkness had shrouded the streets of Moston like an old, faithful friend; I was very much glad of the darkness because I looked look an absolute state. Having celebrated the new year in with friends until 4.30am, I never made it to bed and instead slept on a sofa... in the dress I'd been wearing that night - classy!
Of course, why I'm telling you this, I have no idea... surely this is the place where I pretend I'm some kind of dedicated athlete who didn't binge-drink copious amounts of a wide variety of alcohol the night before, collapse into a deep sleep, then wake and eat a large big mac meal AND a festive pie! OH GOD! I'm doing it again!!!

Anyway... needless to say, with that kind of preparation, mile one was hard... and I burped a lot!

As mile one ended though, I started feeling better which lead to a mile two... and a slightly faster pace; having hidden my watch beneath my sleeve, I didn't realise this until I returned home though! It was at this point I started thinking about the reason I was out: Janathon. If it wasn't for Janathon, and the vain attempt of 170 like-minded people to run everyday for 31 days, I wouldn't be running through the darkened streets of Manchester; and instead of this causing me to turn tail and head for the safety of my sofa, I felt glad to be a part of this virtual challenge and community. And I felt good.

So I managed mile three... and as the nostalgic notes of Ash, Girl from Mars, flooded into my ears through my ear-phones, I realised I was going to run four miles! Woop woop!

So, in the style of Mr Gordon Ramsey (for no particular reason): First run of 2011: Done; first run of Janathon: Done; cuppa tea and collaspe on the sofa... Done!

Distance: 4.11 miles
Weather: grey and drizzly
Feeling: that it was more like exorcise than exercise!
See my run here

15 comments:

  1. Well done Mags for getting out there!! I don't think there is many people that would have had the night/morning you had and then done 4 mile, brilliant start to the new year!! One step closer to the end of Jan!

    Happy New Year!! xxx

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  2. Hahahahahahahaha!! Awesome achievement and love the level of sharing in your blog. Also v v v jealous you got to have a big mac - I wanted one but hubby said no - BOOO!
    Good luck for Janathon.
    Carla

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  3. It was a disgustingly delicious dirty big mac! good luck to you too... and maybe you can have a sneaky big mac to reward yourself at the end! :-)

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  4. Great blog today, I hope you have many more burp fuelled runs over the coming month.

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  5. I struggled to get out for a run today too. I'm hoping it get easier from now

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  6. I used to live in north Manchester too, in fact, that's where I started my running, all those years ago. Lots of funny comments to be had as you plod the streets...

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  7. nicely done. i mistakenly ran yesterday and my knees said "no" to a daily run. So i started today with a bit of a swim and a bike. run tomorrow.

    happy new years

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  8. Wow - burping through the first mile! Great choice in running music - can't beat a bit of Ash to get the momentum up :-)

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  9. I agree, it just has to get easier from now on... touch wood! Adele, running round the streets of north Manchester definitely makes for some intetesting runs, as you'll know... at least I shouldn't find it too hard to write about them!
    Chris, a swim AND a bike ride is very impressive... well done! :-)

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  10. Cracking choice of music - Foo Fighters made me do an extra 0.5 mile this morning.

    Best of luck with the rest of Janathon and your London training!

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  11. My other half was similarly uncomprehending when I went out for my run. I found him watching the football when I got back!

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  12. Congratulation on doing your first run of 2011, and thanks for the highly entertaining post! Hope today goes just as well ... but with less burping! ;-)

    Natalie x

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  13. Yay you! I've slept in my clothes on many a new years eve!! How funny!! I hope today see's you feeling in fine fettle, and ready for the next 29 days x

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  14. Fab start to the year! And great blog! Well done, keep it going.

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  15. LOL! slept in the dress! Cracking read

    Good luck with Janathon Mags!

    Martyn

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Thanks for reading... feel free to leave me a message. Maggiee x