Practically running

Today was my first Big Run. More on that later.

First up: today was also a day of open artists studios in Fife -- 30 artists around fife opened up their studios this weekend for people to come, browse, buy, chat, etc. Verena had found out about it and decided we ought to go, so we picked a few whose samples and descriptions sounded interesting and off we tootled. We ended up visiting four very different studios -- one that did prints in a very stylistic manner that were delightful, one that did a slightly impressionistic style of oil paintings generally of landscapes (she was one chatty lady!), one that did fairly precise figure drawings and wildly abstract pastels, and one that did very precise oil landscapes. Verena found something to like in all four, I particularly liked the first and last (unsurprising!). But potentially we might go back tomorrow to the last two for her to purchase a very abstract drawing and me to purchase a very realistic painting of the Isle of May.... Very different, but would be fun to have both in the house! Need to look at funds first...

Then we came back home for me to eat something before The Run. Actually, it was quite fun! As I left the flat to meet Ross over out of town at his work, my ankle first twinged, then one of my quad muscles started acting up and I just thought, "great, this is all going wrong!" But as I got running it all eased in. It was maybe a 10min run out to his work, we met up and jogged over to the bike path - so I had a head start running on him (usually he runs in to town to meet me, so it's all fair!)... But we found a pace and when we hit the bike path he started the timer. Exactly 31minutes later we crossed the bridge at Guardbridge approximately 4 miles away. I made us walk for the return across the bridge but then realized I was feeling fine so might as well get running again, and at 1:03, we were back at the lamp post where he'd started the timer - approximately 8 miles total. We jogged a little farther to get back to town, then I struggled to remember the muscle coordination to walk again as we walked up into town from the Old Course.

I am amazed. For one, this speaks to the ability of a non-runner to pick up running just by consistency over several years of keeping at it. For another, though, this speaks highly of the efficacy of interval training. Even two months ago I wouldn't have been able to do this, or even if I had somehow found the strength to do it I would have been badly out of breath and struggling with my heartrate, but as it was my heartrate really never got raised and we chatted there and back with minimal difficulty. The impact of interval training has made a huge difference for me!

My knees are a bit woozy this evening and I have a blister on one foot, but Verena is having a hard time really feeling sympathic for me. I think there's a bit too much truth to the fact that this is entirely self-inflicted for her to have a great deal of empathy! =) Fair enough, I kind of have to agree! She did feed me risotto that she made, though, which was very yum, and even bought an extra loaf of garlic bread for me to eat while she was cooking... What a good flatmate. =)