1) On Saturday my boyfriend and I dragged ourselves out of bed into a dark and cloudy morning, fully expecting the weather for our parkrun to be a bit miserable. But we were going anyway, because we're runners. It seemed the weather gods rewarded our running faithfulness, because on the tube/train to Hampton Court, the clouds parted, the sun came out, and a glorious morning was born. By the time we started running it was a perfect autumn morning.
I was just planning to run solidly well. At 4km I thought a PB was out of reach - I'd have to run a really solid last 1km. But rounding towards the last long straight I felt good. I overtook the woman I'd used as my pacer. I kept going until a lady in front turned around and said "I can hear you catching me. I'm going to run faster, see if you can keep up!" and so I tried. She dragged me around the final corner and onto the final straight. There I lost her, but realised that this 11th hour sprint might bring me the PB after all. I finished in 26:46, knocking 14secs off my best. All I wanted to do was thank this wonderful woman, but I lost her in the crowds. For the rest of the day the combination of the unexpected sunshine, unexpected kindness and unexpected new PB kept me bouncing along with a smile on my face.
2) I decided I might as well start training for this half marathon - first goal being to start running 3x a week. So today I ran home from uni (11km from central London along the Thames Path). A few km in when I was still enjoying the novelty of it all I turned and saw something that instantly cheered me. Made me feel glad that I was right there at that moment with the time to enjoy what was around me. I love how running puts you back in touch with your surroundings. This was the view that made me feel alive and privileged and glad to live in such an awesome city;
I'd love to hear about any running moments that have lifted your mood this week :)
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