The Long Way Home

After doing some hasty calculations the other day I saw my goal of 220 kms in April slipping out of reach. A few days of a brewing cold, some bad aches and general lethargy - this marathon lark all seemed too hard on Tuesday.

This morning, things had shifted. Maybe it was a good night's sleep under the winter duvet - or the few days of grace I'd given myself - my energy was back. Time to get back to it.

So it was the long walk home tonight. From work, to my post office box, down to the Yarra, down to Church Street Bridge and home. A solid eight kilometres.

In Adelaide, there is this dam called the Torrens. I've been thrown in it once at a University champagne breakfast and I had the third nipple that sprouted removed six months after that. Though peaceful, the water is pretty stagnant. I believe something happened to the weir that keeps the water in last year and Torrens Lake was Torrens sty for a few months. Bless.

In London, the Thames flows through like a sluggish artery. Lots of traffic and smog. A busy river.

The Yarra gets a lot of slack for being this muddy, smelly pond which collects rubbish and the occasional body.

Tonight, under the mist of late afternoon and a pinkish overcast sky, surrounded by the amber ash leaf strewn paths, I felt truly blessed. The Yarra at twilight is magic. Okay, a constant stream of lycra clad cyclists passed me by - I kept to the left of the path and ignored them. The slap of the rower's oars, the gentle panting of the long distance runners, the hum of car engines on the motorway and the fading light that was  gone by the time I walked in the door an hour and a quarter later.

In don't remember this river ever being so peaceful.

Ten kilometres a day, on average, for the rest of the month. This is running and walking remember.

It can be done.

Meeting Dan at 8 am to run the river before work tomorrow - 3 km walk to work - 6 km run. Then it's his leaving do in the afternoon. He's going to be missed. I will have to find somebody else to flirt with. I will have to find somebody else to run with.

This goal is all a matter of breaking it down into bits.

Pand

Kilometres walked since 29 January: 229 km
Kilometres run since 29 January: 144 km
Currently reading: The Remains of the Day bu Kazuo Ishiguro, Marathon Running for Mortals
Weight lost since 29 Jan: 1.7 kg
April Kms: 73/220