I’m inspired by my offspring. This seems to be happening a lot as I get older. But then one can’t really be inspired by them when they’re still running around sucking a dummy and peeing wherever they like. You have to wait for them to mature - they’re like red wine really.
Anyway back to the point of this rambling. One of my offspring has started a new Instagram account to chronicle her own particular brand of running craziness. It not only inspires me to run but it inspires me to write. I used to love blogging about my running journey at the back of the pack and my adventures with my ever-patient, snake-killing Old Goat, whose navigational skills leave a lot to be desired but he had that job anyway.
Then Covid came and that ground to a halt. I was still running but couldn’t really chronicle my persistent flouting of the lockdown rules. Then my health took a turn for the worse which lead to zero inspiration. In the second half of this year my offspring inspired me once again. I was told to get off Strava, stop comparing what I do now to what I did then, and start from scratch. That is exactly what I have done and so now I want to try and get back to that blogging to record my progress.
I am run/walking under the guidance of Coach Mo who is surely one of the kindest and most supportive coaches out there. He understands huge goals but he also understands that sometimes you have to take small steps to reach them.
So what about my legendary Old Goat - snake killer, pacer and supposed navigator? He reckons he has hung up his marathon shoes. We’ll see. In the meantime we will attempt the Sani Stagger 21km trail on 11 November. If I don’t come back, he’s thrown me to the baboons in a desperate act of self preservation.