Did you see what I did there? It's a blog, on a computer, with the 'y'. Clever eh?

So the 15 miler is done and dusted. Had a change of venue a couple of days before and the group met at Point Defiance Park for 3 times round Five Mile Drive. Very pretty, and very hilly! A beautiful drive out there with the Cascades clear as a bell and Mount Rainier looking majestic, though the choppiness on Puget Sound indicates some more difficult weather to come this weekend perhaps.

The group are more seasoned runners this year and I'm definitely the oldest and definitely the slowest, though I hope not by too much. That's where the reality thing kicks in, I can see myself lined up in London, based on my speed, with a bunch of over-achieving octogenerians and people dressed as muppets. Oh well, whatever. Today I just let everyone else vanish into the distance, found my pace and kept at it.

There's (yet another) movie called 'Spirit of the Marathon' in which an Old Codger is asked about 'runners high', to which he responds that the only high he ever gets from running is when he stops. I'm pretty much with him on that, though I have had a few experiences where suddenly everything becomes really easy and you have the bizarre phenomenom of enjoying a run, but those are few and far between.

I watch the younger, more experienced runners who clearly find this whole thing a lot easier than myself and I'm jealous. But the OC has a point; there are a lot of reasons to run but I think for me the main one is to discover if I can push my limits just that bit further. And when you do and the long run is over, you may not feel exactly good, but you do feel very good about yourself and that feeling lasts a while. The marathon itself is just the final realization of what we achieve every week when we train. It's the ultimate celebration and that's why it's such fun and why I'm looking forward to it so much.

So if this blog gets a bit on the whiney side occasionally (occasionally!), it's not because there's no satisfaction being gained from all this malarkey - it's just that I enjoy a good whinge.

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