April 2014

[Sweder]

I'm off to the printer's to get my 'I survived the Lewes 10k' t-shirt.
Having been more nervous than at any time in ten years of pre-race loitering, I got round without keeling over. It was not a thing of beauty. Wheezing, phlegemy, shuffling and distressed, yet completed, somewhere short of the hour.

The course turned out to be neither dull nor flat. At various stages we encountered stoney paths, mud, waterlogged grass, modest hills, mud, charging cows, cinder track, mud and potholes filled to the brim with brackish foulness. The cows provided my highlight. Spotting our colourful conga weaving along the edge of their field these brave bovines launched into an effeminate stampede. Never breaking into a full run, they minced - there is no better word - at high speed, thirty or so young beasts, as one, towards the runners. One of our number, a chap called John, lunged at them, waving his arms and yelling. They stopped, did an awkward about/face and minced off in the other direction at high speed. If my lungs hadn't been in my throat I'd have laughed.

The event was a great success, a large number of on-the-day entries pushing the start back by half an hour. I met up briefly with Andrea & Simon (Almeria 2014), Rob (resplendant in his new-ish Lewes AC vest) and Sam, another Lewes-based runner-blogger who's been training to a fifty-five minute 10k schedule and racking up miles as part of the 118 (million miles) for Boston.

Afterwards, face glowing, shirt wringing wet, I gasped for breath, alvioli crackling like a well-known breakfast cereal. It seems my old friend Asthma is back, indeed may be behind the prolonged bout of coughing that started back in Almeria and has plagued my year to date. A visit to the doctor beckons, followed by tests and, no doubt, prescriptions. C'est la vie. These things are sent to try us.