Mind tricks

I'm beginning to think that running a long way is just a question of tricking yourself into thinking you're doing anything other than running a long way. Because as soon as you think, gosh, I've chalked up three kilometres (that'll be a fourteenth of the total distance), you immediately think helphelphelp I have to do thirty nine more, which is a physical impossibility, as I am about to die having just done three, and I'll just check again and oh my goodness that's not even 3.01 km and everything's aching and would you look at that the distance monitor has actually stopped which is a good thing as I couldn't have done any more. And then you stop. Whereas if you can avoid thinking, gosh, I've chalked up three kilometres, the whole vicious cycle forgets to start and sometimes you can get to six or even ten kilometres without realising you're aching.

The most I've done so far was sixteen, and that was by mistake because I can't read maps. I didn't realise that Waterloo Bridge didn't meet the Thames Path head on and so ended up doing a loop round Parliament Square and Whitehall. You can't pull tricks like that on a treadmill.

I had a lovely post from a former student who'd found me by accident. Apart from being delighted to hear from her, the post was good for at least five kilometres - I was thinking about the class she'd been a part of and the production she saved when she stepped in last-minute in place of a young man whose dancing skills were surpassed only by his own opinion of his dancing skills. I remember how affronted he was when I said it was unprofessional to walk out on a show just days before performance week. He seemed to think I ought to have counted my lucky stars that I'd had him in it up to that point. Jane was a real dancer, committed as well as skilled. She was in several productions I directed and missed only one rehearsal - and that was to take part in an archeological dig. Digging and dancing - what a combination! I wonder which way her life took her. (See? Five kilometres, easily).

My sponsorship page is up - www.virginmoneygiving/wegenersmarathon - thank you so much if you have already sponsored me. Please do - it's incredibly encouraging, as are posts on the blog! I've had some cards printed too, each with a different Fairy Tale for Marathon Runners on the back (five to collect). This whole crazy idea is about raising awareness as well as raising money, so simply by reading, you're helping the Wegener's Trust. Thank you.