And then I joined Caistor Running Club...

and my life changed forever.  Not that I knew it at the time.  Funnily enough there is a swimming connection there too.  After the Race for Life I decided I wanted to continue running.  The problem was, without the incentive of the race I became very uninspired and every time I felt like having a little rest and walking - I did.  So off I would go for a 3 to 4 mile run and during that time I would start walking every time the going got tough, or I got bored, or both. Not good. Fortuitously, that summer I spotted a photograph in our local paper.  A new running club had started in our local town and who should be grinning out of the photo but someone in my swimming class.  I kept the page.   I emailed the contact name and tentatively asked if I could come along.  They were very encouraging and yet I was too afraid to go.  I found excuse after excuse until I realised that I was in danger of talking myself out of it altogether. Why?  Well I thought that they must all be way beyond my standard and I would make a complete fool of myself for even thinking I could be part of it.  I have known runners in the past and they were all, without exception, extremely fit, fast, focused and competitive. Plus had been running for years and years.  Everything I wasn't, in fact.

I decided to give myself a Mitchell brothers - type talking to.  "Oy! Woss goin' on?  Get in there you lightweight!'  And so one Thursday night in October I took one tentative step and plunged into Wonderland. All I can remember is that we ran to Nettleton as far as the street lamps went and then we ran off somewhere else.  They were mainly men, in fact I'm not sure if remember any ladies, and they were very friendly.  They tried to chat with me but I'm afraid that talking and running were not possible at that stage in the game.  The extra effort of doing that nearly finished me off.  I went home the colour of rhubarb and it took three hours for the colour to fade from my face. Strangely enough I recall feeling very motivated and that although the session had been the hardest thing for me, I knew I would go back. The next session was on a Saturday morning. 8.30 am!!! If you know me you know I am very fond of my lie-ins so I can't tell you what a wrench that was.  Still I am very glad I went because that is the day I met T.  What an inspirational lady.  She was in her fifties and was new to running too although she was able to do longer distances than me.  She was just what I needed, great company to run with and full of tales.  We ended up doing 7 miles, the longest I had ever run.  First lesson of Caistor Running Club - whenever anyone tells you the length of a run don't forget to add 20% at least.

The next Thursday another lady, J, turned up.  Once again we were a similar age and level so we ran together very well and I felt really good about being part of the club. I distinctly remember the way we would need to walk up the hills and how one club member had told me that he used to do the same when he started but now he was able to keep going.  I didn't believe that would happen to me of course. I wondered if I would ever stop slightly dreading the club sessions.  'Dreading?' you say, 'why would you go to something if you hated it?' Yes it does seem ridiculous doesn't it? It wasn't that I hated it, it was just that I knew it was going to be hard and I never knew if that was going to be the day that I would decide I just wasn't up to it.  What I did know is that I never ever regretted going and that every time I went made me a better runner.  Not to mention the great company of course.  Everyone was so supportive and so encouraging of what, to some of them, must really have been the most basic of achievements.  Ooh! Well breathed there!
Nobody ever made me feel useless or inconvenient and believe me there was often quite a bit of waiting for me to catch up. Or times when someone would have sacrificed their own run to trot along next to me the silent, staring, huffing, hunched figure. Of course even though I'm singing their praises you have to know that they did try to kill me on Mansgate Hill.  But they did not succeed! Even though I did go home and climb into a sleeping bag on the sofa and sleep for two hours. And they did have me run across a field of cows which decided to chase.  That's one way of getting your speed up but I wouldn't recommend it. Slowly week by week I started to improve...