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The conditions weren’t ideal. It was pissing down with rain and I was not 100% over my cold,but this was Me2’s last chance to run the 10 and a half mile run and impress the Me selection panel before next week’s race. I am off to Belfast tomorrow and will be returning and podcasting on Monday and Tuesday is too close to the actual race to take on such a big distance. So it was now or never.
Unsurprisingly it was a sluggish start and Me2 was already making excuses for himself. He was getting wet, surely this would just make us ill again and in any case he hadn’t been given time to fully recuperate. The Me2 of old might have given in, but spurred on by an early pace of under 9 minute miles he persisted and incredibly kept up that pace for the full run, getting home in 1 hour 33minutes and 52 seconds, taking over eight minutes off Me1’s time of last week. There had been some suggestion before the race that Me1 had deliberately got ill last week by sitting around in his damp kit, hoping to nobble Me2. Me1 would later claim that the illness was lurking invisibly within him during his run, hence his poor showing. I feel for the lad, but it would be a brave or foolish selection committee who didn’t go with current form. Me1 holds the record for the shorter run, but Me2’s recent time was much quicker than his last go at that distance. And at the longer distance Me2 has the clear edge and if he could maintain that pace for another two and a half miles would achieve a sub-2 hour half. Only if Me2 gets injured can I see Me1 at the starting line next week. Kudos to Me2 though.He has fought like crazy to get this place and never gave up today, even when drenched to the skin.
With the crowd behind him and the surge of being amongst other runners I think Me2 might even beat my personal best (I’d have to check but I think it’s around 1 min 55), which given he is over ten years older than me when I hit that target is a testament to his prowess. If you want to sponsor him then head to http://etc
Please spare a thought for Me1 though. It’s going to be a difficult week for him. I hope he can be mature enough to cheer on his opponent, but I suspect he will not be.
I had a real Sliding Doors moment tonight. I popped out to the supermarket to buy some milk and other provisions (no yoghurt) and some champagne for a party we were going to. A bit absent minded due to my tiredness I rang my wife to ask her what it was she’d asked for just before I left. But in the confusion I forgot to buy the booze (which was pretty much the whole reason I was going there). So after making dinner, I had to pop out again, even though this might make us slightly late for the party. Imagine if I had been mugged or run over on this extra unnecessary trip. My sluggish rain would have caused my life to change immeasurably. I didn’t. But still..
And clearly the story of my life took a different course. I should have been in my car by now, but I was walking to Tescos. Where my progress was further held up because someone had just dropped a bottle of red wine and the guy behind the counter had come out to mop it up, so I couldn’t get the champagne, which you had to request from the staff.
All in all this crazy adventure set us back twenty minutes and then when we tried to leave our road we got snarled up in traffic and had to reverse up the road to let an Ocado truck by. If I’d remembered the champagne and the other person hadn’t dropped their wine I would never have been caught up like this. We’d have been nearly at the party by now. Or possibly involved in a fatal traffic accident. Who knows?
Isn’t amazing how every single moment of our life has massive repercussions on what happens next?
No, it’s not.
