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My third physical exertion in just 24 hours this morning as I attempted another Park Run. I was listening to Adam Kay's fun new novel on audiobook as I did it, which made a joke about anyone who does Park Run will definitely tell you about it. And look he was right.
It was a tough run and possibly my slowest of all time -
even including the one on the beach at Woolacombe (actually think I beat that time by about 15 seconds today). But I was aching from yesterday and impressed that I not only went to the Park Run, but did the Park Run. I did a Park Run. Have I told you?
The dispiriting thing about a slow Park Run is the image you have of yourself running, where you think you're going fast and fluidly and the image of the people running at your pace. How is this guy who looks like he's apart of pass out from the exertion and who keeps stopping to walk for a bit, consistently matching my speed? Then you realise he's looking at you and thinking the same. I was three and a half minutes slower than last week and over ten minutes off my personal best. But I beat the walking guy so he was wrong to look at me like that and judge me.
I must reinstitute the Me1 vs Me2 competition as that meant I regularly beat myself each week. I am approaching my 50th run. Will I be one of the idiots who buys a T shirt to signify this (given how long I've been Park Run) unimpressive achievement?
Maybe.
As much as I like to think I am better than the nerds who do Park Run, they are mainly better than me (both as runners and people) and these nerds are my people.
And the house party was lots of fun. Why didn't you come? I invited you. I won't take it personally. My insane wife had spent all day cutting up vegetables and making canapes and other treats, whilst I tidied up the garden and then lay down for a bit, thinking maybe it was a mistake to do a Park Run on a day when I couldn't go to bed at 8.30pm. I suppose I could have gone to bed at 8.30pm, but it might have sent out confusing signals to our guests.
In the end I stayed up til nearly 2am and was the last man standing, having managed to clean up much of the mess before bedtime. Which was the least I could do after Catie had been done such amazing work. Some friends travelled some distance to the party, but lots of new friends from Hitchin and the village we used to live in were there too. I haven't been the most sociable person in the last ten years. Or the 48 years before that. But my wife has managed to make friends with some good people.
Mostly nerds, obviously. But chill nerds. Hitchin is the capital city of the chill nerd and you should really move here.
It wasn't even boring being sober and though the number of bottles that I had to put into the recycling suggested quite a lot of booze had been drunk, I barely noticed that anyone was drunk and didn't hit the 11pm point of boredom where people's eyes glaze over and they tell you the same thing four times in one minute. Chill nerds are good drinkers.
Of course I would never have organised a party like this, so again kudos to Catie, but it was a lovely thing to celebrate our new home with new and old friends. I am tempted to say I enjoyed myself and didn't feel socially awkward or like I had to rush off home. Maybe I just need to do all my socialising at home.
