Everything's coming up rosy

My little snooze in the sun yesterday became the source of great amusement today. I should have worn something high-necked and long-sleeved, then people wouldn't have been filing past my desk all day to check out the sunburn. Admittedly - it looks very impressive, but it doesn't really hurt as much as it looks like it would.

At 3.30 our group manager wandered around telling everyone to go home and enjoy the gorgeous day. Most of us heeded her word, and by 4pm the office was looking decidedly empty. I wandered around town for a while checking out clothing stores, looking at clothes that fitted me that I couldn't afford to buy because I'm giving all my money to personal trainers, swim coaches, physios, spin instructors and podiatrists. Sigh...

Six o'clock came around and I was kitted out in running tights, Jog Squad shirt and pink hat. I decided that tonight I would try a little experiment to see how well this knee would really cope with some pavement running. It felt unbelievably good to be out with the girls again, running with Harriet and Allie at a good steady pace around the Bays.

Tonight the squad did some quick intervals along the sand at Oriental Bay. I, on the other hand, ran slowly along the beach and slowly back down the pavement, then up and down the pavement again. After the first beach lap I figured it wasn't worth the potential knee damage. After that we ran up Carlton Gore Rd, up the side of Mt Victoria, for 200m or so. Again, I took it slowly, wasn't panting that hard at the top of the hill, and cruised back down at non-knee-injuring pace. Then it was a gentle jog back to the gym.

So my knee feels fine, and I'm feeling much more optomistic about my running future.
Once I realised that I had to stop being so hard on myself, stop obsessing about training for events, and just go with the flow for a while, things just snapped into place for me. Exercise makes me feel so much happier and more mentally balanced than any anti-depressant ever could. People who meet me now only know this Pip - the small fit one.

I'm in charge of the Jog Squad relay team for the Les Mills Heartbeat Challenge this weekend. We're raising money for Heart Children. At 9am on Saturday we start running on a treadmill, and we keep going for 24 hours. Organising it has been a bit of a nuisance when I've been so busy, but I'm glad I've done it.

I'm popping out briefly on Saturday afternoon to meet my podiatrist at the Newtown track. He's going to film me running. I'm already guessing he's going to say I'm not using my gluts when I run. No surprises there. He did confirm something for me though. My Addidas shoes are indeed the devil's spawn. Despite the salesperson assuring me the new model was exactly the same as the old model, they apparently have a much greater area of support. This means I have potentially been running in a shoe with more support than I really need. I should have trusted my instincts and ditched them right at the start.