Mad Dog Yelps

Oh, so that's where my speed was hiding!

It was a low turnout for the Squad tonight. Legs is away, Allie was hiding behind her desk and Sarah was off with a virus that was providing her with great moments of fevered amusement. The wind was threatening violence, so of course we ran around the Bays. Or to be exact, we were to run to the Zephrometer, and if we made it there in 30 minutes we were to run over the hill into Newtown and back to the gym. Otherwise we were to turn around and run back the way we came.

Turning around meant battling the Northwesterlies the whole way home. I swear there was no full moon, but Mad Dog wasn't backing down. I put my foot down, clenched those glutes and went for it. I overtook Trudi and co at Greta Point then lead all the way through to an unfortunate choice of crossings and a bad light change at the base of the hill up to Newtown, where they got ahead of me again. I overtook them on the way through the Newtown shops, then managed to stay just ahead until Courtney Place, where they ran ahead and I chased their tails all the way back to the gym.

I wasn't letting myself slow down for anything tonight. I floored it the whole way. Even better, as I was sprinting down Courtney I made myself straighten up, doing the whole 'string through the top of my head' thing again, lifted my feet, and realised that I could have kept going at that pace if I had needed to. Oh to have had the nerve to have headed back out around the Bays. If I'd kept that pace up for another ten and a half kilometres a sub-two hour half could easily have been mine. I knew it was a good run when the traffic lights were a nuisance rather than a blessed relief.

The Mad Dog is back. Long live the Mad Dog.

Oh, and I might also have made noises to a few people today about running the Harbour Capital marathon in June 2008. Something about being inspired by certain Ironman bloggers to set myself some impossible goals and to go out and achieve them.

Damn Type A personality.