Week One (And A Bit)

Training so far, it has to be said, has been a bit of a shambles. 

My first target is preparing for a 10km race in London at the end of May - the Vitality 10k, a lovely flat-ish run past a host of the city's landmarks - so I kicked off with a 10km run round (and round and round) my local park to see whether I'm up to speed for that distance.
Hmm. It was alright, I suppose. I didn't disgrace myself, but it was a couple of minutes slower than I'd hoped. Still, the stamina was OK - in that I didn't actually stop and gasp for breath as if I was dying at any point.
A couple of days later, I thought I'd try a fast 5km. Dreadful. Sometimes you just know when you start to run that something's not right, you're not feeling it, miscellaneous aches and pains start shooting across your joints, your legs feel heavy, etc etc. 
I'm never sure whether it's real or psychological but the effect is much the same. In this case, I bailed out early. I'm not proud of it. But it was raining and, well, I just didn't fancy it.
(That, of course, is exactly the sort of spirit you need to tackle a marathon.)
On Friday, I flew to Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh

to see my daughter's graduation ceremony. Transatlantic travel, I've found, puts a bit of a dent in one's training schedule, with all the journey time and the jet lag and so on. 
In the event, I did manage to put in one run. But I hadn't realised how hilly the city of Pittsburgh is. Anyone who's ever run with me knows how badly hills and I get on. I ended up on a woodland trail in a park in a place called Mount Oliver (yes, I guess the clue about the hilly-ness really was in the name) which nearly finished me off completely.
After a bit, I gave up trying to run at any pace at all, just gritted my teeth and concentrated on getting to the end without collapsing in a sad heap. Happy to say I made it - but I think I'll keep how long it took me to myself if that's OK.
Anyway. Things - in the immortal words of the inestimable D Ream - can only get better.