Get Up!

It’s 5am and the alarm goes off. A little voice in my head says “Get up, you haven’t run for two days, get up”. A second voice, louder and grumpier yet very persuasive says “5 more minutes, you won’t be late, you need 5 more minutes”. I hit snooze, get that precious extra 5min of sleep and make it to South Steyne just before the group takes off. Close call, but I’m glad I didn’t let the third voice get a word in (you know, the one that seductively says “You need sleep more than a run, just stay in bed, it’s nice and warm”).

We move off as a group in the dark and it’s comforting to be surrounded by so many bodies in a common pursuit. After running alone for years I revel in the synchronicity of feet pounding the pavement, the ripple of chatter between runners and the shared anticipation and apprehension at what lies ahead. It’s Friday, which means hills. And today the worst hills of them all, otherwise known as Raglan and Francis St in Manly.

Hills Hills Hills 

Today is hard. I mean really hard. I enjoyed this run two weeks ago, I felt really strong and only walked for a tiny section on my second lap. But today is harder. My quads hurt from Tuesday’s tempo session and I’m feeling the weight of stress from work, family health issues and lack of sleep. My right arm hurts, how is that even possible from running? The little voice is saying “Just keep going, you got this, you smashed it two weeks ago, you got this”. The other voice is pulling out every excuse under the sun (or nearly full moon in the case of this morning) “Just walk, seriously, you’ve got every reason to stop, don’t be too hard on yourself”.

In between my head battles I’m crossing paths with other runners as we run up and down the hills in the dark and their comments keep me going “Well done, Berlin, you’re doing great”, “Killing it today Alisha, nice work”. On the last hill of lap two I give in and walk, recover my breathing and shake the arms (especially that annoying right one) and get myself set for one more lap. At the top of lap three I see an ambulance turning the corner and I have a fleeting thought of flagging it down and getting a ride home. It’s nearly over though. The final descent and the sun is rising to greet us.

What Hills?

We huddle together to get a group photo with the sunrise over the ocean behind us and the pain and internal battles start to dissipate with the darkness. Today wasn’t my best run, I feel like I cheated myself and succumbed to weakness by walking, but I showed up, pushed myself and got some more precious kilometres on those legs in preparation for the Berlin marathon.

Running, it’s a love / hate relationship, but it always gives more than it takes. Thanks for getting me through today MBRC runners and Coach Joe!

Happy running, Alisha (Berlin).