On the road again

Today marks the first day of the rest of my running life. I’ve recaptured the magic. And it’s all down to other people.

I sometimes have to pinch myself that the skinny girl in the white gloves and a yellow Stragglers vest is me finishing the 1983 London Marathon. Now, I struggle to run 3km without stopping, and it’s slow, oh so slow. But running is still my favourite way of moving.

When you’ve run at that level, it’s a long way to fall. Before my diagnosis of Parkinson’s I’d stopped completely – it just wasn’t worth the effort. After realigning my gait with the help of Nordic poles – as told in Polyushko Polye – it was time to try lifting both feet off the ground. I tuned into Couch to 5K where the beautiful golden voice of Michael Johnson helped me along my lonesome trail.  Even with his encouragement, somehow I could never get past week 5. I needed another magic ingredient to kick start my running programme.

Other people

Now I, of all people, should know that the magic ingredient is other people. Heck, I wrote a book about it 35 years ago. Running Together told the story of Running magazine’s Sisters Project. This was an experiment in which we paired up experienced women runners (Big Sisters) with rookies (Little Sisters) to help them through their first steps. In turn the rookies became Big Sisters themselves and within 18 months we had built a national network and persuaded more than 4,000 women to start running. No internet, then, of course. Just a huge pile of stamped addressed envelopes on my kitchen table.

That old magic

This week I re-joined my local running club. I haven’t run with Eden Runners for about 15 years, since I stepped off a kerb on a club run and landed badly on my ankle. My, how the club has grown exponentially in the meantime. Their website promises something for everyone, including:

“those looking to recapture that old magic”

Today I attended my first session – a bunch of challenging but do-able drills and intervals I could do at my own pace without feeling left behind. There were some old friends there and some new. As I found with Boxercise, the key to taking part in mainstream fitness activities is to make sure the coach knows your limitations, do your best, but stop if you start to feel wobbly or lightheaded.

Thanks folks, I’ll be back.

Incidentally, if anyone reading this remembers the old 80s magic that was the Running Sisters Network, please get in touch. Did you keep running in the years that followed? Are you still running now? Did you keep in touch with your Sister?

Play > On the road again > Willie Nelson

You were maybe expecting Canned Heat, but this sums up everything post-Covid:

“The life I love is makin’ music with my friends

And I can’t wait to get on the road again.”