Heading to the heat

In 40 hours, it will be upon me. It will cover me, press into me so I don’t know where it finishes and I begin. I will be lightheaded with relief and joy. It will keep me awake; I will dream of it. It will tear me apart and keep me together.

I will return to Buenos Aires.

It’s been over a year since my last run there (with Maria, the morning of my wedding) and as I pack too many clothes for what will be a shorts and bikinis trip, I think back to that run and what it means to run in Buenos Aires.

Part of the Nike 10km Red River, 2009

Firstly, it’s where M&MRC started. Its streets gave us the confidence to dare to dream of 26.2 miles. Its crazy weather: heat, humidity, storms, rains that turns streets into rivers, wind born in Patagonia made us almost crazy ourselves. The sheer number of fun runs and charity runs offered M&MRC the chance to be part of many coloured, bobbing masses.

There will be sweat and I am most looking forward to it. The tingling sting of skin warmed by the sun and its own sweat; the salt patterning down my shins; the dive into the cool pool post-run and the extra beat your heart gives you: you are alive.

Of course, all my in-laws and friends will think I am mad. They will look at me as if going for a run in the humidity that sits around them is confirmation of what a nutter I am. They will offer me iced-water on my return, my limbs glistening with perspiration, my eye-lashes holding back the salty-drips running into my eyes. They will say well done and not really know why.

But I will. Buenos Aires, here I come.

New horizons

Today I chose the wrong way round to do my 5-mile loop. But there were reasons to smile: the sun was shining brightly; I passed teachers on their way to school (where I used to work – hence my smarmy joy); and I’m going on a trip in a day, so what the hell? This strange wind which shoots across the coastline of north-west Norfolk won’t be where I’m going, will it?

No, there will instead be every reason not to go for a run. Maria and I are meeting for an M&MRC Eastern European adventure. We start in Vienna. Then we take the train to Zagreb and travel through Croatia and Montenegro. At the end we fly out of Tirana in Albania. Needless to say we are both very excited.

So, you can see: with islands and churches, waterfalls and lakes, buses and bikes, wine and wienerschnitzel, boats and exploring we might forget to put our trainers on.

Hang on a minute. We are a running club, are we not? We revel in new horizons and adventure. That’s the thing about holidays, there are new horizons everywhere. At every turn new sights and smells, tastes and words – and opportunities. I’m not going to suggest we run up the hairpin bends to the cliffs over Kotor, but thinking about it, I have no doubt there will be moments when we can run along the beach of our little island, or along the sea wall of a fishing village, or round the park of a city. We are not tourists. We are runners.

It’s about enjoying those different horizons. With a good friend. With trainers. With the promise of wine and fine food afterwards. You’ll always come back to the horizons you know.

Here are some views from one of my typical Hunstanton runs (not all taken the same day) which I’ll be leaving for the next few weeks. Here’s to the new horizons we run towards – check out the blog during June for some pictures!

Run up to Christmas

Again, the title of the post is a little misleading. Since running the Behobia-San Sebastian 20km in November, I’ve only been on one run. And I owe posts about both of those runs, which will come in due course… luckily a calmer 2013 is just around the corner and I envisage weekends curled up with my laptop catching up on running news and sharing stories and plans.

But I wander off the trail of this post, which is all about M&MRC’s run up to Christmas and our plans for the festive season. Because, for the first time since we conquered the Andes in February, we will be back together again, in Argentina. While we’re both now in wintry climes, we’re heading south for a hot and sweaty Christmas and New Year’s break with family down there and in between, my wedding.

And we’ve planned a run for the morning of my nuptials (the wedding doesn’t start until 8pm so we’re not being freaky!) It’s going to be a magic four mile trot around the parks of Palermo. Maria will be breaking in her new orange Vibrams and I will be my normal orangeness with my sunnies and socks. We could actually run straight into the wedding like that and continue the orange theme, no one would notice…

When I told Martín this morning about the pre-wedding run he looked at me with those eyebrows raised and said, “Please don’t go and injure yourself.” Hmm, he knows me too well. But I won’t. It’ll be a fun run, we’ll enjoy it. Because it’s the run up to a very special event. Because it’s our last run of 2012 and to celebrate the running challenges we’ve achieved this year.

And we’ll enjoy it because M&MRC are back together again and love to run.

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU FROM M&MRC!!

M&MRC on ESPN Run

As Laura and I mentioned before, we are famous.

We were interviewed by ESPN before starting Cruce and then again after crossing the finish line.  It’s taken me a while, but I’ve finally edited it so that our shining moments can be seen.  The entire episode gave me goosebumps, but due to copyright I can’t upload the entire thing.  Also, I apologize for the poor quality.  I’m not too tech savvy and ended up putting my camera in front of the TV as I couldn’t come up with a better idea.

Click on the image below to view.  Enjoy!