Competitive? moi?

New Zealand has re-awakened my competitive spirit. I thought I’d got over the whole one-upmanship of yesteryear’s’ school sports days, pool comps and in-car quizzes, but it seems I have not. My friend Laura is trying to keep fit. So am I. Whenever she comes back from a run or a surf looking rosy and toned, I’m filled with a deep, deep need to exercise.
We tried to go for a run together once, let’s just say it won’t happen again.
Anyway, a couple of weeks ago she came into the station house looking particularly smug and sporting her running gear… Oh, no. I had the creeping suspicion that she might have exceeded the Whale Bay and back running record… (set by me, of course)
She had run all the way into town! Aghhhhhhh! That’s 6km of windy, up-and-downy tarmac and grit road.
However, she had then picked up the car from the garage and driven back the mainly uphill journey home…
Hmmmmmmmm… I’m going to have to run to town and then see how far I can run back.
I wait for a suitably cool and dreary day.
It arrives the very next Tuesday.
I attach ipod to ears, rucksack containing water, sweater and camera (I need to upload a photo to the internet) to back and trainers to quivering feet.
I’m ready.
Off I go, and at a fairly impressive pace, or so I would like to think.
I run all the way to town, only stopping once to help marshal a frisky horse away from the dangers of the main road into the relative safety of a cow field full of irritable Herefordshire beef.
And the run wasn’t that bad, even.
I pop into the internet place. Slightly aware that I might be more than a little fragrant I sit far away from the other patrons. Photo uploaded, I head back to the road.
It starts to rain, but to be honest it’s a relief from the humidity and accumulated body heat…
About 45 minutes later, I am negotiating the steep driveway up to the hostel. I bloomin’ well did it, I ran the whole way back…
And that’s 12 km!
Read it and weep, sister!