December 18th - Try to blend in

I have been really busy these last few days, Christmas is always a chaotic time for me and squeezing in the runs and swims is always going to be a challenge however I have managed a few during this last week, On Tuesday and Wednesday I managed swims and then again on Friday I squeezed a dip in between 2 jobs which was great. 

The Saturday before Christmas is always my busiest work day of the year but after a bit of thinking and planning I worked out that I could fit in a Parkrun, my last one was 2 weeks ago then I achieved a personal best for the Southsea course and that was the first time I had run a Parkrun without a walking break in the middle, I wanted to see if I could repeat the feat (I was 7 seconds slower than my PB but didn't need to have a walking break again).

If you have followed my blog then you will know that is is my plan to eventually run the Parkrun without a shirt on, As I explained in my blog post Motivated to Run I feel I run better when shirtless and so I want to see if my results are improved at all, plus it would be another great opportunity to get my cold fix.

At the moment I run at least twice a week, the Parkrun on Saturday mornings, usually in a vest with 300-400 other runners, and then on Sunday mornings I run shirtless with my 2 good mates Matt (who also runs shirtless) and Chris. The Sunday run is usually somewhere much quieter with just a few dog walkers around and as you can imagine running shirtless on Sundays is fairly easy, no one seems to care where as running with hundreds of other runners at a parkrun in a location which is much busier is a huge step to take. 

It has recently occurred to me that maybe I am thinking about things the wrong way, you see if I am to run Parkrun there will be no hiding, everyone will see me and I WILL get lots of people asking me if I am cold, basically there will be no hiding and so trying to blend in and not be seen is not an option, so what do I do if I cant blend in? well completely the opposite of course. 

I have some red shorts, I can get a Santa hat, I am sure some tinsel for my ankles and wrists will be a good addition, I may even wear my Christmas pudding sunglasses if it is sunny, If I am going to be seen then I may as well do it in style especially as it will be Christmas day.

I have come to realise that if I tell people my plans then I always feel compelled to go through with those plans, If I don't then I feel I am letting people (and myself) down, and so my next Parkrun is going to be Christmas day and I am going to do it shirtless, there I have told you so I have to go through with it, I just need to psych myself up to doing it now.