Autumn

I had my first autumn run this morning- 6am, 10 degrees and dark. I ditched the usual running shorts and singlet for three-quarter leggings and a long-sleeved top. After the first few hundred metres (the hardest part of any run) it was great to be out. The hot coffee and even hotter shower on returning home were all the more appreciated.

It was probably a good thing to get out today. Yesterday I ran on the treadmill at the gym instead. Later I found myself coaching/ heckling a jogger I've never even met before. He was trying to run up the hill from Dee Why to Narraweena. I was driving that direction on the way to meet a friend. He wasn't even a quarter of the way up the hill, but his jog had turned into a shuffle and it didn't look like he had much hope of making it. At this tragic realisation, something welled up within in me and I heard myself saying out aloud, "Come on mate! Don't look at your feet! Head up. Pump your arms. Lift your feet. YOU CAN DO IT!" A quick check in my rear view mirror told the rest of the story... he couldn't.