Everything went well until last Thursday. The programme demanded — demanded — that I run for 15 minutes and then walk another 15. I could not even manage the first five minutes of running, even though I had done it once before. I could claim that my location forces my to run at least 8 minutes uphill for a start. It’s just an excuse, but a rather good one, I think. Nevertheless, I cannot escape the fact that I have failed once again.

In response, I have totally aborted the programme. Or at least, suspended it. I am determined to try to run the 15 minutes of my route until I get it right. Slowly, day by day for the last seven days, I have tried to shorten those parts that I am forced to start walking. Of course, some days are better than others, but I reckon that by the end of next week I shall be able to run all of it. It may take longer than 15 minutes, but I am abandoning that part of the plan until I am running all of it. The professor would not be pleased at this switch from time to distance, I’m sure. But once I can reliable (i.e., twice) run the whole route, I’ll resume his programme. I did one circuit this morning and another this evening, as almost every other evening. The dogs along the route have stopped barking at me by now. I may rest tomorrow, even though my nine days are not up yet. My bones are hurting. I have, in fact, gone through several stages of pain. Shinsplints came first, then muscle soreness, and at one point my spleen was cramping. Oh, how I wish it would start again. That is the best kind of pain.

I have also switched from music on my iPod to audiobooks. I kind of regret this, but now I’m hooked on the book (Howard’s End, free off Gutenberg Press) and I’ll stick it out. Then I’ll decide whether to switch back to music or another classic that my education has neglected.  Perhaps the Call of the Wild.

I am going to follow the training programme from “The Lore of Running”. I have made a separate page for it, where I will also keep a log of my activity. (It should also appear on the right-hand side of this page.) The programme is very light to begin with, but it builds up, and towards the end of the year I should be able to run a marathon. Able to.

Pro’s: (1) Unlike the “walk-an-hour-a-day” plan, it provides a little variation. (2) It is less time consuming initially and it is only once I have committed myself for a month or two that it becomes more demanding. (3) It gives me something to look forward to. (4) There is some science behind it.

Con’s: (1) Walking for 20 minutes for next month or so seems a little trivial. (2) It is quite a long-term commitment.

I’ll try to stick to it religiously (i.e., mindlessly). I am hoping that, like this blog, once the ball is rolling, I’ll a compulsion to keep it rolling.  We’ll have to see how it goes.