Heaven knows how the iPod spurs you into running further, or faster, but it does. It works even better if you set it to play songs at random – I haven’t yet worked out how to do this, but I’ve managed to achieve the same effect by forgetting what songs I put on the playlists in the first place, so every song is a surprise. My mum has expressed her disapproval of running with the iPod for safety reasons, and isn’t interested in how it enhances the running experience. Firstly she pointed out that “professional athletes manage to run without iPods” (ignoring the fact that using them as an example was hardly comparing like for like). Then she added, “If you need music whilst you’re running, why not just hum something? And if you want to change tracks, hum something else.” Luckily everyone else has been rather more supportive – last weekend there was a sweet elderly gentleman in the park who insisted on doing a Mexican wave every time I ran a lap (I don’t know who was more shattered afterwards – me or him), and I also appreciated the cheerleading efforts of the amazing pace-making Jack Russell who decided to join me for laps one and two, much to the dismay of his owner.
For anyone who’s interested in Operation Wedding Dress – well, I had expected the weight to drop off effortlessly with all the running, but the reality hasn’t worked out that way. I have had to put in a minimum of four intense sessions a week to make any difference to my appearance, and sadly I discovered this too late so have had to change my wedding dress. I don’t mind too much as I wasn’t looking forward to explaining the whole body con thing to Mr and Mrs Nicky, but the whole experience has made me realise that this little Toto isn’t in Kansas anymore. Gone are the days when I could use lager as a meal replacement and still shed half a stone in three days – old age is creeping up on me and poisoning my metabolism! Let’s hope that my continued efforts throughout this month of beauty yield some positive results by Litha …
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