Soft baby skin on my foot

Before I get to my foot, I have a gripe.  It is a general gripe, aimed at people who think that BANJO music is hip.  It isn't.  So Mr Mumford and your Offspring, GET OFF MY HOTTEST 100 CD.  John Butler Trio?  Go swing your dreadlocks in someone elses ear.  I just noticed today that banjo music is everywhere. On lots of songs.  And it is WRONG.
 

Anyway, back to music, now that I'm on the subject.  How freaking good is Muses "Unnatural Selection" to do intervals to?  How good I ask you?  Bloody brilliant, that's how good.  I made another new playlist this weekend, boy do I have some great music on there.  Who remembers "The Ace of Spades" by Motorhead?  "Children of the Grave" by Black Sabbath?  "The Number of the Beast" by Iron Maiden?  "Counter Culture" by British India? 

So anyway, back to my foot.  

Last week you may recall photo of gross blister.  Well it is all healed up now and I have special baby skin there that I am taking very special care of now.  But I can run again - yahoo!  And - even better, motivation appears to have returned!  

I think watching the finish of the Six Foot Track at the weekend helped to get the old running juices flowing, although I must admit, by the time I got down that scary windy road I was ready for a very stiff brandy.  And coming up it with a car full of guys talking about penises wasn't all that helpful either.  Anyway, the good thing is, motivation is back.  The bad thing is, my two friends doing the run each had a bad day in their own way.  So instead of the ecstatic high fiving that I was expecting, it was a matter of me trying to say as little as possible, as I never seem to be able to say the right thing in these situations. 

So - Sunday I took off for a local run just around the streets, and this morning I got up at sparrow fart and ran around the streets again, then tonight I went to my personal trainer, who I would like to be called Sven and be very handsome, but the truth is he is a 'ranger and his name is Darren and he probably comes from Shalvey because he talks with that annoying inflection at the end that makes every sentence sound like a question. 

Anyway, he is allright in the personal training stakes, I told him I don't want any mucking around, just core exercises AND NO BLOODY SIT UPS.  So tonight he had me jumping up onto a large box for about ten minutes (good for explosive leg strength apparently), lunging with my eyes closed, standing on a bosu ball with my eyes closed and lunging to the side with weights (thankfully with my eyes open this time).  I was quite sweaty at the end.  Then I jumped on the tready (that's an endurance sport in itself, just staying on it for longer than five minutes, how BORING) and did 35 mins of hills and fast intervals.  My eyemakeup was on my chin when I finished but it was actually allright once the Black Sabbath and Muse kicked in on the iPlod.

 

Bernie reminded me that it is only 8 weeks till the North Face.  By now I should have been training my little sneakers off, but with one thing and another, here I am having to ramp it up now.  7 weeks if you count taper.  Goodbye the rest of my life, hello training.