Oh God

We were just talking today about Christians.  I don't trust them.  As a child I was dragged around Faith Healing Crusades (where people throw fifty pound notes into buckets and fat Americans preach and people "see the light" and claim to be cured of any number of bizarre diseases or have a clap on the head moment where God talks to them - my entire family embarrassingly enough included), Baptist Churches (once again, my entire family saw the light, but a different light this time, a bathing light in a large swimming pool bath thing where they were pushed backwards wearing a robe into a lukewarm swimming pool on the alter on a Sunday night in February - brrr - and once again, slightly embarrassing), Ian Paisleys church, Presbyterian Churches (before my God fearing family fell out with the Presbo's because they wouldn't let Mum and Dad have a drink of their Holy Communion Wine on a Sunday, because they had not yet "Taken Christ Into Their Lives" ("seen the light")....and despite all this kerfuffle related to god, Sunday School, seeing lights and being bathed in large expanses of Holy Water, I am not convinced.  Not not convinced by God Himself, or his existence.  I accept that and talk to him quite frequently about various matters.  But I quite like the Buddhist point of view.  Just be kind.  Sort of.  Not that I have researched Buddhism in any great depth mind you.  I always thought all this going to church carry on was people just feeling smug about themselves - doing good and being kind was more of a Christian lifestyle.  Anyway, I was the black sheep because I never saw any light or pretended to, or got bathed in a pale blue robe but I was in the Brownies and the Bunnies, so that must count for something.  Mind you, Catherine Carrol,  my twin Nicola and I WERE known as the Three Bad Brownies....but that is beside the point....

Anyway, they say (we are back to running now, keep up!!) that you should not do Junk Miles.  Research into Junk Miles indicate that this is running with no purpose.  So your purpose for running should be hills, speed or long distance.  I think they forgot the mental health runs and the runs because you got a new running skirt, or just applied new fake tan, or have this FANTASTIC play list of Metallica and Muse and Tool and Plan B and you can't WAIT to play it, or you need to drop three kilos PRONTO runs, or just maintenance (of the three kilos returning) runs.

So anyway I did a "speed" session today.  I thought I would start off with a warm up (bludge) and then run as fast as I could for 200 metres, then slow down to a jog for one minute and then run as fast as I could etc etc etc.  It sort of ended up running as fast as I could when I got my breath back and sort of slower jogging just to survive, but on the last km I "fanged" it (well, by my standards) and I nearly lost my breakfast.

BUT I did ALMOST beat my 5km PB, I was about 5 seconds shy of it.  So that's not bad, and surely to God or whoever (see above rant) this counts as speed.  So, I have a hill / strength session to do and a long run and I can do as many mental heath runs as I bloody fancy once I have these essential ingredients in my running week.  :)

It is quite nice to have no running stresses (because I haven't entered anything stressful yet, i.e. the M7 Marathon) and just to be training for fun.  Sort of.  I tell myself that anyway.