Huzzah!

Observe fellow runners! Feast your eyes on these. Allow me to present my newest and fancy pants silver springy runners! I scampered off with the advice to my nearest sporting goods store where upon a gum chewing base-ball wearing youth agreed with poster aquaasho that 'Yer, dem are de best one fer runnin' and support that ye can buy.'
'Zounds!' I said, 'They're super light.'
'Yer' He said and moved his gum to the other side of his mouth.
'They make my other ones seem like carpet slippers.'
'You wanna box?' He said trying hard to stay awake.
'Surely.' I said, turning my foot thither and yon.
He wandered off at minus one mile to the hour and returned a century later with the box. So I"m photographing that too.

I'm super smitten with them and plan to take them out for a spin in the morning. Are they not swish?

Tears, Tempers, Tiaras, Tylenol.

OH, I feel it, a snuffly wuffly teary smeary sensation. As I gather my bag up and make sure I have taken some pre-Memnoch painkillers, my heart is heavy.
Today is my last class with Memnoch, that vicious being who mocks me, rolls his eyes at me, and-on occasion- puts me in hospital with concussion. Here is a man, a cold stone brute of a man, who quite frankly, let's not beat around the bush here, does not really like teaching women and thinks we are too pathetic to be in his dojo, and I'm upset over his departure.
At the start of my path with Memnoch I was outraged by this sexist nonsense. Furious over his confident air that we ladies wouldn't last long and that he was only humouring us by letting us stay. There were five of us ladies and anything the lads could do we could do! I said it so it must be so!!
As the months progressed there was ample time for me to reconsider those views.
As the five whittled down to four, then three, then just me and Claire I was forced to deal with something my brain refused to accept but my body already knew.
Memnoch was right. Memnoch is always right.
Once I had learned this the hard way- rounds with the Canadian flinging me about lie a rag doll, pad holding for Memnoch, where he would strike the pad so hard I would be forced backwards and my head would ache at the sheer force of the blow, conditioning where after circut laps my leaden legs would wobble and my bile rise, occasional ceiling watching-I felt liberated. I started to accept other things too, Most men are stronger than us, so what? We have only one third of their testerone, of course they are! We're not in direct competition with each other.
How liberating.
No longer did I worry about being tougher than the lads. Claire and I shut out yaps and decided to learn what Memnoch had to teach us. And new calm washed over me.
And now, having broken us and rebuilt us, our master, our tormentor, the man we -male and female alike- respect deeply, fear greatly, and bow to equally deeply- is leaving us.
For sodding Hamburg.
If he notices I am a bit teary today I will tell him there is something in my eye. Like Claire's fist for example. He'll like that.
Stupid change.
I am totally and utterly against it.

Running a marathon.

Unlike Finn, who is clearly a gifted and brilliant runner I have always had love hate relationship with running. I hate starting off but I love the feeling at the end of a run. I am further hampered by the fact that is seems to take me an inordinately long time to warm up. Neither am I designed for speed, distance sure, but speed nope. I have two gears, walking, ground skimming joggy trot. That's it.
Bearing this in mind I am considering entering myself into the Dublin City Marathon. It will be on the 29th October. That gives me the best part of eight months to get my act together and train.
So, if anyone has any tips, or has run a marathon before, I would appreciate any and all advice. Currently I can skippity bob along six miles (about 10k) without falling down. I 'm wondering is it better to run a little every day and run long once or twice a week or does that put too much pressure on joints and so on. How much should I be looking to extend that distance and in what time frame and what is the best 'fuel/food' for running.
Cheers.