I should have known it was going to be tough when I delayed the start of the run just that little too long-9am start is too late in Wet Season Darwin. The program told me 45 mins easy and the first 20 minutes weren’t bad. Then my legs decided to sap away all energy through Suits the moisture that comes with 30.7 degrees celcius (86 Farenheit) and 72% humidity. Very rapidly, easy became difficult.

It reminds me of my last event, the Variety Club Santa Run. We were all very excited dressed in our Santa Suits and ready to join the two hundred other Santas participating in the 3 km event.

It was three weeks after the Bangkok Marathon and I thought I was ready for a short hit out. This was ignoring the fact that experiences evoked through the term ‘hit out’ don’t really apply to me but I am an optimist. I positioned myself a few rows back from the front and at the gun shuffled forward with the crowd ready to open up once there was space. This was going to be ‘easy’. This is what my brain was saying but there was a severe miscommunication with my legs which seemed determined to mimic two pillars of concrete; I pumped my arms urging my legs to follow but it just did not work. The race became a run / walk for me and taught me the following lesson – easy is not always there; in fact when it comes to my running it seems to be a foreign concept to me. I remember what it feels like but, like young love, it belongs to another me, long gone. I wonder what might be a suitable substitute.