Sunday 24 June 2007

Attack of the bog







As some of you know, i've been training for the Race for life for some months now. And each week i've been spending some quality time at the beach running *cough*walking*cough* to get fit for the 5km race. Alas, my training has not exactly been that great, and quite frequently I become distracted either by the seashells, or the fact that the tide has started to close in behind me. Fortunately i've always managed to escape with my life. Today I nearly lost more than my life... Who would have thought walking on the beach could be so hazardous!

Picture this....

There I was, walking the walk, with my MP3 player blasting and not a soul in sight (or should I say sole? :P). The beach is deserted and the heavy rain has just managed to stay away. The sky is dark and overcast, droplets of rain are splashing onto the many puddles beneath my feet. My trousers and trainers become drenched with sea water as I try unsuccessfully to evade to water pools. Nevertheless, I bravely soldier on, with mobile phone (just in case).

So today, I wasn't feeling particularly energetic, and I have to say, I was struggling to do the whole 5km. Weary and with heavy heart and not reaching my target, I headed back to the mainland. Once more evading the hoards of jellyfish that littered my path... and by jelly fish, I am actually referring to seaweed, but jellyfish does seem more dramatic. :P

*cough*

So, as the storm clouds ebb and float away as i'm nearing the 'finish line' so to speak, the Rocky theme starts to play on my MP3 player. This song motivates all my senses and I feel the adrenaline bursting through my veins, subconsciously spurring me on to finish the 'last lap' in style. As I miraculously avoid the swirling water, I head inland to the grassy knoll's embedded by streams of sand and water. And prepare to do a Rocky! But instead of climbing the steps, my biggest feat is actually jumping over mounds of grass and dirt not more than half a foot deep. As the song reaches it's peak, so do I, and feel myself 'flying' over the stumps. Suddenly and obviously due to my getting carried away, I find myself falling off the clump of dirt and land in a quagmire. That familiar sound of vacuum sucking at your trainers as your feet are sinking in the mud. In panic mode, I flail my arms like a windmill as to not fall backwards. Okay why do people do this? It's not pretty and to be honest makes you look a bit ridiculous! I mean it's not as if that exuberant flailing of the arms will a) stop you from falling b) make the wind current from your flying arms rush up to cushion your fall... Yet I still did it!

So, there I was, trainers being sucked into the mud without anyone around to assist me. I panicked slightly.. yes I admit it. How the heck do I get myself out of this. As my sinking stabilised and the adrenaline coursed through my veins, I thought about how the hell to get out of this predicament before the tide came in. Then it hit me, like a thunderbolt. A plan, it wasn't a great one, mind you, but it was all I had. So I gathered all the energy I could muster and prepared myself for the worse... the worse of course being me falling on my ass!
*insert dramatic music for effect*
I flexed my knees in readiness, then lifted my foot out of the quagmire! It worked! I smiled in relief as I gently lifted my other foot; clinging onto the shoe for dear life with my toes, so they wouldn't get left behind and headed inland once more!

As I neared the entrance to where I parked the car, and immediately spotted several horses. My first thought was, they're obviously there to help me on my quest. :P So that must mean that i'm onto phase two! And getting stuck was my second test. So, once more, I must mount my trusty stead and ride roughshod... not over the minions this time, but over the quagmire in search for Shirtless Shep. Wish me luck! ;)

So the moral of the story is, "Don't get too over zealous when listening to the Rocky theme tune!" ;o)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

OMG you can make me laugh even on the roughest day.

Love the segway from training to Shirtless Shep! Smooth!!!

LOL!!!! snerk LOL!!!!

gotta go clean the soda off my monitor now.