Task 1: Complete a 10k run in less than 60 mins

Of all the tasks on my Sixty at 60 list, I think it's fair to say that Number 1 is going to be the one that really puts me through the mill (although squeezing a note out of a saxophone and learning the lindy hop both run a very close second.....).  In my forties I endlessly talked about how much I’d like to run a marathon, but never did anything about it – in my fifties I endlessly talked about how much I’d like to run a half marathon and never did anything about it. Now I've hit sixty I’ve scaled down the distance to a mere 10k (so important to keep my goals measurable, achievable and realistic as they say in CBT) – but the key difference is that this time I'm actually going to do it!! 

Before officially committing to Task 1, I decided it would be wise to do some practice runs to check that I was actually up to it. So I bought myself some very brightly coloured running shoes (my daughter in law Liz who knows about such things assured me these shoes are totally on trend these days and wouldn't make me a laughing stock in the running community) and a rather sporty looking running outfit. Here are the shoes - I'm going to spare you a photo of me in the outfit.

 I put on my gear, slipped my phone (with Runkeeper http://runkeeper.com/ newly downloaded, thank you to Sam my hairdresser for that tip - very helpful app) into my pocket, took a deep breath and stepped out into the lane in front of my house, thus exposing my outfit (far too new-looking), lack of stamina, and strange running style to the world at large. To my amazement no one stopped and started at me (in fact they just got out of my way) - way to go Hunot!  Over a 2-week period I extended my running distance, stupidly ignoring all aches and pains in my feet, until one morning I reached the dizzy distance of 5k. Runkeeper was very pleased with me and I was pretty elated with myself, until I spotted that my right ankle had blown up like a small balloon. One physio visit and diagnosis of a pulled liganment later, I found myself on a strict regime of nurofen gel, elevated leg, frozen pea compresses, and inevitably I suppose - no running.

Four weeks later my foot has healed (hurrah!) and my Sixty at 60 running programme starts tomorrow. This time I intend to build up my distance/pace s-l-o-w-l-y.  Mantra – ‘I am 60 years old.....I have a 60 year old body.....Keep it real.....’  I’m about to register myself on an official 10k run in Tonbridge at the end of October. Updates on my progress will follow. Now get training woman. 

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