Running with Mel is hard! I went straight after work and she said we’d take it easy and just put a few hard efforts in to see how I coped, and we got the answer very quickly: I coped very badly.

For a start, Mel’s easy pace was already quite fast, and she told me that I should have said something (and I should) because there was no point me getting tired in the easy bits otherwise I won’t have any energy for the hard bits. And that’s what happened, because when Mel said as easily as if she was sitting in a comfy chair and not running at close to my top speed “now we’ll pick up the pace for one minute” it turned out that I couldn’t pick up the pace for more than ten seconds before I was hit by a stitch and started to feel sick.

So all-in-all it wasn’t the most successful session, but Mel said she now had a better idea of my strengths and weaknesses for next time. I told her she was being generous because all I have is weakness, and she said in that case I would start improving much more quickly and I was very lucky in that regard. I’m not so sure.

We walked back past her place on the way – it was in quite a modern block, and she’s on about the eight floor – and I mentioned the dinner with Ha and Lily and Ellie on Saturday and since it was at my place I decided I was perfectly entitled to invite Mel along too. I’m not sure if I should tell Ellie that if I’m hoping to coax her out of her shell.

It was fun hanging out with her, though, and nice to have someone to run with. I’m sure it’ll help a lot, just because trying to stick with someone who’s so much fitter is going to push me more than I can push myself. Although on the other hand I do feel like a lumbering dwarf besides her when her lithe body seems to effortlessly glides along, seeming to barely touch the ground, so maybe it’s not all good for my self-esteem.