"On Listening to Others"

I wish I knew why this is such a hard thing for me.  It has been a handicap my entire life.  There's just something about discovering things for myself that seems to make them immediately valid.   It seems that anyone else's idea needs to be met with immediate scepticism, for at least as long as it takes for me to not have to give credit for it!!  Insane eh?

I'm just a wee bit suspicious that this bad habit comes from fighting for attention with the other 11 idiots.  Either that or it's just plain genetics, because although I freely admit that I'm the worst, I do see the same tendency amongst at least a few of my siblings.

So along with all the other character flaws I still have to work on, I'm gonna try hard to improve in this area a little bit.  To start off, for today, I'm gonna tell you that John's advice from yesterdays post may have some merit.  So you don't have to go back, he suggested that the social aspect of running with a friend/partner may help me break through my 'runners block', for lack of a better expression.

As soon as I read it I was reminded of a moment some few months back.  It was before I managed to get back into this regular 5K routine, and on this particular day I was actually walking when I spotted a training acquaintance up ahead at the next interaction.  She is an extremely fit specimen who I know primarily from the pool, but who I also know does everything physical extremely well.  She only really knows me as Joe Ironman, and as such I wasn't about to let her see me walking.  So I broke into a jog with the intent of quickly acknowledging her,  knowing that once I was out of her sight I could go back to my walk.  She totally messed that up by changing her mind on which way she was going, jut to run with me a bit and socialize.....

Holy shit!  What was I gonna do?

I apologized for being a bit slow, hoping she would take the bait and accelerate away, but no such luck.  She was happy to jog along and keep me company.  Lovely.

I had no choice.  She chatted, I chatted, she chatted some more. I nodded my head and grunted because I couldn't hear half the things she said, and suddenly I realized that I was still running!  Despite my intent to walk the remaining 3 kms to my house I ended up running the whole way.

So yes John.  I think there may be some real merit in  your suggestion.  This would be further supported by the fact that I ran 3 races early in the summer (5K, 10K and 12K), all of which went fairly well.  I think they relate, since again they are social activities with a distraction factor.

The problem of course is finding that friend/partner to run with.  I don't have any friends, and my only real partner and I learned years ago that running separately is the healthiest thing for our marriage.

So.....and I'm quietly excited about this...I'm gonna try to participate in as many low key fun runs or races that I can find in the immediate area, and see how that goes.  I will try to talk Roo into joining me of course, but Im gonna try to do this regardless.  Lets see what I can do.

Found a nice little 10K already in London on remembrance day.  Gonna sign up tomorrow.

And finally for today, without going into details, Roo and I had another run-in with dog boy today.  The story is too emotional to tell right now, but suffice it to say both Roo and I are very happy with the way it turned out.  I'm pretty sure we have the weasel on the run, and we're not gonna quit until he's out of our lives.  This is our neighbourhood damn it, and we refuse to be intimidated.  I must also add that I am inspired by my wives courage.....not surprised, just inspired.

....and this is a pretty good one eh...

"There is a difference between listening and waiting for your turn to speak."---Simon Sinek

Love
Pete