To do list

Each new year I try to come up with a list of things to do during the next twelve months. Not your every day stuff but things that I normally wouldn't do, but would be much the wiser for having done so. Kind of like a yearly bucket list without actually kicking the bucket.

I've done things like getting a pedicure, buying a bucket of chicken and build a lamp and turn an old tv into a fish tank.

This year, I've been a bit slack. Partially because of laziness. Partially because I've been overseas for most of the year and have seen and done a lot of things that I only dreamt of. However, there has been one on my list that I have been wanting to tick off for a while: RUN TO WORK.

At the time I wrote this list, I lived 4km from where I worked. I now live 8km away. I hate walking anywhere, never mind running. In fact, the last time I ran anywhere was probably to get the toilet in time. I haven't run any kind of distance in over 4 years!

With today being the 31st December 2011, it was my last chance to tick 'run to work' off my list. So I decided to do it. (Well, to be honest, I had to do it because I told a lot of people that I could and they didn't believe me) I had to dig around for some running shoes and shorts but this morning, I was ready to go.

Before I even got out of the door, I ran into some issues. Where the heck do people carry things when they run?! I had to get my keys and phone to work and reluctantly decided to carry them. How do I time myself? I used to have a heart rate monitor but it is long gone and I was keen to know my time. So I stole my wife's watch instead. It was also an extremely weird feeling to wear ankle socks instead of high cuff cycling socks.

I set off on my run and had to quickly adjust to being on the walking side of the footpath rather than the cycling side. After 2km my legs started to hurt. Aerobically, I was fine but the impact of running destroyed my legs. I decided to walk 200m then run 2km. By 5km, this turned into walk 200m and run 1km.

48min and 8km later, I arrived at work. I put compression socks on and spent most of the day sitting and avoiding the single step that exists at work because it hurt my legs. I thought about the run home and contemplated swallowing my pride and catching a bus home. But I couldn't let the doubters win.

After work, I put the runners back on and head home. My legs were so sore that I had to walk the downhill sections because the impact hurt too much. 42min and 8km later I made it home!

I am currently sitting with my legs elevated and a pair of Skins on. It hurts to stand up. It hurts to walk. It hurts to sit down again. For some reason, my arms hurt! I didn't even use them!!!

I'm not going to lie, I have buyers remorse. I'm ticking 'run to work' off my list and next year's list will definitely have no running activities.