Rebecca, my would-be walker pal arrived back from Greece at stupid o'clock yesterday morning, so I got a text when she'd slept and surfaced, and knew at least vaguely what country she was in.
"Can I come down the Trail with you in the morning?" she asked.
"Sure!" I said, nearly biting her hand off, in a mark of sociability that's frankly unlike me...maybe I'm comign down with something...
So this morning at 7, she turned up, all iPoded up and ready to walk.
"Wow!" she said, nodding appreciatively at the Disappearingness of me - to be fair to her, she hasn't seen me for a good few weeks now, so the whole "stone and a half" thing probably came as a bit of a shock to her. Still - brightened my morning considerably. We chatted briefly about this, and that, and absolutely none of the other, then we plugged in our respective iPods, and off we went.
See...the thing is...very off and very on, I've been walking for a while now. Certainly in this latest phase, I've been doing it for about a month or so. Almost consistently.
By the time we got to the start of the Trail proper, I'd stopped about four times.
"You...just go on," she said. "I'll follow...need to get up to speed with this 'walking' lark."
Now, I know there's a certain amount of urban legendry about the fact that, for instance, when a woman says she's "fine," she actually means she's not remotely fine at all, and similarly, that when she says "do what you want," it should absolutely under no circumstances be taken as an invitation to ACTUALLY do what you want...
However, I've always worked on the principle that this only holds true for women you're actively trying to sleep with - or indeed sleep with again. Friends, I've always assumed, would never be bothered enough to hide their delicate, sensitive personalities from each other, should they have such things. So - Becca said just go on, and on I bloomin' well just went.
And in case you think this is building to some outrage at hurt feelings, squabbles and declarations never to share a trail again - calm down, I really don't have that kind of friends. Becca was cool as I powered off round the geographical bend. I waited for her at one other section where the Trail splits, on the principle - unlikely though it might be - that she might be as much of a navigational fuckwit as I am.
She wasn't. She did say though that maybe she wouldn't come the whole way with me.
"I'll give it about ten more minutes...then go back," she said. Fair enough on your first time going back to it, I reckon.
She's coming back down the Trail tomorrow morning.
What struck me though were two things - firstly, I've forgotten quite how long I've been doing this. Powering off has become second nature to me now. And secondly, the look of gleaming, oxygen-rich glitter in her eyes at the simple pleasure of getting out into nature and breathing a bit - and getting fitter while you do it. It's a particular thrill that only the newbie - or the re-newbie - really gets, as different from what it becomes as falling in love is from being in love. That was nice to be reinded of.
Intake, by the way, for the calorie crunchers among you - cereal breakfast today - three Weetabix and a banana. Lunch was late-ish - 1.30 - and was four pieces of wholegrain toast (yes, again, four) with a tin of tomatoes. Dinner, before dashing off to Choir, was one piece of breaded plaice and some snow peas. Now feel full as a house.
Tomorrow, down the Trail with Becca first thing, then meeting up for breakfast at a restaurant, and taking the day with d and our friends Lou and Mark for a day in Swansea, seeing The Mousetrap, as a) it's on both d and Lou's Bucket List and b) it's on tour, for apparently the first time, so why not? So the walk is likely to be the only exercise I get tomorrow...as in fact it ended up being today. Friday there will be buckling. It will go downward...
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