After perceiving a certain amount of "failure of one's constitution" with my dragon boating in the previous week I undertook a couple of confidence building exercises. One was swimming beyond my ability for half an hour on Sunday, which probably made me look like I was half swimming half drowning to the onlookers clutching bottles of Corona in preparation for a party when the pool closed to the general public. Then, on Monday night I resolved to run the run all in one go, and I almost did! I only faltered about two thirds of the way around, going uphill I just gave in and started walking, then after a few step I thought 'you can't stop when dragon boating!' and that pushed me back into a run.
On the final uphill stretch I was seriously fading though, I expect I looked like a typical amateur jogger at that point - barely moving forward, looking like a heart attack about to happen. I doubt I would have made it if it weren't for the fact that I saw a cat sat on the other side of the road, looking at me. This cat looked very much like my first cat, Mitzy, so I pretended that this moggie was her ghost and had manifested to inspire me.
The feline phantasm self trickery worked a treat and I highly recommend it. If I had stopped it would have been easy to imagine the cat looking at me with disappointment and disdain in its eyes - cats have just the right look to carry this off perfectly.
If any running coaches read this and decide to use cats in their training regime then you are free to do so, no fee is payable. However, I would like some credit when your aspiring athlete wins gold.
n.b. As previously stated, the cat is blessed with a face of disdain that makes it a great motivator. Coaches wishing to invoke the spirits of other animals are advised to steer clear of dogs (too much sympathy) and lemurs (just look surprised at success or failure), but owls and tortoises might well work. Let me know how you get on...
On the final uphill stretch I was seriously fading though, I expect I looked like a typical amateur jogger at that point - barely moving forward, looking like a heart attack about to happen. I doubt I would have made it if it weren't for the fact that I saw a cat sat on the other side of the road, looking at me. This cat looked very much like my first cat, Mitzy, so I pretended that this moggie was her ghost and had manifested to inspire me.
The feline phantasm self trickery worked a treat and I highly recommend it. If I had stopped it would have been easy to imagine the cat looking at me with disappointment and disdain in its eyes - cats have just the right look to carry this off perfectly.
If any running coaches read this and decide to use cats in their training regime then you are free to do so, no fee is payable. However, I would like some credit when your aspiring athlete wins gold.
n.b. As previously stated, the cat is blessed with a face of disdain that makes it a great motivator. Coaches wishing to invoke the spirits of other animals are advised to steer clear of dogs (too much sympathy) and lemurs (just look surprised at success or failure), but owls and tortoises might well work. Let me know how you get on...
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