Thoughts and happenings from a life on Malta

Here’s some footage of the protest that was held today outside the Egyptian Embassy in Ta’ Xbiex.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBPWV1j2SqU

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i6PyboUkc8

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAy3OYUzey4

Today’s twenty-kilometre exertion saw me run:

• in slippery mud, where even standing still has you gliding over the earth
• in sticky mud, which experience has taught me that shoes not firmly done up get sucked clear off the feet
• over compact sand, with its ability to mimic the running shoes’ outsoles
• over loose sand, which is akin to running on a ship in heavy seas
• on seaweed so soft I wonder why it has never made it as a cushioning product to rival Nike’s Air or Asics’ Gel
• up a stairway to oxygen-debt hell
• along the remains of a reputedly Roman road; and I use “remains” in the literal sense of the word
• close to cliff edges, where I trod more softly in the hope that the crumbling face wouldn’t take a dislike to my presence and swallow me whole
• on paths where the legs were not enough to propel me forward, so the hands had to come into play, turning me into a 4×4
• along the odd stretch of tarmac, just so not to forget that this is the surface I’ll be doing the half-marathon on later this month

This is not the sort of training session that fits neatly into a scheduled heart rate zone or so many minutes-per-kilometre pace. Nor is it one that can be run “as you feel”. Instead, the test lies in adaptability: respect the challenges nature decides to put in your path and change stride, pace and/or intensity accordingly.

Today I was not a cross-country runner

Today I was not a trail runner

Today I was an all-terrain runner!