breathing

"The day after a special 'Environment Forum' [in Beijing, China] dedicated to reassuring the athletics world that it had its air pollution under control, the city awoke to find itself engulfed by a thick pea-souper.

"Visibility was reduced to less than 50 yards, flights were delayed, major roads into the city closed and, most importantly, the smog was so serious that children and the elderly were told to stay indoors by the city's weather bureau.

"'Wear a face mask if you go out', its head, Sun Jisong, said. His office's report said the air was 'heavy with particulate matter'."

I have an improvement to report: for the last few weeks I have been running like a slug. Now I am running like a bus. Slow, noisy, makes frequent stops, but always gets to the end of the route.

My heavy breathing on the trail today caused great alarm in the colony of prairie dogs, normally so blase about runners that they won't move even if you're about to tread on them. It also frightened the bejesus out of two young women who didn't hear me until I was almost on top of them, if you'll excuse the phrase.

I caught them in the dying moments of a "fast surge". I am practising for Thursday morning, when I have rashly agreed to meet Patty to restart our once-a-week tempo (for me) and easy-brisk (for her) runs. I say rashly, because the day after agreeing, I read this on Ken Stone's Master's News blog: