Smugness alert

On Monday, I went for my first run with the boyfriend.

The D. B's been highly impressed with my keeping going to the gym, and has commented that I must be getting very fit (I wish). If you've been paying attention, you might have realised that we haven't actually seen each other since Easter; it felt like absolute years. So I was wondering if he would notice any difference in me.

Well, he said I was looking "trim" and his mum asked if I'd lost weight. My own mother has said she can notice a difference, but hey, she sees me every day, and she could just be trying to be encouraging (I'm not being negative here. I know her). So that was pretty satisfying. On the other hand, I was a bit worried that the boyfriend would overestimate how far and fast I can run...

We set out late on Monday evening, after dark. The D. B. prefers to run in the cool of the evening, but it felt quite different from usual to me. No readouts to tell me how far I had to go – and I didn't know the route we would be doing, which I think made it harder. Every time we crossed a road, he would go a little way in from the corner automatically, but I would think we were turning right (or left) and would carry on round the bend and have to correct myself. Also, I found that going up and down kerbs really interferes with my rhythm! I suppose the treadmill spoils you, because it's perfectly smooth and in a straight line. I'm lucky that this area isn't very hilly, unlike most of Edinburgh.

The weather was cool and quite windy, which I normally don't mind. One disadvantage of cool air, however, is that it brings on my asthma. No, I've never mentioned before that I have asthma, and that's because it really only comes on in the winter when the air is very cold and dry, or if I have an allergic reaction. This winter was so mild that I never had an attack: in fact, I can't remember when I last had one. I carry an inhaler in my handbag, but I've never once needed to use it at the gym. However, by about 10 minutes ino the run on Monday, I was feeling slightly wheezy, so the D. B. gave me a puff of his (yes, we know you're not supposed to do this). Thereafter I was fine.

This was the first road-test for my running shoes. They stood up to it well, although my blister-area did rub slightly on one foot. I'll pad it up more if I go out tonight. There was one disadvantage I hadn't foreseen. Towards the end, we were running on a path that had a slight slope to it from left to right, and my left leg, which was on the higher side of the path, began to feel slightly cramped in the calf muscle. I walked for a little to try to ease this, but it started again when I started running, and when we got back to a level surface, I felt a slight pain in that ankle. I'll have to watch that, although the pain vanished as soon as I stopped running. The D. B. says he's never noticed this effect, so maybe it's just me!

We did go a lot slower than the D. B. would have gone on his own. He kept to my pace, saying he wasn't in the mood for a big workout anyway (the boy is a saint) and slowed to a walk when I did. The course took us 28 minutes (approx.) – it normally takes him 20. Probably about five of those minutes were walking, either for me to catch my breath or on the sloping path.

I hope we'll go out again tonight, although the D. B. is revising for tomorrow's exam at the moment, so it'll be up to him. If he doesn't want to, I may just go and run up and down the street outside for a while! At least I won't get lost...