The one where I go for a run with my Dad…
After arriving in Auckland this afternoon, I had my training plans disrupted by a little thing called high tide!
My original plan was to park at the Takapuna Swimming Pool, run around the lake, and then head into the pool for a 2km swim. However, I just couldn’t face running around the lake today. It’s nearly six kilometres, which didn’t faze me, but I now have to agree with my sister - it’s a bit boring. So instead I plotted a five kilometre course from the swimming pool, along Takapuna Beach and back again, and then another short block back to the pool.
My bag was packed, the route was printed out and in my running jacket pocket. And I had a good trip up from Rotorua. I even packed my own lunch which I ate at the Pukekohe service station on the way.
I hit the Harbour Bridge and had a sudden realisation - I had completely forgotten to check the high tide. Takapuna Beach is pretty much un-runnable in a high tide - unless you want to run in ankle-high soft sand. I gave my mum a quick call.
“Mum, are you online at the moment?”
“Yup, what do you need?” This was, after all, the second or third call to Mum on my trip up to check different things on the net.
“Tide details for Takapuna Beach please?”
Five minutes later. “Uh, right now,” she says.
Bugger.
So instead of veering off the motorway I carried on up to my parents place at Red Beach - stunning spot, overlooking the coastline. Plan B was running at Stanmore Bay, further down the road, followed by a swim at the local aquatic centre.
“I might come with you,” says Dad.
“Okay. I need to warn you that I can’t talk when I’m running and I go really slow.”
“That’s okay, sounds like a good pace to me.”
I should note at this point that I don’t think I’ve ever willingly gone for a run with my Dad. He used to run a lot when we were kids. But the only run I might have ever gone on with him would have involved me being dragged kicking and screaming along the way. So, a first all round.
And I think I could safely say that it was the hardest run I’ve done so far. It was indeed lovely to be running along the beach, the water was flat and stunning, and the view out to the Hauraki Gulf was just gorgeous. But I wasn’t really focusing on that. I was more focusing on simply moving one foot in front of the other to get down the end of the beach and back again. I was so sure that running on a reasonably flat beach would be easier than the forest. Wrong!
We were running on a slight angle - first one side on our way down the beach, and then the other. Even though it evened up, it was still very uncomfortable. My digestive system also obviously objected to sitting in the car for three hours and then hitting the beach. So all in all, not my best run.
But a great run with my Dad. I think he would probably be faster than me, but in his cruise pace we jogged along together nicely. So that was a definite highlight.
Four kilometres and 33 minutes later we reached the car. I bailed on the swim. But it didn’t matter. To use a Gordon Ramsey phrase, a good hard run…done.