Looking back through the early days of this blog, I noticed a pattern: I used to end a lot of posts with “I’ll let you know what happens.” And then, almost without exception, I didn’t.

It seems that once I clicked “Publish,” I’d immediately forget about the post and move on to the next one.

So, I thought it’d be fun to revisit a few of those old posts and finally – let you know what happened.

On Tuesday, 21 September 2004, I posted The Big Race, a post about a 1-mile race between Worklad, WorkPaul, WorkNeil, and me. After months of build-up and training (during which I focused heavily on mastering my breathing technique), race day finally came. But Worklad was so ridiculous on the day that I couldn’t stop giggling. Laughing uncontrollably throughout the first lap completely wrecked my breathing strategy, and I ended up finishing third in a very poor showing.

We agreed to a rematch the following month, and I signed off with the promise, “Will let you know how it goes!”

Well, here’s the long-overdue update: it didn’t happen.

Instead of another race, we ended up doing an All-You-Can-Eat Chinese Buffet challenge. We weighed ourselves before and after to see who could pack on the most weight over the course of a single lunch break. That was more in line with our usual standard of “challenges,” and it’s probably no surprise that we didn’t run again!

Twenty years later, I’m still annoyed about that race. I’d trained hard and was really ready to do well. These days, I run a lot more, but still worry that I’ll suddenly remember Worklad and his antics, and end up self-sabotaging with laughter all over again!

A few years ago, I did the Couch to 5k challenge and got into a routine of running 5 km three or four times a week (until my latest – of many – knee injuries). And knee injuries are being a real nuisance for me lately. In hindsight, I’d say the Chinese food challenge turned out to be a healthier challenge than running. Although, now that I’m coeliac, Chinese food is basically poison to me anyway, so maybe it’s all bad.

I started doing Parkruns (a 5k run in a local park at 7 a.m. on Saturdays) with hundreds of other runners and I love it. Whenever I’m away from home on a Saturday, I try to check out the local Parkrun and add new locations to my list.

Running has become a great way to clear my head and stay healthy – knee damage excepted. Plus, I enjoy the community feel of Parkrun.

Parkrunning did get a bit more complicated when mcpheeJnr’s Saturday tennis lessons were moved to 8 a.m., though. Now, I have to start the run (7 a.m.), pretty much hit my personal best every week, cross the finish line, dash to the car, drive home (seven minutes), grab mcpheeJnr, and get him to tennis (another 20-minute drive). It means I never get to take the Parkrun easy, but maybe that’s good for me… right?

Anyway, I’m working on improving my personal best – if for no other reason than to grab a few moments to drink water or collapse to the grass contemplating the idiocy of running, before setting off for tennis. My current pb is 26:52.

I’ll let you know how it goes!