But I Was So Sure.

Being so work-busy has had me making a couple of mistakes this week.

The first involved a catch-up coffee with a friend. I'd made the date before things got so out of hand. But Chris is one of my oldest friends - in length of friendship, not age - and I wasn't going to cancel even if it meant I had to work on the weekend. And I'd planned to do that anyway.

I'd committed the time and the place to memory. 10:00am at La Diva. And I worked frantically all morning to be ready for that time. I left home just a little early and arrived just before 10. Chris wasn't there but she's always so punctual that I knew that she wouldn't be long. But after 10 minutes the doubts that had been prickling me all morning resurfaced.

They started when I was drying my hair and the conversation in my head went a little like this.

"It's 10:00 that we're meeting - or is it 10:30?"

"I'm pretty sure it's 10:00. But I might just check my emails"

"Damn - I've turned the computer off. If I turn it back on I'll be late. Or early? I wish I'd written it in my diary."

"Maybe it's in my work diary"

""Wish I'd written more than 'Coffee with Chris'"

"Stop over-thinking. Trust your memory - you might be 51 but your brain still works"

So sitting by myself at La Diva I convinced myself that not only did I have the time wrong but I probably had the place wrong too. It was time to swallow my pride and reveal my lack of organisation to Chris. I sent her a text and when she called back I was happy to know that I'd at least gotten the place right.

We had a lovely coffee together and actually pre-planned our next. And this time I put it in my phone. With an alert so there's no way I can get the time or place wrong.

And when I got home I checked on the email before deleting it. I'd been right. My memory was vindicated - for this time at least.

The second mistake came Saturday - long run day.

When I get my running program for the month I look at it and commit it to memory. It's not hard - there's really only 4 long-run distances to worry about because the other sessions are generally speed session (which Coach Chris tells us about on the morning), hill session (again we're told what we're doing when we arrive) and a mid-week, mid-length run of 12-16k.

I knew I had a 24k run on Saturday so had arranged to meet with the stupid-early group. We did our 24k without mishap (but not without a mis-start thanks to the drunk man in the taxi who had to throw up unexpectedly and voluminously). And when I got home I put all the details onto my training sheet. That's when I realised that maybe my self-satisfaction about my memory the previous day had been a little too smug.

There it was in black and white - 20k. Heaven knows where I'd hallucinated the 24k from. At least it'll stand me in good stead for my first half marathon of the year.

Seems like I can't trust my memory after all.