You can run so much freer without a beard. I feel as though someone has slapped me across the face and made me wake up. But all in a good way. I have never before realized how much facial hair can slow you down. I am alive, a mermaid swishing her tail. I am like my faithful seal swimming underwater and then finally lifting its head to the sky.

I am drawn straight to the beach. I can smell the salt on the air as I’m making my way towards it. It’s early enough in the day to still see the damage of the previous night’s drinking in the village. Empty pint glasses are balanced precariously on walls, cigarette butts are gathered in flowerbeds. I run on, past the dirt, and the smell of the salt beckons me and I feel a silkiness on my face and I wish that my new top was sleeveless because I want to feel this saltiness all over my arms and all over my body. I want something touching my body all over. I don’t have a musical device in my ear because this impedes my immediate enjoyment of my environment. It distils the twitter of the birds, the arguments between drunks left over on the beach from the night before. It is important to drink in the atmosphere of our lives.

I start off with a jog, keeping it nice and soft, rhythmic. I think about Jenny and Simon and what kind of shit he’ll be feeding her later on. My patella feels a little warm after a bit. I worry about the build-up of lactic acid as I run. I am no expert but I am accustomed to hearing other runners talking about their knee issues so I can only surmise that this too is my problem. There is something sinister about the way small defects creep up on your body. The air is warm and there is pleasure to be found in that. The heat moves my mind away from my knee worry and I wonder if I make a pasta salad tonight will that ensure that with the smoked salmon I will have enough for everyone for dinner. The tide is out and the sand is compacted and this leads to excellent conditions for running. I couldn’t have it any better. I thank God for small rewards. I move now with a little more pace and my knee seems to settle down a bit. I still have a sense of warmth deep in my kneecap but I think I am capable of shifting my mental attention to another part of my body. I can do this.