Forgive me Father for I have sinned. It is — crikey — nearly four years since my last confession. We’ve some catching up to do.
Life, eh? Well why wouldn’t things have changed in four years? The Trump tornado has blown through and vanished, at least for the moment, leaving us scratching our heads and staring at the wreckage. Worse is that if, as seems likely, he’ll escape a guilty verdict in his impeachment (currently playing out in the Senate) then he’ll be back in some form. Anyone who thinks he’ll shrug off his humiliation and head for the golf course to enjoy his sunset years is mistaken.
And bang goes my first memo-to-self: not to talk about politics. Maybe Trump is a safe exception because so few rational people have a good word to say about him, but I despair at our growing inability to tolerate a world view different from our own, and the increasing tendency to cluster only with those who promise not to challenge our monolithic sense of smug correctness. Every one of us is a product of our life experience. Each of those paths is unique and takes us to a different place. Why should this be so hard to understand and to tolerate? But until we’re allowed to reasonably describe our own world view, and explain how we reached it, I’m simply too nervous to say anything on the topic. I’m not naive enough to think there was ever a golden age when we’d all thank and congratulate our political opponents for expressing contrary views, but it seems that a lot more people were capable of such magnanimity than exist today. I recently rediscovered the glorious 1975 Roy Jenkins – Tony Benn debate on whether the UK should stay in the EEC. If you’re feeling as gloomy as I am about the culture wars, it’s worth checking out.
Strange times, with most of us locked up by lockdown. Europe is in foment, even if Covid — a word few of us knew a year ago — has ensured that it’s a strangely passive turbulence. Which sums up my own life at the moment. I’m pretty calm. And very lucky.
The pandemic will surely become an epoch-marking event — mostly in negative ways we’ve not yet imagined — but I’ve chosen this period as a good time to think about retirement. I have to say “think about” because here in Switzerland, the official retirement age is 65 which is still a year and a half away. In the UK it’s 66. So officially I’m unemployed, and as long as the Swiss system continues to support me — something I’m immensely grateful for — I must still dutifully submit a dozen or so job applications every month. But the reality is that no one’s going to offer me a salaried position at this stage of my working life. I may pick up some occasional freelance writing contracts, as I’ve been happily doing for the last two years, but instead of struggling to grasp a status that keeps moving further out of reach, it seems more productive to adapt my mindset, to collect some new skills and interests, and generally to destress my existence. I’m in the right place. Despite the relative formality of the Swiss, and the extra restrictions provided by the Covid pandemic, Switzerland is a pretty good place to relax and enjoy life.
Part of this new phase is to reopen the RunningCommentary trapdoor. Much of it will be an exercise in talking to myself, but that’s fine. Being a shy sort of chap I’m accustomed to it, and to spending time on my own — as most of us have had to do over the past year. There are other good reasons for trying RC again. I’m struggling to drag some larger writing projects towards the front burners, so I hope some regular blogging will lubricate my creative vitals, and encourage me. Also, I’ve been in this fascinating and spectacular country for more than ten years, and I want to say something about it while I’m still here.
The final reason is an echo of the reason I started the website back in late 2001. Then, I was training for the 2002 London Marathon, and needed to generate some motivation. Now, in a time of general despondency, the site’s motto, “running is the answer” has come back to give me a nudge. Not that I’ve done any running yet but I will. A few weeks ago I resolved to lose some weight and get healthier. On Day 33, I’m about 18 pounds lighter (half my target) and suddenly feeling fitter and more optimistic. I’ve started racking up the metres on my Concept2 rower, and the day will shortly come when I’ll have another shot at plodding through the outside world. Stupidly, I’ve started to think about aiming for a race or two later in the year, but let’s see. I’m cautious. The last big race I entered, the Berlin Marathon in 2013, left me badly injured — a result of very poor preparation. Once I’ve lost another two or three pounds, taking me down to the 215 mark, I plan to have a go at the NHS C25K programme, about as gentle a reintroduction as you can hope for.
There’s a lot more to say but I’ll leave it there. I’m aware that too many previous entries dribbled on for too long. I’ve resolved to aim for 500 words per entry, and I’m already on 900. Plus ca change.
12 comments On The shy retiring type
Thanks again, Antonio. By some miracle, those health indicators — cholesterol etc. — turned out to be fairly normal last time I had them checked out. My doctor seemed surprised, which didn’t fill me with confidence. Maybe it runs in the family. My Dad didn’t stop smoking until he was 91, and lasted another couple of years before he stubbed himself out in the great ashtray of life. Glad to hear that you’ve got away from pre-Diabetes. Lower carbs and IF seem to produce excellent results in that area. I’m not planning on returning to a high-carb lifestyle though I am trying to re-introduce a few healthy basics like occasional sweet potato, small portions of pasta in salads etc as I think my body needed some more fibre. Lockdown has actually helped me lose weight as I’ve not been going out and drinking beer. I’ll have to see how I cope with liberation.
Regarding running, I’m probably nuts to even mention the half marathon. Right at the moment, I’m struggling to run for 9 minutes so even 9K seems like an Everest of a challenge. But I plan to continue with my slow rehabilitation, and gradually work my way up to 5K on this training plan I’m doing. If I can reach 5K and consolidate, there’s no reason why I couldn’t push that up to 9 or 10K. A lot depends on maintaining the weight loss and motivation to exercise — though of course the two things are closely linked.
I’m really glad you’ve managed to shed ten kilos in just two months, Andy. That’s fantastic not only for the weight loss but mainly for your health since you will probably have better levels in blood in your cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose … I read in another article that you are doing intermittent fasting. I’ve been doing it for some time and I’ve also lost some kilos but the best thing was that my glucose level lowered from 105 to 75, which means that I managed to leave the prediabetes I had had for many years.
I think that fasting, reducing carbohydrates and doing sport nearly every day such as jogging riding on bicycle or just walking one hour is really good for the body and the mind. I find it really hard to do more than ten kilometres now because my left knee isn’t well enough but I’ve had a pair of orthotics made which may help me run faster and farther but I think I should focus on the 9 K run instead of the half marathon which could be really tough and bring me more injures. It would be fantastic if we two could do the 9 K together in Almería next year. Hopefully watching at the Molly´s TV the match Real Madrid – Almería or Barcelona – Almería on Sunday afternoon after the post race meal. UD Almería is doing quite well this year. Right now they are in the second position so they could be promoted the next season if they keep well and are lucky.
Hope you enjoy your preretirement and keep on your healthy life. Many greetings to M. Keep safe!
Saludos desde Almería.
A very warm welcome back Antonio, and thank you for your kind comments. Yes, now that I’ve more time available I will try to continue getting fitter and to be less of an ‘El Gordo’. I’m 10 kilos down since mid-January. It’s been snowing most days this week but not much has settled so unfortunately I’ve no excuse not to get out for another cautious instalment tomorrow. In earlier years, I did nothing much apart from jogging. But now I’ve added indoor rowing, the ski-erg, cycling, some hiking, and even a bit of weight training. So I’m hoping this variety will keep me motivated as well as building better overall fitness. I’d love to think the Almeria Medi is still a possibility but we’ll see. If I can sustain my enthusiasm, with luck we’ll meet up again in early 2022. It’s also great to see you piling on the running, walking, and cycling kms on Strava. If you keep this up, you may still make that sub-2 hour half! BTW, I often check the Spanish football results, and am hoping Almeria can go one better than last season and end up in La Liga again. Running the half marathon followed by seeing Almeria stuff Barcelona 5-0 would be a pretty good weekend. Let’s keep our fingers crossed! Regards, Andy
I’m glad, Andy, that you mentioned in Strava you were going to write at this site since whenever I had a look at it, I was always directed to the forum. It’s fantastic you’re writing here again and feel motivated to go for a run. I’ve seen you’re very fit at rowing which is quite good to be able to run again. Your writing will help me improve my English which is quite rustyI’m afraid. Best of luck!
Saludos desde Almería.
Hi Dan, welcome. I’m glad you chanced upon the revived site, and that I was able to offer some distraction from what you should really have been doing. That’s m’boy. Hope all is well in the circumstances, and good luck for your return to work. I’m essentially talking to myself here which is my way, in part, of dealing with the lockdown. I’m pretty self-sufficient but I’ve been on my own for quite a long time now (M is stranded in the UK) and I need some sort of diversion to avoid the modest level of insanity I was beginning to sense. I doubt if the previous community will revive itself given the passing of time but maybe something new will emerge in its place. Or maybe it won’t. All I know is that it helps to write some lighter stuff than has been the recent norm and this is the tried-and-tested medium. So here we are. Don’t feel obliged to resume your previous engagement but I’d be delighted to see you around from time to time. Cheers, Andy
Well this is a remarkable coincidence. Here I am supposed to be preparing a home-learning lesson (still needed for another week in the UK) on quantum probability, but instead googling “UK running forum” to try and find something that might approach the wonderfully supportive RC community of yesteryear. After I fruitless search, and wonder whether I should just finally start using Twitter, I take a look at the old RC forum for old times’ sake… for some reason I decide to go via the front page, which has been shut down for decades – but what’s this? There’s life in the old blog yet! Great to see you writing and running (and rowing).
Cheers Ash. Let’s see. Just back from an ungainly plod this afternoon and am busy writing that up now. BTW, not sure why I’m being asked to approve comments but I hope that won’t happen every time. Anyone have any objections to me linking to the forum again?
Edit: I’ve added the link to the forum. We all have other ways of communicating these days so I’ve no particular expectations about its use. But it’s part of the history of the site and our small RC community so it deserves to be preserved.
Ah, found it – a front page post. Front page news, indeed.
Good to see. Welcome back.
Hi MLCMM. Well, I’m just about to head for the lake. Interpret that as you wish…
[Cough, splutter, and a look of amazement.] In running terms, I’d given you up for dead, mate. But welcome back. Let me join you on this path to … wellness, again.
Where shall we go first?
Hi Tom. Well it was your example that prompted these thoughts, so thank you. I just need to actually do it now. As in the UK it’s pretty nippy and icy here at the moment so I have a good excuse to stick to armchair and Trollope. But temperatures are due to rise over the next week so that could be the fateful time. I’ll be sure to write it up.
Couch to 5k has much to recommend it. It has brought me back from injury several times in recent years. If only there was a similar programme to bring my running blog back to life. But, inspired by you, I shall try once more