Mon 16 Dec 2002No run today. Instead I've been studying this recipe for a Christmas cake that my sister sent me:
Mmm, that's my kinda cake... Tues 17 Dec 2002A sprightly 35 minute run this evening. I've resolved to avoid -- where possible -- running in the dark this winter, but today I had to. It wasn't easy, going back out into the cold void in my running stuff, having got home late from work. But some things have been experienced too often now to be able to ignore or deny. Among these truths is that however unappealing a run might seem at the outset, I always end up glad that I did it. In fact, the more unappealing, the more enjoyable they tend to be. Why? I don't know. Perhaps with low expectations, the reality can only be a pleasant surprise.Not murderously cold tonight. Perhaps 5 degrees or so. Another resolution is to try to avoid running along the unlit, pavement-less lanes around here when it's dark. Some are fairly busy, and perilous. The many hedge dents around West Berkshire mark the spots where I've come close to an unscheduled, near-intimate encounter with a speeding vehicle. Tonight, I stuck to the pavement on the bigger road through the village, and around the business park beyond. Not a bad place to run, though I need to establish exactly where I'm allowed to be. Tonight, for the first time in more than 30 years, I was chased by a bloke in a uniform shouting at me that I was trespassing. Oh, the memories! How could I forget Cheeseface and Daddy Long Legs, the crusty old park-keepers who chased me and my gang from one end of our childhoods to the other -- and never caught us once. For the sake of puzzled younger readers, it should be explained that once upon a time, children were packed off to play in the park on their own, and frequently disappeared for hours on end without making that evening's TV news bulletins. Weird, eh? Wed 18 Dec 2002It's that New Year resolution time again. Here are mine: Give up football. Probably. Give up alcohol. Probably. Keep on running. Somehow maintain the will to live in view of the first two. I've realised that I waste half my life watching, listening to, reading/writing/talking about, and listening to others talking about, the occasionally beautiful game. It's way too much, and an obstacle to real life. The reason I say "probably" is that I think the decision should be as arbitrary as the game itself. My team, Queens Park Rangers, have two home games left before the new year. If we win them both, I'll soldier on with the curse of obsession. If we don't, I'll give my season ticket away, and become a happier person. I was thinking about this while running my 4 miles this evening. I'm going to offer a wager: bet against me. If we win the two games, you pay a sum of money to the UK Brain Tumour Society (I have to send in my final Chicago tally by the end of December). If we don't, I give you my half-used season ticket. That's the deal I'm going to offer on the QPR messageboards. Alcohol? Yes, I think it's time I shoved it to one side for a while. And running? I've been thinking about what my 2003 goals should be. I'll be doing quite a few half marathons and 10Ks, so I would expect to make some improvement here. It seems to me, as I've tried to plan the running year ahead, that there are two distinct competitive running seasons: Spring and Autumn. March/April, and to a lesser extent May, and then September/October and into November. Both are full of races I want to do. For this reason, I'm going to set some goals for Spring 2003, then see if I need to revise them for the later period. Spring 2003 goals: To do a 10K in less than 1 hour (=9:39 pace). Only previous 10K (hilly and hot) was 1:05, so getting in under an hour should be very do-able. Originally I though 50 minutes would be a good objective, but decided to take it one step at a time. To do a Half Marathon in 2:11 (10 minute pace). I did 3 half marathons this year. All were around 2 hours 30. However, the second one was slow because I turned up late, after everyone had gone, and the third one was slow because a marshal sent me a mile in the wrong direction. I was on course for about 2:20 in that one, so 2:11 seems like a reasonable goal. Later in the year, I'd like to get this down to 2 hours, but I'll see how the initial goal shapes up first. I won't set a marathon goal at this stage as I'm not planning to do one for around a year. If I was doing a Spring marathon I might be going for around 4:45, but I'll defer this till I know when the next one will be. Thurs 19 Dec 2002I've publicised my wager (see yesterday), and currently have a taker for £55. UKBTS will be the beneficiary if QPR beat Brentford and Wycombe in their next two games. If we fail to win both, I'm giving my season ticket away, and will take a break from it all for a year. Did a huffy-puffy 3+ miles at lunchtime today. Much as I enjoy the opportunity to run in a pleasant park, during the day, when it's bright, it's frustrating not knowing the distances. I can only go by my watch. I ran for 36 minutes which will be just over 3 miles. Not much to report, apart from two attempts on my life. First, I was nearly brought down by a golfball whizzing past my left ear at twice the speed of light and then, just moments later, I came within a hound's whisker of being savaged by a large horrible dog. Don't ask me what sort. A black one, with a gaping mouth like that of a starving shark. Ghastly brute. Why aren't all dogs civilised and amiable and decent like Timmy in the Famous Five books? Fri 20 Dec 2002No run today. Instead, I took the beer and crisps road. Tomorrow I'm looking to do 6 miles. Sun 22 Dec 2002golly, that 6 miler yeshterday morning was ard. I vanshed into the fog at eh, 10 o'clokk it seems and retorned they say an hour later or thereabuuts. It remined me of th first 6 miler I did ths toime last year when id just started running. SIX MILES! Cara-blody-rammba. the first time id done htat distnace, and my bllomin quads were aching. yarterdya yeah i was runnin like a gioodun along the canal for choofin yonks and the the problem was id been to the pub the night befoore so imagin runnin fo rlike 6 miler withj a barrel of brakspears on the shouldr and you;ll ubnderstand what it was like, its togh atthe top i woud say. Hmm, and I've discovered how easy it is to write like Geoffrey Chaucer if you have a few beers, type quickly and don't correct your misspellings. So that's how he did it... Next week > |